Entries Tagged as: life
Life Outdoors
July 23rd, 2010, Comments (10)
I've spent a lot more time outdoors in the mornings this summer as I've been jogging and it's just too hot to go later in the day. But no matter what time I'm out, I'm often using my iphone to snap little shots here and there of things that catch my eye. A gorgeous skyline, a fluffy pink flower, a path lines with eye-poppingly green ferns.
I think the summer heat sometimes makes you slow down and notice these beautiful little moments around you. What beautiful moments have caught your eye this month?
Tree of Life
July 20th, 2010, Comments (16)
Here's what the layers painting became, a tree of life, drawn with ink over the layers of paint.
Last night the hubster and I watched an installment of Through the Wormhole, a program on the Science Channel, narrated by Morgan Freeman. The program was all about how life began on earth and it was fascinating. Life is truly miraculous. In the program, they talked about the tree of life and how all living things on earth are connected. After awhile, it all starts to blow your mind!
Layers
July 14th, 2010, Comments (14)
Life has many layers, does it not? I thought of this as I played today, making layer after layer of paint. I was thinking of water and sky as I worked. I've had different ideas of where this piece is going as I worked, but at the moment, I'm not sure, so I'm going to let it sit in this layered water-sky state for a bit.
A Poem to Inspire
July 8th, 2010, Comments (15)
In Blackwater Woods
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is
Every year
everything
I have ever learned
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this world
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
Life Goes On
July 2nd, 2010, Comments (11)
Happy July, everyone! I've been feeling a little shadowy lately, hence the picture above. But I'm also in motion. I've been jogging my little heart out (the picture was taken after one of these jaunts) and it's really helped the healing along. Bit by bit.
I'd been making attempts at drawing and painting last month, but truth be told, my heart just wasn't in it. So I opted to let it rest for awhile until I felt the urge to return. On Wednesday night, I was speaking with some friends on the phone and I started to doodle and draw. Oh, sweet relief! I hadn't even been doodling lately and that's my old stand-by, so it felt so good to want to draw. The drawing and doodling continued yesterday and today I plan to continue to gently return to playing with my art supplies and just enjoying the process.
It's a new thing for me, I think. Really processing something painful instead of just stuffing it away. It's longer and slower than I might like it to be, but I believe in the long run, it is healthier and smarter to feel what I'm feeling. I'm not wallowing, I'm still finding the brightness and joy in the little stuff, but I'm also allowing myself to feel sad if I feel sad. Sadness seems to move through much quicker when I don't try to push it away. And that's how I'll continue to live my life this month. How about you? Are you adept at accepting the shadowy parts of your life?
Creative Every Day Theme for July: Life
June 27th, 2010, Comments (14)
I apologize for being missing in action this month, everyone! I've been taking some time to rest and heal and I'm still on that path. However, I'm ready to return and am excited to share this month's theme!
At the end of each month I will announce the totally optional theme for the following month. July 2010's theme will be: Life. As always, this month's theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge is totally optional. Use it if it sparks you, continue being creative every day in your own way if it doesn't, or do something in between.
I'm thinking of this theme in terms of exploring life in creative ways, writing about it, making art inspired by it, and noticing the life in your everyday world. There are endless ways you can play with the theme and I'm open to any interpretation.
I'll be posting about the theme throughout the month on the blog to help keep you inspired. You can use the posts here for jumping off points or interpret the theme in your own creative way. If you need some suggestions, here are a few ideas to get you started. You could:
- *Write about your life, autobiography style.
- *Notice the life that surrounds you and make art inspired by it.
- *Create collages that explore the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.
- *Make art that explores your life's history.
- *Pay attention to how it feels to be alive. What does this inspire you to create?
- *Spend some time in nature, sketching or writing about the life around you.
- *Use plants or flowers you find in nature to make prints with.
- *Breathe some life into your space. Maybe a plant, a bouquet of flowers, a splash of color?
- *Paint your favorite creatures.
- *Draw portraits of the beings (human or animal that live in your space.)
How to use the CED themes:
If you're feeling creatively stuck or blocked at any point during the month, use the theme as a source of inspiration to get you moving. Feel free to focus on the theme in your creative activities for the entire month or as much as you'd like.
Using the theme is entirely optional for CED participants. Use it if it inspires you, ignore it if it doesn't. I'll be sharing posts throughout the month around the theme (among other things) to get you thinking about how to incorporate it into your life. I'd love to hear how you use the theme in your creative world.
And have fun with it!
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? ~Mary Oliver
p.s. The art above is adapted from "One Rabbit Night" which is available as the original and prints here.
