Creative Storms

ELEMENTAL MARRIAGE

digital montage with photo and ipad drawing printed and collaged with mixed media

2011

This is what almost drove me off the cliff.  The storms have just begun. It will be on exhibit at The Art Gallery of Viera beginning Wednesday and through most of the month of February.


B

Awakening...

(Or just an indulgent, egotistical rant...)

Shhh...Silence is Golden

digital montage, mixed media/2011

I fell again today. 


I seem to be developing a talent for it.  My unconscious is apparently trying to shake me out of my comfortable life, my sweet, indulgent, cushy life.  Take this seriously or you will lose it.  I don't want to lose it, I've felt the repression of art and, it's a dangerous place to be, if that is your calling.  So, 61 years after the flame began, today I am allowing it to consume me, heart and soul.

No longer can I pretend to be an 'artist,' while secretly thinking myself not good enough.  My calling is ARTIST with all the obsessive craziness associated with it.  I am blowing off my obligations to the church, my family, and yes, myself, all for the sake of one piece of art.  One, not a bunch, just one.   I think this is a milestone and my work has taken me to a very different level of awareness and thinking.


This new dawning has been approaching me slowly, and it's appearance shouldn't surprise me one bit, but somehow I'm taken a bit unaware.  Perhaps my years of putting my creativity last have conditioned me to take such change with doubt.  Doubt won't do it this time; I have fallen off the cliff I have so carefully trod for a lifetime - flirting with art, and yet being a terribly responsible person because art isn't a responsible person's arena. 


My work, which isn't mine at all, will continue, but it, too, has undergone a tremendous upheaval.  There has been a shift in my methods, my eye, my presentation, my work habits.  There is yet another shift coming soon.  I am praying that this final one will allow me to settle into the channel of voyaging along the creative flow without the interruptions of method dispute.


This is an ongoing struggle but one that has taken a major leap today.  Today I fell, into myself.  Praise God.


Peace - B
(PS: Shhh...Silence is Golden is not the piece, although it had a strong part in this process.)

Yes we have no more tea...

Today I will whine a tiny bit. I drink tea, as those of you who know me so patiently are aware.  I drink organic Ceylon tea from a company on the other side of the country and today I am facing the fact that I have to give up this addiction and find another source for my tea.  Alas, shipping costs have gotten so high that it is now just as much to have it shipped as the tea is itself putting it in the rather overly expensive realm.


I will mourn the loss of my tea and am now on a hunt for a suitable substitute.  Oh, if only I had a reasonable source of Honduran coffee I might be comforted.  But then, no, there is no substitute for a glorious steaming cup of fresh tea to start my day.  Woe is me.

Perhaps God has some other glorious leaf in store for my mornings, or perhaps it is time for me to live a bit more simply. 


Peace,
B


(No, I will not submit to bags...)

•2•0•1•1•

January 3

Round & Round, BLD 2010

I can completely understand my 5-year old grandson's out of control behavior when he has too much stimulation or change in routine; the New Year finds me feeling like I've spent the last 6 weeks in a blender trying to keep ahead of the blades - and the speed was set to puree.  Scrambled isn't even adequate. The look on the merry-go-round horse above pretty accurately reflects my state of I'm running as fast as I can - and I'm going in circles!


Another year looms lies ahead, I am trying to view it with gratitude and joy, but frankly I'm too tired to muster any emotion right now.  No resolutions, well, I do need to lose weight, seriously, but that isn't a resolution, it is a requirement. 


My soul is processing the entire season just past, holidays, a mission trip to Honduras, the death of a dear friend, and glorious time spent with my children and grandchildren.  It has been a melange of highs and lows, a mixture that has kicked up the speed on the blender to an unbearable pace – hence my fatigue. Creation is still my main calling, and I intend to continue on that path. For now I leave you with a photo of sunrise in the Smokies.


Peace,
Barbara

Sunrise in the Smokie Mountains, BLD 2010