Gratitude 88

I hope everyone has a beautiful Easter. The sun is shining- the earth is awakening!

We celebrated a day early at my sister in law's happy home- complete with these sweet Johnny -jump -up's in egg cups. The kids ( even my 24 year old!) enjoyed decorating eggs and an egg hunt in the back yard. My niece Mikayla painted this beautiful bouquet, below. 

We also celebrated all the March birthdays.

gratitude #87

Who doesn't feel special on their birthday?

Gratitude # 86

Yesterday I visited the Gardner Museum in Boston with a friend- it was the first time I had seen the new wing. I like the contrast of old and new- light and dark. It is always wonderful to be there and why I don't go more often is ridiculous! The trailing flowers from the balconies are nasturtiums- my favorite. I was delighted that the salad I ordered in the restaurant had one as a garnish- yum!

Gratitude #85

I love anything mystical, magical and dabble a bit in the Tarot. Its fun with a group or alone as a tool for reflection. I recently unearthed a deck while cleaning- by Liz Dean and the artwork is by Emma Garner. I pulled three cards this morning to represent the past, present and future. My future card ( of course the one I'm most interested in) was STRENGTH- reversed ( upside down) and the message was

Surrendering to opposition, failure to deal with a situation or person in a way that feels right. rather than retreat, draw upon your reserves of inner strength and confront the problem: you may discover that the roaring lion is a pussy cat instead.

I think there is a lot of truth to the- a lot of times its best to accept and surrender- but if something i s nagging at me I need to take action. Hmmm. A lot to ponder here.

It was fun to draw from Emmas illustration. She uses collage elements so I did that with the dress.

Gratitude #84

My mother used to tell us she always did a little dance on the first day she could hear the peepers.

We never actually saw it...

I heard them yesterday and it was a joyful sound to my ears. I thought of her of course...doing her dance...

Gratitude #83

                                      The folks that do our hair make the world a better place.


       I finished the mural project yesterday in Duxbury. Check that off the list! It was fun.
                            Next year the project will be complete- all 7 continents.

Gratitude #82

Yesterday I attended a drawing and painting marathon at the North River Arts Society- 3 sessions of models, 3 hours long each. I was there from 9:30 AM to 9:15 PM. It was tiring, but great practice. The atmosphere there is so friendly and fun- great music-pot luck food- and  lots of extremely talented folks. I am so lucky to be part of this wonderful organization. Here is a painting by Ginger- a new acquaintance- and quite the artist!

Gratitude #81

I prefer the solid ones.

Gratitude #80

I love my brushes. Good ones make all the difference!

Gratitude #79

NAMASTE

Gratitude#78

                                               A made bed is a beautiful thing.
                              Hard to get out of my bed this morning , I have to admit...

I did visit the local garden center the other stormy day. The folks at Kennedy's are always welcoming. It was warm, a bit drippy,  colorful and peaceful there. I loved it.

I am also doing phase two of the world murals with  kids  at the Bay Farm Montessori in Duxbury - this year it's Africa and Australia.

Gratitude#77

It's here!

Gratitude #76

Woke up to about 8 inches of snow. 

I know I should be sick of this but I don't mind- Spring arrives tomorrow.

I try to remember these words  I read once....

“Accept - then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it.” 
― Eckhart Tolle

I borrowed a library book yesterday of beautiful floral watercolors by Gary Bukovnik. I think I am going to gather my things and go to the local garden center to paint. Very soon it will be too busy there to do that.

gratitude #75

Harbingers of Spring.

These always bring joy and excitement.

      

                                     Spring is in front of us now- I think we are almost there!

Gratitude# 74

                                                   Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I don't consider myself a lucky person- but when I think about it I really am. Just by sheer luck I was born- and incredibly lucky to be born in the USA - I could have been born anywhere! I met my husband and had my two  children. I love my home, my family, my friends,  my job, I have a sweet little dog that I adore. These are all things that are lucky!
There is also the kind of luck when things don't happen- like the tree that fell away from the house, the accident that didn't happen....
I think the luckiest thing that happened to me was bumping into my best friend from art school, Carol Acquilano, on a crowded street in Italy outside of the Accedemia in Florence, Italy, in 1985 . She just happened to turn around and there I was- on my way to find a bus to a hill town to draw that day.I would never have noticed her- she's a beautiful Italian girl and blended right in to the crush of people. We just stood there staring for what seemed like forever and then whoop-whooped!  I was on a 7 month adventure by myself in Europe, she was an artist- in -residence with the University of Athens, Georgia (they have campus in Cortona) and she was on a day trip to Florence. We spent the next couple of months or so together - in Florence, and Corona painting and playing, and we met up again later in London. We had lost touch for 4 years prior- it was a magical moment  and we have remained close ever since. Those kinds of things are reminders that maybe there's something bigger than us orchestrating  things - I really don't know- but it is so exciting and wonderful when those things happen!
If you have a story of luck or coincidence and want to share it with me I would love it- and will put it up on my blog. If you listen to "This American Life" on podcast there's one called coincidences- check it out!

Gratitude #73

This plant was a gift from a dear friend. It's common name is bellflower.

I love the star shaped purple blossoms and I am hoping to plant it outside to bloom all summer.

Gratitude #72

It is certainly a sign of spring to see these coming up through the muck. They produce heat... and grow very long roots . They smell awful! But I love to see them. Spring is coming!

Gratitude #71

                                       I woke up this morning with a pounding headache...







By the way - yesterdays post had a Norman Rockwell painting in it-I do not actually get personal emails from Norman Rockwell- I subscribed to a wonderful blog called Red Tree Times- G.C Myers is a cool artist who's work I saw in an  Asheville NC gallery - he puts his own work up and also spotlights different artists. Check it out!

Gratitude #70

This is one that should be at the top of the list, but the ideas for these paintings at this point are sort of a free association for me, and what pops into my head in the early morning is what  I set out to paint that day. The source for this painting is from Time magazine- my friend Sue saw it and sent it to me.

To see a plane load of servicemen and women all in camouflage is a powerful image. They are truly our angels-  all the petty inconveniences we whine about are so insignificant compared the the sacrifices these guys are making.  They make it possible for us to go about our daily lives in complete security and freedom. I hope they are headed home on this airplane.

                        Ironically this was in my inbox this morning by the late great Norman Rockwell.

Gratitude #69

Oh how I love these happy little plastic things.

They do an important job too! 

Gratitude # 68

These are magical creatures. 

This brings to mind a story I heard in church a long time ago.

While walking along a beach, an elderly gentleman saw someone in the distance leaning down, picking something up and throwing it into the ocean. As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, picking up starfish one by one and tossing each one gently back into the water.He came closer still and called out, “Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?” The young man paused, looked up, and replied “Throwing starfish into the ocean.” The old man smiled, and said, “I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?” To this, the young man replied, “The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them in, they’ll die. ”Upon hearing this, the elderly observer commented, “But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can’t possibly make a difference! ”The young man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked up another starfish, threw it into the back into the ocean past the breaking waves and said, “It made a difference for that one.”

Gratitude#67

                                              I am blessed with wonderful friends.

Gratitude #66

I love to start my day with a little glass of orange juice.

Tropicana is my favorite- no pulp please.

Gratitude #65

Winter is here and yes- its been a struggle- but is there nothing better that an unexpected day off from school and work?
Of course the teachers and students will have to pay for this at the end of June, but to roll over and go back to sleep is the best. Remember when they had a siren at 6 AM to signal the closing of school?
I am glad they have improved the scrolling school cancellation notices at the bottom of the tv screen- it seemed to me that when they almost got to our town they would break for commercial and we would have to wait for the entire alphabet to go through again...Now we can look on line- and it's always all over Facebook. I sound like an old person!

Enjoy the day off- if you live up here in the Northeast- next week will be in the 50's. Cold if you are in the tropics- but balmy and beautiful here!

Gratitude #56

Yup- another big storm here- mostly rain here but BIG winds. Praying the power remains on. I drove down to the beach today to see the waves- couldn't get to the seawall because the water was running into the street. Eeeks.  I saw the NSTAR truck with lineman up in the buckets. Maybe they didn't get us back on as quickly as National grid, but those workers are tireless and brave and working up there for us... and I am grateful for those guys( and gals)!

                                            BTW somehow I missed #56 do this will fill it in.

gratitude #64

My cousin and I didn't actually meet each other till we were about 50 years old. She and I lived only a couple towns away the whole time.. and when I met her we couldn't believe that we had lost all that time knowing each other. We became close quite fast.
She plays guitar and sings and paints and writes,  and is a healer. She lives in Asheville  NC now, but we still are close- by phone anyway. I can always talk to her and she helps me a lot.
A cousin is a special kind of person. Hallmark doesn't seem to have cousin birthday cards- at least I couldn't find one- so here's my version.

                                             
                                             Happy Birthday Julie Dean! I love you!

Gratitude # 63

I had an amazing day yesterday- I had a reiki session with an incredible healer. It was done with sound on a thing called a cymatron.

She said she saw an owl when she was working on me- among other things. All day after the session those things kept appearing. I am not sure how or why reiki works- but I feel awesome.

My first thought when I woke up was "paint an owl"!

Gratiude #62

It's so lovely to drink tea out of a delicate vessel like this one. Kept in the china cabinet, this one is just for display as it has a chunk missing from the rim.

Gratitude #61

Imagine if they didnt pick up...

thank you to my sister Bryson who had this idea....

Gratitude #60

                                     I love watermelon- it reminds me that summer is coming.

Gratitude #59

My mother used to call this month "March Hill" because you have no other option than to to climb up it.

I do like the sound of March, because I know that soon the peepers will peep and the crocuses will bloom. I'm feeling the ice beginning to melt- spotted a few robins out on the lawn.

On the first day of the month we say for luck- rabbit rabbit!