Life is full of challenges! Over the last year we have all had to move outside our comfort zones. Doing things differently and thinking in a different way are not always a bad thing.
Like me I am sure your usual schedule for the day has been run over by a truck and thrown to the wind! Instead of feeling lost and without a schedule come up with a new one. You may be surprised how much better it works for you and your family. Working from home in my studio is something that I have done for many years. I always felt it gave me the best of both worlds. I am able to take a walk, throw a load of laundry in and enjoy lunch on my own front porch if and when I choose. The one thing I don’t have is kids at home during this time. I realize this element changes things greatly especially if you were to be educator as well during this time. While taking over the enormous role of teacher many may be realizing that the teacher wasn’t the problem after all…I know it can be hard to believe as a parent. I have been there myself not that long ago.
There are challenges that arise from working at home but you are the one that gets to figure out how to fix them. Where are you going to work that you can have the desired atmosphere to most efficiently do your job? Also it isn’t a “play for free card”, it simply allows you to do things in the order you choose. As long as the work gets done you can do it in any order you choose and at any time you choose. I find myself working more than eight hours a day as I love what I do. You may find the same thing happening to you. Working more hours also happens due to the lack of interruptions that you would normally get in the office.
Much of my inspiration comes from the land and what it produces. I’ve painted everything from mushrooms and flowers to landscapes and crumbling homes from years gone by. Growing up in the Hawkeye state of Iowa, I spent many days playing in creeks, fields, barns and the great outdoors. To this day I find the outdoors to be the most inspirational and healing. We were very fortunate to have this time of quarantine begin in the Spring! I took many walks and spent much time watching flowers bloom and the countryside come to life as it turned from green to once again burnt oranges and warm yellows. The virus hasn’t stopped any of the beautiful plants, flowers or trees from delivering their comfort and reassurance that everything will be okay.
Some day soon our lives will return to a new kind of normal after this all over. Part of what I have been doing during this time is spending time in discovery taking a class and working with an amazing coach that has opened my mind to a new way of using color and a new way of painting. Abstract paintings are something that I never thought I’d do, but after taking an enticing class at the Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughn, Ireland my curiosity was peaked. I love the idea of my paintings leaving a bit more for the viewer to interpret themselves. With my curiosity being stirred and ripe I turned to another yet another abstract class that just happened to during this time of quarantine. What an amazing stroke of luck! It was just what I needed to give me something exciting to look forward to each week. The class that I took was with the wonderful Gwen Fox. I just had no idea how much I would enjoy and learn from her online class.
Gwen has done an amazing job of encouraging me to look outside my comfortable box. I have discovered just how many colors can be created with just five simple colors and this I found absolutely fascinating while just playing with paint! Color is something that I have ALWAYS loved.
Painting abstracts may or may not be my calling but I sure have had a time of discovery opening that box and spending time there to find out.
Tell me what new box have you opened during this time
and have you enjoyed it? Will it be sticking around for 2021?
My abstract painting instructor, Rita Wobble challenged us to think of our world in a more simplified manner. I’m talking circles, rectangles, triangles and flat colors. I found it to be an interesting but yet a tall challenge to a realist painter. However, by the middle of the week I realized I was starting to get the hang of it.
The world has so much to offer if we will open our hearts and minds to the love, beauty and kindness of who and what is around us.
Each year I challenge myself to experience time like this as I head to Ireland for an exhibition and a self-designed residency for six to eight weeks. The first time I did this was a very awakening experience; I had decided to spend an additional week in Ireland after traveling with my sisters and mother. As they left for the airport to return to the states and I was alone in our final hotel I all of a sudden realized I had no one but myself to rely on. The feelings were both scary and empowering all at the same time. At the time I knew no one in the entire country that I could have called upon if I had needed help. Once I got past this paralyzing feeling I began to experience the biggest rush of an adventure. Each time I did something I told myself “Look that wasn’t hard and you did it all on your own!”
