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Posts from the ‘Thanks’ Category

By Your Side at Christmastime

By Your Side, acrylic on canvas, 24 x24. Available at Portland Art Gallery, Middle Street, Portland, Maine.

As I prepare for Christmas, I always feel so grateful for the special people I have come to know as friends and family. As a young person and as an adult, I had no idea that an individual person could enrich my life as much as they have. From helping me find my way in art, to showing me how to have fun with whipped cream fights in the kitchen, to demonstrating how to let things fall as they may and be ok with the unpredictable outcome. Each one of you has helped me in a small or large way making it possible for me to feel that you have been a gift of Christmas past, present and future. Hope you feel the love of being or giving a gift this Christmas.

Lesson learned: Share your gift.

2023 Calendar now on sale at Kennedy Gallery in Portsmouth NH. Click link for info.

Adapting to Offkilterness

One At A Time, acrylic on panel, 18×18. Available at Portland Art Gallery, Maine.

We all share a common sense of confusion and offkilterness in 2020. So many aspects of our lives have been jolted into an unsettled sense of being. We fix one thing and another thing jumps up like a whack-a-mole game but it’s truly no game at all. It’s exhausting. And discouraging. And without a way to bring back a sense of calm and peace, it will continue on through the fall and into 2021.

I’m addressing this ongoing problem in a few different ways.

  1. Being sure I am prioritizing listening to people who are positive influences–not pollyannas or debbydowners, but realists who seem to have found a way to manage these unsettled times.
  2. Taking a hard look at my commitments and removing those that are causing more stress than they are worth.
  3. Refocusing my efforts in practical matters that are key to my successes as an artist. Going deeper into the items that will benefit from my complete uninterrupted attention.
  4. Doing small things that matter for people I love.
  5. Reining in the scattered interests that take time away from my core interests and values.
  6. Finding time to be ok with doing nothing but thinking about how blessed and grateful I am and will be in the future.

Good luck as you find your balance again.

Lesson learned: I could have done all this without a pandemic.

Thankfulness Never Ends

19984 In The Evening by the Moonlight 4x4 wc

At these times it’s always important to take a few moments to appreciate all we have in life. The people and things that bring us joy, the conversations and interactions with our most loved, the feelings that let us know we matter and are loved. I wish you all a Thanksgiving filled with gratitude for being able to live a life we’ve chosen. Be sure to tell the ones you’re most thankful for that they are just that. Enjoy your Thanksgiving.

Lesson learned: Saying thank you always matters. 

Grateful for Quiet

What a year it has been. A combination of difficult and easy times. Of stressful  and relaxing ones. Which when looked at altogether make up a life that I am grateful for– plenty of family, friends, new acquaintances, and old friends saying hello. Also now apparent are the later life stages now arriving for my senior parents as we accept the inevitable and help them through. I know many of you have been through these same difficulties and have learned to accept the good with the bad. I and my siblings will be doing the same in 2019. I will be putting more time toward resolving some issues surrounding family but will never be but a few steps away from my peaceful place, at home with close family, or in the quiet of my studio.

Thank you all for following my journey in art and I hope you’ll be there as I begin anew in 2019.

Lesson learned: Things always come to pass.

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