Catbird Mimics Dog Barking

We have a resident Catbird and I have loved listening to his varied whistles, songs, warbles and other strange calls. Yesterday I even heard him mimicking the dogs barking! At first I thought it was the neighbors dog, then I went out on the deck and realized it was the Catbird....truly amazing how much he sounded like the little Bichon next door! I wish I had gotten a video of the call, I did get some photos at least.

New Work

Yesterday I was determined to do something....anything.... in the studio but I still have no energy so I went in tore a scrap of paper and started pouring paint on it. I sprayed it with water and pushed the paint around with my breath through a straw and voila a new painting that my husband says looks like wild horses. As much as I feel blessed to be able to do digital paintings during relapses it was incredibly satisfying to put real paint on paper and move it around!!! Yay!

After the Rain (Or as my Hubby calls it, Wild Horses) 

Acrylic and dye on paper

This morning I played around with a couple of my photos in Photoshop

 Sweetness of Summer

Yesteryear

Hanging by a Thread

Lots of stuff hanging by a thread theses days. We are still trying to pull this real estate deal together but it has gotten very complicated. We need to head up to the property with an engineer and excavator to see if we can do another round of perc tests with hopefully better results. We met a couple of the neighbors that were so friendly and helpful and seemed like a people we would really enjoy a friendship with. The other challenge is that the new medication has not produced the hoped for change so I need to go in for another ultrasound and possibly a surgical procedure. Then there are the multitude of other mundane challenges that most of us face in our lives.

 All of it leads up to a lot of stress and I find I am constantly needing to pull my mind back into a state of meditative concentration to keep the "monkey mind" at bay. Using the words  "I Am That, I Am", as taught in the Moses Code and Wishes Fulfilled, I draw my mind back over and over again, away from the imagined fears, worries and dreamt up disasters to a state of balance and oneness with God. It brings me to the place where there is no illness, pain or stress. Just a peaceful sense of being at one with all that is. For the brief moments that I am able to enter into this state it is easy to feel loved by the Divine, to let go of results and it becomes easy to send that love out into the world to everyone, even those presenting you with challenges.

Ascending to Nirvana

Painting Prayers

I have had a few extremely challenging health days. It feels like forever since I have been able to be in my actual studio painting on silk and it is so easy to fall into a state of discouragement when I feel so lousy and my energy is so low.  My heart is filled with gratitude that I am able to do these digital paintings when I am in these relapses. They feel a bit like prayers, expressions of hope and faith that God will once again deliver me to a state of better health. 

"Attunement"

At a distance you only see my Light ,

come closer and know that I am You. ~Rumi

"Luminescence" 

We are surrounded by the forms
of a formless creator.
Enough with these forms!
Let us go to the Formless One. ~Rumi

New iPad Paintings

We are knee deep in the process of selling our house and looking for a house or land to buy so life has been a bit chaotic. This chaos has kept me out of the studio but I am eternally grateful for the ability to create paintings on my iPad at times like this. Creating art is such a great stress reliever and this life change has indeed been stressful. Not having the energy lately to drag out all my dyes or paints it is so nice to sit with my iPad in the evening and to paint with no worries about washing brushes or cleaning up. The app I use the most for painting is Sketchbook Pro. It is my absolute favorite!

 "Attaining Balance"

Love is the song of the soul singing to God. 
It is the balanced rhythmic dance of planets - sun and moon lit. 
~Paramahansa Yogananda

 "Walk in the Woods"

May you be peaceful, light & happy in body & in mind. 

May you be free and safe from accidents.

May you be free from anger, unwholesome states of mind & worries.

~Thich Nhat Hanh