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I live this odd imbalance between creative chaos and organization. Granted, these characteristics don’t usually reside together on the same day. I may have several creative chaos days in a row, but then the need to organize kicks in, and the paints get put back into their proper place – sometimes very briefly. It’s a little like waves on the beach – you know they are going to surge forward again. I would say that creative chaos is my most common painting mode these days. Letting go of expectations, even of subjects, I get the canvas covered with colour and see what might arrive. One time sunflowers came to be on the canvas, another time it was horses, ancient ruins a few times, and most recently a rabbit appeared. I am welcoming to most subjects that want to visit my canvas, with the notable exception of spiders. What about you – does your creative mode have a chaotic or organizational emphasis? 

Once you are into visual art, the world will never look the same. It’s never boring! Sitting waiting for an appointment, you notice the negative space shapes between the leaves of that large plant. At the lake, you find yourself studying the patterns of sparkles on waves, or dappled sunlight on a path. You pick up a colourful stone, and want to use those colours in your next painting. Everywhere there are colours and shapes to inspire and make you want to get out that paint brush. Happy painting this weekend! (And thanks for the quote, ArtProMotivate.com)  

  “Some of the greatest works of art and the most important works of peace were created by people who had no need for the limelight. They knew that what they were doing was their call, and they did it with great patience, perseverance, and love.” Henri Nouwen 

Because it made me laugh… here’s the link: The “Make Everything OK” Button and once you are on that page, click the button to see what happens. 

Starting the week off with a link to a great article by Skinny Artist. I love what he has to say about quantity versus quality. Take a moment to read, you just may be in for a surprise! Here’s the link: “Creating the Artist, Not the Art“. 

It’s Friday, and maybe this weekend you have time for some art reading. I found the brief paragraphs about each of the featured artists interesting and informative. Here’s the link to the article – by G. Fernandez in “theartwolf.com”  

Yesterday’s blog post talked about life being lived thoughtfully. Today I will take those same points, and apply them to making art. /  1. Think about your strengths. What aspects of art do you do particularly well? Set aside time to practice and concentrate on your strengths so that they really shine. /  2. Think about your weaknesses. Trying to improve in these areas is a good plan, but also be aware that you can likely create art that minimizes the impact of your weaknesses. For example: if line work is not your strength, concentrate on making paintings that are filled with dynamic shapes and colours. /  3. Think about art that you really admire. Identify as precisely as you can what aspects of that art you love, and then apply this learning to your own work. We all stand on the shoulders of the great creative minds that have gone before us. /  4. Expose yourself to a variety of art. This can happen at galleries, art clubs, in books, online, or in art class. Learn to appreciate diverse approaches to art that are different than your own. /  5. Put in your alone time. Nothing can replace the time you put in practicing your art. In the case of painters, that would mean time alone painting. It makes no difference if you are working in a fancy studio or on a card table in the corner of your bedroom – practice lots. You need to create a lot of art to have a hope of creating some truly great art eventually. Even the greats were beginners once. /  I hope that this list will encourage you on your artistic journey. Your comments are welcome. What would you add  to this list that I have missed? 

Life happens fast. Really fast. And it seems that the older you get, the faster time goes. How do we respond to that? For those who want some measure of contentment at the end of each day, part of the answer is to live thoughtfully. What does that look like – the thoughtful life? Here are some things that I would put on that list: 1. Think about your strengths. Figure out where you need to be to use your strengths to be of the most benefit – for yourself and for others. Work on making your strengths even stronger. Work on blessing more people because we don’t go through this life as an island. The old Simon and Garfunkel song had that one wrong. /  2. Think about your weaknesses. How much do they hold you back? If not at all, perhaps they don’t matter. But if they are holding you back from being the best you can be, then you need to think about working on overcoming. Be courageous, even if it’s in baby steps. Think about what those baby steps would look like. /  3. Think about those you admire who touch your life, and why you admire them. Encourage them. Do you want to learn to be more like them? /  4. Connect with those who have very different views and ways than your own. Listen to and respect them. It’s too easy to connect only with those who think the same. Make your life richer by seeing that there are many diverse ways of journeying through this world. /  5. This one is so essential. If you can only remember one out of this list, pick this one because the others are not likely to happen without it. Regularly seek the silence. In our world every minute can be filled with texts and emails, entertainment, work, and constant mind numbing input. How will you find time to think about your life unless you make a very intentional effort to do so? /  More and more I am convinced that if we don’t think hard about our life, time will run us over with all the subtlety of a windshield meeting a bug. For myself, as I struggle to apply the above points in my own life, I have found 2 actions particularly helpful – reading and praying. I highly recommend both. In tomorrow’s blog, I’ll look at how these 5 points can be applied to creating art as well. What do you think? What have I missed about living thoughtfully that you would add to this list? Your comments are most welcome.