So I’ve noticed a lot of my friends lately contemplating great change in their lives. I’m stirred with great compassion for them as they reach outward from the bounds of the constraints they perceive in their lives. I don’t believe there is any real constraint… any real box aside from that which we make with our own minds. Sometimes you just have to jump and have faith that there is a net or a parachute…

Of course that’s easy for me to say after I’ve done it… maybe? It’s not that I don’t still have financial concerns. It’s not that the money always flows easily and I have no stress…
But I don’t have much stress… I have considerably less stress than I did when I had a steady and predictable income. I have much more happiness in my life since I left the professional job. I’m healthier physically, mentally, and emotionally.

I suggest that the leap is more stressful before the fact than afterwards. Of course do all your research and make a good plan. I don’t advocate irresponsible behavior, but I do advocate getting out of the boxes in your mind.

Haiku Flower: Reach
Acrylic on plywood
about 8.5″x11″
Mounted to hang without a need for frame.
Can be purchased here.

The turning of the season… I had my little one in the spring… when there were days cold enough to bundle her up in my shirt. We sweated together stickily through the summer with no air conditioning. Now it is cool again and we snuggle in blankies together in the evenings.
People tell me that having a baby changes your life, but I don’t really feel it. If I’m more productive, is it because of her or just the tides of life changing me?  It is wonderful to wake up in the morning and know what needs to be done… to feel at peace, unhurried, unworried. I don’t think she did that to me. She’s just a part of the changing nature of life.
It is kind of marvelous as the years seem to speed up for me, she comes into my days and shows me how long the days are at the same time. She has had so few of them compared to me. Time is a wonderfully funny thing.
So I’m seeing my work differently again and have come to like this one again from my archive… I think I’ll make some prints of this and paint in some color. I hope I can get around to that today although I have some errands to do before I can play…

 

Seeing Fractured Fish
Pen on watercolor paper
8″x10″

So yesterday, Seren and I went to the gallery to hang my show for Friday. We got most of the work done. It felt like a great success because I had some heavy paintings and a little baby and bad parking options… But I used a baby carrier and got a little help from a friend on site so it all went pretty smoothly.  I still have a bit of work to do before Friday, but it’s looking good so far.
To celebrate, I painted something that I just like for me…

I broke the second line, but it’s a haiku still…

I like this painting. It makes me happy.

And this – one of my old personal favorites that I’ve never shared publicly before. It’s all pen and ink – little dots. These take ages to do and are hard on the wrist, but when I was pulling out the old masks (done in the same style), I found this and loved it again.  8″x10″ on watercolor paper

And a detail of the eggtree

I’ve spent too much time self-censoring and didn’t even realize I was doing it until this morning. I love moments like that…

Onward and upward
*