Inspiration, but No Time

Lately I've had no time to paint, and very little time to blog. My heart feels as if it will break if I do not smell paint and canvas soon.


I am fortunate because I never lack for ideas, I have notebooks filled with sketches. Inspiration is not my problem, time is my problem. Or the lack of it. Corporate jobs leave precious little time for life. I dream of a life where I can spend my days painting instead of taking part in madness. Ahh, but this is not to be a diatribe about the American workplace. This is to be a post about inspiration.


I adore paintings. I love seeing what people are compelled to paint. And I adore seeing paintings in piles and in process. Here are some flickr finds, I find comforting. If I close my eyes and concentrate on these images, I can almost smell the paint.




Flickr user ginatolentino. Gina is a very talented artist. Seeing her process is a vicarious pleasure, when I have no time. I can look at her process, and imagine my own. Aren't these marvelous? She even titled the top image, Evolution of a Painting. I am always interested in watching a painting evolve, and my paintings often evolve over time as I wrote about here.

I adore studio shots! Flickr user ATLITW, another very fine artist. How inviting this picture is. This studio makes me want to create, just like a studio should. I dream of moving to a bigger place where I can have my own studio. Perhaps that would give me more time to create if I had space. P.S. - I adore that painted branch! I've been wanting to spray paint branches for a long time.

Flickr user Amber218_18. It is not clear to me if this user is the artist of these works. Whoever the artist is, these are gorgeous. These fall into the category, "wish I'd painted that." I absolutely adore the colors and the organic nature of these paintings.

I hope I can show you some of my own paintings again soon. When I finally get to put brush to canvas I imagine it will be an explosion. That will be a day of joy, time will stand still. Soon, I must make time for this soon. Hopefully this weekend.

Today was a good day......

This is what my living area looked like when I woke up on Saturday. Cute, but too heavy and dark. I do adore the look of these pillows, even if I am guilty of over-pillowfication. My week was stressful, chaotic and accelerated. The week melted as I remembered - I'm going to see my family today! My baby brother, my sister-in-law (aka SNL) and my nephews. I've said it a million times - my nephews are the coolest!

Feel like lightening up. Must clean quickly, like to come home to beauty. I put on the coffee pot and music and sang as I cleaned. All week I've been thinking about yellow. Even made sketches for yellow paintings. But I changed my mind, I am passionately in love with white and I want the place to look light and airy. Orange and pink are running a close tie for second. Spring, your arrival is much anticipated!  I don't want to spend money, so I went to my closet.  I put the dark rug and pillows away.  I pulled a out a few lighter things.  Maybe add some turquoise?

I thought I was going to add yellow, like the objects from a vintage store I wrote about here. But I am still loving orange. Love it with pink. But also love it with blue.

A quick clean (floors not washed - so don't look too closely) left my apartment looking like this. I'll probably change it tomorrow, but it will be pleasant to come home to late tonight.

If I owned this place I would paint the floor white, I would love to feel like I am living on a cloud. I know the rug is too small, but I'm thinking of piecing a few of these together. A large one is totally out of the budget, and I need to be able to throw them in the washing machine. Finding that vinyl pillow in the closet was like a new discovery. It's totally cool.

It will be pleasant sleeping in tomorrow. I love contemplating the shapes and forms of the vases while lying in bed.  I packed my bag. Think it will be Alanis making the trip with me. Moby went last time.

Doesn't my new Julie West pin look cute on my bag? This is now my weekend bag - it's too casual for my new job. There's a pocket my camera fits in perfectly.


I have gifts for my nephews! Just tokens, but it's been a long time since I could afford gifts.

GP loves jazz! I was so excited to find this Billy Holiday double album set at Half Price Books. GP has a really cute record player.

SNL said she got it at Target for $30.00. I love it! It has built in speakers and sounds exactly the way a teenager's record player should! I can't wait to share some of my favorites with him. I explained to GP that somethings are meant to be played on vinyl. Ms. Holiday is one of them. The vinyl adds to the raw ambiance of an art form being created. Of course, I was merely reminding him of something he already knew intuitively.

SNL and I had some quality girl-time together. We went to Pier 1. Even though I am mad at them for discontinuing their online store, it was like heaven to be in Pier 1, I hadn't been there in so long. SNL and I agreed that I could not live without this bowl:

A couple years ago I sold a large Italian bowl, and it is one of the only sales I regret. This bowl eases that sting. I was really trying not to spend money - but - I mean look at it. It's totally gorgeous, and totally my style. Not bad at $18.00. And SNL said she was buying dinner! Here's what I resisted: martini glasses, a flowered cup. Rubber duckies in various colors that lit up - man that was a tough one, I feel noble. Fabric placemats, and gorgeous embroidered pillows that reminded me of Kim. This one, in particular, tempted me greatly.

While waiting for our food, I communed with a fish and the Buddha. I felt ashamed that I am not a vegetarian. Hey, every one's got some hypocrisy, right?

Had a great time with my nephews. They are a never-ending source of joy and inspiration. And they are animal lovers too! What could be better? My baby brother's family have the sweetest cat in the world, a hedgehog, a gerbil, a tree toad, a turtle and fish, if I am remembering correctly! Recently they rescued baby raccoons and gave them to a reserve who trains saved animals to go back into the wild. This is the kind of people they are.

A baby ferret recently joined their family. He is too entertaining! You don't need TV with a ferret around. He tried to fit his entire body in my shoe and tried to drag it away. Hilarious!




Yep. It was a good day.

Bored Today

I'm sure all artists go through the dreaded melancholy day. I suppose it's best to just allow it since fighting is usually futile. It eventually passes. Today I just couldn't shake the repressiveness of my brain. The ogres from the land of "you're-not-good-enough" invaded. At first I had to force myself to move, and I could only manage a snail's pace. I berated myself for not feeling grateful and I wondered why everyone seems to function better than me. I wish I were numb, I wish I were a robot.


Nature proves her superiority again. As if there was ever a question. I'm obviously not going any where today, thank God I bought groceries yesterday.

Guess I'll clean my apartment. I suspect North America has a lot of clean apartments this Monday. I could hear everyone in my building cleaning, and try to get a washing machine - forget about it!

What music to motivate me? Alanis Morissette is the ticket.

Image from Amazon. Isn't this album cover beautiful? I found myself in awe of Alanis' strength while listening to "you owe me nothing in return." She courageously sings words of unconditional love. This song touched me deeply, I wondered if I have ever loved a man. Certainly never enough.

I decided to rearrange the furniture. Might as well clean the floors while I'm at it. After all, I'm not going anywhere today.

There is something beautiful to me about an empty room. I sat and stared at this room for a little while. Love the emptiness combined with Alanis' words. I sipped my Colombian coffee and adored the light. I couldn't deny the beauty of the snow. Time to slow down. So I just let myself move slowly. Add to list of stuff to procrastinate about: finish patching and painting wall.


Here's what my apartment looks like after cleaning and rearranging. For today:

This is a curtain I bought from Target to experiment with. Such beautiful fabric.


I rearranged my pottery. Note the new vintage Italian piece in the middle. I adore it. Not usually my style, but the more I look at it the more I love it. I think it is inspiring my new look that I am planning for Spring.







Living room. Not happy with this, looking shabby. I'm contemplating a whole new direction for Spring.

My pierced porcelain tea light holders. I love the look of these, they have a Moroccan feel to them, and will fit in well in my new scheme for Spring.

I doodled a little.

And procrastinated a lot.

I didn't get my laundry done. But I did take out a lot of dirt. Where does it come from?

I put my fortunes in a pink bowl. And received words of encouragement from the cosmos.

I need a vacation.

Artwork that Haunts

Last week is a blur to me. It snowed a lot and I was so busy I had no time to blog. Every day I sat in training with wet feet and hair. I did my best to pay attention to the nuances of software that doesn't make sense to me, but images haunted me. I wish I worked in a gallery.

At lunch time I gripped my copy of Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke. I thought about surrender. Apparently, I am where God intends me to be. My life would be easier if I could stop kicking and screaming.

And I can curate online. Here are the images that are currently haunting me.


Ohm. Groovy mudra. This piece is by Eric Feng, more commonly known as Feric. A visit to his website is a surreal delight, almost like traveling to another time. Feric has an amazing brain. This is someone I would love to meet. His images are are once technological and spiritual. They definitely give me pause. I wish I could fly.

Here is the Dunny formerly available from KidRobot designed by Feric. Many great artists design vinyl toys. I wish this toy were in my collection. Image from flickr user prOdis.

Julie West. Her images are sublime.

She also designs toys. I ordered these Kanzia clusters designed by her. I can't wait until they arrive! I have the perfect place of prominence in my apartment for these pieces of art.

This beautiful lady by Ernesto Caivano looks like she can fly.

What do these works of art have in common? While they are aesthetically pleasing, they are so much more than that. The work of these artists combine primitive and futuristic elements that renders contemplation of the work a meditation. There is a softness, an almost wistfulness to these pieces. These pieces all seem to exhibit a yearning for a better world. Or is that just me projecting my subjectivity? In any event, these are all pieces I would like to own.

Contemplating the work of these artists helped me survive my mundane reality. I believe that when a work haunts, it is a remarkable achievement.

A walk on the beach

Today was a good day. I decided to go for a walk in the park. It was not that cold, about 38 degrees Fahrenheit, with very little wind. Seemed warm compared to the weather we have had lately. In just a few short weeks everything will be green. I took my camera with me, and I wanted to click everything I saw. It is amazing to me that even in the most desolate of conditions in nature, the human presence is always evident. I found myself interested in the juxtaposition of nature and detritus. Here are a few of the things I saw.

The frozen lake.

A Danish sculpture. In the summer there will be children climbing all over it.

So much dormant vegetation peaking through the snow. Though this piece seems gentle, this little twig had to be tenacious to have survived in tact the brutal weather we have had.

Strange sticker on a pole. Interesting colors, seems to depict aliens.

Humans feel a need to leave their mark.

Frozen lake. I really wanted to walk on it, but I wasn't brave (or foolish) enough.

There was so much driftwood on the beach. Among the seemingly random driftwood was this deliberately placed bird house. Who put it here, and why? Is it made of driftwood?

The lake was completely still.

I saw many pieces of driftwood that had markings that looked like inscription.

Symbols abound.

I felt the need to leave a message behind.

The driftwood was endlessly fascinating. This one did not seem indigenous. It seemed almost like bamboo, and was completely unique in its shape.

The ubiquitous human detritus.

Tomorrow I start a new chapter in my life, so for today I am very grateful to feel peaceful.