I made it to the group painting session at Anita's ArtsCool today and it was a total blast. I enjoyed meeting the other artists and watching their process as I was going through mine. Just getting out the door was an adventure and I went through the house like a mad woman getting my stuff together, leaving drawers open and items out that should have been put away but I was in a tear to leave and I had worked until past the "very last" moment before leaving. I always seem to believe a minute has more than 60 seconds or that an hour is longer than it really is because I am always "just a minute or two" late for EVERYTHING. Story of my life.
I got up at 5:00am and started my morning meditations and then my brother called so I talked to him for a while. Back to my morning meditations and when I finished around 8:00am, I came in and started working on my flyers again. I had made two, one for the Artist's Way workshop and another for the other three workshops I am planning. After doing some printing, I decided it would be more cost effective to put all of the workshops on one page instead of two so now it has to be redesigned again. I haven't done that yet. What I spent my time on, for the most part, was a redesign of the order form. I finished that up around 9:50am knowing it would only take me 5 minutes to get to Anita's ArtsCool from my house.
I started getting my stuff together. Pulled a painted canvas out from under the futon to overpaint since I don't have a blank one available. Then, into my drawers for the paints to take with me. I had to completely pull out the bottom drawer of the cabinet I keep my paints in because it's under my work table. I left that drawer laying out on the floor next to my work table. Next, which brushes should I take? Where to put it all? In a grocery bag...nah, too amateurish. Dug through the closet to find my trusty, roomy old black leather briefcase from my consulting days and was happy to find everything fit nicely. It was under a stack of other things that are now laying outside my closet door in a heap. Oh my gosh, forgot that I was planning on coloring my hair this morning while doing my morning meditations (trying to be a multi-tasker just didn't seem to work for me this morning) so I started looking for an appropriate hat to cover my sad-looking hair. On the top shelf of the bookcase I keep in my closet for extra folded clothes is where all my hats are located and wouldn't you know it...the one I wanted was on the bottom of all the other hats so there's also a pile of hats on the floor outside my closet. My room is now a collection of "piles" of "stuff" that needs to be put away.
By now, Wizzie knows something is going on and he's following me around like the puppy dog he is because he's wanting to take a walk but it's raining so I take him out to the front porch and put him on his tether to let him stay outside while I'm gone. He has water and a bed there and he'll be dry and comfortable and can go off the porch to relieve himself if needs to instead of peeing in my house because I was too busy to take him out for a walk as I should have and I wasn't looking forward to piles of stuff AND a wet mess to clean up when I got back home.
Next, I go looking for my IPOD as I love painting to music and find it where it should be, wonder of wonders and threw it in my bag. Then, I grab my stuff and out the door I go and I'm only 10 minutes late. By the time I got there, I was frazzled and 15 minutes late but no one had even started painting yet which was a good thing. Before I got out of the car, I took a moment to go into total relaxation and breathed deeply five times before opening the door and walking in with a big smile on my face and my black cap on my head so no one could see my hair with grey roots showing prominently, canvas under my arm and "professional-looking" briefcase in my other hand filled with paints, brushes, etc. I probably looked like it was something I did every day! No one knew I'd left a trail of destruction in my path just to get there.
Anita introduced me to all of the ladies, who were very friendly and then I found my spot and laid out some newspaper and put down my canvas on a flat surface. I pulled out my IPOD, strapped it on my arm and pressed MENU and nothing happened. So, the battery is dead which means NO MUSIC as usual and I had a brief moment of panic because it is the music infusing my soul that allows the connection between the "oneness" and my canvas. Oh well, I take that as a sign that I wasn't MEANT to listen to my IPOD so that leaves me the opportunity to communicate more with others as I paint. I believe it was Divine intervention that I not cut myself off from everyone else and pull from their energy instead and it worked out beautifullly. Thank you, God!
I SHOULD have used an easel because two hours of bending over the table to paint created a little problem for me that I felt AFTER I left at 1:30pm. I had so much fun there and did a couple more moments of deep breathing and closed my eyes and started letting the energy of the room, the people and the moment seep into my soul so I could create. There was nice background music playing which was a joy to me since my IPOD was dead. Now, all of the artists got busy. Some were using watercolors, some acrylics (like me), some were using oils and one lady was doing a painting on silk. It was a very interesting process and I could easily tell how beautiful it will be when finished.
The painting session was supposed to last from 10:00am-12:00pm but we painted until around 12:30pm and I think I was one of the first to start my cleaning up process so the time is flexible from what I can tell. Afterwards, there was a delightful critique session. One of the local artists who has a rather large following came to oversee the critique and she was set up in a director's chair directly in from of a large easel. We'd all put our work on one of the tables if we wanted a critique and another artist acted as facilitator and put each piece of art on the easel, one at a time in front of the "Director Artist" and then she offered her critique first before the floor was opened to anyone else who may have some suggestions regarding the piece on the easel. By now, there were about 15 artists in the room, all women. Lots of Yin energy in the room and it was lovely.
The critique portion lasted for about an hour and it was very exciting to me to be a part of it all. My painting was well received and it made me feel good to hear other artists say nice things about it and I received one very good suggestion which I will incorporate into my painting next week when I go again. I wasn't too emotionally attached to it and was open to any comments from anyone there as they all certainly know a lot more than I do about this process. I just PAINT for the love of being in "color" and "energy" and I was proud that a fairly good piece came out this morning in such a small amount of time.
I enjoyed myself immensely and was happy I finally got around to going to the sessions. Anita invited me months ago and today is the first day I went and I will go again and often. I look forward to getting to know the ladies better as time goes on and my finances permit me to participate. It was one of those times I couldn't think of anything I would want to be doing more. I want to manifest more opportunities like this for myself and believe the "Universe will provide." If I never went again, I would have such a wonderful memory tucked away inside of that I can pull on that now when I need a "happy thought." (I actually have a very large cache of these type of thoughts!) This was a very talented group of women and I was just happy to be there with them, creating right along with those who were so much better and much more experienced artists than me. I learned that everyone is a little insecure about their work and how it will be received, not just ME! It was an "eureka" moment, for sure.
Afterwards, the artists usually go to lunch together but I didn't want to participate today as I was feeling a bit unsettled about how I'd left everything at home. I stopped at the new Dillard's Bar-b-que and got a rib sandwich to bring home (thank you, Sister!) and eat in peaceful silence. As soon as I walked in I let my Wizzie into the house and he was so happy to see me that it warmed my heart. I swear I love that dog of mine as much as I love any other member of my family and he ALWAYS loves me no matter what I do (like not taking the time to give him a proper walk this morning). I often joke and say that if I knew "then" what I know "now" about having a pet, I'd have gotten a dog instead of getting married! Maybe it's not really a joke? Ah, but then I wouldn't have gotten the three wonderful children and six grandchildren that make my life full and rich.
I sat down at the table and ate my sandwich, giving Wiz the two rib bones which he enjoyed unabashedly. I was happy to share with him. As I was sitting there eating, I felt the stab of pain in my back and thought, uh-oh. Now I'm paying for bending over the table for over two hours while I was painting. Instead of cleaning up the piles and messes I left in my wake this morning, I took two Advil, turned my electric blanket to high, stripped down and crawled into bed thinking I'd have a little nap before tidying up my house. Just as I dozed off the phone rang. It was my daughter Jenny calling to schedule time for next week to talk about her wedding WHICH IS IN THREE WEEKS. I took that call and turned over to snuggle back down and just as I dozed off the phone rang again. It was my daughter-in-law in Denver calling to talk about the plans for the wedding WHICH IS IN THREE WEEKS. Plan? Hell, I don't know. I'm so out of the loop on the planning of this wedding it's like I'm hardly a part of it. That changes NOW! I hung up the phone from her and turned over to go to sleep but my mind was in gear thinking of what I need to do around the wedding.
I've scheduled the time with Jenny and Elliot for Tuesday night. We'll talk about menu's and decorations and logistics. I scheduled time to drive up to the mountains on Saturday to Elliot's Dad's place (a 2-hour drive) so I can see the "lay of the land" and talk to his folks about the "plan." they are getting married on his property which is called "the Briar Patch" and is a beautiful piece of land in the North Georgia mountains between Blue Ridge and Blairsville. We've got to have a "plan" and since I work best under pressure I know that by the end of the evening on Tuesday night, THE PLAN will be in place. I am not going to let myself get crazy around this as I want to enjoy and savor every moment of it as it's the last wedding I'll get to be a part of as a MOM. I still can't believe my baby is getting married nor has it sunk in that she's no longer my baby. My other two children I can relate to as adults but not my baby. I wanted to keep her under my wing for far longer than she was willing. Is it that way for all Mother's?
With my job situation being what it (or isn't) I haven't been able to participate in this wedding as much as I would have liked financially. I'll do what I can do which is help with THE PLAN. I'm grateful that her "other" family (and that's a story for another day) who has offered some financial assistance as it has really helped her make her wedding what she wants it to be. In the midst of all the wedding plans, they are also buying their first home together. What craziness all at once! Two of the most stressful things a person experiences in life and they are doing them both at the same time. Strong, young adults they are and I am impressed by them both. I guess that's one way to only have to be totally crazy once! Fortunately, Elliot's Dad is in a better position than Jen's parents (us) and he's helped them with the house. Her grandmother has helped her with a whopping gift that has helped in ways she doesn't even know and the beautiful dress has been paid for by "the other" Dad! It's all going to work out fine and I'm sure it will be a touching, beautiful, loving event enjoyed and remembered fondly by all of us and THE PLAN will work beautifully.
So, with all of that having been said. I'm leaving the mess, the grey streak in my head and taking two more Advil and going back to bed (turning off the ringer on the phone, too) and see if I can't wake up feeling refreshed and pain free so I can use my evening to pick up behind the Sabra that was in a tear to get out this morning and have one of the most fun times of her life! It was worth it.
Tomorrow night, I'm going to a lecture at the Fox Theatre by Dr. Zahi Hawass, the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities" in Egypt. The lecture is entitled "Mysteries of Tutankhamun Revealed" and promises to be a wonderful evening. I've seen Dr. Hawass on several PBS and Discovery Channel programs and I am delighted to have an opportunity to see him speak in person. The "Treasures of Tutankhamun" exhibit is at the Atlanta Civic Center now and I viewed it and bought my tickets to see Dr. Hawass on the same day. I was a little disappointed in the exhibit only because it wasn't as extensive as the exhibit I was fortunate enough to see about 20 years ago when it was in San Francisco. They were running tours 24 hours a day and my husband and I had tickets for a week night at 1:30am and we were happy to have gotten them. It was an amazing experience and the exhibit included a lot more artifacts and jewelry than the current one in Atlanta.
Originally, Dr. Hawass' lecture was scheduled for the Atlanta Civic Center but because he had an emergency out of the country, it was rescheduled for a week later and changed to the Fox Theatre which delighted me as I love going to the Fox. It's a marvelous relic of days gone past, and an Atlanta landmark. Being there reminds me of one of my first memories of being in Atlanta and realizing it was a whole new world of wonder, far from the fishing village I moved from with a one-room library and no cultural activities AT ALL unless you include charter boat fishing as a cultural activity. We moved to Atlanta when I was 15 and my class took a field trip there to see an Opera (in Italian, no less). At that time, I was just a little hick from a very small town in Florida and Atlanta was a BIG city and the FOX was a cultural experience that opened my eyes to a whole new world. The Fox theatre is a magical place, built in the pre-crash 1920's and it's ornate and gloriously fabulous. I highly recommend seeing it if you're in Atlanta.
Every day is an adventure and something new and wonderful seems to happen for me every day. It's a wonderful world in which we live and there is so much to do and see if we only take the time. It's easy to get wrapped up and bogged down in life's "little messes." but I choose to keep my options open. I know that when I do my morning meditations AS I SHOULD then I can expect a miracle in my day and most days, many more than one miracle will occur for me. I expect a miracle and I'm never disappointed. Ask me about my sister coming by and sharing her love with me this morning in a way that was totally unexpected and totally appreciated. It started my day of miracles. And...it's not over yet! God is good!
I hope you are having a good day and looking for your own miracles. I have no doubt they are there for you. I'm sending a bubble love and light to all. A special bubble goes out to Anita's friend Rosemary who had surgery this morning and I'm lifting her up for a speedy recovery.
It IS a great day to be alive and all is well in my world.
Namaste!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for your comments.