Close up of the journal cover
Watercolour base,
black and white xeroxes, painted
cut out images,watercolour crayons
gold sign maker's plastic (one of
my all time favourite things).
Watercolour base,
black and white xeroxes, painted
cut out images,watercolour crayons
gold sign maker's plastic (one of
my all time favourite things).
This was the cover of a journal I did
for a course called Art Bypass in
2007 to help people get making art
again after a period of not being able to.
I like it because that's my Mom and Dad
in love, and they even have halos.
If they believed in heaven, I hope they
are together. Tonight this functions
as a birthday card for my Dad's Birthday.
My class tonight wrote about worry, and I realized
that I worry about so many things -- the state of
the world, the cast on my arm for the next two months,
the lady across from me at the hospital who had to
wait all day for her appointment, because she couldn't
drive or take public transit and her daughter dropped
her off at 8 a.m.
But here's the thing -- I don't know if this was always
true, but it is now -- I am blessed with a happy nature.
I love my life. My husband went with me this morning
to get the new cast on my arm (broken wrist), and he
was kind and supportive and funny! I love funny.
My family are calling to see if they can help, and they're also
so kind and funny. So I think I am lucky to have fun
almost every day -- and you are part of that reason. You
have supported me, made me laugh, taught me more about
painting, plus helped me understand serious issues. So I finish
off this Month of Love extremely grateful for my friends
and family, and despite the setback of a broken wrist,
so majorly in love with my life and the astounding people
who populate it.
Shout out to my father today -- it is his birthday. Thank you
Dad, for giving me an artistic eye. It has been so useful.
And thank you for being a great writer. OMG Daddy -- your
letters still floor me when I come upon one of them. I'm
sorry you had to leave the planet early, and miss some of
the people who would have loved you so much.
Have a loving the world day.
8 comments:
Thank you for a month of sharing your love - yourself, your paintings, your blog. You are a joy and inspiration, even a broken wrist doesn’t slow you down. I look for your bright light on the horizon when days are long and tiresome. Keep painting, teaching and feeding our souls. Hugs!
This is a very beautiful blog post Barbara. Happy birthday to your late dad! How cool that you still have some of his letters, that you can read his thoughts still. Words are living things, aren't they. Like magic: squiggles on paper that can transport us to other times, places, worlds.
I'm glad you can get a cast on your wrist and it's "free" - of course, paid by taxes but what a great thing.
I hope that lady who had to wait all day got good care.
xoxoxoxo
Verna
Thank you so much Louise,
You touched my heart. I miss seeing you across the street, and I'll say the same about your
wonderful posts. What lovely photos. One of these days we will have to find
our way to your new home! Miss you.
XOXOXOXO Barbara
Hi Verna,
It is so cool that I can find my father's letters when I'm sorting through my stash of
family letters. Yes words matter. Your words and your art mean the world
to me.
Funny when I was getting the cast, I didn't even think about the fact that it's
free. True. What a great thing! Thanks for your super art, and posts.
XOXOXOXOXO Barbara
I agree, Barbara, this is a beautiful post! You are such a good writer - if you haven't done so already, I think you should attempt to write a book! And as always I also admire your energy and stamina which are so inspiring. On my regular visits to my mum I would spend most of our time together reading old letters to her which she loved, which we both loved! She had boxes full of them. It was heartwarming to witness the deep love between my parents expressed in their writing and brought tears to my eyes more than once.
I hope you don't have to suffer too much with your broken wrist and send you best wishes for a complete recover! Lots of love to you, Liza xxxx
I love this post- you are a joyous person. A good way to be, really. I could see that was your nature, right from the very early days when I first discovered your art but didn't yet know you.
Take care of your broken wing.
XOXO Nicki
Hi Liza,
Thank you so much. You are more than kind. Right now writing is a bit of a thing, just
like everything else that requires two hands. But I don't have any ambition to write
a book. It was my life long dream to have a column in a newspaper, and now blogging
and Facebook make that a daily possibility. It's the art I want to get better at. I wish
we had found letters between my parents after my mother died. My father had really
cleaned up his things before he died, and aside from his paintings, which I loved, there
was not much. My brother sold most of his paintings in an auction at a starting price
of a dollar. But that's another story. I have one of the best of them, and marvel at
it every day. And I have the letters to me, which are amazing. So far I am muddling
through with the wrist. It makes me appreciate all that I normally do with two hands!
Thank you so much for your good wishes. I love every one of your gorgeous paintings.
XOXOXOXOXO Barbara
Hi Nicki,
Thank you so much! Your art is definitely joyous, and it was such a pleasure to
meet you and put a face to that amazing work. I was lucky to have good therapy,
and to teach a course on positive psych for 10 years. That course gave me and
the people I taught so many tools for figuring out how to be happy!
Love your work so much!
XOXOXOXOXO Barbara
Post a Comment