A Mindful Life

We had a nontraditional Thanksgiving today. I felt much better; my stomach bug was brief, for which I’m grateful. In addition to making art and wrapping gifts, I made chocolate chip cookies. Dinner was chili with rice. I’ll make a traditional meal this weekend, when my husband feels better and can actually taste food again. [...]

Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse. –Henry Van Dyke

8.5″ x 11″ oil pastel and collage on sketch paper

Give me a museum and I’ll fill it. –Pablo Picasso Well, he certainly was confident! And while I won’t make art daily after AEM ends, I plan to continue filling my own blank wall space. It really does bring satisfaction to see evidence of my own creativity.

It was a book to kill time for those who like it better dead. –Dame Rose Macaulay Hee! I’m a bit of a reading snob, I suppose, because I think serial mysteries and romances fall into this classification. There are actually occasions when such a book is desireable, even a slightly sinful indulgence. My “I [...]

Ugh. Forget the turkey and cranberry sauce. The menu at Casa de Petro Harper features Nyquil and Immodium. My husband has had a nasty cold since Saturday. And I awoke today with a vicious headache which later morphed into intestinal chaos a la the Alien (or nearly). Fortunately the nasties didn’t hit until after I [...]

“Mandala,” 8″ x 8″ colored pen on paper

This morning I had coffee with an acquaintance involved in a non-profit for which I volunteer. I have been passionate about this agency’s mission since discovering and joining them September 2004. I support them with my dollars as well as hours. I’ve admired her work style and enjoyed a growing friendship with her. It had [...]

A different deadline, however. I have just discovered a neat creativity event and signed up. You have until midnight EST on Sunday, November 27 to sign up for Artella’s Mystery Muse Exchange for December 2005. From their website: For Artella’s Mystery Muse 2005, when you sign up as a Mystery Muse, you commit yourself to [...]

I received some feedback that the AEM for November 21 looked like a vagina with the face of a baby being born, and I was asked if that was what I’d had in mind. The answer: not consciously, no. As I drew, the idea of water and breaking through the surface was present. Water represents [...]