Life can be......

full of possibilities, wonder, joy, love, compassion, peace....All of which I am grateful for and I try to practice being in the moment each day, in order to really feel the potential of all the endless possibilities available in life...In short life really can be anything you want it to be...

"We must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly alive in repose."  ~Gandhi

Etsy Shop Now Open

Check out my NEW ETSY Shop...very exciting for me...I set my heart on a goal that by the end of the summer I would open up my own etsy shop...and I did it...within an hour of posting my first eight items..I sold two. Thanks so much..it is so wonderful to know that there are beautiful souls in the world that support handmade items and that love my work enough to purchase it.

A Smile and Giggle for the Day.....An All Around Warm Feeling

This morning I woke to a wonderful womyn's blog comment, Cristina, whose website on "Positive Thinking" was a breath of fresh air and a gift to her readers...on it I found this gem which I would love to share as it brought me so much joy this morning..thanks so much Cristina for your work in putting together your fabulous website and work on gratitude. 

Matt dancing around the world is a great video to watch..it made me smile from ear to ear and giggle ....and with tears in my eyes I feel another restorative feeling towards humankind...thanks Matt for sharing this venture with the world....what a glorious and transformative healing gift.....See his You Tube video...

Gratitude for the Creatively Divined

Lately I have been practicing the 'art' of gratitude...At the beginning of my day, I explore aspects of my life that I am grateful for...and pay homage to them, giving each blessing attention in my daily journalling...

So what am I grateful for today, here are just a few things I wanted to share: 

...The lie in I had this morning and the slow waking up with a great cup of "Cafe Feminino"....Yummy organic free trade coffee from a great womyn's cooperative in Peru...

I feel blessed to have completed two recent commission pieces within the deadline; and relief at knowing that the one piece delivered was loved as much as I had delighted in the making of it.

The love I feel for Jeff and Maya, my anchors, and how I am so loved back by them daily in so many little ways...

Also, knowing that Maya is SO cherished, protected and nurtured by her grandparents, her Nana and Bubba, that it provides me with the an ease while she is away spending two weeks with them on a summer vacation...though my heart aches for her daily....

I am thrilled to know that I have loving and generous parents..

For the ability to be able to get bills paid and for plenty of great food to nourish our souls, bodies and minds....and for the wonderful friends and family in my life...for their support in  my journey and choices.  Finally not last at all, and definitely not least for the creative muse who guides my creativity daily in the studio...this piece was done for her, called "Divine Intervention".

"Gratitude is the most transformative force in the [universe]" - Sarah Ban Breathnach, The Simple Abundance Companion.

The many faces of love and more!

It has been 4 days without my little one at home, she is now 8  years old, and is off on her annual summer vacation with her Nana and Bubba, up north.  Maya absolutely loves going there every year...she has a great zeal about all the things she will do while there, swimming in the lake, fishing, finding treasures on the surrounding islands, visiting with her many cousins the same age or similar ages to her....I am so blessed that she has this relationship with her grandparents.  I was never able to have this same relationship for many different reasons..one being a very practical one, that being since I am the first generation of immigrants...so my grandparents were not even accessible to me even if they were alive.

As a social worker, I am fully aware that this love and care provided to her from many adults is a great blessing, one that will give Maya a great solid ground to take flight from, into her adulthood....

It still doesn't make the letting go any easier...which leads me to the many thoughts I have had today about the many faces of love, and the many lessons love teaches us...and most of all I am left feeling much gratitude about the blessings I have in my life.  The wonderful daughter that Maya is to us, the wonderful grandparents she has to enrich her life, and to the time that this two week vacation away Maya has, does afford me....Today I was able to wake up slowly, spend two to three hours reading, an hour journalling and feeling blessed with each hour passing for the abundance in my life...the number of possibilities each day brings and the hope with each new morning....Here are a few other newer pieces I have worked on, one of which was inspired by Nina Bagley 's, "Listen" blog entry....which once again reminded me of my Maya when she was only 2 years old...it is amazing how little ones can teach us so much, if we just remain open to these gifts....

Etsy Shop Announcement- Coming AUGUST 15th!

Here are a few pieces of product to be put into my new etsy shop...a few examples, more to come, 

Just wanted to let you know that I will be opening my own Etsy shop by the end of next week, August 15th,  I have been working hard at getting it all set up and working on new product to upload into the shop...This will be a great new way to view my new work and let others know too....if you like something you could even purchase something for yourself and/or someone special in your life...it will be as easy as 1, 2, 3,..... Or as my good friend Leigh says, "Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy!"

There will be a number of items in the shop, from framed original encaustic collage, mixed media work to prints, matted and/or framed, as well as in greeting card format both orignals and prints again...There will also be some original work on thick substrates of wooden blocks, some upcoming other products will include paper doll creations and altered books.

Take a look at some of the first few items here..more to come and will be available by the end of next week, August 15th, in my etsy shop.

Blessings in unexpected places...isn't that the way?

Today I am filled with gratitude for two particularly wonderful things that happened to me....out of that vast world wide web community I was sent two messages from two sister artists...the first from "Melissa Hronkin", an encaustic artist, ..who sent me an email letting me know how she felt about my work and website etc..and I have to admit..it was great to hear...one to know that there are kindreds in the world who create from a place of passion, who understand what it takes to keep at it day in, day out, in an isolated studio, room, and/or a creative sanctuary....sharing on the blog and/or on a website...not knowing if anyone else is reading or seeing your work.  Today was reassuring to see that yes in fact it does work...I am specifically intrigued at the similarities in the work we do and how we express ourselves through the work.

Secondly, getting an email from, another artist and mother, Kelcey, was a heavenly sent blessing...as after spending a whole week with my daughter, Maya and her dear close friend of over 6  years...Allison, I was left wondering if what they experienced was meaningful for them....Intuitively I thought spending days making an altered book - a "Power Me" altered book would be something they would have that would last a lifetime..the memories of the creating, the process not only the outcome...but as I am often a 'doubting soul'...which is something I am working on...I was reassured to hear from Kelcey, the universal delivered angel, that it does make a difference.  

What a lovely way to close off the day and be filled with gratitude for having heavenly messages sent my way from two unknown soul sisters...artistic  soul sisters and mother.

Thank you!