Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Focus on the positive

It has been a truly strange month for me. I won't go into all the negative details but it seems to be one thing after another. So I decided that on my blog I will only focus on the positive... so here are some positive things that have happened to me since my last post. I had an article published in Today's Creative HomeArts magazine. I even got paid for it! Very exciting in my little world. I have two newly renovated bathrooms in my house and some awesome built-in cabinets in my dining room. Love the new look, not so much the process, it was worth every minute of renovations. I had so much fun choosing fixtures, lights, and paint. Still not done with the accessories but I'm savoring the experience of decorating these two rooms. I have made several ATCs using new techniques I learned online and in some great books I recently bought. One new technique was really cool and completely on accident, I thought I was using water on tissue paper and it was rubbing alcohol instead. Came out great though. I even did a collage journal for my trip to the beach last week. Oh and my daughter and I went to this great art store in Manteo NC. I went to do fused glass and did a mosaic and made silver jewelry with silver clay instead. Two really great experiences and time spent with my twelve year old. We plan to go again. Here is the website to check out, if you are headed that way. http://www.artglassnfire.com/

I'm rereading a book I read awhile ago called The Nine Modern Day Muses (and a Bodyguard) by Jill Badonsky, M. Ed. Great read, really gets me thinking. What I find really interesting is that I enjoyed it before but this time the meaning is really hitting me and I feel I'm getting so much more out of it. I think some of my recent experiences have affected me more deeply than I thought. I am empowering myself and feel more comfortable calling myself an artist. There is art in every expression and though I may not paint like DaVinci, my ideas and expressions are just as valid. I find it easier each day to let go of my hesitations. I feel that I am finally on the journey that will lead me to myself.

So although July has been Murphy's Law incarnated...I still feel good about where I am.