Letting Things Go Allows Us to Bloom

I have been thinking a lot lately about how few things I really need and have been doing a rather huge purge...the kitchen, closet, etc. My heart has been particularly filled by giving away my older works of art that had never found their perfect home...and now they have. (Love my neighborhood Buy Nothing group!!)

"Letting Things Go Allows Us to Bloom"

Mixed Media

16"x12" on Canvas Paper

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

Out of My Comfort Zone

Out of my comfort zone...I think that's what creativity is for me these days. I tiny side step here and there, testing the waters, trying things on for size, being comfortable with being uncomfortable, and learning from all of it.

"Out of My Comfort Zone"

Mixed Media

Original available for $55.

16"x12" on wqatercolor paper

Prints available on request.

(Printed image may be slightly cropped for printing purposes.)

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

Scream Silently

There is a roller coaster in China that is open for riders but the riders are not allowed to scream due to corona. Where does the fear, excitement, and dread go, I wonder, when the screams are withheld?

These days I feel like teachers, families, and districts are being forced to ride a national and state government roller coaster. We, however, shall not scream silently.

"Scream Silently"

Mixed Media

Original available for $85.

16"x12" on canvas paper

Prints available on request.

(Printed image may be slightly cropped for printing purposes.)

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

risky...maybe

I've never been what I consider to be a risk taker. I sometimes do things that others might consider to be brave or even commendable, but as far as actual risk goes, I'm not really a fan. I've never been more aware of this trait of mine than I am during this pandemic. My bubble during this time is my husband, our dog, two cats, and Phyllis, our chicken. We order our groceries, Zoom with family and friends, and hang out within the lines of our property. Pretty much all the time. For months now. This is my comfortable risk level.

Over time I've had to come to terms with the fact that everyone is not, in fact, like me. For others a widened bubble of family and friends is their comfortable risk level. For some backyard pool parties is their comfortable risk level. And for some going places without a mask is their comfortable risk level. Aside from that last one, and maybe a the one before the last one, if I'm really being honest, I'm having to become OK with what others choose to do.

Non risk taking and rule following me is doing her best to breathe through all the decisions I cannot control. Deep breath in...deep breath out.

"risky...maybe"

Mixed Media

Original available for $85.

16"x12" on watercolor paper

Prints available on request.

(Printed image may be slightly cropped for printing purposes.)

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

hold me

In my sixteen years of teaching I have never had a first day of school (or any day, really) when every student just walked right in, happy to say "good bye" to their parents, and smoothly joined their peers in learning and play. Very few of my students do this. Many of my students need (and deserve) to be hugged and held through this transition that is such a leap into the great unknown for them. I've hugged and held students at drop off for days, weeks, and sometimes months until they adjusted, hugging and holding three, four, and five year old children who do not fully comprehend this transition or just simply want their mom and dad. And while hugging one child others invariably come over to join the hug. I've had parents have to enter my classroom while still holding their children and in a tangle of arms, mine, the parent's, and the child's, I take over the comforting of these children as their parents make an exit and I give them a friendly look over their child's shoulder or wave, reassuring them that their child will be OK. This is something I've embraced as part of my job.

This school year my students will be being dropped off with a shielded and masked teacher that they may or may not recognize (even though I will be doing a Zoom meetings with them before school starts showing myself putting all of my PPE on). They will have just been through whatever screening protocols the district decides upon and gone through some process of getting to my room. Being upset by this transition is to be expected and understandable. In the current crisis requiring distance, how can I comfort my students and keep them and myself safe. How can I lean in and be part of a tangle of arms? How can I reassure parents that it's going to be OK?  It's possible that some of my students may be able to wear a mask, but it will likely be beyond many of their comprehension, tolerance, and ability to do so for an entire school day, and probably won't be required by the district anyway.

So much to think about and this is just the first five or so minutes of each school day.

"hold me"

Mixed Media

Original available for $85.

16"x12" on watercolor paper

Prints available on request.

(Printed image may be slightly cropped for printing purposes.)

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

i'm mostly ok

This sweet owl emerged from a writing prompt I did during an Art Spark Texas meeting. The very first layer of this painting is a letter I wrote to young me about how something about me then was going to be a superpower for me during COVID times. So I wrote a letter to young Kali, who loved to hang out on her roof behind the chimney where no one could see her, and how good she was at being in her own company. Back then I'd bring dolls, art supplies, books and more up on the roof and entertain myself in the shadow of the chimney as long as the sun allowed. I was OK then, mostly. And I'm mostly OK, now, too.

"i'm mostly ok"

Mixed Media

Original available for $85.

16"x12" on watercolor paper

Prints available on request.

(Printed image may be slightly cropped for printing purposes.)

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

play with me

As an Early Childhood Special Education teacher, teaching children social skills, how to work, solve problems, and play together are among my primary and favorite objectives. We teach, and children learn, through play. This coming school year instead of teaching my three, four, and five year old students with disabilities how to play and socialize together I will be put in the position of teaching them how to stay apart...distanced. How harmful will it be to the children in our society to be taught to suffocate that internal urge to be with, beside, and among their peers? How harmful will it be to be taught that when they want to empathize with a friend who is sad or hurt that they must stay away? How harmful will it be to be taught that when they want to play that they must sit away from friends and only play with their own set of toys? In person teaching before we can safely be in close proximity has dangers far beyond contracting the virus.

Mixed Media

Original available for $85.

16"x12" on watercolor paper

Prints available on request.

(Printed image may be slightly cropped for printing purposes.)

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

A Girl Can Dream

This is my second piece from Jenny Doh's class. 

I started looking for a quote to go with this painting but my mind is occupied with thoughts of

wishing we still had Barack Obama as President and Ann Richards as Governor. 

Things would be so different.

"A Girl Can Dream"

Acrylic

16"x12" on canvas paper

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

Recommit to the Work that Remains Undone

With respect and celebration I'd like to pair this quote with a painting I completed today.

"Juneteenth is a time to recommit ourselves to the work that remains undone. 
We remember that even in the darkest hours, there is cause to hope for tomorrow's light."

-President Barack Obama

Mixed Media

Original available for $85.

16"x12" on paper

Prints available on request.

(Printed image may be slightly cropped for printing purposes.)

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

Healing 4

"A cat purring on your lap is more healing than any drug in the world,

as the vibrations you are receiving are of pure love and contentment."

-St. Francis of Assisi

Our sweet old cat, Pug, has wandered off to what we assume to be his final resting place. He was our constant companion for almost all of his 17+ years and it was an honor to accompany him on his life journey. The Pug sized hole in our hearts is filled with beautiful memories of a spectacular friendship.

"Healing 4"

"Pug"

"Healing 4"

Acrylic

Original available here for $35

16"x12" on canvasette

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

Healing 1

"Silence is a place of great power and healing." – Rachel Naomi Remen

"Healing 1"

Mixed Media

Original available here for $35

16"x12" on canvasette

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

Embrace this Moment, this very Moment

"Embrace the amazing potential magic

of today's small everyday moments."

-Zina Harrington

"Embrace this Moment, this very Moment"

Mixed Media

Original available here for $55

16"x12" on canvas

Prints available on request.

(Printed image may be slightly cropped for printing purposes.)

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

Hope

My hope for girls and women of all ages...that they may fulfill their dreams, find happiness, soar to the highest heights, and shine ever so brightly...and that they may do so feeling they can trust in this world of ours.

"Hope"

Original available here for $85.

16"x12" on watercolor paper

Prints available on request.

(Printed image may be slightly cropped for printing purposes.)

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Prints of many of my paintings are available in my Etsy shop. 

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.

I Believe

I believe...

in love

in peace

in friendship

in compassion

in equality

in kindness

...and I believe her.

"I Believe"

Original available here for $55.

16"x12" on watercolor paper

Prints available on request.

(Printed image may be slightly cropped for printing purposes.)

My original paintings are available in my online gallery.

Prints of many of my paintings are available in my Etsy shop. 

Let me know if you're interested in prints of my paintings.

  I welcome commissions.

Please click the links below to share my blog.