An Artist, Flowers, and a Saint Bernard

When meditating you make a choice to give up the expectation of the outcome of your meditation. You choose to focus on a positive; your breath, a mantra, or an image (something that breathes life into you throughout your mediation. In the midst of your meditation you may get distracted by thoughts, or as I like to think of them as Twinkies. Twinkies have the power to way you down and distract you (they are dead weight). The trick is to acknowledge your Twinkies, step away from those Twinkies and watch them pass by. Bring yourself back to your breath, mantra, or image; and breathe in the life that is all around you.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

“An artist cannot do anything slovenly. ”
- Jane Austen

Dear Hansa Yellow Light,

Without you, my pallet feels naked, empty, and completely lost. You are the color of the sun on the sunniest day, the color of that perfect tart smelling lemon, shaped like my breast, and the color of the prettiest smelling tulips I have ever seen. I look at you, and you allow me to close my eyes, and I can see the field of sunflowers in Italy once more. Squeezing you firmly onto my palette is fun, as you flow smoothly from your metal tube into a swirling shape on my pallet. I cannot wait to drag my brush through you. When I see you sandwiched between Titanium Zinc White and Cadmium Orange you make a smile form on the inside, exploding to the outside in moments so unexpected. You are a note on my pallet that leads to the sweetest, satisfying moment on my canvas. You have a conversation with every color on my pallet bringing joy to every single color. You mix well with others. You are with me for life, never leaving, a constant.

Love,

Sarah

Why is it after a Sunday nap, the world seems as if I am seeing everything  for the first time again?

Sometimes in Life, it is not the one big thing that ends up making the difference, but the five little things that made the difference after all.

Spring is in my studio, blowing the dust off ideas……

“If you haven’t got any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart”

-Bob Hope

I love my digital camera along with the programs that can edit my photos, taken by my untrained eye. Individually, they are both wonderful tools; I find myself frequently using both. They make many things easier when it comes to my artwork and blogging. However, when these two tools are over used, what are you left with? I find myself longing for the days of struggling to get a roll of film into my camera, or of that dreaded clicking sound the camera would make when you would try to get just one more photo off your roll, and for a good old simple Polaroid camera. When it comes to the photograph for the photographs’ sake, I love photos that capture the imperfections of life. Who are we without our imperfections? Is it not the imperfection of that unique person, we actually fall in love with, rather than their perfections? Is it not the imperfections in the painting that makes it great? Is it not the imperfections in photos that show us who we are? A photo can speak the truth, so why not let it? Photos show why we are different and unique from the next person; they can define us in a way that only photos can; capturing a moment in time. If we are brave enough not to tamper with them.