ARTFUL GATHERINGS

Wishing

Today I am trying to get myself back on a schedule. I am also trying to eat healthy and exercise consistently. I am also focusing today on my wishes and or my intentions. I am not sure these two words are supposed to be interchangeable but for me they are. There is always that fine line, for me, the question of when do I put myself first and when do I put my family first. When am I using my family as an excuse not to paint, draw or finish any number of creative projects in the works?

 I have one of those minds that likes to tangent in many directions all the time. So I really have to make extreme effort to keep myself organized and on task. 

Here is the are collage I need to finish. I am hoping that by posting it I will see what I need to do to finish this piece.....some divine inspiration...or maybe it needs to be put away to worry about later.

So what are your wishes? No not the universal wishes for peace and the cure for world hungry. I mean your personal wishes? The wishes that will bring a smile to your face and create a general feeling of joy through out your body. I am off to play in my journal and the theme I am going to work with is the wishes of my heart.

Another Show

Another op'nin, another show      
In Philly, Boston, or Baltimo'
A chance for stage folks to say hello!
Another op'nin of another show.

Another job that you hope will last
Will make your future forget your past
Antoher pain where the ulcers grow
Another op'nin of another show.

Four weeks, you rehearse and rehearse
Three weeks, and it couldn't be worse
One week, will it ever be right?
Then out of the hat it's that big first night

The overture is about to start
You cross your fingers and hold your heart
It's curtain time and away we go -
Another op'nin 
Just another op'nin of another show!  Cole Porter

Yes the Musical Theatre workshop I have been assisting with opens tonight. One of the highlights of the show is this women, Jackie, please click on the link below to hear her sing.  

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=70617396411&oid=72352941678

So now I must be off to get ready for yet another show where in this case 27 young adults will enjoying a special time/weekend in their lives. 

Tech week

I am once again immersed in tech week. I am helping with a workshop that opens this Friday. As with all tech. weeks emotions are high and it is hard to decipher truth from drama. I am tired and wish I had the mental capability to write but my brain is not cooperating. Since my days and nights are being spent at the theatre I am using my camera as my paint brush. Here are some images from tonight.....

Cleanup

Oh my muscles ache...... I had persuaded myself I was in great shape. I should be because I swim 2 to 3 times a week and I  practice yoga 3 to 4 times a week.

 Today Pat went to the grocery store and I started the spring clean up in the garden. Anytime I mention Pat does the grocery shopping I always get a plethora of commits about the charmed life I live. What do these women think I do sit around all day watching foreign films drinking expensive red wine. Okay maybe that would be an amazing way to spend a day but that is not how I passed the hours today. No I was busy making these 

huge piles of yard debris and now I am exhausted, very sore and drinking beer.

Feelings of worth can flourish only in an atmosphere where individual differences are appreciated, mistakes are tolerated, communication is open, and rules are flexible - the kind of atmosphere that is found in a nurturing family. Virginia Satir

wishing

Today I am contemplating  how fast this week has disappeared and wishing with the  start of spring life could/would slow down. Wishing that certain projects would disappear or my involvement in these projects would recede. Wishing my mood would improve because it is the first day of spring and I love spring. Wishing I could better manage my days so I could have more time to draw,paint, and journal. Wishing for balance in my daily life. 

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. Mother Teresa

Cotswold to Kansas

As I was watching  Becoming Jane last night I realized I am a hopeless romantic and I have been  fantasizing about life in the English country side every since. The movie prompted my memory of one of my favorite books. See if you know this opening paragraph......

I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. That is, my feet are in it; the rest of me is on the draining-board, which I have padded with our dog's blanket and the tea-cozy. I can't say that I am really comfortable, and there is a depressing smell of carbolic soap, but this is the only part of the kitchen where there is any daylight left. And I have found that sitting in a place where you have never sat before can be inspiring--I wrote my very best poem while sitting on the hen-house. Though even that isn't a very good poem. I have decided my poetry is so bad that I mustn't write any more of it.
      - I Capture the Castle (ch. 1), Dodie Smith

While I have been daydreaming about my romantic life in Cotswold I have been working on posters illustrating Kansas for Smithereen's current musical theatre workshop.

These are not my original work but borrowed from a 1903 Broadway poster. I photocopied the image then enlarged it to 3' x 5'. 

I used Elmer's glue to attach the poster to this wood

paneled frame. Then I painted the image. An easy 

inexpensive way to make a huge impact.

Moderation

I just came up stairs and was excited to retire to my bed and write this post. Upon entering my room I realized that someone had taken my spot in my bed and had my computer and a fury friend. After taking this picture I pushed Megan to the other side of the bed and reclaimed my computer ( with a low battery).

.

I have been reading Journal of Solitude by May Sarton. I love this quote from the book....

Human beings were not meant for moderation. Yet if one needs the extremes to know the  middle, as I believe with Blake and all others, perhaps moderation is the final reward of a lived life where we choose the center not through fear, but wisdom. 

  

Moderation is not a concept we have grasped here in this house. For example three dogs and a bearded dragon was not adequate. So we added......

Buddha Bunny. Poor Maggie is completely distraught because she has not been given an opportunity to meet this new pet. 

Oh and to make matters worse the  bunny gets treats and Maggie has to watch through the door/barricade. 

My intention was to write about the things I love. Not sure how I made the tangent to moderation. So I will save my list of all things dear to my heart for tomorrow. 

For tonight I will leave you with this quote to ponder from Oscar Wilde.......      Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.

Sun?

The snow is gone.

 But where is the sun?

Tonight I am to tired to be creative. Swimming and yoga in one day has rendered this mind and body useless. 

Life, according to Zen, ought to be lived as a bird flies through the air, or as a fish swims in the water. D.T. Suzuki

This past weekend was spent attending a wedding in Florida . A very special weekend because my niece who was the flower girl in my wedding was getting married. 

Here is the group that assembled on Thursday evening.....but we were anticipating the arrival of several more Greene family members.

Dear Kentlee at the precious age of five.......

Here is Kentlee now a beautiful grown up woman just married to the love of her life Shawn.

Oh but what would a Greene wedding be without lots & lots of frivolity.....

Much applause to Peggy (mom of the bride) for a fabulous event....

Snow days etc.

Snow day continues...... Read a book, went for a walk. I too these pictures of the creative ways to shovel snow, thanks to PJ.

After being showered with snow, I came inside to sit by the fire and finish my angels.