As an art student I quickly became frustrated. There seemed to be no way I could capture the infinite details that comprised the glistening vitality I perceived in trees, lakes, forests, rivers, animals and humans. Several frustrating years later, I concluded that I could not adequately capture the natural world’s breathtaking beauty. So, I gave […]
Drawing Upon Nature Read More »
When I met with the board of The National League of the American Pen Women (whose members are professional artists, writers and composers), I volunteered to lead members on a meditation tour of various Hindu and Buddhist sculptures in the Honolulu Museums of Art. The Board members became enthused, positing ideas of which statues the
“Vulnerability is the best place of innovation, creativity and change.” Brene Brown The problem with Brene Brown’s statement is that it feels terrible to be vulnerable. My hands get clammy. I sweat and think I can never pull another drawing off again. Yet, according to Dr. Brown, I’m in a good place when I begin
Leonardo Da Vinci taught his students to draw what they perceived in the clouds. A bank of white and gray cumulus shapes created what artists called, a random field of three-dimensional forms, ripe for people to fantasize: a scary troll, a laughing peasant woman, a fat Buddha. When I gazed at clouds this morning, I
A Fox in a Cloud with a Tree Read More »
“I intend to live forever. So far, so good.” Steven Wright European Baroque painters (1600 to 1750) encouraged viewers to increase their consciousness of death by painting symbols, such as Dutch artist Pieter Claesz did in 1660. He depicted a toppled empty glass with nothing left in it to drink, a stopped clock, a
I intend to live forever. So far, so good. Read More »
Singing in my choir last summer, I focused on mastering the tricky syncopated rhythms in our new song. Ah-ha, I thought, I got it. At the same moment, the choir director said “No, no, no! You didn’t get it.” She explained, one more time, how it should be done. I concentrated, trying to understand. My
Feeling Right While Being Wrong Read More »
“I like work. It fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.” Jerome K. Jerome I assume Mr. Jerome’s comment is tongue in cheek because I giggle, imagining him staring at a computer screen while he daydreams about his date later that night. As an artist, my job is to see the
For a year, I looked carefully at teeth, those on my friend’s and family’s faces and my own. To protect my dental roots and painful exposed nerves due to normal receding gums, for a person my age, my kindly dentist suggested covering my front teeth with a filling material. He would, of course, match the
I grew up in a household where impulse and drama ruled the day. My parents hollered and swore with abandon and I rarely understood the reasons behind the hullaballoo. Mom had a BA in art and she venerated artists as the most superior humans on earth. By the time I got to college, I believed
Cherry trees taught me enormous life lessons. When I was eight years old, Mom gave me the job of selling cherries from our fifteen trees to earn money for all my personal expenses: Girl Scout activities and camp, school supplies and field trips, dance classes, private music instruction, comic books or candy from the mom-and-pop
