Creativity, Crafts, Books, Movies, Greyhounds & Favorite Things

.

Here’s what I’ve been reading the last three months…

A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash

This novel is set in a small North Carolina town and revolves around family, secrets, love, evil and tragedy. The characters are strongly drawn, but you always have the sense that you don’t know everything that going on. This novel is narrated by three voices; Jess, a young boy; Adelaide, the town midwife; and Clem, the town sheriff.   At the center of the present day story is a evil charismatic pastor. This novel is heartbreaking, memorable and a great pick if you like southern novels with a dark, tragic bend. This would make a great book club pick because there’s a lot to talk about.

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

This is a horror story…Judas Coyne is a semi-retired, heavy metal rocker who collects macabre objects. When a suit, said to be haunted by the owner’s ghost is offered in an online auction, he purchases it. I’ll leave it at that. Great characters, a compelling story. If you love horror, give this one a try. Fun fact…Joe Hill is the son of Stephen & Tabitha King.

.

You may remember that every May, we go to the Spring Fling. It’s one of our favorite days of the whole year. Well, guess what? We now have a second favorite day of the whole year…The Fall Frolic!

The Fall Frolic is a gathering of our Greyhound rescue group, Allies for Greyhounds of West Michigan (AFGWM). While the Spring Fling is held in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the Fall Frolic was held close to home in Mishawaka, Indiana.

We had a wonderful time seeing our friends, new and old.

There was a great potluck lunch, a silent auction, raffles, a photo booth, games and a lot of laying around.

Notice how horrible the pictures are? Our mommy’s technique for taking good pictures is to take a lot of them…we mean A LOT of them. Then, she’s able to get a few good ones out of the bunch. It usually works, but this time, the whole bunch was horrible.

Regardless, we had an awesome day.

.

Here’s what’s been happening in my studio…

Nothing new to show you today, but September was a fun month. I finished 10 paintings that I’d started but never completed, and I had my first public showing at the Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library.

Showing my paintings in public was scary. I must admit that I had plenty of moments filled with self-doubt and fear, but everyone was so supportive and generous. Thank you to all who encouraged me. I was delighted beyond belief to be invited to display again in August 2014.

This Week’s Inspiration

In 2013, I’m doing Inspiration Mondays and Results Thursdays. Every Monday, I’ll post a painting “inspiration” and then on Thursdays, I’ll post how I’m interpreting that inspiration. For October, I’m taking my inspiration from the great ideas you all have given me. In fact, I received so many suggestions, they will take me through the rest of the year. Here’s the list…

Daisy, Bella & Roxy – Autumn

Urban Hounds – Autumn, All Hallows Eve, Harvest & Halloween (old school)

Amy – Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz (75th anniversary of the movie), Poinsettia Girl, Snow Faerie Girl, Identical Twins, “It’s a Small World” 3 girls of different ethnicities together & Bunny and Flattery as girls

Graceful Greyhounds – Winter

Molly The Wally – Fall

Roxy the Traveling Dog – Fall

Animal Lover, Quilt Lover – Dog

Tales And Tails – Harvest, Orange, Halloween & Fairy Tale

Dip-Dip and The Bridge – Nostalgia & Vintage

Two Greyhound Town – Fall

Peaceful dog – Ocean

Mollie & Alfie – Bare branches on trees & Dew on the grass

Greyhounds CAN Sit – Happiness

You all certainly didn’t disappoint! If I missed anyone’s inspiration idea, it was completely unintentional. Please let me know in the comments or send me an email. I promise that I will do every one of these. Let’s start with…AUTUMN.

.

For the next few weeks, I’m reading the book Creative Thursday by Marisa Anne.

Creative Thursday is a book about learning to make creativity a daily habit. Over the last few years, I have made creativity a priority, but just like any habit or practice, it requires consistent attention.

Chapter 4, Commitment, talks about committing to the practice of creativity and establishing it as a habit in your life. Marisa gives several ideas to help you towards that goal and towards setting accountability. The first suggestion was to write a blog. This made me chuckle because writing a blog is my number one accountability partner.

Chapter 5, Setting a Time Limit, was of particular interest to me because I’ve recently been hard on myself for not feeling motivated. Since I’m starting a new job, I’m expending a lot of energy focusing on learning my new position. I want to be gentle with myself, but I do realize that I can’t use that as an excuse. Even with what I perceive as less time to paint, I still have time. I’m working on this.

Chapter 6, Redefining the Role of Perfection, is a chapter that will strike home with many of us. At times, I’ve felt perfectionism is one of the biggest negatives in my life. Over the years, I’ve let go of a lot of my perfectionistic tendencies, but they are always lurking. This chapters strives to put the role of perfection into proper perspective. Marisa defines perfection as “a desire to create with excellence.” I like this definition. It lines up with her encouragement to “increase the self-love, decrease the self-judgment.”

.

Every week, I take you on an Artist Date with me. The Artist Date comes from the book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.

This was my first week at my new job, so my Artist Date was simple…a home manicure and facial.

It re-energizes me to be quiet and freshen up a bit.

.

Every Friday, I share a poem. Friday is also the day I post a prompt of something you can do to make the world a kinder place. I call this the Kind is Kool challenge.

I offer both the poem and the kindness challenge without any obligation, so “Comments” are turned off every Friday. Enjoy.

.

He Prayeth Best Who Loveth Best

“He prayeth best who loveth best
All things, both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.”

Louisa May Alcott

.

Kind is Kool Challenge

Week 33 Challenge – Write a letter to an actor, musician, writer or artist whose work has touched your life.

.

Every Monday, I post a painting “inspiration.” Every Thursday, I post how I interpreted the inspiration. I decided to do this to keep myself painting, to strengthen how I go from an idea to a painting, and to give myself permission to play and try new things.

This month, I’m committed to finishing paintings I’ve started but never completed. So my inspiration for the month of September is FINISHING WHAT I STARTED. Here are a few paintings I finished…

Well, almost finished. I think I’d like to float some color behind each of them to make them stand out more.

After I finish up some paintings in September, I would love for October’s “inspirations” to come from you. Do you have an idea for me? If so, please leave a comment with your inspiration idea. It can be a word, a story, an idea, a time period, a book, a song…whatever you can think of.

.

This year, I’ve been doing an “Every Day Ugly” post on the second Wednesday of every month. Oops! This month, I’m a couple weeks off. What is “Every Day Ugly?” I look around at all the things I use the most, to make sure those are my “best” things. This series was inspired by my friend, Amy, who noticed that some of the ickiest things she owned were the things she used the most. She wanted to change that to make sure that her every day life was filled with beautiful, functional things. This inspired me to take a look around and make sure that I wasn’t saving “the best” for days that rarely come.

This month’s update comes from my friend, Amy, who for under $100 replaced these 20-year-old blinds…

…with this new look. In her words, “So much nicer to look at and out of.”

Thank you, Amy for sharing this wonderful inspiration.

I would love to have you join in. If you have some plain thing that you make beautiful, send me a picture or pictures and tell me about it at whatremainsnow@gmail.com.

.

Nikki: Last week, we received a package from our friends Wallace & Samuel. Let’s see what’s inside!

Look at all of these goodies!

Two different kinds of treats.

An awesome magnet.

Placemats and…

…coasters.

Standard Blurry “Sit” Photo

Freedom, Casper & Nikki: Let’s get to taste-testing!

Freedom: Yum! We sampled both treats and gobbled them up. Thank you, Wallace & Samuel.

Casper: Mom took a picture of a big drool pile on my bed, but decided we could just say “thank you” and not get all graphic. Thank you, Wallace & Samuel.

What a great surprise package. We won this package in celebration of Wallace & Samuel’s first blogaversary. Thank you, Wallace & Samuel. We will enjoy everything you sent us.

.

Here’s what’s been happening in my studio…

A couple more finished paintings.