Time to Regroup!

Sometimes you're the windshield
Sometimes you're the bug
Sometimes it all comes together baby
Sometimes you're just a fool in love
Sometimes you're the Louisville Slugger
Sometimes you're the ball
Sometimes it all comes together
Sometimes you're gonna lose it all

-Mary Chapin Carpenter, The Bug

Well the past couple of days, art wise, I've been the bug! Just when I thought that all the stars had aligned and the powers that be had shown down on me, I had a little crash. Not a big one, but big enough to put me in a funk. Bad enough to make me not want to share. Bad enough to make me listen to that voice in my head that Van Gogh said wants to yell "you can't!"

Solution #1
STOP and go to the beach! And that's what I did. Of course it was windy as heck and the surf was high. Oh and I got a blister from walking in my flip flops. But it was the correct remedy. I came home with a new sense of awareness and re-examined my work that I thought was a disaster. In doing so I realized that by cropping out certain areas, they actually weren't that bad. The other revelation was to remind myself that without trying (and possibly failing) I would in fact BE failing. 

Solution #2
Email my sister [Pen] and fellow artist to whine, moan, and vent all of which I did quite eloquently I must add. However, after the dust had settled from the pity party, she politely reminded me of what I had posted in my last blog that "without pushing through the difficulties~~~there would be no growth!!! Hmmm...I can always count on her to keep it real.

Solution #3
Stop thinking that everything I try to create has to be a masterpiece!

That being said, here for all the world to see are the pieces that nearly drove me to fall to pieces.

Tropical Moonlight #1 [water color on paper]

Tropical Moonlight #1 [cropped]

Tropical Moonlight #2 [watercolor on paper]

Tropical Moonlight #2 [cropped]

Tropical Moonlight #3 [acrylic on paper] ack!

Tropical Moonlight #3 [cropped]

They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some of you may really love these and other may wonder what the heck I was thinking. That's really not my point. My point is really directed at myself to keep sharing what I'm doing through this blog.

Later that evening I felt the need to try one more little painting to regain some confidence. Here it is.

Sea turtle [acrylic on canvas approx 2" x 3"]

Hope you've enjoyed this blog that almost wasn't. Now that it's done I feel better knowing that I can share not only my successes, but my failures as well. After all they're all learning experiences, right?

Aloha until next time!