Most recently I have been encouraged by friends and family to get back to painting, which I have kind of let slide lately. You may  have seen some of my tree series in my "my work" section of this site. I have been working on developing a technique for painting trees, trying to make them look and feel a bit more organic. And was really feeling like I was making progress and as so frequently happens, work and life kind of got in the way.

As I wander back into the world of acrylics with a little boot in the butt via my friend Laura, I am feeling that spark of creative inspiration creeping back into my world. I was nervous after not having painted for a while and yet, I fired up the "mighty brush" and brushed the remnants of chalk pastels dusting  my easel and went to town as I dove in on a 30"x40" canvas and cut loose. Adding a little metallic and some muted tones, I felt like I was getting back in the groove again, and felt, once again, at home with a paintbrush within my grip. Today, I finished the work, perhaps only to dabble back at it, as I find little nooks that need a bit extra finesse.

Creating this piece was instrumental for me to getting back to more artistic endeavors. In the industry of creating artwork for others, it becomes more and more difficult to create for the sake of wanting something completely original, something that you have complete creative freedom. And while that kind of freedom has the outward appeal of being ideal, sometimes it is a bit overwhelming. Going back to my love of trees, and this new technique, was a bit like coming home.

Lately, I have been struggling with a few things, trying to find focus and direction. And through examining the things that drive me; design, writing, painting, photography, sculpting, baking, etc. I think I have come to a greater appreciation that, like the tree in my works, I am complex. With branches intertwining, reaching in many directions, some with many facets and others more strong and true. Perhaps, that breadth is a natural organic thing. Reaching out in new directions, to new heights, covering more ground, growing and becoming a stronger and creating a more creative and fulfilling life. 

While many of my favorite trees are asymmetrical, and perhaps a bit weathered by the wind, they still must embody a certain balance, a perception of interest with that underlying sense of stability. How is this different from your life? I think it very much mirrors what many of us have been searching for. Balance between work, family, interests, love, community. This has been the struggle of many families around the world, how to live a fulfilling life, while creating that delicate balance with obligation. Obligation to family, employers, and to yourself.

That balance won't come without cost. As much as we would like to "do it all" sometimes that just isn't possible, but perhaps you can still branch out in different directions, but doing so with caution to not over-commit. Attempt to be honest with yourself and others as to what is possible. First and foremost nourish your core, your trunk and your roots, that which create that stability in your life. From there, let your branches stretch outward and upward, not focusing too much energy in any one direction, but allow yourself to branch out in several directions with balance. Allowing yourself to flourish and to grow.

What can you do today to spread your branches, and to grow?

Most recently I have been contemplating waiting. This morning as I awoke, I looked to the window and to what did my wondering eyes should appear, (no not reindeer) but the sun rising and one of the most dense fogs I have seen in quite some time. And fog to a photographer can be a dream. The softness it brings, depth and an ethereal quality to an image. I grab my camera, scribble a note to my girls, and jump in the car and off I go, in an effort to capture a favorite tree as the sun beams down through the dewy boughs. I head for a tree that I have been lucky enough to capture a year or so ago that spoke to me, you can view some of them on a cafepress site that I put together in order to share them http://www.cafepress.com/brendalevos/5569842 the calendar showing the best selection of images http://www.cafepress.com/brendalevos.266326990 of the morning.

Actually when shooting that very morning, I had been very focused on the river, and the fog and capturing its beauty. As I had felt that I had captured some images that I was happy with and as the sun was beginning to usher the fog from existence, I turn to head toward home and the image I saw would continue to be one of my all time favorites, that of the sun beaming through the boughs in the fog. And while I do love the images I was fortunate enough to capture, being there, in that moment as I was doing what I thought was my goal for the morning, I turned and was faced with something much more beautiful that I could have imagined. So I seized the opportunity and clicked off a number of shots which I will forever treasure.

As I arrive and position myself in a similar location, I notice that it is a bit earlier in the season, and the trees are perhaps providing too much foliage for the sun to stream through as it had in the years earlier. So I wait. Perhaps it will still be as wonderful. And I wait. As the sun rises, it just isn't the same, and the same feel isn't there, and maybe it never will be. It reminds me of a poem:

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite. 
Or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting perhaps for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil
or a better break
or a string of pearls
or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls
or another chance. 
Everyone is just waiting

Are you waiting? What are you waiting for?

I have recently decided to make an effort to live from a position of abundance rather than from scarcity. As I open my pantry, I ask myself, what is this representing in my life? I had shelves and shelves of food. One devoted solely to "special" food. Things that I picked up at Tastefully Simple parties in the past. Things that I was saving for a "special" moment, event, party, time. And in all honesty, my "saving" them, was only in reality allowing them to perish, expire, and become worthless. 

Purging my cupboards of some of the extraneous things I had been needlessly hanging on to. Deep in the recesses, I discovered a box, one that I hadn't seen in quite some time. I had been saving it. It was a packaged dinner not in need of refrigeration, sweet and sour chicken....chicken included! And then it had dawned on me, I last recollect seeing that box, as I relocated it into its current destination as we moved from the lake to our current abode. Let's just place that somewhere in the very early 1990's. I couldn't even bear to open the box, its next relocation was as it dismounted my hands in horror, and stuck a landing deep amongst its companions of the last decade or so that it had resided in my kitchen, straight into the garbage.

Something saved.....something wasted. While I do believe in saving things, I have most recently come to cherish being present in the moment. What could be more "special" than my family and this very moment? Why are they not "special" enough for the "Chocolate Ugly Cake Mix" or the "Savory Wheat Beer Bread?" Why isn't Monday night "special" enough? Why isn't your artistic talent "special" enough be make a career of it? Why isn't today the day you open your eyes to how quickly life passes, how quickly a decade can slip though fingers waiting for a "special" day? Why isn't today the day you tell someone you love them, staff you appreciate them, the postman you are grateful for the service he provides?

Seize the day! Start a project, do something for someone, do something for yourself. Live!

Don't be the chicken rotting in the cupboard!

P.S. The poem, its author, Dr. Seuss. ....tanslates.... even something small and somewhat childish, can be profound. What is the poem you are living this day saying about you? What are you waiting for?

As you know, I am a fan of the Kickstart messages that Michael delivers and after my last post, I thought this one complimented it nicely, so I decided to share it here.