TLDR: Companion vlog link: https://youtu.be/Qqjf-SCDul0
Announcements:
ARTY PARTY AND SALE. November 26, 6:30 pm. Stay tuned here for details. Please invite a friend or share this post. Last chance to save 20-60 % on art and ceramics before Christmas! Don’t forget you can gift a series of music lessons as well.
My paintings are hanging in three different businesses in Burnet, and you can VOTE on them! The prize will be awarded to the paintings that get the most votes, so I’d really appreciate it if you vote! Here’s the list of titles along with the shop they are in. Each painting has a number–I’ve included that in case you need it to vote.
#7 Long Blue Serenity is at the Antique Mall , 206 S. Main St. (on the square).
#5 Jesus and Coffee–Unshakable Grounds Coffee Shop is at Pickins by Sassy, 901 S. Water St
#11 Spirit of Primrose is at Vintage Antiques (Vintage Forever) 604 Water St.
This Week in the Studio
Last weekend I spent participating in the Burnet Art Festival. It was great fun even though the weather was uncooperative. It rained buckets all morning and drizzled all day. Then the temperature dropped through the floor and it was very cold (for Central Texas, that is!) on Saturday.
You see, I have a friend who owns a lovely, comfortable little coffee shop in Burnet on the square: Unshakable Grounds. So I just set up to paint inside!
My friend Cindy took a few photos and here’s a link to the video she took while I was putting in the underpainting:
I’m happy to say that I’ve FINALLY gotten three platters to dry without cracking. They will go into the kiln early next week, and hopefully be glaze fired and ready for the Arty Party at the end of the week.
A pleased parent posted this video of one of my young students who is now in her second preschool piano book and doing fantastic!
The post would not be complete without a photo of B, who passed her first preschool piano book today!
Next week I’ll be sharing the results of my entries into the Central Texas Pastel annual show–the reception and awards announcements are tomorrow.
Lists as a form of journaling Thoughts on (digital) paper On Being a List-maker
Are you a list maker? I definitely am! Sometimes it’s the only way to control the overwhelm and remain focused. All kinds of things get relegated to lists. Such as the heading above. I tried out two others before I decided on the last one!
There are the usual cast of characters: grocery lists, to do lists, task lists, project planning lists. But there are also many other lists, and I believe that a person’s list (especially if they are a list-maker like me) can really reveal a lot about them. Not only that, but how they make their lists.
For instance, I have lists in many places, but most of them are digital. That’s so that I can carry them with me on my phone and have them to consult or add to at any time. Typically I use two apps for this: Inkpad and Evernote. Inkpad is for quick, informal lists. Evernote is for more impactful sorts of lists and notes. There is some cross-over, though.
Taking a quick look at my Inkpad lists we can see:
- My groceries (mine because sometimes I make a list for my parents and shop for them)
- Thursday
- Saturday
- Clay projects
- YouTube text
- Bigger Studio
- Wednesday
- Scribbles
The first one is quite obvious–it’s just my grocery list, though sometimes errands I will be running at the same time sneak onto that list as well.
The ones with week-day names are basically to-do lists for those days only. It’s very helpful to have my weekly tasks broken down into days.
“Clay projects”, “bigger studio”, and “Scribbles” represent ways to keep up with my own creativity when it is in high gear. I list projects I’ve seen and would like to try in clay, thoughts about what I’d like to include in a bigger studio space (should I someday have that option).
“YouTube Text” is just that…I can copy/paste the text in here into my YouTube video descriptions to make sure I put all the pertinent links so you can connect with me. It’s a lot faster than typing each one, and it is more accurate.
“Scribbles” is a catch-all. I copy-paste cool quotes, phone numbers I need to remember, links I’ll need to reference soon, notes from talks or webinars, posts I’m editing in the moment, trying out different titles for articles etc., song titles, and random thoughts. Quite often these items are deleted as they are used or moved to a more permanent list.
This list is quite rich at the moment with thoughts that have come to me at random times. I love reading through these, because they help me redirect, refocus, and create a solid path. Here are a few of them that I came across this morning:
“My art is the faltering, imperfect way I attempt to worship the Creator and love the viewers by communicating, in a brave and beautiful, nostalgic and whimsical way the goodness and wonder of God.” (I’m well known for being too wordy and for run-on sentences. )
“My art is about revealing the wonder that is the Creator, and communicating His love in my nostalgic, whimsical and faltering way.” (just rewording the sentence above, as you can see).
And this one is my favorite this morning: “My art is about singing the colors, painting the music, and touching the magic of the wonder that is the Creator and His love for us.”
Do you use lists? How do you use them? Do you write them down or keep them in your head? Do your lists reveal anything about your inner life?
Also, let me know how you think I’m doing? Does my art sing yet? I personally feel like I have a long way to go in reaching the outward reality of the inward desire.
And because I asked that, you know what time it is. It’s time for me to remind you that I can help you…
…sing the colors, paint the music, reach for the magic, and discover the wonder and worship in your heart.
Godspeed,
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