Monthly Archives: October 2021

Happy Halloween

Watch “Pumpkin Carving” oil painting come to life in 2 minutes (time lapse)

You might remember when I shared this art in the beginning of October? It was inspired by my husband and son enjoying the seasonal tradition of cleaning out and carving/decorating a pumpkin. I hope that all of you who have little ones are staying safe and having fun tonight.

Halloween Eve

Watch “The Moon and the Stars” come alive in 2 minutes (time lapse)

I last shared this painting on the blog in May, in a post called “Dark to Light“. I also talked about this art in a post called “Painting Illusions“. I confess, I’m not a fan of Halloween. Every year I look forward to the end of the month of October.

New Painting – Apple Orchard

Watch oil painting “Apple Orchard” come alive in 2 minutes (time lapse)

Another autumn painting for the new collection “Seasons“, and another one toward my lifetime goal of 1,000 finished paintings!

Spirit Birthday

Watch “Bird of Light” oil painting come to life in 2 minutes (time lapse)

Today would have been my mom’s birthday, had she lived to see this day. I explained the meaning of this painting and blogged about Mom’s mysterious ways of connecting with us in the post “Are you open?“. That post also shows a video, further down the page, of what happened to the above painting the morning after I painted it. Today, I’m just going to keep this short. Happy Birthday, Mom.

Orange and Black

Watch this tiger oil painting come to life in 2 minutes (time lapse)

This is the season for orange and black, especially this week with Halloween coming up in a few days. A tiger is always in a good costume for autumn parties! No parties for me, but I did bake chocolate cream-filled cupcakes topped with orange icing, so that’s my orange and black for the year.

I’ve been busy with gardening projects and other things that have come up, but I finally started my new painting today. I have two more autumn/harvest related oil paintings to finish before I make the seasonal change to winter/Christmas. I’ve also put some time into the Christmas show and I hope you’ll join me and my family for that. I will share it right here on the blog, so please subscribe if you haven’t already. Don’t miss it- it will be joyous and special!

No Grapes, but…

Watch this oil painting “Fruitful Vine” come to life in 2 minutes (time lapse)

I talked about my grape vine in a July blog post “Is your life fruitful?” and I mentioned that grapes don’t appear every season, and may take a long time to produce any at all. This season, no grapes, but… the vine has proven useful. I’d placed a young tomato plant on the other side of the grape vine trellis, and as luck would have it, the tomato plant needed to be secured to grow up the trellis and the grape vine was the perfect rope to bind the tomato plant to the trellis. It saved me the work of tying it down, so that’s a happy discovery! I do wish there were grapes this year of course, but at least the vine is helping me with my tomatoes!

This situation feels like an extended metaphor about a fruitful life, as sometimes we expect fruit (results) from one area of our lives, but our work/relationship/financial/energy investment may surprise us with a benefit in an area of our lives we didn’t expect. So, let’s keep going! We may not see what we want right now, but when we put our hearts into each day, we’ll see positive developments, even if it takes a lot longer than we thought it would, and even if some of the changes are not what we expected.

Are you this bear?

Watch this bear oil painting come to life in 2 minutes (time lapse)

Are you feeling like this bear today? Maybe it’s a case of the Mondays, the last Monday of October- a day that was dreary here in the deep South in the United States of America. It started off dark and rainy, and then stayed overcast and humid the remainder of the day. But, I don’t think weather is the only issue. It seems no matter where we live, we were in a collective funk today, if the vibe I picked up on is accurate. Could it be because we are weary of wrongs not being righted?

This bear is fiercely independent. He relies on no one but himself and God’s natural bounty for his needs. He is neither a victim or a slave. When we’ve had enough of the powerful few, wouldn’t it be liberating if we could escape into the wild, and dive into the waters to grab a meal when we’re hungry? Rugged, aggressive, and well fed – there are days when we feel bearish. And after we’ve had our fill, it would be good to hibernate. A long winter’s nap in a warm furry coat sounds good, doesn’t it?

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Meek or Mighty?

See oil painting “Lion and the Lamb” come alive in 2 minutes (time lapse)

I did a series of blog posts related to this painting: “Are you a lion or a lamb?“, “Be a lion“, and “Be a lamb“. But today I’m thinking of the traits meek and mighty. As we reflect on the week ahead, in which areas of our lives do we choose to be meek, and which areas do we choose to be mighty?

My personal focus is to be meek when it comes to control, and mighty when it comes to power. I want to let go of those things I can’t control. I have done my best, and that’s all that is expected of me. Humility allows us to accept that we are not capable of all things, and that others have gifts and callings that we do not. We are not always the best person for all jobs. We are only asked to play our part, not to worry about responsibilities that belong to others.

But when it comes to those responsibilities that belong to us, may we be mighty in power to do what’s asked of us with strong energy, a positive mindset, and a spirit of hope. Whether our roles are rooted in servitude, like cleaning up after others, or performing other acts that seem “low”, but need to be done (and are perhaps unpaid tasks), or whether attempting big projects and lofty goals, may we be gracious in accepting the work given to us and do it well. 

Productive work is a human right. It creates a sense of purpose, which leads to happiness, peace, and health. Focusing on the work we’re asked to do, and letting go of responsibilities that are not ours, also leads to happiness, peace, and health, because we manage stress, reduce anxiety, fear, resentment and depression; and we sleep better at night. May we be meek about control, but mighty in power. God bless you this week and always.

I forgot to tell you!

Watch oil painting “Cardinal at the Cabin” come to life

in about 2 minutes (time lapse)

In my blog post “New Painting- Peaceful Landscape” that I shared with you in June, I said, “I’ll talk about what this painting means to me in a future blog post. For now, I just want to share it and let you let it speak to you.” But I forgot to follow up! I never did tell you what I was thinking when I painted this.

This was a landscape from my own imagination, in which I didn’t look at anything while painting, nor did I plan it out. I intentionally let the art tell the story and evolve, as I listened to music and let myself feel whatever came to my heart. I meant to paint a scene that is warm and inviting, and would appeal to me as a retreat, but that’s not quite what happened.

Instead, it seems that I painted the deeper feelings; the reason why I wanted a special place to retreat to. Because this place doesn’t look relaxing to me. It’s very remote and a bit lonely looking. Quiet, and pretty, yes, but it looks like someone’s missing from that empty rocking chair, as if suddenly taken from their favorite spot and the tea or coffee cup that never got cleared. There’s probably still a last sip in it.

The cardinal is observing the scene, as if he understands and has empathy. The flowers are still in bloom, the fields reach toward a clear blue sky, and the evergreens are as fresh as ever. But the walkway has no feet upon it. The steps are vacant. The rocking chair is not in motion. The last sip will never be drunk. 

Reflecting on those we’ve lost, and realizing the passage of time, and feeling the weight of the dark world upon our shoulders, sometimes it feels as if we need a retreat from the burden of broken dreams and better days that must wait, or may never come at all. But in imagining a retreat, I instead inadvertently, subconsciously, painted the emotions that were driving me to want a retreat. 

Maybe next time I’ll paint the actual retreat, but by the time I finished painting through the feelings I didn’t even know I had, I felt as if I’d already had my retreat. It was me observing the cardinal in the tree, from my vantage point on the other side of the canvas looking in. Seeing the scene through his eyes was enough to restore my spirit for another day. 

Nature goes on uninterrupted. Seasons change. Flowers bloom. Trees grow. Then all of it repeats. There is something comforting in the sameness, and even more comforting is the pattern of change. This (spiritual) season will change. Meanwhile, we can embrace the quiet, the steady stillness, and the cabin that waits for someone to come back. When we are blessed to be here for another day, may we never leave the last sip to grow cold.

Peace to You

Watch this “Dove of Peace” oil painting come to life in under 2 minutes (time lapse)

This was a short project that I hope felt relaxing and calming to watch. May you have a blessed weekend of good positive moments, no matter how alarming and stressful the state of the world may be. Do something you enjoy.