Ebb & Flow

It has been WAY too long since I wrote my last blog...my problem is that I don't force myself to sit down often and write because I know I want to/tend to write a lot and if I let any amount of time get away from me then I just become overwhelmed by everything I "need" to write about.  So here I am about to write one of my quickies, or so I think :)  It's 10:17 pm and Tyler is sitting beside me on the couch playing with his blocks & cars, avoiding sleep as is his new routine each night :(  It's Saturday  night, I've got wine and frankly too much life stress to get angry with him tonight and enforce going up to bed.  Life isn't bad...geez, it's by far bad, but our doggie is sick and that seems to cloud everything.  Funny, or not, how the kids are totally oblivious to it, they just keep playing, trying to jump on Boris, act silly, etc.  It's actually much better & easier that way but still seems awkward for the rest of us.  Right now we don't really know what is going to happen with our sweet doggy but we know we don't have a lot of time with him which sucks.  But us pet owners, we know our pets don't live forever...I met a girl recently who had an African Grey Parrot and apparently they live 70 yrs!!!... and so when we incorporate them into our lives we know it's only for a certain amount of time though we don't talk or think about that.  Tony & I initially adopted 2 kittens from the SPCA years ago but had the unfortunate incidence of one of them developing some terminal kitten disease (I can't remember what it's called...FAP? FIP?) at the ripe 'ol age of like 5 months and had to put him down which was totally god awful even though he'd only been in our lives a short period of time.  I will never forget that sweet kitty we called Chumsley.  We quickly, though not with excitement, replaced him with a black cat the SPCA called "Davey" and we renamed "Mugsy" who we can't now imagine not having in our lives so it makes you wonder about all things "destined" and "meant to be."  We also had to put down an ancient kitty, Boots, who was in her early 20's when her little body was just done with this earth, after living a long life with me as a youngster then my mom & Aunt through most of her adult life before coming to live with us and stealing Tony's heart.  We are animal people but as animal people we know we live on quasi borrowed time with our four legged friends, and yet we still choose to embark on that path.  All other animals owners will understand.

That is the most recent significant thing going on in my life to write about.  There's been a lot more but I hesitate to delve into that now for fear I will let it all overwhelm me and this blog will sit in my draft folder for months or inevitably, only to be deleted for a newer post dismissing all of what I'm writing about now.

I've been hard at work on my art...even going up to Mendocino for a weekend by myself to do a plein air workshop with an artist I met at one of the open studios last fall.  It was a wonderful experience and I hope to soon finish up the two paintings I worked on up there and post them but they have taken a back seat as of now.  I loved the B&B I stayed in, the Joshua Grindle Inn, which I highly recommend and want to go back to for the amazing breakfasts and welcome bottle of wine, relaxing room & deep soak tub! 

I set my sights on several art shows, printing & taping up the Call For Art on my easel, which I painted specifically for and were accepted into!  The first was in Half Moon Bay, a "Wild, Natural California" show that I submitted a coast landscape for...

...and is currently showing at the Coast Land Trust Gallery in Half Moon Bay.  The significance behind this is more meaningful than anything, and of course only known to very few.  One year ago I saw a post on FB from a high school "friend" who had a piece of art hanging at this very gallery and who encouraged everyone to go check it out, take a photo with it, post it and she would send an art print.  So I did...I wanted to see this art up close, I was inspired by this peer of  mine who seemed to be doing it all - being a mom and an artist.  I went, I saw, I photographed & I posted...along with a beautiful day of picnicking with my 2 sweet kids in Half Moon Bay, photographing the spring blooms & my kids' changing smiles.  I went home and decided that I too could do "this", be an artist and a mother.  Heck, to just get back into my art period!  I made the time, my hubby & kids got me an easel for mother's day, a friend sent me some brushes, paints & paper to accompany the few supplies I already had, and I got to it!  A year later I submitted, was accepted and now showing at the very gallery where 1 year prior I got my inspiration!  Such an exciting event!!

 

Subsequently, I've been trying to seek out every & all "Call For Art" possible (easier said than done) to enter.  A good friend gave me a tip and long story short I was soon showing yet another piece in another gallery!  The Sun Gallery in Hayward had a show of "World View: Landscape" and so I painted & entered this...

...and at the artist's reception received some really cool compliments!!

 

Life has been busy, not always allowing time to paint, which is frustrating and yet I have to remind myself my first obligation/love is to my children, husband and home.  Of course this is a daily, hourly, minute by minute duty that can drain even the most devoted mommy.  So I paint when I can and also try to take care of my body by getting up and exercising and then eating right.  I'm really learning about balance!!

 

We have a full summer on the books and I know before I blink twice it's gonna be Fall so I'm trying to remember to enjoy every day, every minute, be grateful for what I have, be patient & loving and remember it will all be over before I know it.