I'm a self-taught mixed media artist and have been creating art and a positive atmosphere in my life for as long as I can remember. I live in sunny South Florida, which serves as my inspiration for my use of bright fun colors with a whimsical flair.
My goal is to inspire and empower you to find your inner happiness through creativity, as I have in my life. This website includes different tips and techniques that will hopefully inspire your inner muse to create.
Welcome and join me on a wonderful journey in creating art!
As you may know I’m a collector of quotes. These “Words of Wisdom” have the power to lift your spirit when you need it most. I thought it would be fun to create a collection of inspiring quotes on a deck of 3.5×4.5 inch watercolor cards with art. So this is the first one in the deck by Tom Ziglar:
“Never put the key to your Happiness in somebody else’s pocket.”
These words are simple yet so true. Sometimes I think it’s just easier to put your happiness in some else’s pocket. But the truth is happiness comes from within and we all have the ability to create our own happiness. Some days can be a struggle but but it’s well worth the effort.
On days when I’m feeling off, I’ll meditate, go for a walk or create some art to get that happiness powerplant inside of me a kick start. When your day goes sideways, what do you do to create happiness?
Hope this inspires you in some way today. Thanks for stopping by!!
I wanted to give you a little update on what I’m working on in the studio. I thought I should get a head start on making mini Christmas ornaments. I have some fun ideas and can’t wait to get these all going. I have the abstract, shown above that I’m working on. It’s a soft and dreamy painting with the feeling of flowers. Plus I have another larger abstract, shown below also in the works. Let’s see where these paintings go😊
What is really exciting me at this moment is I’m finally seeing a shift in the daily shadows in my yard which means cooler weather is coming, yay!! This was a scorching hot summer and I’m ready for fall with the official first day on September 23rd. How’s your weather been lately?
Hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend, thanks for stopping by!!
Share the Happy 💖
“Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen.” ~Robert Bresson
I had an absolute blast creating the inchies for Amy Maricle’s Inchie Challenge at Mindful Art Studio. I made this 4 inch square journal for the inchies. I painted each page with coordinating watercolor paint and decorated the outside covers with pens and doodles.
This is a short video of my journal hope it inspires you to create something fun this Labor Day Weekend!
Have you ever been in a situation where the other person upsets you with harsh words or failed to see your point of view? I think most of us have experienced something similar in one way or another.
Don Miguel Ruiz has written several books and in “The Fifth Agreement,” he makes an excellent analogy using movie theaters. The gist of it was that you go into a movie theater that’s showing a movie about your life. You recognize everyone in the scene and remember it playing out exactly that way because this was from your point of view.
After a few minutes you go to the next theater and the same movie is playing. However, this movie is different than the last because this is your mother’s point of view. You see yourself differently because this is how she perceives you to be. You also notice your mother’s character is quite different from your movie because this is based on her story and how she feels about herself and perceives everyone and everything around her.
You go from theater to theater and the story keeps changing as the main characters and points of view change. What you need to remember is that each person you engage with in your life will have their full attention on themselves and what they create and believe to be true in their minds. Once you understand everyone has a completely different point of view it will change how you view the world around you. And when someone uses harsh words or does something that upsets you, understand that what they’re projecting onto you isn’t about you, it’s about themselves and what they perceive to be real. Dealing with conflicts from this point of view will be much easier but it will take lots of practice.
Lots of food for thought in this post but I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for stopping by!!
I wanted to share with you my latest 16×20″ abstract painting titled “Crescendo.” I like to think of this as a reminder to go for your dreams and reach for the stars. Never give up and keep climbing to the top. Set your goals high and climb, climb, climb till you reach them!!
Hope this makes you happy and inspires you to create today. Thanks for stopping by!!!
Share the Happy💖
“The best view come after the hardest climb.” Unknown
Would you intentionally ingest plastic? But if you drink bottled water which is sold in all types of plastic containers, that’s exactly what you’re doing.
Water is the source of all life on this planet and we each need our daily supply if we want to be healthy. But consuming plastic can’t be good for our bodies. I would prefer water bottled in a glass container which is how it was originally done but that’s not practical in today’s world.
Bottled water had been sold as early as 1622 in the United Kingdom’s Holy Well bottling plant. It was believed that natural springs had healing properties and the water was sold as a medicinal remedy. Jackson’s Spa in Boston was the first to sell bottled water in 1767.
Great technological advancements were made in the 19th century in producing glass containers that were efficient and practical. And thus Saratoga Springs in Saratoga New York started producing and selling seven million bottles of water a year in 1856.
It wasn’t until the 1930’s that plastic bottles began replacing the glass water bottles. Almost 100 years later these plastic bottles have became a refuse nightmare this planet. In the US consumers purchase about 50 billion water bottles a year which adds up to a lot of waste especially because they can last for hundreds of years before decomposing in landfills and sadly many end up in our oceans.
Now here’s where it gets pretty scary. Studies showed that 93% of samples taken from 259 popular bottled water brands, sold in several countries contained “microplastic” synthetic polymer particles, in other words tiny pieces of plastic. They also found that many of those particles were visible to the naked eye.
It was also rumored if the bottled water is heated (like leaving it in the car) or refrigerated/frozen it caused more plastic particles to seep into your water. Supposedly there were studies done claiming this rumor was false or is it true?
Bottom line is you need to take care in the amount of bottled water you consume because every time you drink it, your ingesting plastic. Personally, I try not to drink it whenever possible but sometimes you don’t have a choice. So opt for filtered fresh water or water bottled in a glass container whenever possible.
Laly Mille’s online course, “Wild Roses” has rekindled my love for painting roses. So I decided I would work on two 4×4 canvases and paint a single rose on each one. These canvases have lots of layers. I thought of creating the usual layer of texture like I’ve done on my other paintings but that didn’t feel right. So I opted for lace doilies and tissue paper for a more romantic feel.
These paintings aren’t finished yet as there are still more layers to go. It takes a bit of time creating the layers but it’s so much fun. So stay tuned and let’s see where these go…
Hope this inspires you to create today, thanks for stopping by!!!
I can’t believe yesterday was Day 12 and the last day of Amy Maricle’s Inchie Challenge at Mindful Art Studio.
I had such fun creating these inchies in varying sizes. I guess what I liked the most is that you’re given a starting point on what to create with the prompts given. You don’t have to burn a fuse trying to decide on “what” you’re going to create. You only need to think about the “how” part of the creation process.
Plus I love seeing everyone’s creative muse at play. There were so many wonderful designs, loved them all! Now I have to make a mini journal to put these into 😊
Hope you enjoyed this adventure in art with me, thanks for stopping by!!!
Have you ever been in a tough spot and found you didn’t react to the situation as your best self? You let your feelings and emotions get the better of you. I know it’s happened to me many times during my life and I’m sure you’ve had some moments too.
Learning about personal growth helps us to become a better person and teaches us not to react so harshly and negatively in certain situations. It helps us to better understand ourselves and those around us so that we may live happier and more meaningful lives.
Brendon Burchard is one of New York Times best selling authors and he’s also one of the leading Life Coach and High Performance Trainers in the industry. Brendon wrote “The Motivation Manifesto,” to help the reader with personal growth by reclaiming personal power and freedom.
This is a well written book and Brendon does an excellent job explaining the nine declarations of motivation and personal power so the reader is equipped with the knowledge needed to unleash their inner strength. In addition, he also includes strategies and exercises to help apply these principles to life. Plus Brendon gives insights from his own personal journey and from some of the greatest leaders in history.
Flowing Waters Art 