Mindfullness: Despair is Not an Option

Mindfullness

Below is part of an article by Robin Chancer.

It has been my goal not to get into politics on my blog.  But the current situation brings me to re-consider.  Robin is a professional therapist and she is writing this article to address what she sees as a growing problem of depression among many people regarding the current state of affairs in our country.  My current pre-occupation with reading Dark Money has brought me into the realm of some serious thoughts about all this.  You can read the full article here.

The part about using "mindfulness" as a help in steadying one's course was useful to me.  As I so believe that "attention" and "mindfulness" play a large role in life.  Despair is not an option!

"Mindfulness —essentially, the art of shifting attention — is revolutionizing mental health care. Current research in mental health demonstrates enormous benefits to mindfulness practice. In order to promote well being, we can learn to practice mindful attention both to the present moment and to the good as we understand it. Faced with a frequently depressing, maddening world, this can mean focusing intently on the inspiring work going on around us in a multitude of spheres. Each time you feel hopelessness creep in, focus your attention on the kindness, generosity, and good will around you. We are witnessing an unprecedented blossoming of activism. If our eyes are tuned to the light, we will find the light — in the surge of donations to ACLU, in churches offering sanctuary to immigrants, in town hall meetings packed with civically engaged citizens — everywhere.

Each time the tapes of despair and anger play in your mind, doggedly shift your focus. The mind will wander, again and again. Each time it happens, we notice the anxious thoughts, and shift our focus back. The anxious mind will scream, “How could our President cut Meals on Wheels? What a monster! Those poor people!” Then, shift focus back to the good, “The program has seen a 500% increase in volunteers since the cuts were proposed. Maybe I could get involved!”

You may object, “But I can’t just forget all the terrible things going on!” You are right. Mindfulness is not about forgetting. It is about shifting focus to what is most immediate and most helpful. We help no one by staying in our anguish for long. Bernie Sanders said it best: “Despair is not an option.”

Studio Time in August

I thought I'd start out this morning with something really bright and cheerful.  Greg and I use inexpensive pocket folders to keep our life organized.  I mean we have a folder for just about everything.  They are lightweight and travel well too.  So when I find a stack of them on sale at a garage sale...like 5 for 50 cents above...I grab them.  Nowadays since I have a mono print system at hand I decorate them in happy, funky ways just to please myself and make a happy statement.  The acrylic paint helps to make them sturdier too.  It takes me like half an hour to do this and the cheery folders get stacked in a vertical file near my desk for use (or replacement of old folders).  

Now this is not as "colorful" but hopefully it will be some day soon. It is what I am working on right now.  This is a very FIRST draft of a house painting commission I am working on.  I used to do quite a few of these "in the olden days" just after I retired.  It was fun to do and I think it appeals because I enjoy interesting architecture and the challenge of making something that will bring folks pleasure.  But they take a long time and are quite challenging.

Often the house is one that folks want to remember.  And, in fact,  the owner has this house up for sale so wants to remember it.  This sketch is on tracing paper and will be when I get it right...the basis for transferring the house to watercolor paper.  I've penciled in the shadows thrown by the afternoon sun on the lawn and roof. 

It's a lovely home in Lake Geneva, WI and I took reference photos last spring in May when we were heading north.  Now I need to have it done so that I can deliver it in October heading south.  

Although it's not completely obvious in the sketch, the house is landscaped beautifully (the owner is a master gardener) and it is surrounded by lush woods.  Everything is so green in May in southern WI it almost takes your breath away.   So I am awaiting the owner's ideas about the floral colors and since I took the photos the garage doors have been replaced.  So I need photos of those.

I will then sit down with scrap watercolor paper and start to play with colors.  I want to give the sky a spring blue with some fluffy clouds. The house is a lovely mauve brown with slightly darker shingles and barn red shutters. It will be challenging.  And a lot of work.  But hopefully I can do it justice.  

ps. have you noticed that the Halloween decorations are out in the stores now?  Sigh.

Making reminders of Blessed Memories

Friend Florie took this photo of me last week during out outdoor painting session at Camp Jorn.  Once in a while we get really nice weather on a Thursday morning.  Rare.  But possible.  I posted this sketch already (scroll back one).  

I am reminded this morning of how important visual reminders become over time.  Sketches or photographs both.

Did I mention I just finished reading Being Mortal by Atul Gawande recently.  I am sure I did. 

Garrison Keillor's blog posted a sweet/sad little poem that reminded me of this book again and of the visual reminders.

 The poem reminded me more of saying good bye to my own homes after I sold them...sometimes I take photos of the empty rooms.  They become reminders of "blessed memories" in those spots.  

On Closing the Apartment of my Grandparents 

of Blessed Memory 

by Robyn Sarah 

And then I stood for the last time in that room.

The key was in my hand. I held my ground,

and listened to the quiet that was like a sound,

and saw how the long sun of winter afternoon

fell slantwise on the floorboards, making bloom

the grain in the blond wood. (All that they owned

was once contained here.) At the window moaned

a splinter of wind. I would be going soon.

I would be going soon; but first I stood,

hearing the years turn in that emptied place

whose fullness echoed. Whose familiar smell,

of a tranquil life, lived simply, clung like a mood

or a long-loved melody there. A lingering grace.

Then I locked up, and rang the janitor’s bell.

A morning on Rest Lake

Last Thursday turned out to be a splendid morning.

The breeze was gentle, the temperatures just right.  4 of us joined together to enjoy delightful few hours painting and sketching at a local YMCA camp on Rest Lake.  Don't you love the name of that lake?  REST Lake.  There is another lake near us called Sunday Lake.  I like that name too. 

There were tons of kids (about 8-12 ages groups) all over the place and they had lots of large tents set up sleeping probably 8 kids.  Joyous shouts and the tinkle of laugher accompanied us all morning.

I had not been there before.  Very nice camp.  Brought back lots of memories of my years as a Girl Scout both as a camper and a counselor. 

The fierce totem pole seemed to feature many turtles.  And an eagle at the top.  The door knobs here on the lodges were small canoe paddles.  (I loved that!) I got some nice shadows on the tent.  Afterwards we had lunch in Manitowish Waters.  

I have tried hard to be better about getting to the paint outs this year.  Even (as you may remember when it is only 50 out there!)

Life has slowed slightly now as August approaches.  All the grandkids that are coming this year have come and gone.  I am a little sad about that.  Greg has closed up the loft and put the ladder away for the season.   We expect some adult friends up...one in August, two in September.  

And I am hoping that my two daughters will come up for "Girl's Weekend" over Labor Day.  We did that last year and made some lasting memories.  I adore those two girls!  Never get enough of them.  

My memoir is going slowly and I do need get more disciplined for that.  I am easily distracted and get off on various small projects or have to get to town for one thing or another and time slides along. Or I get into a book on the summer porch and am lulled into another time and place.  I really will  try hard this month!!!

Hoping to publish more from the library later this week as I have some photos to share.  But internet connections are SO slow here at the cabin.  

Have a good week everyone.

Godwinks

The Great Cats is a puzzle we just finished at the cabin...over about a week or so.  One of those great puzzles that you just pore over when you wake up early or you have a few minutes in the late afternoon or evening.  See if you can put in a few pieces.  The painting is by Peter Kull.  It was about an 8 in a one to ten range of difficulty with 10 being HARD.  Lots of oranges and browns made it pretty darn challenging.  But we enjoyed it.  Found it at a garage sale for 10 cents.

The need to write and the need to paint both comes sometimes like some overwhelming urges that threatens to take my breath away or make me dizzy.  It’s hard to describe but if you are a writer or an artist you will understand.  I cannot think that other creatives feel quite the same but perhaps they do…dancers must dance, singers must sing, knitters must knit…

After I have been inundated these past days with a lot of people and commitments that keep me from both of these “fundamentals” for awhile and I begin to gasp at the neediness of my creativity.  It often comes after I have been reading a lot too…suddenly the reading of another’s words just begin to make my finger itch and soon I am off and running again.  To what audience I have no idea.  (Maybe it is because Autumn likes to read my blogs.)😜

In my youth, drawers filled up with old papers and short stories that never got finished.  Once I discovered sketching, notebooks began to fill up too.

I just finished reading Being Mortal by Atul Gwande and am full of thoughts like “what is courage?” and “When the end is near when is enough enough?”  It has caused me to think about what I value most and would most hate to have give up.  After the company of my husband and children and I think it would be writing and painting.  Time alone in a good quiet place in the comfort of birds and sunshine.  Like the cabin or my studio in FL (in good weather). 

This week there has not been much time for “contemplation” but that makes the quiet time all the more sweet when it comes.  Chores are done, the wine is poured, the wind has switched around to the south and there is sunshine.  Guests are gone and 

I pick up the book I’ve chosen to read next…like a treasure sent by the gods of happiness.  A new book.  

This one I picked by the title and by the back cover at a recent garage sale.   Not the way I normally pick books by recommendations and by reading reviews.  I was struck by the title which was made more amusing since I have been working all week on a jigsaw puzzles picturing tigers and lions.  The title is The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht.

The first chapter begins when the main character’s grandfather dies of cancer (a disease he has kept secret from everyone except his granddaughter).  And the cultural rituals around the keeping and nurturing of his soul begin.

So I am to begin to read about end of life just as I finished another one. Sharon Feathers would call this a “Godwink”.  Another way to look at serendipity or coincidence as perhaps not exactly as random as one might think.  

Sketching Moments for Remembering

There is a spot on my summer porch at the cabin by the lake that is a "cozy" spot and a place where I can play quiet music.  Here I curl up to read, write on my laptop (the memoir, remember?), have my wine in the late afternoon with hubby, or sometimes take a wee nap.  

These sketches are views from that spot.  Done in a 9 x 11 mixed media Strathmore sketchbook.  There is room for 4 to sit and have a comfortable conversation which I think is the ideal number for a chat.  

The larger sketch faces toward the lake (west) which we easily see just 90 steps away through the lovely old pines and oaks.  With the windows open we hear the loons call and see the ducks swim by.  We hear the pontoon boats out for a ride and fishing boats going by.

An ideal spot of a pot of daisies and stacks of books and my binoculars in case I see something new at the bird feeder.  The hummingbird feeder hangs just outside the window off to the north side. We often here their little "motors" as they drink.  The smaller sketches face north.  

So this is probably THE favorite spot I have here at the cabin or maybe on the deck at the pier on a still summer late afternoon would be a close second.  Sketches like this provide one with an amazing way to bring the moment back.

Pure nonsense!

Well, here I go again with a new device to try to learn about!!!  You'd think since I have an Apple iPad and an Apple laptop, this iPhone would be a no-brainer.  Well to the contrary!  Phones are a different animal.  

I thought it might be fun to decorate my case (Otter Box as my daughter recommended) so that if there were many black iPads around I'd have no difficulty seeing which one was mine!!!

Pure nonsense.  I have a lot of art stuff sitting and waiting and here I am making pure nonsense.  The decoration is Zentangle®, of course, and the pattern is one of my favorites called "Lollywimple".  

I used fluid acrylic paint for this which I loaded into a Molotow refillable ink pen.  These are extremely messy to refill.  You should have a "refill" device that you buy separately but I've always just donned rubber gloves and put a lot of newspaper down, put on an apron and pulled it apart.  This pen was new so the first fill is a no brainer.  

Acrylic is pretty "hardy" but I expect with all the use the case will get it will eventually wear off.  But easily repainted.  

Weather day is nice today (amazing, huh?) as the north woods just whips from one type of weather to another!  47 degrees last night and 75 in the afternoon...15 and 25 degree swings every week and every day.  Try to plan something?  Forget that.

Just enjoying it when it turns nice...that's the key.  

Have a good week!  

The weather will be good...when pigs fly?

9 x 11 sketch in Strathmore Visual Journal 90# paper...watercolor and ink.  

Only 4 artists showed up today and we froze our buns off.  The Greenhouse/Nursery in Boulder Junction, WI (about half an hour from my cabin in Lac du Flambeau) is a very nice venue for painting.  If it were sunny.  If it were warm.  

But nope.  Temp was about 52 with a stiff wind and never a touch of sunshine.  It didn't rain but that about the only thing going for the weather today!  All of us felt our fingers grow numb from cold on JULY 13th!!!

The greenhouse was bedecked with flowers and then outside was this tiny little cottage in which they sold garden equipment and coffee and doodads for our garden like wind chimes and little metal pigs with wings.  All the shadows you see are fake.

We did a lovely lunch afterwards and much laughter and good conversation.  Then I was off to get some groceries in Minocqua and home by "tea time" (which was NOT on the pier unfortunately).  I decided we needed a comfort dinner and did my apple/pork chop bake.  This felt so "fall-ish".  It kept the cabin warm and we are full and sleepy...curled up reading on the sofa and watching darkness descend over the lake.

Framing and matting and measuring OH NO

I have shown the preliminary sketches for this project previously on the blog and the progress on it as it went along.  (It is a surprise anniversary present for our neighbors here on Tippecanoe Lake the first week in August).  I had the printer in town make up enough small copies for 12 cards.  So I'll finish glueing those up later.  

I had to put a mat on this one and there was nothing in my stash that would fit so I dragged out my mat cutter for the first time in probably 3 years!  Once I remembered to change the blade in the cutter, it all went pretty well.  It is a pain to cut mats, however.
Lots of careful measurement (ugh MATH) and then remember to get those corners nice and crisp.   

Not sure why but the color looks washed out in the card and it's really not.  Must be the lamp reflecting on it funny as I did take this photo inside.  

I consider this a "sketch" as it done with calligraphy pen that is water soluble.  Then I do a wash and put in most of the shadows before I add some color. Gives it a "sketchier" look than just a plain watercolor painting, I think.

We had a rainy/sunny day today on and off in the north woods.  Temps were not bad and I had the porch windows open most of the day.  But am back in a flannel shirt this evening.   Hoping we get a nice morning tomorrow for the outdoor painters group.  We are going to Winker's Greenhouse/Nursery in Boulder Junction.  

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

4th of July in the North Woods

Not only is the internet connection here in the north woods practically non-existent or incredibly SLOW but sometimes these conditions go on for days. Which is okay for the most part as everyone I know realizes where I am and the conditions for posting or emailing or texting or anything technology related are practically impossible.  The closer we are to a weekend or a holiday...the less connectivity is possible.  Due to the number of people online.

I might note that after I finished this sketch of the pier and deck building, we had 3 beautiful days of weather.  Right through the 4th of July.  So the umbrella went and we spend HOURS down there sunning like turtles and having wine and cheese and watching the kids swim and jump off the pier.  

We have squeezed so much into those 3 days that Greg is now on a heating pad taking a nap!  And feeding 10 people 3 meals a day gets to be awe inspiring (but with all the help it is fun).  Last night we did an old fashioned grill out and then went to the local fireworks. Meaning no one got to bed until 11. Boy we were dragging this morning as it rained lightly.  

Among all the festive things, the two older grandsons and my son helped Greg install the last large window on the glassed in porch.

We were missing one window and the one we chose was HUGE and heavy.  WHAT were we thinking?  Anyway it did get installed and now THAT is done except for trim and painting which can come later.  Photos of this later.

Company will stay through Thursday dinner and then 5 will leave and 3 will stay on until Sunday.  

Indoor Outdoor Sketching on a VERY rainy day

The North Woods outdoor painters met yesterday.  One of our favorite places to paint is Coon's Franklin Lodge in Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin (about 10 miles north of Minocqua on Trout Lake).  

This is one of those old fashioned lodges that has been passed down through several generations of ownership.  You know the kind, where families often come back year after year.  

Done in a Strathmore Visual Journal with 90# paper (9 x 12).
The hard part of yesterday was only that it RAINED all day AGAIN.  Normally that would put the kibosh on any painting as we often choose places with no cover.  The the lodge has many covered walkways and is generously covered with little color spots of chair/pillows and floral plantings.  

For me?  I headed straight for the lodge lounge area.  A fire was crackling there and a stuffed bear snarled in the corner as any good Northwoods lodge would offer. Mounted fish on the wall and plenty of overstuffed furniture and a wonderful old roll-topped desk in one corner.  There I curled up from about 10:30 to noon doing the above sketch.

The lodge area was large enough that guests could filter through now and then and people came down to read and visit quietly.  At 12:30 the noon bell rang in the charming and large dining room and the painting group gathered for a very hearty and lovely lunch!  

There we shared painting stories and complained about weather together.   The weather man has PROMISED us a nice 4th of July...with sun (if we can remember what that looks like) and temps in the high 70s.  And he says we could have a nice little stretch of sunny dry weather following that.  We would be ecstatic about this.
If nothing else, rain provides you with a reason to LOVE sunshine.
There might be a metaphor for life there somewhere.

We are off to garage sales (as usual on Fridays) and hoping the rain will hold off today until we are done!  

Hope everyone has a safe and joyful 4th.  
My BIG hoard of family will start arriving tomorrow.  And we'll be jam packed with activities for about 10 days.  Hope to get some sketching in.  

A work in progress

You will have seen the sketch for this painting a few posts ago...I thought I'd try a little different "style" of pen and ink for this one.  I did all the pen work first and tried to get most of the shadows in in pen.  

This gives quite a different look to the whole painting.  It is more like a "sketch" than a painting.  

This is not signed yet.  I think I'm going to darken the front screens on the porch on the front some.  I see I cut the left side off a little when I cropped it...it has a bell hanging off to the left and you can see this.  I think I'll crop off some of the darker tree near the top left which is pulling my eye off the paper.  

When I get those done I'll post it again.  Susan...do you see anything else that might need addressing?  

The Odd World of Trees Underground

This is a rather odd artistic post.  It is sort of an abstract, surreal sort of piece of journalling that is supposed to reflect the theme of "Trees".

The topic was a prompt from one of my arty Facebook groups.

The only real requirement is that there be some words on the page.

This reflects some of my interpretation of the book The Hidden Life of Trees and that I previous posted about.  I think I put it under the label "Thoughts".  The book is an interesting conversation about things you never knew or thought about concerning trees.  Written by a German forester, his information is quite fascinating!!!  Trees actually have a whole life UNDER the ground that you never much think about.  Scientists can actually measure some sort of "electrical hum" under the ground.  They are not sure what it is.  

Are the trees chatting?  

 I mean we all know they have roots but who knew about the fungi that connect most of the trees in the forest?  Who knew that the fungi not only live off the tree but BENEFIT the tree as well and help it by communicating with other trees?  They can actually WARN other trees about invasive insects in the area...things like that!  Who knew that in a tablespoon of dirt there are more living organisms than can accurately be counted?  And that many of them are yet unknown and unnamed?  

These strange piece of reflective art came from a ghost print I did on the gelli plate.  When I scrolled through my journal trying to decide how to represent trees this called out to me.  I tried to "spatter" representations of bits of living matter and insects too.  The complicated underground web that we do not see unless a storm uproots one unexpectedly.  

The font is done with my fine line paint pen using high flow acrylics.  

Fine Line Paint Pen Anyone?

Mark making tools become an obsession after awhile.  It's fascinating to try all KINDS of pens.  This is a Loew Cornell Fine Line "Paint" pen.  It is designed to hold any thin liquid.  I am trying out Hydrus Watercolors here (pre-mixed liquid Dr. Martin brand).  

The barrel at the top is gently filled with the liquid (I use a small paint brush as the filling tool because it helps keep any bubbles from forming.  You can also dip it fully into a liquid but then you have a lot of wiping to do.  So I prefer the paint brush.  You don't get a huge amount of printing before having to refill, of course. That is a downside to this.

It is definitely a "studio" printing technique end not designed to be carried about for use.  I have used liquid acrylic paint in this and this works nicely too and would provide more opaque lettering that you could wash over.  And the white works nicely over black backgrounds too.  I like that you can use a huge variety of colors and paints with it...not just your normal black, white, and blue.  

It's important to wash and clean immediately after use, of course, so the tiny nozzle won't get clogged and it does come with a tiny wire you can use in case this happens.  You can also blow through it to clean it out after it is washed in clean water.  So it has some housekeeping issues. But I rather like it.  The marks are easy to make...liquids flow so nicely that the pen just glides over smooth paper.  

Has anyone else tried one of these?  It is not expensive.  

Sketching Poppies

The most amazing poppies at church yesterday (Lac du Flambeau, WI Community Presbyterian Church).  

Architecture in Watercolor

Architecture has always been a special love of mine.  My dad was an architect.  Friends are having a big anniversary party here at the lake in early August and so I took a photo of their lovely home here with the idea of surprising them.  

So first I did a tracing of the photo (on tracing paper) and now I am deciding the style in which I will portray the final drawing/painting.  I will do it in watercolor and ink...but I have a number of different ways that I can portray it.  I am thinking of maybe a sketch-like drawing rather than an exact portrait of the house.  Something a little more "artsy".  (It's about 12 x 16.) The odd line across the front under the eaves is a shadow line, by the way.  

Anyway, I am about ready to get started on this one.  I'll let you know what I decide!

It's pouring rain and 55 degrees at the Northwoods cabin today.  So how do you like that weather report?  Sigh.

Washi Tape

I've posted my home made washi tapes a number of times before.

I use the "plain white paper tapes" from the first aid section of WalMart or any Dollar store or Walgreens, etc.  I use inexpensive craft acrylics for this and just have lots of fun using stencils and stamps and fine line paint etc.  I love the brightest colors possible. 

 In this example I laid all the tapes out on a piece of left over foam core.  The paint soaks though a little bit.  You can do this on wax paper, freezer paper (my favorite) or a piece of plexiglass or even an old plastic table cloth or place mat.  Just so it will come up easily.    

Here I show that I am beginning to roll up the dry tapes on to a drinking straw...I use the larger "milkshake-type" straws.  It's a good way to keep them for later use. 

Here is how the straws look when you are done.  Then I just plunk them into an old mug or can and voila they are ready when I need them for collage, stationary, envelopes, or any fun use.  I like these SO much better than the commercial washi tapes.  

A Rocky Start

Sometimes you wonder about me, right?  Well, before I left the Friday group in Leesburg decided to paint rocks.  Anyway you wanted to.  I remember reading about someone who painted rocks with tiny dots.  VERY beautiful and exact designs.  The video that explained the process, I remember, showed that the artist used a set of amazing tools allowing her to make precise dots with graduated sizes.  Whew...VERY time consuming and very geometric. 

 I highly admired these but knew that I was not interested in really adopting this strict technique.  But I thought it would fun to so something with dots.  Above is my simple try.  I used eraser on the end of pencils.  I only had 3 sizes.  I coated my rocks with black gesso first and then used Dylusions acrylic paint for the dots.  Then coated them with a gloss varnish.

So then I had put out too much paint and I thought how to use up the left overs!  Well, there is always time to make a mono-print or two, right?

So with left over paint I rolled out some of the acrylic on my gelatin plate and took a few pulls.  This one took two pulls and then I added some white lines for fun.  I used pre-adhesive paper from a pack of papers intended for putting on CDs.  After they are all dry you can pull them off and use them in collage or in my case, as stationary decoration!  

There was enough paint left over for 3 more pulls.  These will make nice collage papers or wrapping paper.  It's amazing how little paint these take!!!

So these are my first projects in my studio in the Northwoods after spending several days trying to find things and put them in some sort of order.  

Beads of Courage

The Diva's Challenge for Zentangle this week has to do with "beads of courage".  So everyone in the challenge is trying hard to think of a way to tangle a tile that has something to do with beads.  

It's a long story but the gist of it that children are given colored beads when they have to endure some difficult challenge...usually a physical problem of some sort.  Laura's youngest son has some challenges and so she dreamed up this amazing idea to help him.  

She's quite the special mom!  

We have begun to "settle" in at our little Northwoods cabin in Wisconsin this week.  It takes us almost two weeks to find everything, get piers and boats out and relax into a new environment.  The hummingbirds have been buzzing us to get out our feeders!  

Seize the Day? Or maybe not.

These canvases are (3/4"gallery wrapped).  And I worked on these for a few hours this afternoon at the Manitowish Waters Art Leage Workshop in a town of the same name.  The paint is acrylic and was applied with a credit card to start the background.

Our workshop leader provided us with a lot of fun sayings to choose from.  This one just seemed right for our cabin time this summer!!!  Or maybe for life in the slow lane?  12 x 12

This is actually the hope that Zentangle teachers try to give to students.  Stop thinking...relax, breathe, and let you hand and mind weave magic.  6 x 6

I decided not to apply the final varnish coat since I have a few more things I'd like to a add to both of them.  

Materials used: acrylic paint, brushes, polymer medium, pens, collage papers, sponges, spackeling compound, and stencils.