Appalachian Morning: painting

September 7, 2009

As Summer Turns to Autumn...

I love the advantages of every season so much, it's difficult to choose a favorite. Perhaps even more than the seasons, I enjoy the changing. The sense that something new and different is on the way. The letting go and the moving forward. Important principles that have kept me sane for decades.

Letting go:
As night-time temperatures drop here in the Appalachian foothills of Southeastern Ohio, let's take a moment to remember the summer of 2009. The blessings and the challenges. What we enjoyed and what we survived. Dreams that came true or hopes that were dashed. If the latter, can we find anything of benefit in it? If the former, what's next?

We let go of the lake, the hot sun, the sounds of children playing in the water... we let go of the way a cabin smells, popcorn cooked in a big kettle over an open fire, teenagers falling in love. We let go of languid evenings spent on vacation, or action-packed efforts at waterskiing, biking, rock climbing, canoeing. And now is the time to remember, to print those photographs out and place them in an album... to give thanks for anything good that came our way in the last twelve weeks.

The child who grew from kid to high school student. The mother who visited and deepened a connection with grown children. The sister who loves flea markets and always gets us. The flowers -- snapdragons, day lilies, roses, peonies, geraniums... The abundant forest, the sweet small yellow and black birds who love thistle and are the first thing I look for each morning.

The grill, the steaks, the corn on the cob. The tomatoes! The farmer's market. Cooler weather "up north." Summer camp. Riding horses, riding rails. Cheap thrills or expensive indulgences. Graduations of all sorts. Summer romances.

Now it is time for welcoming autumn -- the beautiful, vibrant, golden tease of quiet, reflective winter.

I spent 17 years in Florida and you could not over-estimate how much I missed the changing seasons, the hills, the ebb and flow of life "up north." Now, tucked away on this hillside, the trees and air alone tell me what is next. And it seems each year at this time I'm drawn to reflect on the past and plan for the future. This is when I think of goals, of what I want to do with my life, what I want to do with my time. What went right, what might need some fixing.

Living creatively means living consciously -- aware of not only what is going on around you, but what is going on inside of you. Learning how to let all of life happen around you but not necessarily within you. Protecting that part of you that holds a dream -- not coddling it, but treasuring it, and also asking something of it: What will you do? For any reflection that doesn't close, eventually, with a plan of action leaves us unsatisfied and incomplete. It's the action that leads to our dreams.

Hope is a great thing, but it isn't the thing. The thing, for each of us, is something we can remember, document, tell our kids about, photograph, write about.

As summer turns to autumn, what will be your thing: your hope materialized? And what can you do to reach it? Tap into your personal creativity, and the collective creativity of your place on earth, to make your dreams come true.

May 11, 2009

Paint-by-Numbers, A Relaxing Creative Outlet

Art and craft enthusiasts have long known the calming, meditative, right-brain blissfulness that comes with delving into a project; concentrating on the colors and shapes; finding all the pieces coming together to create something beautiful.

Yet often painting is a daunting thing to take up. The materials can be confusing; all the different types of paints and brushes called "flats" and "brights." The smell of oils, not to mention the expense. And the fact that most of us do not believe we really can draw, and who wants to face failure when you just want to relax and have some fun? This is why paint-by-numbers were created, and I -- for one -- do not think anyone should feel hesitant to embrace this hobby. It's a real hobby and a real craft; no different than following the directions on a crocheted afghan (such as I'm doing now) or knitting a beautiful cable sweater or cutting out various images to make a collage.

The beautiful paintings shown here were done by my sister, Joyce Phelps, of Bradenton, FL. I'm not surprised that her efforts look so great, because she has always been a person who paid attention to the details. Her home shows a good sense of color and composition. She is patient and stays with anything she starts until she's "got it." I, gal of many unfinished projects, admire that quality.

Joyce says that paint-by-numbers is relaxing; indeed many would say it is therapeutic in the way that so many hobbbies are.

The paintings Joyce has done here are shown in reverse chronological order. The painting of the cats was her first, the one of the birds and flowers second and the beach scene the most recent.

Some paint-by-numbers designs require more compex color mixing than others, and you can really see the excellent care Joyce has taken in mixing the paints to get the soft background in the bird picture, as well as the very lifelike water in the beach scene.

If you have always wanted to paint but felt intimidated by a blank canvas, consider one of the many paint-by-numbers kits available today. I've listed places where you can buy the kits and articles online about the hobby, below.