Thursday, February 14, 2013

LOVE IS...

"love is..." @ 6" x  6", pigma pens, color pencil on canson white paper, 2013

As Valentines Day, 2013 comes to a close I'm finally getting a moment to post this ode to LOVE.  It's been a busy day so far, not that I'm complaining.  I got to go to see "Silver Linings Playbook" with my hubby, in the triple fancy luxe level, where the fancy folk sit and watch the film while dining in extra comfy seats (that guy knows how to show me a good time!)  What a movie!  It was amazing and hysterical, though sometimes it hit a little close to home with the bi-polar mood swing episodes.  It was real and occasionally scary, but that's part of living in love.

Living in love.  What is that, anyway?  The question led me to work and weave my way through the piece I'm posting tonight.  I wrote out the words "love is" in a loose, loopy script, then added the textures and patterns in the letters themselves.  A tangle of rocks, gems, a plaid rose, harp strings, veins and abstract patterns came together to represent the roughness, the beauty, the organic, hypnotic and neurotic nature of love in life.  Love is everything and everywhere.  It starts somewhere deep inside and reaches out and around, expanding and contracting at the same time.  Where it goes from there depends on how much love can be generated and absorbed.  Geez!  That's deep! 

I have found that in my 52 years so far I have discovered so many facets of love.  I'm lucky to have felt loved as a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, an artist, friend.  And I've given a lifetime of love in return.  But somehow, still, I feel like I'm not quite complete.

To this day I have the hardest time with how to love myself.  But I'm learning a little bit every day.  I'm looking up, down, in, out and all around myself and I see something new each and every time.  Yes, sometimes it's still hard to live in love with myself.  It's so much easier to give it to my family and the rest of the world.  But I try to look at it this way; hopefully... fingers crossed... I'm only halfway through my time here on Earth, so there are still plenty of moments waiting to be created, experienced and shared.  
Yes, there's plenty of love to live, and life to love.

Happy Valentine's Night...

Thanks for looking,

Claire


Friday, January 4, 2013

Meet 2013, my new friend...

"Welcome, 2013" 6" x 6", colored pencils, paint markers, Pigma pens on Arches Vellin paper.

I've decided to try something different as I enter the new year.  It seems like a good idea to welcome 2013 as a friend and partner traveling together through life's daily adventures.  Why fight time, when it's so much more fun to just go with it.  So far so good.  2013 and I are getting along famously, though we're still working on my tardiness issue.  But as the old adage goes, better late than never, and I'm only 4 days late!

Once 12/21/12 (aka doomsday) passed armageddon free, I finally exhaled, knowing we'd be able to celebrate my daughter's 19th birthday.  Her big day was December 22nd and she was expecting a special celebration, it being the day after the end of the world, after all.  I decided the timing was right to embrace the miracle of another year with a spirit of trust, cooperation and partnership, like a good friend.  With a Merry Christmas that was relatively stress free and an awesome night of sparkling cider, games and of course, watching the ball drop on Rocking New Year's Eve, we gave 2012 a great sendoff and looked forward to my new friend, 2013's arrival.

Yes, I will happily embrace 2013 as my new friend.  We will share good times and bad times.  There will be a give and take in every day.  We will celebrate new joys and bid farewell to lost loved ones.  Sometimes 2013 will have to drag me out of bed when I don't want to face the drudgery of a cold February morning, or I'll have to get the message when 2013 wants me to slow down and just enjoy an early summer day.  I will listen when 2013 shows me that I should pay more attention to my blood sugar that seems to wreak havoc during the crazy holiday season.  And I will keep an ear out for any special bits of wisdom that 2013 has to offer.  I will try not to ask too much of 2013 and just let the days flow, knowing that when my friend, the year decides that it's time to move on, 2014 will be waiting with the promise of another great relationship. 

Wishing you and yours a year of fun, fellowship, friendship and family.  Embrace it and make it yours.  2013 can be your friend, too.

Thanks for looking,

Claire