Art is a healing force.  Kindness matters.
Are these ideas related?

I believe the “flow” or "connection” a creative person experiences when making art is related to and grows from the powers of the universe.  My experience shows acts of kindness are connected to the source of creation and divine powers in a similar way.  

 

If creativity and kindness separately generate an experience of connection to a greater source, is it possible that creativity and kindness are more deeply related than we usually think about?  Do the separate powers of art and kindness have more power and a greater impact when they are combined?

 

Perhaps, if a creative practice is conducted with a spirit of kindness and a generosity of spirit, its impact can multiply.  Art plus kindness produces a sum that is greater than its parts for the artist and the recipient of the kindness.    

 

The next time you are being creative, connect the practice with the intention of kindness toward another in some way.  I’d love to hear how that turns out for you.  

 

Kindness Matters

Acrylic on watercolor paper

4" x 6"

Edition of 72

 

Creative Play

"Creative Play" is time spent using art materials, making marks, and exploring ideas with no particular end in mind.  It is a time for joyful experience of the process of making unburdened by any intended or expected result.  

This series of postcards is the result of an afternoon of “Creative Play” in my studio with no goals in mind.  I used pencils, markers, paints and papers that were easily at hand and applied them in ways that were pleasing to me at the moment.  The resulting postcards are all different; each was a joy to create for its own sake.

Creative Play
Mixed media on watercolor paper
4" x 6"
Edition of 14

Creative Play - 1/14

Creative Play - 6/14

Creative Play - 13/14

Creative Play - 14/14

Creative Play - Reverse

Cherish Freedom

The day we commemorate our country’s independence is worth celebrating for so many reasons.  This year. I made this small series of postcards to express the very personal way I cherish freedom in its many forms.  While many institutions and individuals focus on our national freedoms, m ythoughts turned to all the ways my personal values and freedoms align and don’t align with popular nationalist ideals.  The design, colors, shapes and construction of the series were inspired by similarities and differences that my experience of freedom is the same as, and is different from the experienced I hear others talk about. For me, to cherish freedom includes speaking truth and practicing kindness and generosity.  What does it mean for you to cherish freedom?

Perhaps the image will speak to you and encourage you to consider how ideas of what it means to be free and independent in your experience, and ways you express those ideals in your life.

Cherish Freedom
Acrylic on watercolor paper
4 x 6 inches
Series of 18

Cherish Freedom - 1 of 18

Cherish Freedom - 4 of 18

Cherish Freedom - reverse

Chamisa and Sage - Estudio Corazon 2021

I was fortunate to be Artist in Residence at Ghost Ranch in September, 2021.  During my four weeks on the ranch I nurtured my creative spirit, painted, and experimented with new processes.  The landscape provided much inspiration, and among the works I created were a series of 95 postcards, depicting desert sage and Chamisa, also called rabbitbrush.  

Making a large series of these small paintings allowed me to connect with the subject in a wonderful way.  From the examples included in this post, you can see that each one is unique, even though all have a very similar composition, color palette, and general technique.

Chamisa and Sage
Acrylic on paper
4 x 6 inches
Series of 95 paintings

Chamisa and Sage 19/95

Chamisa and Sage 20/95

Chamisa and Sage 33/95

Chamisa and Sage - reverse

Artists Sharing Art

Several years ago, I went to the desert in New Mexico to make art for four weeks.  Five other artists I had never met were also on retreat at the same time in the same place.  We came from six states and for the first few days had no idea whether we really had anything in common or would even get along together.  As time passed and we grew to know one another, friendship developed between individuals and then among the group as a whole.  The bond between us became strong during our shared experience and we remain friends across the miles that separate us.  We talk to each other and as a group quite frequently.  

To stay connected in the creative realm we decided to embark upon a mail art project.  Each of us would make original art postcards and send one to the other members of the group.  

Below are images of the postcards I created using a variety of colorful papers.  The materials, as diverse and colorful as our group, speaks to the beauty that can be created when unexpected elements come together and form a bond.  

Also pictured below are images of the cards I received from each of the other artists.  What a joy it is for me to receive art in the mail from people I love and admire for their own unique gifts. 

Artists Sharing Art
Collage on Watercolor Paper
4" x 6"
Edition of 6

Artists Sharing Art #1

Artists Sharing Art #2

Artists Sharing Art #3

Artists Sharing Art #4

Artists Sharing Art #5

Artists Sharing Art #6

Artists Sharing Art Reverse

iconic by S.K.

Stay Cool by S.O'K.

Dixit Dominus by B.C.

Peace and Blessings by B.M.

Welcome Back to NM!! by B.S.

Love More Every Day - Love Every Day More

My tradition of making and sending Valentine's Day greetings continues this year. 

Love More Every Day - Love Every Day More
Linoleum block printed with acrylic paint on paper
4" x 6"
Edition of 102

Circles of Healing

When you are not feeling well, would your body and your spirit enjoy receiving art in the mail?   This small series of postcards was made with the specific intention of sending good wishes to my friends who are ill or recovering.  Healing is a complex endeavor with many elements and factors playing a part.  Layers and combinations of color and shape call the complexity to mind but in a way that is hopeful and bright.  

I hope that receiving a surprise of art in the mail helps to make the day a little brighter and the burden a little lighter.

Circles of Healing
Mixed media on paper
4" x 6"
Edition of 6

Enough Love for Everyone

Making Valentine’s Day art cards has brought me joy for many years, and for just as many years, I found joy in sharing these art cards with people I know and total strangers.  This year is no different.  

The design idea for this card started with a poem I ran across just before Christmas last year.  The poem tells a story of s person who is kissed under a bough of mistletoe.  The thing the poem does not reveal is whether the kiss is real, or imagined, or a dream.  It is a wonderfully ambiguous telling and I share it with you here:

MISTLETOE 

Sitting under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
One last candle burning low,
All the sleepy dancers gone,
Just one candle burning on,
Shadows lurking everywhere:
Some one came, and kissed me there.

Tired I was; my head would go
Nodding under the mistletoe
(Pale-green, fairy mistletoe),
No footsteps came, no voice, but only,
Just as I sat there, sleepy, lonely,
Stooped in the still and shadowy air
Lips unseen—and kissed me there.

Walter de La Mare
1873–1956

Walter de la Mare, born on April 25, 1873 in London, is considered one of modern literature’s chief exemplars of the romantic imagination. His complete works form a sustained treatment of romantic themes: dreams, death, rare states of mind and emotion, fantasy worlds of childhood, and the pursuit of the transcendent.

For Valentine’s Day this year, I want there to be no doubt of love and affection I hold for all my friends, and for all of humankind.  Love is difficult sometimes, particularly in these days when it feels like there is so much division and animosity in the world.  I believe there is enough love for everyone; there should be no hesitation in sharing that with people we know and people we don’t know.  

Enough Love for Everyone.
Size:  4” x 6”
Edition size:  158
Medium:  Acrylic, rubber stamps, mixed media
Ground:  Watercolor paper

If My Heart Had Wings

The inspiration for my Valentine’s Day postcard this year led me to this poem by Gene Olson, a poet who lives “somewhere in western Canada.”  

If My Heart Had Wings

by Gene Olson

 

If my heart had wings

It could not fly any higher 

Than it does when you and I are together 

 

The sweet sound of your breathing 

Your unrelenting breathing 

Oh my…what it does to me 

 

In your laughter I can feel your smile 

I can just tell that it starts in your eyes 

But, you must know, it ends deep in the pit of my soul 

 

Your voice, so sweet and soulful 

It raises my spirits whenever I hear it 

It has embedded itself deep in my dreams 

 

Oh…your sighs when we share an intimate moment 

They take my breath away 

As if you are breathing my soul deep into your being 

 

Your whit, it snaps like a whip 

And takes me by surprise every time 

So quick and intelligent, it always brings a smile to my face 

 

And your jealousy, what a sight to behold 

It strikes like a snake, overpowering your prey 

Leaving them whimpering in a corner like spineless jellyfish

 

Your beautiful mind though, that’s what I love 

Sharing our thoughts, our dreams and our fantasies 

It’s what drives you deep into my heart 

 

Your girlish flirtations, hehe 

How I do love them 

That’s what drew me to you like a moth to the flame 

 

But your heart, your ever-loving heart 

It has devoured me and engulfed me in its warmth 

It is the glue that binds my soul to yours 

 

If my heart had wings 

It could not fly any higher 

For it already soars on the currents of our love 

 

I first read Olson's poetry on PoemHunter.com, where he writes the following about himself:

 

"I live in a small town somewhere in western Canada. I am a fire officer in our local fire department and I am grateful to have the chance to help those who can not help themselves. I recently began writing poetry out of a need to express my feelings and as you will see, I try to put as much feeling into my poems as possible. I live life to the fullest of my abilities and enjoy the benefits of family and good friends. I write for myself, but I hope you can find some enjoyment in my rudimentary poems. Thank you for reading them."  

 

This Mail Art Project consists of two parts, each featuring a linoleum cut print of a heart with wings.  The first 65 cards in the edition has the print over a watercolor background intended to evoke the vastness of space and the limitlessness of the universe.  The second 40 cards in the edition was made by printing over fragments of acrylic paintings of the sky and abstract landscapes.

 

Please leave a comment about how this project resonates with you, then check out my other posts and share this blog with your friends.