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Truth Windows

3/7/2018

8 Comments

 
The studio is a shambles.

A festival last weekend; another coming this weekend (Artfest in Pembroke Pines).  Piles of stuff to walk over just to get to my work table.  Pongo is not happy with the state of things, which reduces his lounging space in the room.

I am painting, yes, but have nothing to show.  Soon, soon.
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In the meantime, I give you these little snippets of my studio, crammed with things that inspire me....small works I adore and haven't framed yet, note cards from the best people on earth.  Words that make me ponder or smile.
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When Danielle of GetNeat organized my studio some time back, I asked her to leave room for inspiration.  And she gave  me this magnetic strip which spans the length of my room underneath shelves that reach to the ceiling.  It is covered from one end to the other, images clipped in stacks.  It grows weekly.

This mini gallery includes works from Patti Bryan, Dotty Seiter, Carol Edan, Caroline C Brown,  Susan Schanerman and more.  Each of these artists has touched my life in some wonderful way (and they happen to have small works or notecards to collect).
​

It is vital to surround ourselves with uplifting views.  Whether it is the art on our walls, the flowers in a vase or the views out of our windows.  Our eyes crave visual candy.
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The next chapter of Mark Nepo's The One Life We're Given is all about windows.  There is an ancient dwelling called a cob house which is known for being built with truth windows - windows showing what the wall is made of instead of opening to the outside.  "We would do well if our walls had truth windows, so we could be honest about what they're made of," says Nepo.  But he is speaking of the walls we put up in our lives.

He reminds us that "windows go both ways, letting things in and out, and letting us see and be seen."  Oh!  Letting things in and out, letting us see, yes and ok.  But letting us be seen...that's where we cringe and cower and close the blinds.  ​Even posting this little window into my studio makes me squirm just a bit.  Like the blog itself, a little truth window into my life.

So why do it?  Nepo again: "...hard as it is at times, love your window open, and become the opening itself until your walls come down.  When the walls come down, the opening is everywhere."​   Here's to becoming the opening.
8 Comments
Dotty Seiter link
3/7/2018 08:17:13 am

When the walls come down, the opening is everywhere.

oh.

yes.

wow.

I'm not missing the fact that one among us has the surname of walls!

THANK YOU for letting us see out of our own windows into your space, for letting yourself be seen. What fun to see my own work, and work of others I know, and work of those whom I don't yet know but to whom I have now been introduced.

Awesome!

Reply
jen
3/7/2018 08:30:40 am

Walls! Yes, my husband had no idea what a gift that was for me when we got married. :)

Thanks for peeking into my studio and seeing yourself there. I can't tell you how much our connection has inspired and comforted me! Thank YOU for being in the world!

Reply
P. L. Brooks
3/7/2018 08:45:54 am

Windows open help us take the burden off of our shoulders to hide what is truly in our souls. I think that you have thrown the window sashes out of their frames each time you blog and share your inner life. Your work has just shown us the growth in seeing clearly who you are, how you came to be and what brought you into our lives. Your are a force of nature - unstoppable and truly gifted in SOOOOOO many ways👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻‼️‼️‼️I enjoy being a part of your journey🤸‍♀️🤸‍♀️🤸‍♀️‼️‼️‼️

Reply
jen
3/7/2018 09:19:41 am

Pat!!!!! Thank you, sweet lady...and for the many exquisite small works you have given me over the last year or two. They are uplifting, humorous and brilliant!!! Thank you for being in the world! xo

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Patti Bryan
3/7/2018 08:57:48 am

Aww, what a sweet "Good Morning" this is! I love that piece, that we made it collaboratively. I'm not sure we had even met yet, but you allowed me to make a print of your girl, whom I love, but nowhere near as much as I love you, truth teller, truth seeker. What an inspiration you are, what a loving partner on our mutual journeys.

Reply
jen
3/7/2018 09:21:48 am

Patti! Sweet spirit sister, you did, indeed, create that piece before we ever met. It gives me reassurance every time I look at it - that the right people will appear in my life and make it extra fabulous. I am so grateful for you, wild spirit! Thank you for being in the world!

Reply
Carol
3/7/2018 10:46:09 am

Thanks so much for this peek in your studio and your inspiration panels! Got goosebumps seeing my small work among such wonderful pieces. Wishing you all the best and thanks for being part of my journey and letting me be a small part in yours.

Reply
jen
3/7/2018 11:19:47 am

Carol - I am gaga over your piece! It makes me smile every time I see it. I can imagine it HUGE in a museum, just sayin. xoxoxox

Reply



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Here's the blue wild, where
tiny dreamers ride beasts, speak
​ birdsong, hold the moon.

(by poet Mary W. Cox)
​


​Art prints available on request
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