Soften While Still ALIVE

"Soften While Still Alive" - oil on cradled wood panel, 16 x 16 x 1.5.  Ready to hang.  Available here and at Artfinder. 

As the ancient sages all confirm, everything softens in time.  If we want to soften while still alive, we have to bring our hurt places into the light.  - MARK NEPO

Space exploration continues in the studio.

But when I say space, I am referring to the inner spaces as well as outer spaces.  I don't know about you, dear reader, but the more I look deep inside, the more I see what needs to be healed, brought into the light and embraced.  And the more I bring forward and embrace those  things, the more vulnerable I feel,  It can be overwhelming at times.

And yet...

I feel the softening of things.  If I can, I'll bring them all out to soften while I am still alive.  And enjoy the light shining on  soft places with a glorious warm glow.

Soften While Still Alive

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Artists!

A newsletter from Andrew Simonet dropped into my in-box today, just as I was contemplating the business of art.  This quote resonated with me, and I thought you might like it, too.

"Insufficient branding is not what makes an artist's life hard. Know why it's hard? Because artists do essential, arduous work that fuels everything in our culture, and we are consistently under acknowledged, under respected, and under compensated. That's why it's goddamn hard. Artists are not screwing this up. Artists are doing heroic work under intolerable conditions. This world extracts our creations and insights and abandons us economically."

For all of you out there creating, you are DOING HEROIC WORK!  I see you.  You look mahhhhhvelous. xo