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Softened

1/6/2019

7 Comments

 
Picture
"Softened" - acrylic and charcoal on paper, 12" x 18".  Ready to frame.  Available here and at Artfinder.


"It takes time to soften the habits of our heart and mind and work them in our hands, a little each day, in order for the heart and mind to be of use somewhere else."
MARK NEPO

January and resolutions.

I haven't made any New Year's resolutions, yet I feel the call to soften habits.  Slumps I've fallen into. Indulgences that have gone a bit off the rails.  Nepo makes the pursuit of change seem more attainable - allowing time to soften.  A little change each day.  Yes, please.  But just a little.  Being "resolute" seems much more challenging than "softening."  I imagine my habits melting into puddles.

If you freed your heart and mind from just one less-than-stellar habit, where else would you put them to use?  Maybe toward bravery, or making home-made ramen (like my soup goddess sister, Wendy), toward understanding something elusive or maybe just daydreaming of the many things you can put your newly-freed heart and mind to use on. :)

My hands are working gently at slump softening.   One drawing at a time.  One leave-it-all-on-the-table-in-a-heap-of-exhaustion life-drawing session at a time.  Thank goodness I now live in the land of caffeinated goodness on every corner.


​This week's PDX recommendation is  Sweedeedee, where you can start your day with a savory porridge and a slice of honey whiskey bread.  And where the staff will dazzle you with vinyl LPs played continuously while you eat.  You'll get  a kick out of saying "Sweedeedee" all day long, too.
7 Comments
Carl Stoveland
1/7/2019 11:19:10 am

Beautiful painting as always. My resolution I put into broad terms. Just to be healthier for the long term so eat better and ride my bike. These will both pay off in aces when I take a journey with my camera to your next of the woods in June and again on 150mile bike ride I'm part of in November. Oh and one other which is try to stick to a schedule of one podcast a week. I am proud to have done 15 episodes in 2018 but they have been erratic in scheduling.

Reply
jen
1/7/2019 11:25:22 am

Yay! I am so excited to see the PNW through your camera lens this summer!

And I love the idea of broad terms for resolutions. You've calculated the payoffs in advance, so that gives you a solid goal to make the daily humps easier to get over. :)

Fifteen in 2018? Holy mackerel! You are a production machine, Carl. Erratic or not!

Reply
Carolyn
1/7/2019 11:32:52 am

Just lovely! I see your art taking a different direction each time you post your latest creation! You are settling in to your new surroundings, and the joy you are posting in pictures makes my heart happy. You are in a new element, and it agrees with you, family makes the journey better!

Reply
jen
1/7/2019 11:51:05 am

oooooh Carolyn! Thank you, dear one! I am enjoying the complete freedom of following the muse and seeing where things go. There is still malarkey waiting to emerge, but for now, these life drawing sessions are thrilling my muse!!! xo

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Dotty Seiter link
1/7/2019 12:44:17 pm

Shape, line, angle, color, contrast … and softening. Making pliable. Puddling. Yielding.

Reply
jen
1/7/2019 01:09:09 pm

Dotty! "Making pliable" - oh. Puddling! Yes. Becoming puddled. Is that a worthy goal? Because I like it. :)

Reply
Carol Edan link
1/8/2019 11:00:55 am

Love your figures... malarkey? just look at that smirk! For the new year no great resolutions, just focus and forward!
Bad habits, puddle, good ones continue... just get strong and healthy and everything else will follow! Brachot!

Reply



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Here's the blue wild, where
tiny dreamers ride beasts, speak
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(by poet Mary W. Cox)
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  • Home
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  • BLOG
  • Exhibits
    • The Downside of Lycanthropy
    • A Song for the Hunted
    • The Wild God
    • NUDGE - SHOVE
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