HANGIN' BY A THREAD

Have you ever felt like you were just hanging by a thread? I woke up feeling like this these past few days.... just clinging to a shred of my dignity.

I then observed a spider outside my bedroom door, after a rain shower, mending her damaged web diligently. I watched her for quite a few moments then decided I had to photograph this and write about it, so I could remember, and also share, how a spider, tiny and fragile, just kept mending away and creating, no matter what. And she always knew the correct pattern. It was inbred. It was instinct. It was survival. I loved it. I love this spider!

She is still outside my bedroom door, hanging in there, and her beautiful web is larger and quite intact. I will not harm her. She is a symbol.,,,, An artist...... and a pretty good one at that..... Meanwhile,
I discovered the music of Death Cab For Cutie - Here's the video. Great music to spin by.

JULY FOURTH "KISMET"

It was very evidently all meant to be...

I had traveled to Scotland on a return trip (I spent my childhood in Edinburgh) to visit some friends and soak up that gorgeous atmosphere of purple heather, great pubs and the Castle on Princess Street.

I stayed for all too few days at the Caledonia Hotel - waking up to Sunshine in a room with an excellent view overlooking Princess Street and Edinburgh Castle,with kippers and poached eggs in bed, marmalade and toast burnt on one side, served on a tray with fine linen napkins,and really,really good china and silverware.....
That was truly heavenly.

But the reason for this July 4th post is the celebration of the connection between all of us and particularly with me and my connection to America, and quite coincidentally with a fantastic artist named Duane Hanson.

After the marvelous breakfast that day,I decided to go to the Museum across the street from where I grew up - the National Galleries of Scotland and took a cab there. I saw, much to my amazement, as soon as I walked in the door, "Mr & Mrs Miami Beach Tourist" a life size sculpture by artist Duane Hanson, standing there for all they were worth looking as if they had stepped from a tourist bus and wandered into this gallery from across the pond.

Now, I lived then and do now, in Florida. And Mr. Hanson lived and worked in cowboy territory, Davie, Florida. I had met Mr. Hanson after this quite powerful, to me, "coincidence" and he is one of the most amazing and real people, as an artist, that I have ever met. A quiet, reserved, attractive man who looked quite human and frail, it was hard to believe that he was a world renowned artist who caused controversy by staging riots in the street, causing the police to come a number of times in the 70's to North Miami, with his installed life size and extremely life-like sculptures "Race Riot", among others. Mr Hansen had also done a sculpture of my painting professor, the artist Robert Thealey, sitting on his helmet, of when he was a player for the Canes, my school the University of Miami's football team. This sculpture is still in the Lowe Gallery, I do believe. For those who wish to know more about Mr. Hanson:

The other connection to me of Florida and America, is that when I was growing up in Edinburgh, I lived opposite the National Gallery of Scotland and visited there many times, in the National Park of Scotland. There I discovered hot houses, huge glass domes built to house exotic plants, where I saw my first palm trees and hibiscus flowers. Quite amazing to experience the extreme cold of Scottish winters and visit in warm, enclosed, womb-like, moist environments, to see then flowers and trees which surround me now in my beloved Florida. Happy July 4th!!!******

A FATHER'S DAY MESSAGE ON SUMMER SOLTICE

I choose to honor my father, who had passed away over ten years ago...... today, on the day Summer officially begins and also, coincidentally, Father's Day. The above photo spread of my fine art oil paintings appeared in ART IN AMERICA magazine,2009. The top painting, a diptych, is entitled "My Father At Work In His Paisley Tie" Oil on Canvas, 5ft x 3ft, to be found in the Fine Art section of my web.

Our fathers are also men......

There can be issues between Fathers and Daughters. Some of them epic in scope. I have found gratitude to be the great healer, and that my issues were NOT epic and that I am grateful to love my Dad.

Dad was forced to serve in the Polish army in Poland, against his will, for many years after his contract was up. Ever since, Dad loved his freedom and after meeting my birth mother in Scotland, traveled to his beloved America and proudly became a naturalized citizen.

I chose the pattern of the painting honoring my father to be the Black-Watch Tartan, worn by the guards in Scotland as they watched over the sleeping city. My father's name was Michael, and I am also especially attracted to the Archangel Michael for protection on my sacred journey here on planet earth.

OPENING & CLOSING

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN!

OPENING: My above named painting arrived this morning, having had a sojourn in New York at the Salmagundi Art Club May 11- 29, 2009. As a juried member of the National Association of Women Artists since 2007, I have shown in the NAWA New York gallery and in the Salmagundi Club,which originated in 1871 as a sketch class in Johnathan Scott Hartley's studio and is now housed in a mid nineteen century brownstone. The club adopted its present name a hundred years ago after Washington Irving published his potpourri of wit and wisdom called "The Salmagundi Papers" which name also serves as the club dining room's famous "Salmagundi Stew". For the past 137 years, fine artists throughout the US and around the world may display their works here in an atmosphere of conviviality.

Through the years the club has been the gathering place for such great artists as Childe Hassam, William Merrit Chase, Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Ogden Pleisner and many others. Honorary members have included such luminaries as Sir Winston Churchill, Buckminister Fuller, Paul Cadmus, Al Hirschfeld, Thomas Hoving and Schuyler Chapin....... I have been humbly touched by such luminary company......

CLOSING: I have taken a closer step to my place in American History, but the time seems very short and all too soon the show is over. I have to call it a day, be grateful, and prepare for the next adventure. Sometimes, I try to remember, the fun is in the journey!

EARTH DAY

Today is the day to celebrate our beautiful Mother Earth! It is so beautiful today that I just had to honor the environmental consciousness of all of those who are trying so very hard to make it possible for us to change for the better all of the mistakes made in ignorance in the past.
Thank you! I remember when I lived in New York and visited a friend's family for dinner when they shamed him for being so selflessly involved in correcting and solving problems of our environment. (He was ahead of his time) He was making so little money at this and was so dedicated! He opened my eyes when at the time I was modeling for a living and only living for and thinking about being physically beautiful. Now I know it is important to live beautifully. And for me, that means taking care of my beautiful planet in every small way I can, as the microcosm so the macrocosm. Thank you so much Buckminster Fuller!

One of the most informative websites I have found on the subject of environmental responsibility is www.climatecrisis.org
Peace.

LOVE

I was watching the birds this morning feeding from the bird feeder I hung in my garden, in front of the kitchen window. I especially love the red cardinals, who mate for life. The male watches over the female as she feeds,from his hideaway in the ficus hedge. He is patient and willingly lets her feed for a long time before he claims his own. I love that! How wonderful, I thought, to experience this kind of unselfishness and generous patient love. I desire to have that in my own life also and will accept no substitute! (And so shouldn't you).

I am sharing this story with you, because there are also less unselfish and actually very greedy birds that I feed. Such as the morning doves, who also mate for live. They fight over their territory and only allow certain birds to share in their stash. Sometimes they get so rowdy, they smash into things by accident (no casualties as of yet)

The difference is that we are human, and can change our behavior through our decisions. It is not ever too late to experience unselfish and unconditional love. It starts with us. We can rise above our base instincts and transcend into freedom.

Valentine's day is the day set aside for love, "a perfect day to go within and glance back with affection and understanding at your real life journey so far...... we'll need courage to retrace our steps. But 'courage is the price that Life extracts for granting peace', the pilot Amelia Earhart reminds us... Today is the day for being. Be with those you love, be kind to yourself. Be quiet and call forth the dream you buried long ago. The ember is still glowing in your soul. See it in your mind, hold it tenderly in your heart" advises Sarah Ban Breathnach, author of Simple Abundance, A Daybook of Comfort and Joy. www.simpleabundance.com

Today is the day to just be, be in the moment the only one we have, the perfection of now. Be with the ones you love and be grateful. www.cheriebender.com

POVERTY IS A DISEASE - GIVING IS THE CURE

This the time, people, NOW.

Allowing ourselves to be grateful for all that we have. Joy in the small things of life and noticing.... being generous also to ourselves as we can do no good without abundance in our own lives.


I will donate 50% of all sales from my website: Visit My Website October 15, 2008 - November 15, 2008, AND 10% thereafter until THE ENDING OF POVERTY; YEAR 2015.
















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WE ARE THE NEW TRANSCENDENTALTISTS!

I have been thinking about how WE who hold to metaphysical thought as applied to tweaking "real" life are the NEW TRANSCENDENTALISTS.....

Here is a quote by transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson: "We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds...A nation of men will for the first time exist, because each believes himself inspired by the Divine Soul which also inspires all men."

When America was first settled, and with our first drafting of the Declaration of Independance, our forefathers were the original metaphysicians, including Ben Franklyn, the great inventor. Later, during the 1900's America flowered into the "New Frontierism" which unfolded as "Manifest Destiny" and we progressed into new territory and new thinking through art and literature

I have recently excavated a book I had read while working in a law firm as a legal secretary when I was going to college and studying art: REFLECTIONS AT WALDON by Henry David Thoreau, born July 12, 1817, Concord, Massachusetts. I had been struck by a quotation of marching to the beat of a different drummer . I now propose DANCING to the beat of a different drummer by our paying attention to the positive and beautiful always and having a zero tolerance for pain. I had loved Thoreau's quote so much at that time, I taped it to my wall beside my desk. Many people commented on that quote because it spoke to us all, and especially speaks to us now, so here it is:

"WHY should we be in such desperate haste to succeed and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. It is not important that he should mature as soon as an apple tree or an oak. Shall he turn his spring into summer? If the condition of things which we were made for is not yet, what were any reality which we can substitute? We will not be shipwrecked on a vain reality"

And, here is another from the great bard:

"GOD himself culminates in the present moment and will never be more divine in the lapse of all the ages. And we are enabled to apprehend at all what is sublime and noble only by the perpetual instilling and drenching of the reality that surrounds us. The universe constantly and obediently answers to our conceptions; whether we travel fast or slow, the track is laid for us. Let us spend our lives in conceiving them... The poet or the ARTIST never yet had so fair and noble a design but some of his posterity at least could accomplish it."

Now, there are lots of tools out there to help us achieve this state of blissful freedom: SO MANY wonderful books and tapes by DOREEN VIRTUE; the fantastic book "MONEY AND THE LAW OF ATTRACTION by Esther and Jerry Hicks; The Teachings of Abraham" ; and the simple and effective book,"THE SEDONNA METHOD, your key to lasting happiness, success, peace and emotional well being by Hale Dworskin. Also, my very favorite, the book THE WISDOM OF FLORENCE SCOVEL SHINN.

I paint my paintings to bring these thoughts out visually with my choice of subject matter and colors, for healing and light. I feel that there is already enough challenges out there to do with the darkness and the sinister force, why add to them? I err on the side of the light always and forever with my work, this is my commitment.

I leave you with a final quote from REFLECTIONS AT WALDEN POND by Thoreau:

" IT is very rare that you meet with obstacles in this world which the humblest man has not faculties to surmount. It is true we may come to a perpendicular precipice, but we need not jump off, nor run our heads against it. "
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MARY IN TEARS

SEPTEMBER 10, 2008

EULOGY FOR MY MOTHER

MY MUM IS MY HERO AND WAS MY BEST FRIEND.

I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU SOME OF MY FEELINGS ABOUT MY MUMMY, MOLLY BENDER, EVEN THOUGH IT IS PAINFUL FOR ME TO DO SO AS I MISS HER TERRIBLY AND I SO WANT TO HEAR HER VOICE AGAIN IT HURTS.

YOU SEE, THERE WAS NEVER A TIME I SPOKE WITH MY MUM MOLLY BENDER, WHEN SHE DID NOT PUT MY THOUGHTS, CONCERNS, AND EVENTS BEFORE HER OWN.

BECAUSE I HAD MOVED A FEW TOWNS AWAY, I DID NOT VISIT IN PERSON AS OFTEN AS I WOULD HAVE PERHAPS LIKED TO, BUT I COULD ALLWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO A COZY TELEPHONE CONVERSATION AT THE END OF A HECTIC DAY, WITH MY MUM. MANY TIMES I ASKED FOR ADVICE AND GREW TO TRUST HER JUDGMENT, BECAUSE IT RARELY FAILED. SHE HAD AN UNCANNY WAY OF GETTING RIGHT TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER, AND KNEW HOW TO RESOLVE A SITUATION WITH A GREAT SENSE OF STREET SMARTS AND SIMPLICITY. AFTER I HAD SPENT QUITE A FEW MINUTES RAMBLING ON ABOUT MYSELF UNTHINKINGLY, SHE WOULD ASK ME IF I HAD GONE FOR A SWIM YET TODAY, OR WHAT PLANS I HAD FOR FUN LATER ON, OR FOR DURING THE WEEKEND. AND SHE WAS HAPPY FOR ME WHEN I WAS HAPPY, THIS I KNOW.

LATELY, WHEN WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE HURRICANES, I WOULD TELL HER ‘THE ANGELS TOLD ME WE WOULD NOT HAVE A HURRICANE FOR FIVE YEARS AND WE ARE ONLY IN THE THIRD YEAR WITH TWO MORE TO GO AND THEN, IF WE TAKE VERY GOOD CARE OPF THE ENVIRONMENT, WHO KNOWS??!! ”THEN SHE WOULD SAY ‘WELL THEN, LISTEN TO YOUR ANGELS, LISTEN TO YOUR ANGELS….. ‘

ONE TIME I TOLD MY MUMMY “ YOU KNOW, MUM, IF I WERE EVER SHIPWRECKED ON THE TITANIC, YOU ARE THE ONE I WOULD TRUST IN MY ROW-BOAT. YOU ARE THE ONE I WOULD WANT TO BE TRUSTING WITH MY LIFE!!”

I WILL LEAVE YOU WITH A FINAL THOUGHT. I HAD A VERY STRONG IMPRESSION ONE DAY LATELY AFTER VISITING MUMMY IN THE ICU OF DOCTORS HOSPITAL. I SAW MUM RISING UP OUT OF HER BED AND SHE LOOKED BEAUTIFUL, LIKE SHE DID AS A YOUNG GIRL……HER HAIR WAS IN PERFECT BRUNETTE WAVES, HER FACE WAS GLOWING AND SHE WAS SMILING AT ME. THEN SHE LOOKED UP AND MY DADDY WAS THERE HOLDING HIS HAND OUT TO HER. SHE TOOK HIS HAND AND THEY BOTH STOOD HOLDING HANDS AND SMILING DOWN AT ME IN A GOLDEN LIGHT. I SUDDENLY REALIZED THAT THEY WERE SOUL MATES AND TWIN FLAMES. HE HAD BEEN WAITING FOR HER, AND NOW THEY WERE TOGETHER. I FELT SO HAPPY FOR MY MUM AND FOR JUST A MOMENT, IT MADE EVERYTHING FEEL BETTER. A FEW DAYS LATER, MY MUMMY WAS GONE.

I JUST WANTED TO SHARE THIS LAST VISION WITH ALL OF YOU TODAY, SO THAT MAYBE IT WOULD HELP ALLEVIATE THE PAIN OF SEPARATION FOR YOU ALSO, BECAUSE MAYBE THERE IS NO SEPARATION,

I THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME TELL A SMALL PART OF MY STORY ABOUT MOLLY BENDER, MY WONDERFUL MUM AND HER INNER STRENGTH AND COURAGE. I WILL MISS HER TERRIBLY.

GOOD-BY MUMMY. I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH.

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SHOOT IT, SHOOT THE CURL!!

I was born in the "BITCHENIST" month of the year - September. This is when all the news is about hurricanes, hurricanes and more hurricanes.... now I have a choice to either live in fear of storms or get into glorious SURFIN!! when the waves here in Florida are almost as BITCHEN!! as the waves in Malibu or Hawaii ..... surfing is not only a fantastic sport, it is also a metaphor for living in courage and the light. Riding the waves and shooting the curl. Being so totally immersed in the art form of strength and balance, at one with the elements ..... Ole'! Ole'!

I quote below from the book "Gidget" written by Gidget's father Frederick Kohner about the real "Gidget" now Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, who was listed in a special commemorative issue of SURFER MAGAZINE as number seven of twenty-five most important surfers of the century, and one of two women to make the cut:

"No, I wouldn't go back. Not for the life of me. The scenery had been all set up for me like an opening performance. This was the final testing ground I had picked for myself..... I whirled around and brought the board in position. There was no waiting. I shot toward the first set of forming waves and rose. I stood it. I have to come in standing, I told myself. I gritted my teeth.
"Shoot it" I yelled. I was lifted up, sky high... and went down. But I stood it. One wave, another one. "OLE'!" I yelled. "OLE'!"
Up I was - and down I went. And still standing. I stood, high like on a mountain peak and dove down, but I stood it. The only sound in the vast moving green was the hissing of the board over the water. A couple of times it almost dropped away under my feet, but I found it again and stood my ground. "Shoot it, Gidget. Shoot the curl!!" My own voice had broken away from me and I could only hear the echo coming from a great distance.
"Shoot it.... shoot it.... shoot it, Gidget!" ..There was the shore. right there. I could almost reach out and touch it" ......

That was a simpler time in surfing history: the 50's and 60's when Kathy "Gidget" surfed in Malibu with Nicki "Da Cat" Dora a/k/a The Black Night; Mysto who had been surfing in Malibu since 1954, never missing a good day; Bill "Moondoggie" Jensen and of course, Terry "Tubesteak" Tracy, the Great Kahuna! who in the book and in actual fact lived in a hut on the beach.

That was the past. Let's go to the present. Gidget, now Kathy Kohner Zuckerman -- is marking her 36th wedding anniversary with husband Marvin Zuckerman -- turned 60 this weekend. But what else can we call her, other than Gidget? The term "Gidget" is not only part of the English language, it is is a vital link to one of the major American cultural shifts of the 20th century, the celebration of the beach and of youth culture. Gidget is an icon to teen-age girls everywhere, and a kind of team mascot in surfing history. "Today" Honolulu Star Bulletin 2001
Kathy Kohner-Zuckerman now prefers her sunsets from the sand-floored outdoor bar at Duke's, where she works as a hostess....
"Malibu is eternal," she said. "It's the endless summer along the Pacific Coast Highway. It's where the sun, surf and California lifestyle are at their sparkliest."

Now, one doesn't have to actually surf to enjoy the sport!! My 60" x 48" oil painting featured above is of one of my heroes, Laird Hamilton, the BITCHENIST big wave surfer ever!! I enjoyed the vicarious thrill of painting this painting and I share with you the eternal thrill of this moment, captured and frozen in time.....

I DEDICATE this blog entry , with beautiful memories, to my beloved mother MOLLY BENDER who recently gave me the book "Gidget" before she passed away this Sunday, September 7th, 2008. May she rest in GLORIOUS PEACE with My Father MICHAEL BENDER, GOD, and the ANGELIC HOST.

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MAGIC IN THE GARDEN

I have always loved to connect with my garden, and especially my huge Banyan Tree "Anastasia" which I have spoken about on a previous post.

Today, I am inspired to speak about our mother earth and the care of her children, plants, animals, the wetlands, such as our Everglades and us... I implore each and everyone to take good care, recycle (of course!) and appreciate by doing all that we can together to preserve and retain the abundance that is here.... it is so very important!!!

I am grateful for the opportunity to share my drawing, "MAGIC IN THE GARDEN" I sometimes need to review my own drawings to rediscover the feelings and sensations of another moment frozen in time, where in this case, gratitude is the answer and the order of the day....

Right now, it is imperative to feel in the moment the perfection of NOW, and to have faith in the positive vision. I invite you to enjoy the movie clip of KATE BUSH singing one of my favorite songs, "Sensual World"Visit My Website

SUMMER IS "CARESSING"

A few weeks ago, hundreds of dragonflies flew in my garden to herald the magical time of summer..... aah SUMMER! where everything is sizzling and sparkling with bubbles from swimming, diving, skiing, snorkeling, and of course, delightful refreshments!

Vacations, vacations, vacations. For the past few years, I have been taking business style vacations, and this year, I wonder, would it not be beneficial and more abundant for me to just run away and find the magic and romance in a distant land, either to re-visit beautiful people and experiences, or somewhere brand new to me, where I can again spread my wings and fly in happiness and freedom, with new experiences and pleasures?

It does sound so good, and I love to be tempted in such a way...

This painting created specifically for my new web, "CARESS" has all of the fantastical, lovely and soothing visions of a day spent in love, pampering, beauty and fun! Freedom is the key word in this world of my imagination, and I intend that wherever I may be this year, I will take the time to manifest this reality for my own abundant healing and rejuvenation.
I wish this for your too. Indulge yourself because, you really deserve it!

I highly recommend reading on the beach for a mini getaway such as ELIZABETH GILBERT'S "EAT PRAY LOVE" so wonderful, and a classic book that will take all summer to read, but such an extreme pleasure and well worth it, is AYN RAND'S "ATLAS SHRUGGED" To know your own potential for creating reality as you experience it, FRED ALAN WOLF makes quantum mechanics a visual,virtual getaway in "TAKING THE QUANTUM LEAP" Visit My Website ENJOY!

SPRING INTO SUMMER

Summer to some is taking of your shirt and jumping a few hoops in the backyard. I caught these neighborhood guys with my camera taking a break from a work day, just tearing up the cement! Of course this is one of the ways to demonstrate freedom and agility. There are many others, and kicking back with a margarita and your favorite pal, listening to the waves,feeling the cooling breezes at the beach is one of my favorites.

Summer is a magical time of relaxation, vacations and travel. The colors of summer are aqua, gold and green. The crashing sound of the waves beckon to me, the hot sand soothes and feels delicious. Ahhhhh! ...... enjoy!Visit My Website
p.s. I just discovered this cool blog very relevant, I think, and lots of great pictures www.pictureyear.blogspot.com

MARILYN IN HER PUCCI MIRROR BLOUSE

I have finished the painting "MARILYN IN HER PUCCI MIRROR BLOUSE" which has taken me some three months to complete, through Christmas and Easter and a few other projects in between! The physical painting is 5Ft X 3Ft, oil on Belgian linen, with wrapped painted 2" edges.
I am so happy with the result, and feel what I wanted to accomplish, I accomplished completely (that is why it took me so long). This is the first time that I had published an initial drawing of my work, so people can actually see my brain thought process involved, before I even start work on the painting. And work it is, a lot of it. And I love it.

My 2007 December blog entry with the same title, features the sketch of Marilyn Monroe, and my thoughts about how she made it cool to wear spectacles and how the poet Frost, President Abe Lincoln, and the brilliant Einstein, were her heroes. The colors I chose for this painting are cooler than are usual for Marilyn, but I feel she fits well with the turquoise bedspread and cobalt blue capri pants, the aquamarine and green reflections in the lamp on the night stand, and the gold for the mirrors on her Pucci blouse. Each mirror reflects the sky and clouds. I chose a green untitled book for her to be flipping through, and the painting has her name MARILYN and my own CHERIE BENDER on the two books by the reflective lamp. My last touch was to add rose madder genuine to her cheeks, which gave her a healthy, warm glow!

This painting MARILYN IN HER PUCCI MIRROR BLOUSE and my oil painting CROWN OF THORNS are currently on exhibit in the Images Gallery of the Boca Museum Artists Guild until May.Visit My Website

EASTER THOGHTS

As Easter and Spring approach, I am torn between the need to contemplate the truth of this season, the huge sacrifice made by Jesus the Christ, the great examples left us by a true Master, and my personal desire to wander..... without a care in the world, and travel to parts unknown and far away. Carefree and sun-kissed. Traveling light......

My painting "CROWN OF THORNS" which I feature here, is an example of how I feel sometimes also....... bleeding and troubled but with the knowledge that blood can be beautiful and we all bleed. Such is the dichotomy of life.

I also think of the new seeds sending out their tender green tendrils through the dark, cold earth, waiting patiently underneath the snow, for winter to end. They find their way, finally,through instinct and faith, into the spring and sunshine to share their beauty with us, and to feed us. I think especially about those who live in the North, and are rather sick of Winter.. how wonderful to breathe in Spring at last!

Perhaps now is a good time to speak of gratitude, and being in the perfect moment, the only moment we have ever had, and the perfection of NOW. Visit My Website

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! - THE RAINBOW & THE ROSE

In the garden many magical things may happen, when you just notice - as when I took this image "THE RAINBOW AND THE ROSE" the other day. It was just an ordinary day made extraordinary by taking a moment!

The great artist Georgia O' LKeefe said it takes time to really see things.... "nobody sees a flower, really - it is so small - we haven't time, and to see takes time, like to have a friend takes time..."

Our lives are made up of moments strung along like a fine string of pearls. These precious time pearls are a rare gift. Sometimes the pearls can be dark and mysterious, sometimes painful..... or iridescent, airy moments of joyous light.

We are the stringers of our necklaces of shadow and light. We have the ability to create whatever we choose in our lives, perhaps more so than a lot of us realize..... let us not forget that all thought is part of the mix of wondrous substance we call the universe and take responsibility for our thoughts!

An incredible movie which highlights the power of will and thought is LA VIE EN ROSE, the extraordinary life of Edith Piaf - http://www.edithpiafmovie.com/

I send you thoughts of love, light and peace for this Valentines Day!

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ST THERESA

Today is ASH WEDNESDAY

I have been thinking about my painting of St. Theresa, The vision as I described yesterday, really did happen to me. I don't know if it was because of the special church I was in, The Church Of The Little Flower, or that I was open to receive and trusting. Perhaps that is the most important thing to remember in life, to always trust in yourself! If you put the right stuff in, feed yourself spiritually with good food and being of the single eye; following your path in the most sincere way and doing the physical work to make it happen. My questions may change as I grow but the results are part of my belief system and my having faith in God omnipotent.

I have also been listening to Joan Osborne's CD "RELISH" and discovered anew the song "ST THERESA" which has an excellent video on UTUBE, click on the link provided above to go to my space there.

AMAZING how synchronicity works in my life!Visit My Website

PAINTING ON "ST THERESA" ONE OF FOUR SACRED HEADS

Today I thought I would load a picture of me working in my studio. It is a beautiful day today, and I really appreciate the weather here. I can paint and look outside at my garden, it is awesome.

Here I am working on one of the four sacred heads I started last year. "ST. THERESE" I was inspired to create this particular head from a vision I had when visiting The Church Of The Little Flower. I was praying at the alter in the back of the church, when in answer to my prayer I was showered with hundreds of white flowers falling on me, it was so healingly beautiful!

A few years later I discovered this is how ST. THERESE, known as THE LITTLE FLOWER, appears to her sincere and faithful seekers.

I wish St. THERESE would come down and shower me again with hundreds of white roses again today, I could really use some extra help here! Visit My Website

"IMAGINATION" oil on wood "THE CHINESE YEAR OF THE RAT 2008"

Now that the partying is over and the dust has settled before writing more in my blog, I have come to the conclusion, this year feels much better than the last!

We are now facing a new election for the president, hopefully this time one who is a better diplomat and one who the people can trust not to send their babies off to war. Hopefully, also, the arts will again be allowed to flourish in this country, and artists can experience prosperity and well being again, with the support and respect of the American government. I have enjoyed a book about EDITH HALPERN called 'THE GIRL AND THE GALLERY' . I loved reading about her support and care of her stable of artists, which included Georgia O'Keefe, and Frank Stella. America hired a lot of artists for government supported projects......

This oil painting on wood "IMAGINATION" speaks about the courage to dive deep and let your faith keep you afloat!
Like the day when your daddy taught you how to swim....."big enough to let go of me, like the day you learned to swim...cause you're all grown up now!" from 'The Sensual World' song artist: Kate Bush
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VISIONS OF GOD - MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!

I have been unable to get into the holiday spirit, until I had my open house party this Friday, for the season and for my art.

And then there it is......you give back and sometimes magic happens, It was a really GREAT party, thanks to all of my guests, quite a few phone calls in appreciation afterwards, that warm glow and some sales......

VISIONS OF GOD is al oil painting on wood, which was commissioned by City Link Magazine a few seasons ago, as the cover for a series of stories about different folks impressions of who God is to them personally.

I chose this image as I had just come back from an extended trip all through Italy (which I love love love) and I was very inspired by the many churches I had visited, the pillars, and faux marbling everywhere. The Italians are very good at faux.

I had wanted to portray a quite different viewpoint than the standard Madonna and child. I wanted to show a father's viewpoint and the holiness and the rather formal structure of the pillars and background.Visit My Website