Wave

In another installment of illustration & poetry collaboration between the brilliant Quirine Dongelmans and myself; Wave.

Wandering.

Dreaming shadows.

Never cease to exist.

Wave; watercolor, D. Renée Wilson.  

There is quite a lot I could say about the undercurrents of this piece, no pun intended. How thoughts, emotions, and action are seamlessly linked in the cycle of creation with stagnation being an illusion, but I've already written about it on the Patreon page, and I think Quirine's piece sums it up quite nicely. I don't discuss the meaning with her before she writes, either. Funny how that works, out. 

 What kind of waves are carrying you?

What waters lift you into action?

Can you change the swells of the tide?

Is your mind the turning of the globe or own the Fates your winds?

Whatever you need for your next piece of wandering, may you find fair winds and following seas.

~D. Renée

Rain and Renewal

My collaboration with "Q" a few weeks ago, see the post here,

was a fun change of pace for me. 

As it's been gray and rainy all day, I'm sharing another piece and poem created with the award winning writer, actor, film-maker, and now poet extraordinaire.

I won't go into details, but it's been a rough month. 

Her poem for this piece was especially poignant, and we had quite a bit to say and commiserate on regarding personal tribulations and the sometimes rocky paths an artist's life presents.

Excuse the use of a trite phrase, but we truly are soul surfers.

There can be a deluge of overwhelm, pain or loneliness at times, but for an artist there isn't really an alternative. Our vulnerability and openness, our fiery and sometimes easily bruised hearts, are what help us to flow with the emotional current we are supposed to ride. 

For eons the emotions have been tied to water.

It is also what heals and renews us.

Tears from the sky. Pouring. Pain. Sadness. Despair.

Water splashes. Diluting. Lifting. Giving life.

Mend your reflection; flourish.

~Quirine Dongelmans

Wow.

She really boiled it all down, didn't she?

I love her writing.

Visit Q's website to learn more about her & her art.

If you like my Rain Break painting, you can click here to see details without the text, 

or add it to your collection while it's in my DPW gallery. 

Thanks for stopping by to see the collab. 

Subscribe to the newsletter and send an email with your links if you're a writer that would like to submit to collaborate on the project.

What do you do when you're in the doldrums?

Here's to the rain & her renewal,

~D. Renée

National I Love My Feet Day & a Haiku Collaboration

Today is National I Love My Feet Day!

I created a piece that fits today's theme and am very excited to share the first in a collaborative series with poets and writers.

But first...

If there's one thing I'll never understand, it's those people that can't go barefoot.

You know the ones. They hate feet. They hate their own feet. They always wear socks. 

They turn their noses up at other people's feet. 

I don't have a foot fetish, but I seriously love feet. 

What's not to love about a mechanism that houses over 7,000 nerve endings?!

28 bones, 30 joints, and more than 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments working together to support the rest of the amazing machine that is my body.

I don't even have "pretty" feet. My second toe is much longer than my big toe. 

(Seriously, sometimes it scrapes under on the sidewalk.) 

My feet are long with really high arches, and big, bony ankles.

 I wear a 9 1/2 to a 10 depending on the shoe, and I'm short of 5' 6" on my best posture days. 

Unless I'm somewhere that requires shoes, I go barefoot most of the time.

Therefore, I don't have the softest of soles. 

I also run and walk long distances, which leaves me with callouses and blisters.

But you know what? Those long, rough feet carry me for miles and miles.

They root me down into balancing yoga postures, and they bring me much needed joy when a rough day calls for a dance break.

I created this piece to remind me to take more time to honor my feet, but also of the connection our feet gives us to the Earth and its energy.

I am very honored to share with you my watercolor and ink illustration and the haiku it inspired, written by award winning writer and director, Quirine "Q" Dongelmans.

Rooted are the feet
To Mother Earth, universe
Show them loving care

Thank you so much to Quirine for collaborating with me on this project.

I absolutely love her writing, and I hope you do, too.

You can visit "Q's" page and read about her and her work by  clicking here.

If you like the illustration Grounding you can visit my DPW gallery to see a detailed view without the text. The unframed original will be in a low bid auction this month.

Okay then, I'm going spend some qt with my infrared foot spa. 

Thanks for stopping by, and I really hope you give your feet some extra love today.

They deserve it, and so do you.

XOXO,

Orlando Art Salon Members Show (and grow) Together

 It's cool. We aren't collaborating on crazy hair cuts. It's this kind of salon;

 "Salon: from the French word salon (a living room or parlor), means a conversational gathering. Usually this is a select group of intellectuals, artists and politicians who meet in the private residence of a socially influential (and often wealthy) person." - arthistory.about.com

Interior of 27 Rue de Fluerus, Salon of Gertrude Stein

  I'm pretty stoked to be a member of a group called a salon, especially since esteemed artists such as Matisse, Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir, Picasso, etc. attended Gertrude Stein's salon,

 but this particular salon isn't an esoteric group held in an ivory tower at 27 rue de Fleurus. 

Like most great teams, it all started with a coach.

 Alyson B. Stanfield, aka the Art Biz Coach, has made a very successful career for herself. With thousands upon thousands of social media followers, she has an impressive reach and even more impressive audience engagement and quite understandably so. As a former museum curator, educator, and art history scholar, she helps artists do what we (well, at least me)  dread; the biz side of our art careers. So, when Stanfield offered free course materials to local artists that met in groups, I was all about it. Just my luck an amazing Orlando artist, Robin Maria Pedrero, offered to host the group in her FAVO studio.
 As an artist that actively participates in local art events and shows, I already knew quite a few of the artists that joined the Orlando group. This actually made it easier than I had imagined. Rather than a stuffy "all business" approach, it was a real pleasure to meet, brain storm, encourage and sometimes just commiserate with such a diverse and talented group of artists.

 Honestly, I'm not organized enough to give you a quantifiable measure of how the biz side of my art did benefit from the course. I can tell you that there were quite a few days when I wanted to throw in my paint rags, but I left our salon with lighter shoulders and a renewed spirit.
I don't know about you, but I'll take warm and fuzzy over the former any day.

  One of my favorite affirmations of all time comes from a fellow salon member, Dawn Rosendahl,
"I am a creator, not a competitor."
(Fyi, she's not showing with the group b/c she's busy as an artist-in-action at the Maitland Art Center and getting ready for a solo show there. Awesome!)
 This salon fostered a sense of kinship rather than a competitive, market-driven atmosphere.
That's why I'm so proud to show alongside some of these salon members at Dandelion
Communitea Cafe. (A place so awesome and truly community driven, it deserves its own post.)

Meet us at the opening reception this Wednesday, September 4 from 7-10pm at Dandelion

618 N Thornton Ave, Orlando FL 32803. 

Salon members featured in the show are listed below. Simply click on the name to learn more about the artist and see artwork.
Gail Peck
Robin Maria Pedrero
Aimée Trudell Wheaton
Susan Sloan
Gregory Stock
Leah Hossler Wiedemer
Dlynn Roll
D. Renée Wilson
Bethany Taylor Myers
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