three young girls each opened separate boxes from their mother.
Each box contained a single slip of paper. On each piece of paper was written a single letter.
One sister held the letter G.
The middle sister received the letter D.
The youngest had the letter O.
The oldest girl rolled her eyes and threw her head back. "God?"
After antagonizing the indignant child for a few moments, the mother revealed that the sisters would be receiving a D-O-G that year.
And so simultaneously began my joyous obsession with gift wrapping pranks and pets.
Last night, my husband had me open a gift. It was wrapped in a prank box.
It wasn't a tangible gift, but it really was the best gift I've ever received in my entire life.
(I'll fill you in later, trust me.)
Anyway, I was crying and said "I don't deserve you."
My sister was there (if you've read any other post about her,
you know how awesome she is)
she immediately blurted out "Yes, you do!", which made me laugh, but then cry more.
I was crying tears of relief, tears of laughter, tears of joy.
You see, I had been having a rough go lately. In my mind, some things were really not going so well. I really needed time with those two last night to put it all in perspective, to see that my life really is full awesome things, full of downright miracles, and that JOY isthe best one.
My wish for you this Christmas is that you get that same sort of magic;
To be surrounded by the people that love you, and love life enough,
to be completely silly and ridiculous.
People that will make you laugh until your sides hurt, and smile until your cheeks ache.
It's nothing short of miraculous.
And to everyone that purchased artwork this holiday season, a very special thank you! Your support means more than you know. May your holiday and New Year be merry and bright.
Today is the last day I have to paint before my husband's birthday weekend. I wanted to keep up with the 30 in 30 pace, so I planned on cranking out 3-5 small, simple, (maybe even abstracted) expressive watercolors. I had tons of ideas, and today was even National Wildlife Day.
So many animals are running around in my head waiting to be painted!
However, today also would have been my grandmother's 77th birthday.
I was sad for a bit at the beginning of the day.
I pondered our mortality, but that soon gave way to a shift in my painting plans. Much like a four year old, I delight in using my artistic talents to create gifts for those I love. I decided to paint my grandmother a birthday present, but there's only one animal that comes to mind when I think of my grandmother; cats.
Specifically, a Siamese cat named Baby. (There was Bubba, too, but it was Baby that was around most when I was a kid.) Baby was beautiful.
Baby loved my grandmother. Baby did not exactly love everyone else. In fact, that cat was downright hateful. She was prone to scratching and biting, and I'm pretty sure all of the grandchildren feared that cat more than we could ever let Gran know.
Now that I've had the experience of loving a pet that does not like many others (especially children) and would just as soon bite them as say hello, I understand why Gran loved that cat so much.
She lived alone.
When she sat outside on her porch shelling green beans, the cat was her companion.
When the grandkids couldn't visit, it was Baby the cat that laid in bed watching The Golden Girls with her.
That cat was her companion, and if somebody didn't like her hateful cat, so the hell what?!
I understand that, now. And now, I love that cat simply for loving my Gran.
Hear that, Gran? Your cat had an attitude, and your cat was awesome. Just like you.
(This is the second installment of the Gratitude Game 8/14. To see the origin and 1st part, click here.)
Day 5- Sisters. Namely, my amazing sister, Ashley. She really deserves her own entry. (Noted.)
Ashley is a woman that faces many challenges yet is always up for fun whether it's adventure or simply relaxin'. She was born with cerebral palsy, including intellectual and developmental disabilities. The photo above was from our day at Disney a couple of weeks ago. ( I'm also extremely grateful to Shawn Sullivan of the New York Film Academy. His generosity is the reason Ashley and I got to have a truly magical day at Disney.)
My sister is one of my best friends, and I'm such a lucky girl to have her in my life.
Mothers. Specifically, mine. She's one of the most caring people I've ever met, she's virtually a saint. She's incredibly intelligent, gorgeous, and loads of fun. She's bent over backwards for me and continues to do so, even when I totally don't deserve it. She's also a voice of reason when I need it most. Best. Mom. Ever.
Beasties. I love animals of all kinds, especially the rescue pups. (We all know who really rescues who.) My best beastie, Muffie, taught me more about life in the past 4 years than I could have ever learned from a human. She lived to be 14, and she passed last year. Because of her, I have a heart for the old, toothless, insecure and prickly mongrels no one else seems to want. My life is now filled with compassion and joy daily because of the extremely weird, insanely territorial, special needs Maltese, Sugar Cube Wilson-Hamel.
Day 6- Music- I simply could not function without music. It has always been a part of me and how I process life and its trials. One very influential and highly therapeutic artist for me has been Tori Amos. (A friend calls that Toripy.) A fan over 20 years, now, Tori's music has been an important part of my journey as a girl and woman. Growing up and older with an artist is amazing.
Painting- Obviously, art is an integral part of me. I enjoy theatre, film, and literature immensely. However, no other medium nourishes me like painting. Whether I'm creating a representational portrait as a commission, or simply playfully pushing paint in experimental pools, painting provides both a release and an energizing element that no other discipline can.
I am very grateful that I am primarily an artist and am able to live as such.
Social Media-I know all of us have our grievances concerning social media sites like Facebook, but I am actually very thankful for them. They provide a way for me to stay in touch with friends and family far away. I live in a semi-rural setting now, and I often don't physically speak to anyone other than my husband on some days. These sites not only allow me to share my art and find new collectors I wouldn't meet otherwise. They also allow me to find like-minded people; my tribe.
The "fans" on my Facebook art page and Instagram are supportive and encouraging friends even if I never see them IRL. This leads me to my next day of gratitude.
Day 7- Kindness & generosity. As I stated above, my social media friends are a source of support and networking. I posted my "Maybe I'm a Mermaid" painting (title inspired by Silent All These Years)
on my Facebook page wishing Tori Amos a happy 51st birthday. I mentioned that I also wished I could be at her show and asked (jokingly) if anyone had an extra ticket.
One of the "Likers" on my page commented that she did havetwoextra tickets to the concert. She gave them to me. If that doesn't make me a lucky girl, I don't know what does.
The concert was amazing. I can't even.
Friends (IRL).
My husband is awesome for many reasons. His love for Tori would not be one of those reasons as it, sadly, does not exist. He did want me to go and to go with someone that would enjoy the concert as much, or closer to as much, as I would.
This is where friends come in. I took my friend Nicole as my Tori date. I met Nicole at an art festival last year. She came into my booth and we just kind of hit it off. We don't get to hang out as often as we'd like, but since most of my friends live in other states, it's really nice to have a local friend that likes the unconventional things I do. Because, ya know, it's just really nice to be able to sit next to someone as I cry during Hey Jupiter and know she's not judging me, she might be crying, too.
Transformation through gratitude.
Nicole was actually the friend that invited me to play the gratitude game last week. I'm very grateful for that. Even though I was keeping a gratitude journal before, I really think that putting a fresh spin on it by playing a game, along with others, helped me to raise my awareness and frequency to a new level. My painting, Butterfly Fuchsia, was inspired by all of the beauty I see everyday. The act of creating from that place of gratitude is powerful. That painting got more likes and engagement in a short period than is typical on my page. It might just be "pretty", but I think people can sense the energy of a piece of art's origin.
It's also kind of amazing that on my final day of the exercise, I got to take my friend Nicole to a free, spectacular, poignant performance of one of our favorite artists.
Guess we really are lucky. What do you think?
My Gratitude Tree; A Thanksgiving activity that doesn't involve turkey or shopping.
Being a late November baby, Thanksgiving always held a special place in my heart. But as I grow older, holidays change. Family gets spread out across the country, life gets busy, I don't eat turkey or even go shopping with the hordes the day after, so sometimes the day can seem like an empty chore. However, tradition and ritual are so important to me.
Almost every holiday has deeply symbolic roots that are incredibly nourishing and restorative. The past few years, a new irreverent tradition surfaced in our home after the obligatory family meals, which were largely spent avoiding meat while trying not to make our mothers feel badly or too annoyed. We plop down on the couch to enjoy a vegan "turkey" loaf with all the traditional sides prepared without animal fat and a viewing of the insanely bad "ultimate low-budget experience..horror / comedy" Thankskilling. (I can neither recommend this film nor warn against watching it. It all depends if you're easily offended and your level of tolerance for terrible dialogue, performances, special effects, and plot, but it is quite an experience.)
Although our new tradition is kind of fun, it's not exactly in the spirit of Thanksgiving.
Muffie napping under the Halloween tree in October.
This year, all of the talk of box stores being open on Thanksgiving has irked me, but I won't go into a long rant over it. Instead, I'm sharing my November gratitude project. The photos, materials and basic gist of it are listed farther below. Maybe you're like me and enjoy immersing yourself in messy ritual, or you just need something to keep the kids out of the kitchen.
It started from a bittersweet and sad place. Long story short, my 14 year old maltese, Muffie, was terminally ill in late September. She always enjoyed sleeping under the Christmas tree, so I put up our artificial tree with orange and purple lights.
Voila, a Halloween tree for my beastie to enjoy. After Muffie passed in
early October, we left the tree lit for her. Halloween came and went. I took
down the few spooky ornaments and realized I liked the orange and purple
glow. Also, I just really dislike putting things away to drag them back out a a few weeks. This is the same rationale that leaves my studio a perpetual disaster and our bed unmade.
As a daily exercise, I write down things I am grateful for in a
journal. Since I am eternally in love with fall foliage ( my heaven will
totally be a warm autumn day in the Blue Ridge mountains ) I got the
idea to instead write on paper leaves then hang them on the tree. Here's a little breakdown in case you want to try it out.
Materials- Construction Paper ( If you don't have paper colored like fall leaves, use paint, markers, or crayons. Have fun!) ~Pencil ~Scissors ~Needle ~Markers ~Glitter ~Glue or a Container of non-toxic ~Whatever The Hell You Want To Decorate With It's Your Leaf ~Thread, Yarn, or Ornament Hooks
~Put up your tree! (You know you want to.) Or better yet,
just leave it up all year. I think every holiday should get its own
tree, anyway.
~Fold sheets of paper in half and tear or cut down the middle, then fold the halves vertically again.
~Draw the halves of your leaves. Cut them out. Place the leaves around the bottom of your tree.
~Write a list of things, people, places, experiences, etc., for which you are thankful.
If you or your kids find it hard to be specific, think of the last really great day you had, recounting it like a story and take notice of every detail. Start with the "trunk", leading to limbs, branches and then leaves. Just like trees, our blessings are often rooted in others. They grow and branch out into other good things.
~Write a word or two on each leaf to represent one thing on your list. The important thing is that you know what it means. ~Decorate your leaves. After they have dried, poke a hole in
the tip of the leaf or stem with the needle or sharp pencil and thread
the leaf or ornament hook through it.
~Hang your leaves on the Thanksgiving tree. :-)
Side note- They don't all have to be leaves. My husband refuses to make leaves and insists he will make a hand turkey. As long as there are several gratitude notes on it, I think it will be our tree topper. For now, I have Muffie's leaf up top. <3
The act of just writing out a gratitude list is great, but this activity really gives you time to focus upon and truly appreciate the boon of each leaf you decorate. There are also added bonuses to this project. Not only will you be reminded of the things your leaves represent every time you look at them, but the act of taking the leaves down when you decorate for Christmas gives you time for reflection once again.
If you try this project or have any other Thanksgiving traditions, I'd love to hear about it in the comments! Have a very Happy Thanksgiving! In Artwork & Play, D. Renée * * *
