"Shards of A Splintered Heart" - Painted with watercolor, memories and tears

While painting this quilt pattern, a small splatter of salty water hit the page.

A tear.

As I often get "lost" in the process of creating and go off in my mind to other worlds within this one, it wasn't really a surprise. It's happened before. Creating seems to lower my mental walls just enough to allow me to revisit old memory and witness a new perspective on some experience or relationship.

So, no, the tear didn't surprise me too much until I started following my thought-thread back to find the source of the moisture. Until that moment, I didn't realize I was giving voice to the pain—and healing—of losing my mother after a particularly long and vicious battle with dementia.

My mother was a seamstress of great talent, but making quilts were never her thing though she did make a few. She was more of a collector and she enjoyed them in her everyday world rather than keeping them for "company" or special occasions.
As I let the quiet tears fall, I knew they represented the stress and damage caused by an illness that knows no kindness and gives no quarter. They were for the years lost even though she was alive, for the impact it had on her, my father and my siblings as well as for the loneliness and lost feelings that still pervade my mind. And for the helplessness we all felt as we watched her mind being slowly destroyed.

As I followed my thoughts more consciously, I decided to give witness to the pain, guilt, loneliness, anger, frustration, and yes, even happiness, that her death brought. The swirling mess of volatile emotions, some seemingly at war with one another, were slowly brought to life on the page of my sketchbook.

When I began to lay out the quilt idea on the page, I made several changes from the original pattern I found. The shape of the heart (I made it fuller), the outer edges of the heart shape (I wanted it to be less fragmented) and the small splintered pieces inside (to represent my own emotional shards that have yet to settle) were either changed or added as I went along.

Much of the relief (and happiness) I've felt is in knowing she has set down the burden of her illness. The feeling of being lost and lonely sidle up next to the gaping hole of lost love I will no doubt feel until I no longer walk this earth. Anger that I lost so many years with her to this insidious disease and bewilderment that she's truly gone. All of this was and is overlaid with frustration that there was nothing, absolutely nothing which could be done to slow or stop the illness.

As I poured forth that complicated mess of feelings, I began to feel lighter, a lessening of the weight that seems to have been stifling my soul for months now. And while the weight is not completely gone, the slight lightening gives me hope that it will eventually be transformed into something different and new.

They say time heals. I say art heals more. I am ever so thankful to have an outlet by which I can process the big and little hurts we all encounter as we stroll upon the surface of the earth.

A painting of my grandmother and me from Easter along with a few of our creations

I wrote this article back in 2014 and submitted it to a few magazines, but it never found a home.  When I was recently looking through some old files for some family photos, I happen to run across it and thought I'd share it here on the blog. The actual events happen back in the early 2000's.

Recognizing The Artist Within
By Laure Ferlita

When my grandmother fell and mangled her hip and shoulder, she was sent to a rehabilitation facility with every expectation of coming home after a few weeks, maybe a month, after making a full recovery. Staying healthy, especially for a woman on the cusp of her nineties, is a dicey thing at best and coming home was not to be. After spending several months in the center, we faced the hard reality she would never be able to live by herself again.

Cleaning out her home was both heartrending and enlightening. Feeling as though we were plundering through her things and about to get scolded was a constant companion. The very last place I expected to start a journey of artistic self-discovery was among her photos, handkerchiefs and china. As it turned out, I ran smack-dab into my own artistic past.

As per the grandmothers' life guide, this woman had kept nearly everything gifted to her from her grandchildren over the long years or so it seemed. I don't know if she packed away everything we'd ever given her, but judging by all the bits and bobs we found, she'd made a herculean effort to do so.

One of the many tiny ornaments my grandmother made

From the Imaginary Visit To Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks class*

Have you ever found yourself desperately wanting to distract yourself from something ongoing in your life and at the same time you're too distracted to do anything for long? 

From the Imaginary Visit To Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks class*

Alternate Title: Feeding The Fish

A fanciful interpretation of a Sheephead

Got a few minutes? Let me tell you about our fishing trip last Friday. Our family gave my father-in-law (FIL) a voucher for a fishing trip for his birthday back in September and you know how it goes, we assled (southern word) around and time got away from us.

White Egret looking for an early breakfast

Fast forward to the first of the year and my FIL was in a panic thinking he was going to lose the trip because the voucher was about to expire, so plans were made. And fell through because the weather is kinda iffy out on the water at this time of year with all weather fronts moving through. (Apologies to my Northern friends, I know this is nothing compared to what you're dealing with!)

Gulfport Marina

Finally, the date was set—February 12th and...the weather holds! It's kinda cool and there's a front scheduled to move in, but we're going. Now there is some kind of a law that says you have to go early if you're going to do anything outside (in Florida) and if you're with my FIL, you'll be there even earlier than early.

Unfortunately, the guy with the boat did not get the "early memo" and was not there early. This left us plenty of time to explore the marina. This took about 10 minutes. After that, we started bird watching...osprey, sparrows, egrets and a big blue heron (which I missed getting a photo of). It sounded a little like Jurassic Park with all the bird cries.

He was dissuade from going fishing with us after being shooed away from the boat

Boat guy shows up, gets the boat in the water, gets bait and we're on our way.

The next three and half hours include watching the dolphin, catching fish (and throwing the little ones back), motor issues, being towed, more fishing and finally, coming back in. As they* say, "a bad** day fishing beats the best day in the office."

Engine trouble on the water. This is the tow boat taking us back to shore.

*They as in expert fisherpeople.
**This was in no way a bad day!

Blue skies, sunshine, and biting fish—the recipe for a most excellent day on the water!

Keepers of the day

As for the title of this post, there are times to sketch and there are times not to. I found between the movement of the boat, the boat wakes, the cold and the general environment (wet), I was not inclined to attempt to sketch. even though I had my sketching stuff. The boat was a tight fit for five people with each of us constantly casting, reeling in fish, getting hung on the rocks below and baiting hooks.

The Fishin' Ferlitas!

Could it have been done? Yes. However, after weighing the odds of dropping my sketchbook (probably overboard, knowing me) and/or being in the way of the others, it didn't seem worth the attempt. I waited until I was home and the floor had quit moving before sitting down to sketch.

Up above you see my take on a colorful Sheephead rather than with its normal coloring. An excellent reminder of a super fun day with family doing something we all love. And we still have the fish fry to look forward to! Yum!!

Wishing my guy, Chris Ferlita, a super happy birthday as he begins a new decade today! Hope the day is as brilliant as you are.

Commemorating A Wild and Wacky Mother's Day

Ever go to Gatorland on Mother's Day?

Ever been to Gatorland...at all?!

Well, we have! We went this past Sunday with family and friends and it would not do but some of them just had to go zip-lining over the gator ponds!

The Zippers

And they all had a blast. So much so, that I've already heard discussion about a return trip though we'll probably wait for cooler temperatures—it was HOT! (And yes, I know this is Florida, the land of there perpetual summer!).

The park had plenty of alligators and crocodiles along with lots of other critters—panthers, bobcats, tortoise, parrots, budgies, snakes, spiders, herons, egrets, flamingos, ducks, wood storks, anhingas, a rookery,  and without a doubt, the most buzzards I have ever seen at one time! There were hundreds of them!

It was interesting to watch the shows. Most of them were quite comical and at the same time, they were sliding in a lot of education about the critters, their habitats, what kind of environment and food they needed as well as a good bit of common sense about how to avoid being lunch.

My sketch above was just a fun parody on the goofiness of the day! The folks that ran the zip line were great sports and did everything they could to scare the pants off all the "zippers." (At no point was anyone in any danger.)

My goofball having a great time. If you enlarge the photo, you'll see me as a pink blob doing some videoing on the right

The Great Blue Heron was the only thing I actually managed to sketch on location. Everything else was done from photos once we got home. I was too busy running around attempting to video those flying through the air with the greatest of ease.

The silver token has the saying, "See you later, alligator" on one side and the Gatorland logo on the other.

If you're after a slower pace and a glimpse of old Florida attractions, this is a fun place to visit. Unless you go zip-lining, it won't take you a full day to visit, but I think you'll be glad you did!

We went to my nephew's last home game of his high school career last Friday night and I decided to attempt sketching the players...

Black gel pen in No Name Watercolor Journal 3.5 x 5.5 inches

Here are my observations (and remember, these are from a non-sports person):

Much like today, our weather 22 years ago was mostly cloudy with a hint of rain with the sun playing hide and seek most of the day. Finally, on that day many long years ago, just before seven o'clock, a fine mist began to fall…and that's the day I married my best friend!

Sounds cheesy, right? You bet, but it just happens to also be the truth. He's still my best friend today!

A rare photo of a smile on his face!

You may know him as a mild-mannered, laid back guy named Chris, but don't be fooled! I thought it might be fun to show you some of his other "sides:"

Goofy

He's got a great sense of adventure as long as it doesn't involve planes or long car rides…

Horrified

Distant

Every once in a while he gets very reflective and when he comes back from his thoughts, he asks something profound like, "Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be able to talk to animals?"

A good judge of character

Constipated?

Hello, Mr. Serious

The man and a canine bud from work

Baby Blue Heron Watercolor and lots and lots of ink Stillman and Birn Zeta Sketchbook 5.5 x 8.5 inches

My brother went down to the Venice Rookery over the weekend and came home with some fabulous shots. This one of the baby Blue Heron just captured my heart. I decided on the spur of the moment—did you know moment's had spurs?—to create a sketch out of this cute, little bugger.

I had originally planned to sketch the bird much bigger with a lot less nest showing. How I managed to wind up with a small bird and lots of nest showing beats me, but I did it.

Beginning with the bird, I sketch him out in pencil and then added general outlines of the nest without a lot of detail (my first miscalculation). Since the background is all suggested shapes, I didn't draw anything back there.

Next, I painted the bird. Since he was my COI (center of interest), I knew if I messed him up the rest of the sketch wouldn't matter.

With the main sections of the bird painted (details to be added last), I moved on to the background. It was easy to do by just mingling colors.

Then it was time to do the nest.

If I had drawn in even a partial bit of the nest, I think I would have realized the chore I had set for myself. But I didn't.

I was using a waterbrush and those do NOT have a fine tips and so don't do fine details easily. Choosing to save my sanity, I grabbed a traditional brush to tackle those finer details.

In short order, I realized my sanity was still in question because if I continued to sketch the nest with a brush, I would have HOURS invested in this page.

Not ideal and not what I was going for. It's a sketch for goodness sake!

Rather than lavish hours on a sketch, I went to the studio and gathered up markers and pens in colors that would harmonize with the colors in the image. Then I went to work.

Some of the tools I used in the creation of the page

On the right page, you can see a few of the tools I used. Pens, markers, and two brushes.

All told I have about two hours in this and I'm itching to go back in and make a few more "adjustments."

If I had continued to work in just paint, I'm guessing I'd still be working on it and you might have seen it tomorrow.

Editing "Perfect Images"
As you can see, the photo is a pretty darn good one and who am I to fool around with a great image?

The artist with a creative license!

I edited the photo to make a more compact sketch. I moved the baby to the edge of the nest and moved the support underneath him so it didn't look lopsided. I also simplified the nest details greatly and it's still very busy.

When I set out to sketch, I generally have a goal in mind of being quick, of capturing the essence of a place, thing, etc. However, I do occasionally get into something that can't be "created" as quickly as I'd like. At least, not by me.

That's when I change up my method of working. I'm not a big pen and ink artist. I like it, but it's rare for me to work this way.

Realizing I was going to have to make a choice of abandoning my goal of quick or change my method of creating, I opted for the latter.

Is there anything wrong with spending several hours on a sketch/page? No.

Why was it a problem? It's not, but because I wanted this to be a quick sketch and not a painting I had to make a choice.

The longer I work on something, the more detail I tend to put into something and the greater chance I have of overworking the piece and regretting the hours I invested. 

There is a constant decision process going on when we create. The more aware we become of our choices, the more freedom we have when we're in the flow. Realizing we have more than one way to create goes a long way towards helping us to tackle subject matter that we would otherwise avoid.

Do you vary your approach and/or the tools when you're sketching? How so?

My mother's birthday is January 1st and since this year was her 80th birthday, we had a big blowout to celebrate. With my mind on the party, I was a little surprised when an unexpected visitor from the past showed up.

My grandmother showed up at the party.

She died back in 2007.

Before you wonder if I've lost my mind, let me explain.

When we cleared my grandmother's home before she moved into an assisted living home, my aunt found a box of cards in the back of the closet. My grandmother was extremely sentimental and no one wanted to throw the cards away—they had obviously meant a lot to her. So my aunt took the box home with her. She'd planned to go through the cards and do something with them.

Like most of us with good intentions, the cards sat in the closet for many long years before those good intentions were realized.

At the party, my aunt gave a number of us a pack of cards that we had given to my grandmother over the years. In my pack, there was also a photo from our wedding and a photo of me when I was 3 or 4 years old.
If I'm not mistaken, this photo used to reside in a silver family tree frame with all of my grandmother's grandchildren's photos. Another blast from the past. I hadn't thought of that tree in years.

But what truly captured my attention and brought tears to my eyes, was the small skate pictured above.

Some of my earliest memories were of my granny creating something.

She crocheted, she sewed, she crafted, she gardened (she could make a dead stick bloom!), she baked (her 7 layer chocolate cake was divine!) and cooked, she was always doing something and I've long suspected that my seeds of creativity were cast from watching her.

She never used expensive materials. The skate above is made from a piece of felt, a paperclip and some yarn and thread. So simple and yet so "Granny" that I would recognize it anywhere as her work.

To me, it's a priceless piece of art.

I also have some "chickens" that are made from the same material…and now I'm on a hunt to find where I put them.

Over the years, she and I dabbled in a number of different craft projects together. When she moved back to Florida from Georgia, I was amazed at the number of items she'd kept from the past of things I'd made with her or for her.

While there were tears, it was like a gift of a visit from my grandmother after these many long years of silence.

She was a such a special lady that left a huge legacy of love, craft-iness, creativity, and making do with what you had.

I wanted to preserve the moment and be able to revisit it without having to hunt down the ornament or cards, so I've created a page in my sketchbook.

Granny's Skate Stillman and Birn Beta bound sketchbook 5.5 x 8.5 watercolor and ink

In the space at the bottom of the page, I'll add the details of how the skate and cards came to me from my aunt.

Many thanks to my Aunt Lala for the visit from the past and the work of going through all those cards and there were a bunch of them! Many thanks to my granny for the legacy of creativity and love.

To this day, she is fiercely missed.

On an entirely different note, I have had to turn on the word capture feature on the blog due to some persistent spammers that refuse to take "no spam" for real. My apologies for the inconvenience!

Pieces of Autumn Watercolor in Handmade Journal 7 x 7 inches

Pausing just a few minutes as we get ready for Thanksgiving (here in America) to post an old sketchbook page that shows some of my very favorite "pieces of Autumn."

I've been sharing over on Facebook some of the things I am most grateful for and I'm posting just a quick list that is by no means exhaustive but is from the heart:

My sweet husband
The (nearly) 21 years we've been married
Our home
The loving, furry critters that make our house a home
The love that fills our days
Food, heating, cooling and roofs that don't leak
Family close by
Friends, scattered near and far
Cars that run
Gas to make them go
Birdsong
The wind singing in the trees
Colorful leaves
Time to sketch and paint
Work that feeds me on so many, many levels
For all the wonderful artists that have passed through the ImaginaryTrips.com eclasses

And you, dear readers! Thanks for stopping by to see what's up, to share your thoughts, encouragement and inspiration.

Whether you're sitting down to a big meal with family to observe the holiday or just going out your daily round, I wish you happiness, love, and joy!

Moby Cat

I would love to tell you that I haven't lost my mind, but at this point…I'm not so sure.

I would love to tell you that Chris has lost his either, but again, there is evidence to the contrary...

"You work too much! Pay attention to ME!"

The darling creature you see above is Moby Cat, the latest new Ferlita family member. She is a 3-month-old Maine Coon. She's smart, she's intrepid and she is already leading Willis (our other new baby) around.

"I'm soooo tired. That runt is just too much trouble."

Willis follows the kitten around from the time they get up until the time they crash (literally) and pass out. After much hissing and growling, it seems Willis has decided the new interloper is probably here to stay and it's her job to keep an eye on the insolent child. It's an exhausting job as you can see.

Joey, our oldest cat, was unavailable for this photo shoot as he has taken to permanently hiding out under either the bed or the treadmill. Again, much growling can be heard as he and Moby haven't had a chance to interact much yet. Kind of hard to do when you've wedged yourself into a space only a mouse would normally fit in.

"I said YOU are NOT paying ME enough attention! I'm much cuter than this dumb old box!"

Meanwhile, Moby and I are trying to come to amicable terms with regard to computer use. She likes it because it's warm and I have to pay attention to her. She doesn't seem too much into the negotiations. Her attitude is more along the lines of "my way or the highway."

Despite the upheaval, she's love personified. Touch her and she purrs and butts her little head up into your hand. She's gentle…she's been in the house for over a week and she hasn't scratched me yet.

"Wow, you throw away the coolest things, human!"

Moby is also a climber, explorer and adventuress. Above, she's checking out the trash can under my desk in the studio.

Which brings me to my latest thought…isn't Christmas gonna be a blast this year with not one, but TWO tiny terrors!?!

Sigh.

If you're wondering what cataclysmic events transpired that we would have not one, but TWO small (and adorable) creatures joining our lives, I'll tell you that it was simply a conversation with a friend.

Kathy, over at Catching Happiness,  decided it was time for some furry love in her life. She didn't have anyone going with her as she looked for her new companion so I volunteered. My sweet husband decided to go along to "keep me from bringing home any more 'damn' cats!" (Tactical error there, my dear husband!)

Here are the happy humans holding their new charges:

Don't they look happy!?!

 And now, all I can say is, "let the adventures begin!"

"The Realm of Dogdom" has been buzzing with all kinds of activity lately. Our dog Specky started to feel poorly, very poorly, last week. Scared the you-know-what-out of us as we haven't really recovered from the loss of our other dogs at the beginning of the year.
Turns out Spec had an abscessed tooth. Now, I don't know about you, but I've had an abscessed tooth and it hurts like nothing else I've ever had to hurt! As we moved through the (hopefully) healing process with her, I realized she had a few, okay, a lot of things to teach me.

1. It's okay to let someone spoil you. Especially when you don't feel good. It makes you feel a little bit better and it makes the other person feel better too.
2. You have to trust that everyone is doing their best even when their best doesn't seem to be cutting it. 
3. Even if you have a lot of history with mean people, give a new person a chance until they prove they're not to be trusted. If they come at your nether regions with sharp, pointy things, they are no longer trustworthy and should be treated as such. Warn them to leave your nether regions alone. Bare your teeth and/or growl. If this fails to slow down the sharp, pointy thing or the person holding it, then by all means, introduce them to your own sharp, pointy things (teeth).
4. Forgive them if they do not heed your warning and insist on sticking you with the sharp, pointy thing (see #3), and don't hold a grudge because they might be holding a treat (see #1). 
5. Try not to be grouchy and if you are grouchy, because let's face, abscessed teeth HURT!, stay as quiet as possible, say as little as possible and take frequent naps. If you say as little as possible, chances are good you won't hurt anyone's feelings and you won't have to apologize as much later. 
6.  If someone makes special food or treats for you, show them how good they are and how much you appreciate it by wiggling, whining, and getting excited all over. Be sure to lick the shine off the bowl to show your sincere appreciation of this special treatment (see #1). Who knows, you might score a second helping. 
7. Don't be a pill about taking your pills, especially if they're wrapped in peanut butter. 
8. When you feel better, be sure to let those taking care of you to know by being extra sweet, snuggly and slobbery. They'll appreciate it. 

We call Specky our teflon dog because nothing seems to stick. No matter what, she's always Spec with a stronghold on being happy, loving her humans, and giving everyone a chance or a warning bark. In case you can't tell from the image, Specky is 5 or 6 different shades of browns and reds, hence the name.

In truth, I think she's probably kevlar, teflon, tutu and love all rolled into a speckled coat. Despite being in a highly abusive home for the first part of her life, she's as sweet as she can be....unless you have something sharp and pointy in your hands with an eye towards her nether regions. (Can't say as I blame her for that one!)

If you have a four-footed furry friend that has demonstrated some much need life lesson(s) for you, please share. I think we could all use some "feel good" stories today.

Andi, Gatlin and Susie Possible Painting Thumbnail

Let me tell you a story about a couple of dogs named Gatlin and Andi.....

Gatlin was a mountain dog. When Chris and I met her, she was homeless and wild. Scared wild. She was so afraid of people, no one could get near her. We were on vacation up in Gatlinburg and had been visiting some friends on the Artist's Loop, when our lives collided.

We told our friends that if they caught her, we'd take her. We tried before we left, but she was too smart for her own good. Fast forward three weeks. I was on location in Atlanta, on a Friday, due to fly out that afternoon. I received a phone call—they'd caught the dog! Did we still want her? Yes!

I turned in my rental car at the airport, rented an SUV and drove to Gatlinburg that night. I picked her up the next morning and started the 12-hour drive home. By myself. With a dog I didn't know. Let's just say it was a memorable experience.

It turned out that Gatlin had been abused by her prior owners. Badly abused. She was terrified of people but wouldn't so much as raise a whisker to defend herself. She had the most expressive eyes of any dog I'd ever known.

Gatlin was an old soul.

We started working with Gatlin, to acclimate her to her life. Turns out, she didn't know how to play and she really didn't know how to interact with humans—nice or mean. Finally, we decided that maybe another dog would help.

Andi entered our lives.

We rescued Andi, our second dog, from a no-kill shelter two months after we brought Gatlin home. The two became fast friends. Andi taught Gatlin more about playing (by example) in two months than we would've been able to in two years.

Andi was a kind-hearted dog who had also seen some abuse in her life prior to coming to us. She loved to chase squirrels, to play, to pull the stuffing out of toys, out of balls, out of beds, out of anything! Andi was as high-key as Gatlin was low-key—the (mostly) perfect yin and yang.

The years slipped by and one day we learned Gatlin had cancer. It was deep inside her throat and it was inoperable. She left us in 2006.

Andi missed her friend, but by then, she had two other playmates, Susie and Specky (both were rescues and deserve a story of their own).

Again, the years slipped by.

As you know, Susie left us on December 30th. We lost Andi this morning.....

Travel safe, girl, and know that you'll be missed!

The image above is a very rough idea I have for a painting....of Gatlin greeting the two latest arrivals at the end of the Rainbow Bridge. I know she'll show them the ropes and help them get settled in.

I'll probably wait to do the painting until our last pup leaves us. For now, Specky is healthy, just very, very lonely.

On a different note, many of you have sent well-wishes for my niece.....who has recovered from her seizure and seems to be just fine. The doctors believe the seizure was brought on by a fever. She's teething right now and having a devil of a time, so it makes sense. It would also seem that these seizures are quite common in toddlers.

Again, thank you for the kind words of understanding as we do our best to cope with our losses and concerns.

Today is our 19th wedding anniversary! The photo was taken just before we left the reception. We've been talking a lot lately about what we knew, what we thought we knew and what we had no clue about back then (or today!).

We both realize now that we had no idea what it took to make a marriage work, what it meant to be married, and what it meant to be a half of a whole.

There have some great times. There have been struggles. And as I write those words, it is evident that they don't begin to cover the depth nor the breadth of the experiences we've shared.

During my father's recent illness, my mother commented to me that "You got a good one."

Yep, I did. I didn't really know it at the time, but I know now that I got one of the best.

Sometimes, I think I'd give him away, but in truth, I wouldn't trade him for anyone in the world!

Happy anniversary to my love!

Now, about painting the front door....

Food Sculpture by Chris Ferlita Click to enlarge

We had a family celebration last night, and of course, there's always lots of hugs, laughter and mischief going on. Chris contributed one of his (in)famous food sculptures. This is made of lemon, zucchini, tomatoes and rib bones.

Don't you want to come and join us for our next dinner?

Oddly enough, the waiters and waitress always seem to remember us.


Our normal programming will return tomorrow......

This past Saturday, my niece Amanda was married at an outdoor wedding.....in August.....in Florida. Yes, you read that correctly. In the photo, the flower girl is spraying Amanda's face with a water mister/fan thingie that helped to keep the girls cool before the ceremony.

I had started to put together a sketch of some of these images. I wanted to do a more personal representation of the day and I was struggling with my sketch to make it look like Amanda and her new husband, Dustin.

When Chris came in from work and saw the sketch, we started to talk about it. I was not happy with it at all. Since it was family, I definitely wanted the people in the sketch to look like who it was suppose to be and not the Asian folks that had shown up on the page.

Amanda & Dustin

I wasn't good enough.

Mind you, that's not what he said at all. It's what I heard. My insecurities were already raging, nipping at my heels and chewing on my toes. (I tend to think of my insecurities as piranhas...they move in at the first scent of insecurity and work into a feeding frenzy.)

I took my sketchbook back to the studio and erased the whole page......

I shouldn't have listened.

Not to my insecurities. Nor to my fears that I couldn't complete the sketch to my satisfaction. And I shouldn't have erased the damn thing.

Cheesecake and Cupcakes!

 What did I learn?

1. The next time my insecurities are that raw, it's probably best not to enter into a conversation about the art no matter how well-meaning the person may be.

2. Wait before erasing. Nothing would have changed if I would have waited until this morning and still decided to erase.

3. I shouldn't have listened to the fear. I know better. Fear is not a good leader.

4. I would have learned something if I had gone ahead with the sketch, even if I had not done the work satisfactorily or to my satisfaction (two different things).

5. Nobody but me would have seen it anyway. Especially if I didn't think it was good enough.

Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Watkins!

The attic door swung wide and free,
And box by box, we began to see,
Some lights, some tinsel, maybe even a tree!
Christmas was finally here, weaving its magic all through the house!
Everywhere you looked, creatures were stirring, and not one, a mouse!

We spotted a huge tree free-grazing in the back 40 of the attic—it was so majestic! The Tree Wrangler lassoed the huge beast and it went wild! It bucked! It fought! And at long last, our heroic wrangler subdued and tamed that tree so that he could ride it around the living room floor!

Tucker, The Tree Wrangler

Once the tree had been subdued, Tucker wandered off for a snack, satisfied with a job well done.

Meanwhile, for the Light Master, work had just begun.....

Joey, The Light Master

Lights. They were everywhere in knots and piles. The Light Master looked at us with reproach for allowing the lights to become tangled. We tried to explain to him that they did this on their own. Eleven months in the attic, by themselves, is a long time and they sometimes got bored. He wasn't buying.

Joey knew the key to untangling the lights was to keep calm and breathe deep. To approach the lights with an attitude and knowledge that they wanted to become linear and straight.....

Post Script: A huge thank you to our guest artist, Chris, for sharing his wonderfully quirky artwork with us all last week! Chris assures me that he and Boomer will return from time to time.