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“Oh but I have no time for that . . .” I hear this often. In fact I probably say it too. But really it all comes down to your frame of mind. For around 6 years I was a caregiver for my dad. He had a host of illnesses and dementia made things more complicated. When I look back I was mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted but kept going on by just focusing on the task at hand, living one day at a time. There were so many calls to 911 for an ambulance, emergency rooms, trips to doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, tests. . . We put him in a hospital bed in our family room which was open to the kitchen so he could see us and feel included. I set up the office as my studio which was also on the same floor so I can hear him and easily check on him. I don’t know if I did this consciously but I started to utilize the little bits of time I had here and there. I did small pastel drawings. So that’s how I got started on Facebook. I started posting one small pastel painting a day. People liked them and came back to see more. They didn’t take too long to do. They were done with snippets of time here and there. Many people thought I had lots of time to paint. But honestly, it takes your full time and energy to take care of another human being, to keep them comfortable, stable health-wise, and happy. But when I had a little time, I would just go into my office/studio and draw with pastels. I kept them small and loose. So, what I’m getting at is that you can do this too! But first you have to claim a space or a spot in your home where you can leave out your art supplies. You don’t want to be spending the time in set-up and clean up all the time. So when you have just 5-10 mins you can go there and put in a few strokes of colour. Not into pastels? You can just sketch with a pencil and paper, draw an eye, a nose. My daughter wants to learn Japanese. She got an app on her phone and is spending small amounts of time every day. Just yesterday, my mother and I were speaking in Japanese and she could kind of follow along and knew what we were talking about! Now is the perfect time, while you’re stuck at home, to learn something you’ve always wanted to but thought you didn’t have time for. YouTube is full of free information. You can also learn so much by Googling. (my husband loves to tell our kids, “when we were your age we had to actually go to the library and find books to get information. Now you just have to Google it!”) So, if you have even 5 minutes, I encourage you to pick up something you’ve been wanting to learn, start knitting, learn a new language, practice a passage on the piano, ok you can also have a nap. Lol  Here's some of the small 5"x7" pastels I did back then.
You can see more on my Small Daily Paintings page.
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Next Painting Giveaway coming soon!
Congratulations to Diane G. of Saskatchewan, Canada for winning the painting ‘Evening’s Embrace’! And thank you to everyone for being excited for this giveaway. AND IT’S NOT OVER!!! I will now select another painting for ANOTHER GIVEAWAY! It will be nice to round out 2019 with one more, so it will be sometime at the end of December. It’s my way of saying thank you for all your support. . . Ok, it’s time you know what really happened. . . . . .
How did I become an artist? Back about 12 years ago I enrolled my father, (then about 78 years old and starting to have dementia), into a watercolor class because he used to like to draw when he was a young man and I was looking for something he might enjoy doing. I took him to class and sat beside him with a book to read. Wow I saw all the fun they were having. . .  Here it is!
As promised, here's my next painting giveaway! This time it's for one of my original acrylic paintings, 'Evening's Embrace'. Since you're already on my email list you don't have to do anything, you're automatically entered! It's my way of saying thank you for all your support, comments and likes. You are truly making my artistic journey an exciting one. And don't forget, I'm going to continue to do these Painting Giveaways throughout the year so even if you don't win this time, you never know about the next! Have a great day! Grace Next Painting Giveaway coming soon!
Congratulations to Pauline V. for winning the Painting Giveaway! Which means you didn’t win but don’t be disappointed! There’s another draw coming up! I will select a painting and give you the details in August once I finish with my 2 shows. I’m very busy but excited about the upcoming shows. . . Painting Giveaway! 'Top of the Hill'
In less than two weeks I will be giving away this original pastel painting ‘Top of the Hill’. . . Hi everyone! We have a winner for 'Orange Delight'!
But before I announce the name I want you all to know that I will be having giveaways throughout the year just for you, to thank you for signing up to my email list! The winner is . . . |
Hi all!Catch up and read about what I've been up to and any exciting things in the works. Archives
May 2020
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