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Thursday, September 24, 2015

Nurturing Creativity-Part II


Expressing Gratitude-This is a BIG one for me. Many years ago my life was tremendously impacted by a sweet book written by Sara Ban Breathnach. It was "Simple Abundance". The world was abuzz with the concept of keeping gratitude journals. Not a new concept, but instantly driven home to the masses by this book and Oprah's endorsement. I bought a dozen copies and gave them to the women in my life that I loved dearly. It was just too good not to share the power of simply writing down five things we are grateful for every day and how this practice creates abundance. It's a universal law. REALLY, it is!

That was about seventeen years ago and I still practice gratitude journaling to this day. I remember it being difficult at times. But, most days, I could go on and on. Last week, I modeled for some students in an art class and spent the entire three hours listing (in my mind) all the things for which I am grateful. I wish I had counted them as I went. But, when I get started, the things I am grateful for rather flood my brain and there would be no way to keep count. It's truly euphoric! 


 This is me being grateful!

 
Although there are many brilliant works on this topic gratitude ,  I share with you this turning point for me as I recall lying in the hammock every evening while my husband, Charles, read the daily writings of "Simple Abundance" to me. We both shared what we had written in our gratitude journals and marveled that we had so much overlap. 


Grace is available for each of us every day-our spiritual daily bread-but we've got to remember to ask for it with a grateful heart and not worry about whether there will be enough for tomorrow.
 -Sarah Ban Breathnach


It is a lifestyle of expressing gratitude that nurtures my creativity. Seeing simple beauty around me supports my mission to create more beauty. And, that's how I see it! What nurtures your heart's desires?

Come see my new paintings!
With much gratitude,
Lisa

Monday, September 21, 2015

Nurturing Creativity-Part I


Nurturing creativity is a big job but I am up for it! For me, it's not as simple as walking into the studio and picking up a paint brush. My whole life needs to be about living full out passionately and creatively as a way to feed my heart and soul.  Hopefully, that focus translates to what I create in my studio.

Thinking back on the past few days of what fed my creativity I noticed these are some of the things that brought inspiration to me:


Dancing. There is always dancing before dipping my brush into paint.  I also had a ton of fun dancing and drumming this weekend at our Co-housing Community's Annual Feast Day.


Doodling and sketching. I think I have always had a writing instrument in my hand since birth. It helps the old ADD situation to scribble while attempting to concentrate!



 
Life Drawing Group is a a new found lifeline.for me. It's so very different from the work I do professionally. It truly creates new openings in my brain that make things flow a bit easier when I hit that canvas with cold wax! I LOVE it!





The Artist's Way. Huge topic but something that has helped me uncover my creativity and feeds my spirituality beyond measure. I have participated in many groups, facilitated some and even attended one led my Julia Cameron herself.  The entire process is a lifestyle for me that I recommend to anyone wanting to know themselves better.



Nature is critical in nourishing my creativity. I mean, I paint trees. I owe it to them to be out there with them showing them my gratitude. Plus, it's clearly fall in Santa Fe and that makes my heart sing!



Meditation happens almost every morning of my life and keeps me on the sane side of the scale so I can get crazy with paint after I've had coffee!


Photography- nothing fancy here. But, taking pics of ordinary things gives me moments of focus and appreciation for the beautiful things surrounding me.  

"I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it" Alice Walker


Who knows I might even be inspired to paint something purple!


Thanks for stopping by. I'll post Part II on what helps me stay inspired later.

My website has some new paintings and  news of upcoming events. I hope you will visit me there and sign up for my newsletter. http://lisaadamsreed.com/

On this beautiful fall day that's HOW I SEE IT!  What inspires you??