I LOVE teaching workshops, but HATE schlepping

Yesterday my friend Reeny and I  presented a second class in our series, Yoga/Art and the Chakras. We offered it at 2 different local yoga studios. In the fall we focused on the lower Chakras, focusing on grounding and intention. Yesterday we worked with the heart and intuition Chakras.  It was a fun afternoon of yoga and art.

The workshop was well received. Participants commented on their hesitation before the art portion, but after they started playing with materials it became fun and they achieved more than they believed they were capable of...YAHOO! Just what I want to hear...

The hard part for me right now is the work involved in moving all of my art supplies to different locations to be able to teach workshops. Part of my reason for having a Bricks and Mortar home for HeARTfelt is to be able to hold classes and workshops in one place where I WOULDN'T have to schlep! My friend Mary, who was with us for the series, pointed out to me when I was lamenting this fact-"Maybe it is just part of your process." UGH- I HATE it when friends are right...(not really!) Maybe all of this schlepping helps me become more organized and streamlined in my presenting?! OR maybe I just need to work harder at figuring out a space to rent for my gallery/studio idea?

Either way I have to keep plugging along in my quest to bring the creative process to people who think they are NOT creative...

 Here are some of our supplies before we started. Thankfully, Reeny is super helpful and was willing to help me cover all of the tables and lay tarps!

 We had to bring in buckets of clean water and empty buckets to be able to take the dirty water out with us. HeARTfelt MUST have a large industrial sink!

Fun to have Buddha watching over us while we did yoga and created... 

 This yogi-artist went from sketch to wonderful representation of the upper Chakras.

 We started with rice paper and Sumi-E inks and brushes. Then added color using watercolor paints.

                                                     This is Mary and her finished piece.

                        Have a wonderful week! Here is to schlepping....
                                                                        Lucy

I get by with a LITTLE help form my friends

This past weekend was my annual "MLK girl's weekend." I have been going with my friend Michelle for the past 4 years to different Wisconsin cities. This year we were in Madison. Every year we have a new iteration of friends join us. It is about getting away from our everyday life, eating good food, drinking wine, knitting, walking, talking and laughing A LOT!


Our families are of course our main focus. BUT getting away for a bit with my girl friends is just as important. We discuss our families, our jobs...we counsel and comfort each other in all of our life adventures. We are VERY lucky to have each others company and friendship.

Food both brought from home and out to eat is ALWAYS important to us.

                                                             LOTS and lots of wine....

                                                                      Searching out art.

                                       Finding the natural beauty in the places we visit

And then there is the laughter factor....we laugh A LOT!

There is a fantastic picture of one of my friends with a facial mask on BUT it shall NEVER be shared-because friends ALWAYS look out for one another!

                      Go visit with a friend....Have a great week.
                                                                  Lucy

finding beauty and calm in WINTER

Last winter, which was a pretty brutal, LONG winter, I remember saying to myself that I should, "concentrate on hibernating and resting like the rest of nature does..." during January and February. I didn't. I got all caught up in how terrible the weather was and how I couldn't be outside and that the snow would never go away...This winter I am determined to NOT repeat that behavior and try my best to find the beauty and calm in these next 6-8 weeks.

I have found as my sister Michele has often said, "There is no BAD weather, just BAD clothing choices." (I think it maybe a bastardized REI commercial.) IF I can get outside for a walk and a bit of fresh air, no matter the weather, I feel more alive and definitely calmer. I know with subzero weather it is near impossible to do that- on those days I need to relish the time to be able to read a book with a cup of tea INSTEAD of trying to get a walk outside in...

Yesterday I was able to fit a walk in. I noticed the lovely shadows that a sunny winter day creates. I tried to capture them...

 I love the feathery quality of the shadow from these leaves on weeds which I never got to pulling this fall!

 The geometric shapes of some of our garden structures...

 I LOVE the shadow of this tree! So stark, so majestic, so STRONG!

 The little branches off of a big branch I tend to overlook when looking at the actual tree. BUT in the shadow they are clearer than the real thing!

 This shadow is from a glider which I inherited from my parents when they moved from my childhood home.

                                              Love the lone dark shadow of leaves on a stalk.

Then, of course, there is our Buddha. Watching over our home in ALL weather...

                              Try to find the calm and beauty in your winter.
                                              Have a wonderful week-
                                                        Lucy

New Year, New Focus

HeARTfelt (prior to that name it was "The Creativity Shop") has been in my head for a good 4 years. I have been actively pursuing the idea for the last year and a half. I have researched on-line, read books, wrote business plans, created classes, held workshop events, hired a business consultant, created a web-site....are you sick of this list yet?! I AM! All of this thinking and planning has left me REALLY tired. When I analyze the process it hasn't been a bad journey, BUT is it getting me closer to my purpose in life? That purpose I believe is promoting and creating space where people can explore the creative process. What I have found is that by working on this purpose I have limited myself in my own creating....

I announced back in September that 2015 would be the year that my vision of a "Space to CREATE"/ my HeARTfelt vision would find a "Bricks and Mortar" place to exist. In my quest for sanity I am putting aside the working on trying to create my dream and I am going to start working on ART projects which speak to me. I am going to "SAY YES" to all art projects which come my way that will challenge and allow me to grow. Am I giving up on my dream to have a work place that supports my creative visions and promotes the creative process? NO. I am just NOT going to lament and stress about MY VISION. I am going to let go and remain open to what the Universe presents to me...

Let's see where 2015 takes me and my creative dreams...

A friend gave me this book - I read it on our way down to Kentucky to celebrate Christmas with our son, James and his family. We were very lucky to have all 3 children, our daughter-in-law, our grand baby and friends together and enjoyed a WONDERFUL holiday season!

 This is one of the chapter headings in the book. This is defiantly my  belief about art making/ creating!

 I did see a wonderful space in town...took the picture BUT haven't called on how much the rent actually is....

 These Anthropologie window display birds are my inspiration for my next public instillation.

     This is the very beginnings of my prototype.

 I am getting back to quilt making. I find such joy in working with fabric. I need to work on Joy EVERYDAY!

Most importantly in 2015 I want to say YES to family and friends. This picture was taken a year ago yesterday. Eileen represents my friends and my mother my family. Really life is about connections and starting with your family and friends is ALWAYS a good plan...

                         Happy NEW Year. Here is too much adventure and creative experiences for 2015!
                                                                                        Lucy