Reach Out and Touch the Sky!

posted in: INSPIRATION | 0
'Elephant Reaching' Citra Solv mixed media 2013 prints available http://www.etsy.com/shop/fromvictoryroad?section_id=10724179 Featured in Jan/Feb 2014 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine
“Elephant Reaching”

2013 was good to me, and to my art.  One of my goals for the year was to “do” more art, to give it a chance and see what it could be.  To be a newcomer in my 50s in the competitive art field was pretty intimidating to say the least, but my heart’s call to create spoke even more loudly.  I devoted more of my time to 2D art, while still maintaining the other aspects of my creative business.  Exhausting, but rewarding, in a few important ways.

Just the practice of making art does something for my soul.  It is like a homecoming of sorts.  There is a certain amount of healing to watch paper and paint and pattern emerge from chaos into something.  Even when I am not pleased with the result, I am amazed and energized by the process.  Out of the creative urges of my heart, transformation happens.  It makes me feel a closeness to the Grandest of Creators, and so becomes for me more of a spiritual exercise than a physical one.  That in itself is ample reason to do more art.  But there have been other benefits as well.

Doing more art has blessed me in practical ways.  I stand in awe and gratitude of the doors that have opened before me.  In the last year, my art has shown in several wonderful and gracious venues, been published in magazines,  and increased in sales.  No matter what my inner critic has to say, if people give you money for art it means they are saying it is good enough to cut it in a scary world full of tremendously talented artists.

Good enough.  That is a powerful message when you have trusted the urges of your heart and reached further than you actually think you can.  By the world’s standards, the success is small, but to be counted ‘good enough’ grows my courage.  To reach from the heart and touch the sky, even with what seems like the weight of an elephant holding you down…that is success.

Reach. Go for it.  You have no idea what might await you if you just give it a try!  What does your heart tell you to reach for in 2014?

ABOUT THE ART:

This is a mixed media piece using magazine pages altered with Citra Solv, then used as the main collage element.  The stars hold a lot of personal meaning because they are cut out of a note from a friend who is always in-couraging me. In turn, I hope this piece encourages you to reach beyond the thoughts that weigh you down.

‘Elephant Reaching’ Citra Solv mixed media 2013 prints available http://www.etsy.com/shop/fromvictoryroad?section_id=10724179

Featured in Jan/Feb 2014 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine. Read more about it’s making there.

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