Category Archives: Blog Circle

WHAT’S NEXT?

As part of the C4 blogathon, todays prompt is to list five goals to achieve in the next 30, 20 or 10 years, goals to achieve in the next five years and goals for the next 12 months.  I’m going to approach it a little differently because I have a few major goals in each category.

Goals for the next 12 months:  First of all, this has been a trying year. My mom is getting older and at times forgetful. I found out on New Year’s Eve someone had ordered a debit card from her bank and proceeded to make regular withdrawals. Also – a couple of her credit cards have been compromised. So – one of my major short term goals is to get all of this straightened out, become her power of attorney, get her will revised (she did it in 1987), and in short – become the parent of my family.  On top of that, I work full time in advertising. This is the busiest time of the year and this year is the craziest it has ever been.  So, another goal is to set and stick to priorities with my family. 

I have a couple of lighter goals – I want to be able to touch my toes – basically get back in shape. Also, my word of the year was “simplify”, I’m on a path to make my life more sustainable – but I have to work on the organization more and I don’t want “things” anymore, I want to live a “life”.  (I don’t keep my books anymore, I sell them back on Amazon now – and trust me – I am a reader!)

I will have the images of my work organized.

I will blog regularly.

I will journal regularly.

I will get back into the local art scene – I’ve been a little absent lately. I’m on the board of directors for the Women’s Caucus for Art in Georgia, but basically, I am organizing the book club – so I want to get more involved.

In five years, I no longer want to have to work in an office.  Case in point, I missed yesterdays blog because I didn’t get home until 8P and worked a little more. It is now 9P, and I just checked my emails from work. So – can you tell? I can’t continue doing this. I plan on going to a financial adviser and getting on a 3-4 year plan.  With that, I will have a steady income from my art world. I have this “dream” to teach on-line classes. I don’t have this idea solidified, I don’t even know what I want to teach right now, but I do know I love connecting with people across the universe with the same interest in art.  (Currently I’m trading collage materials with people across the globe, what fun to get stuff from Iceland and Sweden in the mail.)

I plan on going on a fabulous art-retreat, I have researched Berlin, and also there is a teacher in Maine that I’m interested in.  

When I accomplish this, the rest will fall into place. 

In closing, yesterdays prompt was sharing a favorite work of ours – so I thought I’d sneak an image in here.

Spring moon ©vickie martin

Spring moon
©vickie martin

 

FINDING INSPIRATION FROM THE BBC

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This is part of the Flying Sister’s Blog Circle – follow it around to find out what movies other women found inspirational.  Mine is not a movie, but a documentary series that I have watched more than once!

POWER OF ART is a BBC documentary series by Simon Schama, a professor of art and history at Columbia University.  In his own words”

“This is not a series about things that hang on walls, it is not about decor and prettiness.  It is a series about the force, the need, the passion of art – 

….the power of art.”

“Great art has dreadful manners”

“The hushed reverence of the gallery can fool you into believing masterpieces are polite things; visions that soothe, charm and beguile, but actually they are thugs. Merciless and wily, the greatest paintings grab you in a headlock, rough up your composure, and then proceed in short order to re-arrange your sense of reality.”

He then takes us on an amazing journey,  highlighting eight masterpieces, from Caravaggio’s David and Goliath to Picasso’s Guernica. He takes you into the lives of eight great artists, each who faced a crisis and created masterpieces that changed the way we look at both art and the world.

Sometimes told in a “wink wink, nudge nudge”way, you feel as you really get to know each artist and thus understand their world.

Each of the eight episodes examines the biography, the world and a key work with some reenactments:

  • Carvaggio – David and the Head of Goliath
  • Bernini – The Ecstacy of Saint Teresa
  • Rembrandt – The Conspiracy of Claudius Civilis
  • David – The Death of Marat
  • Turner – The Slave Ship
  • van Gogh – Wheatfields and Crows
  • Picasso – Guernica
  • Rothko – Black on Maroon

Why did I find this series so inspirational?

Take a look at the works below. With the first installment, it begins with an artist – Caravaggio – leaving Rome because he killed a man, I was hooked.  The “wink wink” style of storytelling even called Rembrandt “Mr. Cleverclogs”.

DAVID AND GOLIATH by Caravaggio.  The head of Goliath is a self portrait.

DAVID AND GOLIATH by Caravaggio. The head of Goliath is a self portrait.

do you see the ecstasy?

Bernini

 

this is only a 5th of what is left

Rembrandt
After he slashed the painting, this is only a fifth of the original work – all that is left

 

Van Gogh

Van Gogh

 

 

Picasso

Guernica
Picasso

 

the death of marat

David
The Death of Marat

JMW Turner  Slave Ship

JMW Turner
Slave Ship

Rothko

Rothko
Black on Maroon

This series simply made me want to learn MORE!  Below is a small snippet from the Rembrandt episode.

 


Now, follow the Flying Sisters blog circle around to see other inspirational works.  Next up is Lulu Bea – click here to see her inspiration movie!  Enjoy your journey.

PS – this is available on Netflix and YouTube

 

 

REFLECTIONS – The Year In Review – BLOG CIRCLE

Every month I participate in a blog circle.  A group of women around the globe posts a blog with a common theme, and we link to each other.  After reading this post – jump over to Jennifer Vitale‘s blog and read about a charming Christmas tradition.

This month the theme is reflections.  In looking back over the year, it has been an amazing year, and I feel it was the true beginning of a new journey and a new direction in my life.  I am starting out 2013 with a better plan than I have before.

As we move towards the end of the year, it is always good to look back and reflect.

As Kiekegaard said “life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards”.

The past year has been an amazing journey, and I feel it is still beginning.  What have I learned and what do I need to really work on?

The two most important things I learned in the past year – I have to learn to deal with the stress my job creates, and I have to focus on my art life.  Short and to the point.

How am I going to do this? I’m going into 2013 with a better sense of well-being. I have to take better care of myself – both my physical and spiritual beings. I plan to start my holiday time off by exercising and meditating.  Spending time on a daily basis reflecting will help me relax and thus sleep at night (as I write this at 4:30AM!)

Recently, I was asked what gave me joy – without hestitation I said I good night’s sleep!  As I think and reflect upon that statement, I realize I have to DE STRESS – and  I will be better able to FOCUS – which is my word for 2013.

“I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest.” Dalai Lama

As it has been said – if you focus on results, nothing will change.  Results happen when you focus on change.

Now – hop on over to the blog of Jennifer Vitale, and continue the circle around the world!

GRATITUDE – THE FLYING BLOG CIRCLE

Every month a group of women from around the world have banded together to post a blog with the same theme.  This month’s them is Gratitude.   Here is my contribution – and when you are finished with this – head on over to Jennifer Vitale’s post here.

Gratitude

At this time of the year, we all spend time giving thanks. Like everybody else, I’m grateful for my family, my friends, my health. To me, gratitude is making a conscious decision not to focus on what is missing from my life, but focusing on what I have.

 

One of the things I’m most grateful for is the self realization that I’m an artist. But, how did that happen? It was a journey, and when I started on it, I didn’t know where it would take me.

I admit, I was always a little different, I’ve always marched to a different drum.  I dressed a little differently, I thought a little differently, I’d like to say my head was in the clouds, but it really was always in a book.

I was always drawn to the creative people, not realizing I was one myself. Then one day I saw a book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.  Well, this got my attention as I’m left-handed, and therefore a little right brained. So, my journey began, and it continues today.

But, I knew I was an artist when I started seeing things differently. I see faces in the negative spaces of foliage, or in the plastic window of the jeep in front of me.  I see people dancing in the clouds.  I began observing, really looking at the world around me.

 I see a mother playing with her baby in Canada.

I see so many things in Russia.

 

I see colors.

So, while I’m grateful for so many things, I am grateful that my journey has allowed me to see with the eye of an artist.

In reading about gratitude, I have joined The Gratitude Challenge, and signed the pledge.

Now – head over to Jennifer Vitale’s post here.