Children, trees and soul-birds are the best teachers.

Thursday!

Today's little art...

Hello everyone - hope you are enjoying the breeze and the sun.  My thoughts for today - let's think like little kids, read some stories, make some art and get outside!

Here's your inspiration starting point: 

Watch the most brilliant part of Adam Sandler playing Billy Madison HERE!

(not joking -it's relevant!)

But it's true - so today - find your "blue duck" - find something you've always wanted to see and never seen before - and create it.  Find some aspiration, yearning, goal that you've never even thought possible before, and want it like MAD!!!

Lil' update from me...

I'm not spending as much time down in the studio not only because it's gorgeous out, but mostly wedding planning as the date is quickly approaching :)  and preparing some monologues to perform at Beechwood Art's Arts Immersion Salon on Resilience and the Power of the Human Spirit - you can find lots of updates and fun stuff on the home page of amyoes.com as I keep putting up some art in galleries, singin' a bit here and there and writing... 

My article "Never Lose Your Hunger" was published today in The Change Blog which is a wonderful site, so a big thank you to The Change Blog!!!

In The Studio...

My studio is a mess.  I have no excuses.  I'm just messy.  And lazy.  

I put some singing flowers on a small canvas I had built up in lots of spackle, paint, glitter and glazes.

I'm somewhat sorry I did because the spackle was very beautiful without all of the felt and doodads on it.  Oh well.  Now there are flower and it's Spring.  SO there.

And I did this one too:

Because the only thing better than a tree with eyes and  singing flower is a tree with eyes, a singing flower and an orange fish.

Children's Book Inspiration...

I'd love to share with you a favorite children's book of mine called "The Soul Bird" by Michael Snunit.  The message is simple, we have a "soul bird" within us who has thoughts, feelings and dreams.  It's a beautiful way to visualize the self and soul within us and understand why it might feel the way it feels.

Deep within us lies the soul, and in the soul lives a special bird.  The bird opens and closes the drawers of our soul, in which lie all our feelings: there is a drawer for jealousy, one for happiness, one for love, one for every human emotion.  Only the soul bird keeps the keys to these drawers and opens them when we ask it to.  Sometimes the bird is contrary and opens the wrong drawer - instead of silence, there is speech; when we most want to be patient and calm, there is anger.  How can we hear the bird's message and find out more about our true selves?

You can listen to it read out loud HERE.

This also reminds me of The Little Prince by Antoine Saint-Exupery - I was actually assigned this by my 10th grade English teacher who told me it would change my life forever.  This children's book is chock full of precious images, messages and thoughts you'll ponder the rest of your life.

Some of these quotes I've thought of time and time again and every time it means something different.  Perhaps because so many changes are taking place in my life right now, and reading this book in high school, I had not been through any kind of life-altering trauma.  But I love how the same words can be transformed through life experience.  

Here are some precious quotes from The Little Prince...

“It is such a mysterious place, the land of tears.” 

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” 

“All grown-ups were once children... but only few of them remember it.” 

“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”

 "To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world....” 

“You - you alone will have the stars as no one else has them...In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night...You - only you - will have stars that can laugh.” 

“What makes the desert beautiful,' said the little prince, 'is that somewhere it hides a well...” 

“Well, I must endure the presence of a few caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies.” 

“People have forgotten this truth," the fox said. "But you mustn’t forget it. You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed. You’re responsible for your rose.” 

A good children's book is one you can reread again and again and take something different away.  Dr. Suess books are like that for me, so is The Giver by Lois Lowry, and so many Shel Silverstein stories and poems.  What children's book stays close to your heart and still inspires you to this day?

Before I go...

So those are some thoughts I wanted to share with you today.  Let's all think like children for a bit and recklessly create what we've never seen, but have sensed, wanted, or just felt like.  And let's keep revisiting our childhood memories and books - because thoughts that are true, inspiring and from the heart are usually the simplest ones - straight out of a children's story...

And now...

LET'S GET OUTSIDE!

You carry Mother Earth within you. She is not outside of you. Mother Earth is not just your environment. In that insight of inter-being, it is possible to have real communication with the Earth, which is the highest form of prayer.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Learning from each budding flower

It's Wednesday and Gorgeous!!!!

Hey everyone!  I don't want to stay in cyber world too long for me and for you because it's spectacularly sunny outside - but I did play around with some inchies - little thumbprint collages make me quite happy  They're a great way to mark little moments!

And I do have a BUNCH of huge canvases waiting for me to paint (they had to be delivered by truck!) - but I will definitely be painting this OUTSIDE!

How do you find a balance between creative work and creative stimulation?  I'd love any of you to comment on this.  Now that it's beautiful out, perhaps my art will come in different forms and mediums.  Or perhaps they will just be internal nourishment for my soul.  Please do share how you take int he fresh spring weather and still make time to create - I'm sure it doesn't have to be either/or - or just pin it on my Show Me You HeART Pinterest Board :)

Spring Fun...

As it gets nicer out, let's make a true effort to really learn from nature and what every leaf, dew drop and misshapen trunk is trying to teach us...here's a little poem I wrote this morning.  Hope it starts your day on a good note - enjoy!

(And if you'd like to check out more of my writing, there's a fun little writing section on my website amyoes.com!)

A Poem for A Beautiful Wednesday Morning

By Amy O. April 2015 

:)

Ground your feet here like a tree

Spread and open up your branches

Blossom like a peony

Like a child, take your chances

Change like a chameleon

Like a gazelle, leap the farthest

Express what you are feelin’

By painting like a dirt-poor artist

Keep your spirit fresh as air

Keep your soul as crisp as paper

Follow instincts everywhere

Keep your conscience clear as vapor

Float downstream just like a fish

Move with calmness like a sloth

Like a penny, make a wish

Fly towards the light like a moth

Like the springtime, thrive and bloom

Like snakes shedding, shed your cares

Like spring-cleaning, make some room

To hibernate and rest like bears

Turn your colors like the fall

Turn your pages like a book

Have ups and down like a bouncing ball

Like glasses, take a closer look

Resonate like glass wind-chimes

Like July days, beat like the sun

Like photos, capture happier times

That stick with you when day is done

Like windows, see through insincerity

Like lovers, fondly embrace sadness

Like colanders, find clarity

Sorting out the good from badness

Learn to live from your surroundings

Lessons are hid everywhere

You’ll find love and joy abounding

If you simply stay aware

When the day’s slow to get going

You’re anxious for what’s to come

Find the quiet peace in knowing

You can’t be happy if you’re numb

 

Dazing out or running from pain
Hides hard feelings that annoy
You may not feel hurt or strain
But numbness also blocks out joy

So take a hint from budding flowers
Who freeze under the winter’s snow
They know they’ll have shining hours
If they wait for Spring’s bright show

So tolerate the bitter cold
And get through slightly harder days
Like trusting kids, find hands to hold
We all must cope in healthy ways

Everyone here has their own worries
Things that sadden and distress
But if we all tell our stories
The fresh Spring Earth can do their best

To empathize, support and care

To know we’re not in this alone

Strength comes with the more we share

And realize we’re human, not stone

We’ll have peaks and valleys like mountains

Some rich days, some just ordinary

But we’ll reach glorious heights like fountains

Shooting off a stream of glory

If every day started and finished

Like the day you had had before

Soon your joy would be diminished

What would you be breathing for?

So like a riddle, keep others guessing

Like shuffling cards, mix it all up

Like a priest, find your own blessing

Like a pitcher, fill your cup

Today is an empty barrel

You can’t wait to stuff and fill

With curiosities and carols

Find your own song, seek your thrill.

A SUN-day kind of Tuesday.

Tuesday :)

“Ô, Sunlight! The most precious gold to be found on Earth.” 

― Roman Payne

More at AmyOes.com YAY

Slowly but surely more of my pieces are being uploaded onto the mixed media gallery on amyoes.com - and today there is a glorious page 9!  So check it out!

Coming up!
I am so excited to tell you that the Beechwood Art's Salon Immersion Event on Resilience and the Power of the Human Spirit is all sold out!  I can't believe how quickly the tickets went, but for anyone that was interested in coming, there is a wonderful documentary being filmed of the creation of this salon that I will be very excited to finally see!

Beechwood Arts is centered around a big and beautiful Beechwood tree.  In mythology, the spirit of this tree has a great knowledge of the past, knowing how to use its life experience and memories to make the right changes in the present... 

Lots of heART
I love seeing new pins popping up on the Show Me Your heART Pinterest board - it just shows ya, Spring is the perfect time for finding art all around us..  Just keep on breathing in experience and breathing out creativity...

...and Nature

I don't think the sun can get much brighter today, so I soaked it in through the window and did a little journaling...

We live in a world of caves, gardens, and underground passageways to

no place and everywhere.  We discover these enchanted pathways through

life experience – just by walking through this garden of pop-up colors and more texture than a beat up rug, more variety than a candy story of art supplies.  

And just by our gratitude to we incorporate that external eye-candy as part of us.  

It’s a subtle thing, gratitude, and the humility  to witness the glorious miracles which

take place every day.  And then the awe that comes with realizing, "Hey!  I'm a part of that!"

The art of living lies in these subtleties,

which open us up to witnessing what lies behind every cave – these

delicate miracles of everyday life, appearing for just an ephemeral

instant, and then turning to dust.

But as creators...we have the unique power to capture that moment in our mind's eye, our spirit and our hearts.  We can carry that piece of inspiration with us to always fill us with that satisfaction, that inward glow, that little giggle to ourself, and we can capture it on a canvas, in a song, in our words, and convey that to others - THAT is that gift of an artist.  An artist has the power to transform the world and offer his view to others, filling other folks with happy inspiration.  And we're all artists.  

So let the season of giving begin!

Art...some in the studio - but man it's nice outside!

I just wanted to paint for fun by the window - too much sun to stay downstairs :)

Some good thoughts, scribbles and doodles for my wedding in (under) two months...

Rediscovered some lovely affirmations I had from a while back...

 (They were in an old scrapbook which was fun to thumb through too...)

Out and About...

I've been really fixated on altering things lately after the fun I had with my $10 globe, so I scavenged Home Goods again delighted to see that they got a huge shipment of clocks - for $7!

So here's the question for you - I bought two clocks to alter - and I am quite QUITE excited about them.  However, it was really hard to make a selection.  Any guesses which two I chose?  (Hint:  I always go for what might make the best tree foundation of course!)

Before I go...
Half because it's beautiful out and my internet is terribly slow today.  So, if you're wanting to do some visual travel today, you can view the 40 breathtaking places to see before you die...
Or the 23 craziest Japanese inventions you never knew existed...

But you know what - it's beautiful out.

JUST TAKE A WALK!

“Any patch of sunlight in a wood will show you something about the sun which you could never get from reading books on astronomy. These pure and spontaneous pleasures are ‘patches of Godlight’ in the woods of our experience.” 

― C.S. Lewis