Allspice & Acrylics: Art: Baby Steps, Fearless Play

TGIF!!!

Happy Friday :)

weekend! weekend! weekend!

Photos! Books! Prints! In the works!

Last night was quite fun - I've been creating like mad lately and have made more art in the past month than I have in quite a few years actually! So since I have my Mixed Media Gallery as well as my Inchies Gallery and Still Life Gallery on my website www.amyoes.com, I decided it was about time to do another round of photographs...

I had so much to photograph that it took almost three hours to get everything done - and the photographer was amazing and worked very fast - I was scared I'd intimidate him with nearly 80 painting to photograph! Plus some pottery I've created and mixed media stuffed animals I've done.

so...much...art...

So stay tuned, folks, there's going to be a great new addition to amyoes.com with some spankin' new artwork - can't wait!

The photographer was excellent...and very patient!!!

I also have plans to put together another book of my prints - I've gotten many requests for a book of inspiration full of prints of my work with inspiring quotes and poetry I've written - this will be soon - as soon as I can put it together!

Still can't figure out where to store all these canvases!

In The Studio...

I didn't finish anything today - but lots of middles and beginnings - which counts too! (Process, it's the process..) First I started to paint over the textured spackle paint I had bought at Lowe's.

It dried very hard and textured, which was awesome to paint over!

So overnight, the paint turned into a sandy like rigid canvas, filled with delicious textured lines and curves - fun!

This is what I've painted on them:

I am going to leave these alone for now because honestly, I don't know what to do with them. If I do too much it will be headache-inducing just because there's so much going on with the teture already - something very minimal - which I'm not good at - I'll figure it out another time :)

Then...

I just love doing these textured coloring pages - check these out!

A light wash of gesso paint and water over a magazine ad that I liked...

My, what a little paint can do! And sprays, watercolor pencils, crayons, pastels, drippy stuff, smudging, wiping it with my sleeve, you know, the works :)

These are addictive because they can be so mindless and fun, so here's another one I did this morning:

Gesso to start...

Cool, right? Added some glitter, powder, and believe it or not - NUTMEG - it's a little trick I've used for years :)

These will be so great to blend into backgrounds. I've done quite a few this past week actually:

I think I've done all three in a week - I'm on a roll!

So I can't wait to see what I do with these two. Plus I have this one I still don't know what to do with yet:

These are the painted pages in their "humble beginnings"

Wow, what a little paint and playing around can do! Never be afraid to get messy - you never know what can come from it!!!

Including this!!!

Baby Steps...

I haven't included one of the poems I've written in a while, so I'd like to share "Baby Steps" - baby steps in the studio today for sure - I always have to tell myself that it's "okay" to not have an entire painting completed every day, and each session, I am taking more and more time to work on little nuances rather than just aim to get the "whole thing done" which is very good for me! And baby steps in life, of course - because lord knows it's taken me a very long time to get to where I am now!

I often think back to how little hope I had when I first awoke from my coma and didn't understand why I couldn't even stand up without my feet violently shaking. I just didn't feel like a real person and I wondered if I'd ever be able to at least walk again. And that literally took baby-steps - but even before that took baby-sitting-up-in-bed's, and baby-placing a foot on the floor...the actual "baby-steps" didn't come for months. But one day, I started to limp, then hobble, and then soon enough . I was the five-walks-a-day patient with her trademark yellow Ugg boots, who the ICU nurses could never pin down - "Where did Amy go this time???"

(I'll save the story about how my parents snuck me out of the ICU in my hospital gown to go shopping for another post...)

Anyway, here's my poem!

Baby Steps

By Amy Oestreicher

An old "baby-step" of coloring in a magazine ad...

Ask baby-steps of yourself

Pray just one word at a time

Show kindness to someone else

Take the first mount of this climb

Slowly but surely embark

On your journey’s winding trail

Bravely step out of the dark

Soak in light with each inhale

Crutches we leaned on before

Don’t have much use here and now

When you can’t deal anymore

Calmly take a loyal vow

That you won’t resort to using

Quick-fix coping habits and vices

Long-term ease is what you’re losing

Such rash actions have their prices

Be the voice who redirects

Your own actions when you struggle

Be the anchor that connects

Thoughts and feelings tough to juggle

Body language says a lot

Walk with pride and fierce intention

Use the coping skills you’ve got

Pay yourself some warm attention

What is the next baby-step

Of this bold discovery-dance?

What skills do you need to prep?

What risks do you need to chance?

Stars could fall out of the skies

Winds could sweep the world away

So don’t waste time on “what if’s” or “why’s”

Focus on what you can do TODAY.

Chase your dreams to the earth’s ends

But don’t dwell on the destination

Presence and patience are your friends

This very moment’s your creation

As long as you choose to plant your feet

Down into where you are NOW,

The prize of life will taste so sweet

And doors will open up somehow

Who knows what happens tomorrow

NOW you’ve got breath and vitality

Micro-movements keep the sorrow

In a realm of thoughts, not reality

Anguish comes from thinking of

What could happen here or then

When, the truth is, now’s enough

It all will work out in the end.

Will you remember this when life

Throws a curve-ball and you hide?

Know that with the fearful strife

You’ve got a sea of strength inside

Baby-steps, baby-steps, one by one

Steadily trailing over hills

Though meadows, towards the sun

You’ve got such a life to fill

Baby-steps, baby-steps, best foot forward

Follow up on your ambition

In the NOW, you’ll never be bored

As you bring dreams to fruition

Treat this path like a scavenger hunt

Playfully gathering each clue

Face the fears you must confront

Let them melt to reveal YOU.

Thanks and have a great day!

I continue to be so honored, inspired and touched by all of your feedback. On my website, my blog, my story, how I've helped you - I can't even begin to tell you. And I am so proud of myself, grateful and overjoyed that I took the plunge of posting about my ostomy in my Buzzfeed article - the support I've been getting is so overwhelming - it's just so beautiful, so thank you all so much, and keep sharing it, let's spread the message about how awesome ostomies are!!!