Fresh paint, warm sun, sprouting seeds.

A Fresh Monday!

“Don't be ashamed to weep; 'tis right to grieve. Tears are only water, and flowers, trees, and fruit cannot grow without water. But there must be sunlight also. A wounded heart will heal in time, and when it does, the memory and love of our lost ones is sealed inside to comfort us.” 

― Brian Jacques, Taggerung

Updates!

Today Newsletter #8 from amyoes.com arrived in everyone's inbox so please do subscribe if you haven't already so you'll get next week's!  If you'd like to view today's Discover, Inspire Create #8 you an click HERE, or just click HERE to see the entire newsletter archive...

Gutless & Grateful!

I am very excited to share that this September I will be flying out to Kansas City to perform Gutless and Grateful as part of the Transformative Language Arts Network National Conference!  

The Transformative Language Arts Network is all about supporting the power of the spoken, sung, performed word "as a tool for community or personal expression."  I'll be leading a workshop to show how my one-woman show had that effect.   This was a piece I had written for their blog about my fiance and my grandmother a while ago.  

You can view more information on my workshop HERE.  I am so excited to be part of The Power of Words 2015 Conference and also to check out some of the other amazing workshops going on that weekend, it should be a wonderful experience! 

Must...get...outside...

The good news is, it's a fresh week and I'm feeling much better, and stronger and stronger every day.  I was a bit nervous about a decade passing since my life forever changed and thought it would make the day feel very heavy and somber.  

But, the sun decided to come out, I took a breath and it felt like a new beginning.  So here's to the next ten years and beyond to be all about fresh new starts, letting go and clearing space for the future, freshly planted seeds, and sunlight.

The first spring blooms!

So I took a beautiful nature stroll around my block and made some new leafy companions - these trees seemed to be posed quite dramatically and emboldened with wonderful personalities...

I can totally see this tree with a nose, some eyes, and a bit of spunk :)

I discovered these two trios of trees that might make for a nice lively group of friends in a painting.  I love how one group leans over the road and the other group is tightly clustered together.

Then in these two pictures, I love the relationships between these trees - what do these say to you?

Bark speaks volumes...

(But not this kind of bark...)

In the Studio...and beyond :)

I am going to need to be painting some huge canvases soon...I can't wait to put a bunch of work at the Discovery Museum, but oh boy it's a big space!  Perfect whether for taking some 40 x 60 canvases outside to paint on the grass...

The Discovery Museum, Bridgeport, CT

But no pressure to start or finish anything huge today.  Just make little bit by bit improvements on some pieces I've been working on...

And I think this was all I needed...

...to finish this piece.  I like the blank space.

A bit of spackle work!

And the most important art!

Yesterday was a day off from blogging #1 because it's SUNDAY and more importantly than #1 it was Brandon's birthday, so he got a bit of art too!

He had to have a singing flower and a singing tree to always keep with him, of course.

Before I go...

So it was a nice, beautiful weekend and I think we can really breathe in and say woohoo it's Spring now.  It's warming up, and it's time to release ourselves from whatever was whenever ago.  

Today is a new day, I'm getting married in two months, and I allow myself to start HERE, using my past as a carving tool that has shaped me, not defined me.  

I am constantly molding and remolding myself (can you tell I really want to get into sculpture now!), taking what I choose to and carrying on, carrying on ,sailing my ship, so bring on those new horizons, and blooming flowers, sing that song loud and proud...

TODAY.
So, today folks:

(Big thanks to my awesome future sister in law!)

 It was an awesome weekend.  My brother Matt did his awesome monthly concert at the Bijou Theatre - only he can play three instruments at once like it's no big deal.

 Got some art inspiration at the bookstore...

 At the card store...(rolled paper - cool!)

Outside...

 

And with those I love...

 

Here's to a fresh start, only emboldened with the crazy colors of the last decade, and highlighted by whimsical abstractions of my childhood.  Now let's make the next years and beyond sculpted with neon awakenings, sparkling discoveries, symphonies from daffodils, and a ton of spackle!

“Do you see that out there? The strange, unfamiliar light? It's called the sun. Let's go get us a little.” 
― Nora Roberts, The Hollow