Dancing to the rhythm of the universe...

MoNdAy...(Smile!  It's Monday!) 

DANCE TO THE RHYTHM OF THE UNIVERSE! 
more images uploaded to my amyoes.com gallery today woohoo!

“Is the spring coming?" he said. "What is it like?"...
"It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine...” 
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

I hope everyone had a great mother's day.  It was gorgeous out and perfect weather to spend time with people I love outdoors!

In honor of yesterday, here's a song I love - It's called "Good Mother" by Jann Arden.  It's a beautiful song and it reminds me to always remember what I'm grateful for.
Give the song a listen (and watch the music video) HERE - I love it.

Me, Brandon and my parents for our Mother's Day dinner

Gratitude...
Speaking of what I'm grateful for, I came across one of my old "grateful lists" I made in the hospital after an awful surgery that went terribly wrong.  Stuck there for months again told I couldn't eat or drink indefinitely, I kept my hope alive by making a list A to Z of what I was grateful for.  It was hard to come up with things to be happy about in such poor condition - especially for "Q" and "Z", but by the time I finished the list, it always made my spirits a bit brighter.

One of my old grateful lists

“Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” 

― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

Updates!
There's lots of updates on amyoes.com - including another guest post I did for Lindsay's Fashionistas Travel Blog.  I give a little tutorial on how to make inchies - one of my favorite little crafts :)

A bunch of inchies I made...that are apparently falling of this canvas right now.

Learn how to make inchies in my guest post HERE!

I'm also getting some more art ready for Beechwood Art's Immersion Salon on Resilience & the Power of the Human Spirit.  Practicing monologues, shooting some videos - I can't wait!

And outside, I've seen some pretty resilient trees...

Maybe it's their human-like twists and contours...but for me, trees have SO much personality!

How can you not want to paint that?

Even with that vine wrapped around it, this tree seems determined to grow no matter what.  I am using that as inspiration to finally finish this piece:

It's a tree growing over a stump,  I imagine some kind of wasteland in the background perhaps...

Resilience brings to mind so many songs, poems, and memories.  One song I'm reminded of is Superchick's Stand In The Rain which you can listen to here.

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.” 

― John Muir, The Mountains of California

More Nature...

I gotta paint...

I can't help but be inspired any time I'm outside.  Spring seemed to peak all of a sudden, and now we are left with lush greenery and that glorious sun blazing a grand spotlight on ever tree bark's wrinkle and curve.

When I see...

And then when I see...

It brings me right back down to the studio...

And every flower, the potent aroma of lavender growing...

Singing flowers!

And then once I get my tree inspiration going, plus the upcoming excitement of getting married to a quite, quite awesome guy...

Me and Brandon cheering on the Yankees this weekend :)

It all comes together on the canvas...

My two romancin' trees...

And their little messenger birdies of love...

Thankfully I am going to get all of my paintings photographed the right way this week - so stay tuned!  (How did paint get into my camera lens???)

I also used the magazine image I did last week and put it into a little collage:

The words in the sky are "You've never seen home"

Before I go...

In honor of Mother's Day...Jimmy Kimmel Asks Funny Kids ‘Who Do You Love More… Mom Or Dad?’

Speaking of photographs - these photos are perfectly timed and quite hilarious!!!

And this is great - a wonderful violist does an amazing rendition of a rap song!

Have a great day everyone - and don't forget to...

Dance!