love thoughts - Feb. 2011

Thinking about love happens more in February than any other month, I think. For Valentine's Day, the media starts their unrelentless barrage of ads to position Valentines Day in our mind 's back in January. They focus on romantic love mostly but as anyone knows, there are so many different kinds of love to have and give. Last month I wrote about my ongoing love for art. This month I want to write about some of the different kinds of love that are in my life besides my art. It's appropriate on Valentine's Day!

 My dog George gives me unconditional love.  No matter what kind of mood I'm in, George loves me. Perhaps its just that he knows I feed him and he knows which side his bread is buttered. I like to think its more than that-we have a connection. My friend calls him the creative dog because when I go out and leave him alone, he creates toilet paper art! He carefully unrolls toilet paper and then carries the piece in his mouth for as far as it will go. Sometimes it goes out of the bathroom, into a hallway and into other rooms. I have tried to do this myself and the toilet paper always breaks. So he has to be VERY careful when pulling the paper! Sometimes he will do this to the toilet paper in all of the bathrooms and sometimes we will find a very long trail from just one bathroom. I have never seen him do it! At first I used to scold him, but now I praise him for his artful sculptural creations! He probably got a little confused about that, but hey, this is the only semi bad thing he does, so we let him do it! It is really an art because he has to pull the toilet paper slowly without ripping it - with his teeth, not his paws! I love him unconditionally too.

I like to think that George got the creative bug  from the many hours he sits with me in my art studio and watches me paint. He will first do everything to attract my attention away from the painting even though he has toys, beds, bones, etc. to keep him occupied. His favorite attention getter is to go to the door leading out to the deck and stand there to be let out. I open the door and let him out. In 2 minutes, he is back in, I close the door and the game starts all over again. This game only works in the winter because in the other months the door is open anyway!

Another  kind of love I have is love for my children. This love started when my son was born. I fell in love with him. I saw this helpless gorgeous little creature who totally depended on me and my husband for survival. For the next few years, my life was consumed with my love for my son. Then my daughter was born and I saw that I did have enough love for her too. I was worried about that. I saw how interesting and  beautiful their differences were. We still marvel at how different they are- coming from the same two people. Yet they are the same in many ways.  I will have my first grandchild in Aug. and am told that involves still another kind of love and relationship.

My husband and I have been married 32 years. It was my 2nd marriage and his first. Our friends predicted it would not last more than 6 months. We have very different personalities but the same values and beliefs. We were born on opposite coasts (NY and CA) and grew up in radically different settings. None of that mattered when we met in his home he was sharing with other single people. It was love at first sight. The song "Two Worlds Collided" by John Lennon always comes to mind when I think of that fateful day. It goes- "I was standing, you were there, two worlds collided and they will never be apart." The second verse is: "You were standing, I was there, two worlds collided and they will never tear us apart."It was like a collision since we fought a lot, talked forever and made passionate love. Thirty two years later we have come to some agreements, have a wonderful life together and are looking forward to more life experiences together. I still love him.

Last but certainly not least is the friendship love. I can say that I love my friends. It is a love that takes time to get to know the person and accept their unique personalities and vice versa. It is a love that helps you through bad times with  support and honesty. It is a love that helps you get through whatever life throws at you. It is a person to enjoy and celebrate  many good times with.

Happy Valentine's Day and Happy February!

First Blog Ever - Happy New Year 2011 and Welcome

Hello - I have read many blogs over the years but have never written my own. Well changes are good and what better time to begin a blog than at the beginning of a new year. I'm not sure I can write more than once a month but who knows?Maybe I will get into it and treat it as a journal of my life. I am in the midst of changing my website and this blog is part of the changes. My very talented and wonderful friend Ruth is the web designer and she is making all these magical and wondrous changes in the way my website looks. So soon my website will have a whole new look- more contemporary and clean.

Let me start by telling you  a little bit about me. What do I think about from the moment I wake until the moment I sleep? ART! I absolutely love creating art, studying art in museums and galleries, reading about art and other artists that create art. I love the smell of paints, the feel of canvas or board, and the feeling I get when I first begin a painting is that I am embarking on this great adventure. Most of the time it is a great adventure- even the bad paintings are an opportunity to learn what the heck happened! And when I think I got it right- the feeling is blissful! I think about painting in the shower, when I walk my dog, when I see shadows falling on trees or hills, and especially when I am hiking.  It really has taken over my life in a good way. Years ago my daughter cooked a wonderful pasta, shrimp and vegie dish on the stove and I painted it. The green and red peppers looked like gummi bears but.... it was a learning experience! My son and daughter's homes have my paintings in every room- a good feeling to know that your family really loves your art! My husband has his favorites and keeps them in his office.

Right now I love landscapes of all kinds and have just finished 2 landscapes that were quite successful. I also love creating abstract paintings. I go back and forth with both landscapes and abstracts. For me this works.

I am inspired by all of the incredibly gorgeous art that is everywhere in the bay area. The artists I come in contact with are a wealth of information and very talented. I belong to several local art organizations which keeps the flame of inspiration going. I will write about what has inspired me in this blog. For my readers, I hope it helps to inspire you in whatever you do.