It's almost the end of what was a very creative year for me and I am so grateful! Not only did I complete 30 paintings in September, but then, I had three of them juried into a local show and one of them won an award. Do I feel different being an award winning artist? No, but it definitely made me smile and makes all the hard work feel even more worth it.
Submitting my first novel to a publisher and six songs to producers in Nashville felt like bonuses. So just after I decided last week to take it easy in January 2014, guess what happened? I attended a four day painting workshop in Ventura and Leslie Saeta mentioned she's doing the 30 in 30 day painting challenge again in January. I tried to ignore it, really I did, but it kept gnawing at me. All those artists were going to have all that fun and I didn't want to be thinking, why didn't I? Which led to…. so why don't I?!
Starting off January with fireworks is a spectacular idea. Only this time if I miss a day or two and go wine tasting for my 22nd anniversary on January 4th, I won't fret. I've already done this so I know I can complete it again, only this time I will enjoy the process more with much less pressure. Life is better lived with balance so this time I won't eat and breath only paint for 30 days. I'll paint for the love of it, eat for health and enjoy my family for the blessing they are and still figure out how to paint all those paintings! Best of all, I'll praise God for the choice I have to do all of the above! Merry Christmas and may your 2014 be creative and blessed!
