YULTIDE

Christmas time has always been full of magic for me , even as I got older there was still magic in it...from baking cookies to decorating the tree there is that Christmas magic. This year though I am a bit overwhelmed....I feel lost because of the loss of my mother. I have all month put on a happy face and pretended to enjoy setting up the tree, take part in get together's, lunches and everything associated with the season....a mask I guess you could say, so no one would know just how sad I am.

I am grateful for all those in my life, I am grateful for all they do.....but have you ever felt so alone while sitting with a wonderful group of people around you? This is exactly how this Christmas has felt. I find myself counting down the days until it is over....until this whole year is over. I only want  to sleep and not deal with everyone and that is sad for if you have ever met me I am very outgoing. It is so hard to pretend to be Holly Jolly, so as I sit here alone in the house all this has flooded into me and I felt I needed to release it....they say wrighting it down helps get it out. 

What I hope in 2017 is that a muse will swoop down and touch my soul and wala the art begins to flow out once more, only time will tell and for that matter heal.

I hope you have a merry Christmas and if you are a struggling artist with a major case of Artist block like myself just remember 2017 is a new year, you get to start fresh and maybe if we just give ourselves permission to play life wont seem so closed in on us.

Have a blessed year.

Leanne

LOSS

I think the hardest thing to overcome in a persons life is loss, loss of a loved one, loss of creativity or loss of possessions. This is a mountain you climb to get over this feeling and I wonder if you ever really get over it....because you may stash it into a far corner of your mind but all it takes is another loss and those items you have stored away come tumbling out of the closet to land on top of you. A few weeks ago I lost my mother, she was my biggest cheer leader when it came to my artistic expression. At an early age she put me into painting classes, bought me color books and put up with me painting on my curtains. And as I am sitting here thinking in allot of ways she was one of those muses that moved me to reach into my imagination and pluck something out and put it on canvas or paper and how do you get over the loss of a muse? I dont think you ever do but you can channel that loss and put it into your art and see what comes of it. This is what I am currently doing pouring my sorrow into melancholy art that probably no one will ever see. I am also doing a positive thing creating an artistic space for myself from her artistic space. She had this amazing sewing room that when my dad died she gave herself....so I am taking the room and creating my art space and what I hope from all this is that this space will rise from the ashes like a phoenix and new art will have life breathed into it.
So I guess what I am getting at that even though I lost the physical muse that was my mom she still lives on in this creative space that I am creating. So stay tuned to see what erupts from all this.

Leanne

First Breath of Fall

So tonight I was standing outside my house and in the distance there was a wonderful display of lightning and a soft breeze was blowing and it was one of those moments you have to just take in and savor. It is the first breath of fall for the season where you can actually feel that there is a change in store.....and though it might be a brief moment with the temperatures threatening to rise again it is that beautiful moment that inspires you.
I love fall and the crisp that fills the air so when their is the hint of it creates a rush of excitement that moves through me and makes me want to create and share the feeling with the world. So lets see where this leads me!

Lee Anne

Let Summer Inspire you

Summer....hot and humid here in Katy Texas but so much inspiration can be found all around you if you look. We live in a society where we rush around not looking at the little things that can inspire us not only creatively but soulfully. One of my Mecas is the beach and I love Galveston...one because it is only 45 minutes from me but second the life on an island town is laid back and easy so when you are there you tend to take it all in and savor the little things...like a sea shell found on the beach....a wave that crashes against a jetti....the smell of salt in the air. Now you dont have to travel to the beach to find little beauties of summer....look up notice the changing of the clouds or the color in the trees that went from that soft spring green to deep green and now because of the lack of rain are a yellow green. Go outside brave the heat and find inspiration in the small things of summer.

Keep Creating
Leanne

Through The Darkness I come

Working through an artist block is some what like peeling an onion...layer upon layer, tears upon tears. This year has been pitted with hurdles and change that has sent my creative inspirations spiraling into the nether regions never to be seen. I sit with my drawing pad and look out my window searching for the muse to fly by and tap me with some magic wand and the great masterpiece I have longed for will pop into being....this how ever never seems to happen.
So what I have thought I would do is work from the soul...tap into what ever feelings are lurking on the surface and see just what manifest from them and share them with everyone. Now this is a scary thing for me because I worry what every one thinks, the judgments on the art that I put out but I feel I must do this.
Through stress....through tears...through joy I will see what emerges on the other side of the tunnel.
I will see you all on the other side!
Leanne

JUST THE WHISPER OF WINTER LEFT

Here in Texas Winter was just a blink and in came spring, so on Sunday there was a crispness to the air and I started dreaming of an art piece that I wanted to do entitled "The Whisper of winter" a girl that is dressed all in white with tattered cloths and in her hand a blooming rose to signify winters death and springs birth. Then as I was on Pinterest the most wonderful artist playground out there I came across the most amazing picture that inspired me beyond beilief (it is below) and she became the muse for the piece. So I will be setting to work this week and getting it sketched out then I will share her with you here.....truly art works in mysterious ways and muses can be found everywhere!
So look around you today and tell me where did you find your muse today?
Bright  Blessings
Lee

CREATIVE CONNECTION IN SMITHVILLE

So recently I went to a craft retreat in Smithville Texas and I was surrounded by amazingly talented artist and breathtaking nature. what I found was how being sequestered in the surroundings I was in I began to find myself artistically. Perhaps it was the energy of the other ladies....or perhaps it was being around nature which to me has always been gods sketchbook so how can one not be inspired by things that are naturally beautiful.
What I also found out is that it was easier for me to pick up a pencil and sketch which then led to adding color and finally snowballed into finishing a piece so what ever it was I found myself for that brief moment able to break out of the bindings of artist block and actually draw, ink and paint.
Many thanks to the lovely ladies who inspired me that weekend (you know who you are) and for nature who shared her beauty with me.
Sadly the retreat venue we were at is closing at the end of this year but I feel honored to have walked the paths of her garden.
So if you are one like me who finds every day life blocking the artistic mojo I implore you to surround your self with things and people who can stir the inner working of your creative juices.
Bright Blessings
Lee Seed

WELCOME TO THE CIRCUS

When I started looking back at my life I began to see the similarities it had to a circus or even a carnival ride....not that I had a bad life in any way shape or form but it was one crazy twist to another that led me to the place I am now. I have started this blog to help me be inspired in my art, to look back at the exciting things that I discovered on my journey and to perhaps inspire someone else to live their life to the fullest.
I think our lives are gifts that we are given when we are born and what we choose to do with them is our own journey. Today I see mine as a circus, when you enter the big top it is full of magic and wonder and when the lights go down your breath catches from the anticipation of what you are going to see first. And though some acts are scary and others may leave you unsettled the day is magical and you will never forget the experience.
So each week I will throw something out to all of my followers to try to inspire and you can respond to the entry or keep it to your self because really it is about what you get out of it.
So this week think back to what is your life been like if you could say "my life is like a........" what would it be like? Mine defiantly a circus.....but what was yours? Dream on it, think on it and discover the you!

Dream On
Leanne