stretching

  every morning when i wake, i can roll over to my right and see a lovely tree outside my southern window.  in autumn it is a riot of bold yellow color; in spring, soft froth of green; in winter, bare branches reaching upward to the sky.  this morning it was shrouded in fog, and thanks to the phone charging beside the bed, i was able to snap a quick photo to capture the quiet of a moment, soft and grey and white.  one photo can then go from that, to this: and then from that to this:   so many different shades of sepia and grey, colors that soften what would otherwise be a very ordinary day.  a lot of people i've known here - transplants from another place - grow deeply dissatisfied with living here when winter rolls around.  they grumble and talk of moving, and most of them do.  i cannot understand.  the seasons are powerful here in the mountains, and bring me great inspiration and clarity.  when winter settles in, i relish walking with walter on bare bone trails, i treasure the time to see the lay of the land for what it truly is without the added trimmings of green vines and leaves, come spring and into summer.  i used to detest winter, and the cold, until i moved out here to the middle nothing else and began watching the short, quiet days of january and february pass quickly beyond these southern windows.  something inside of me shifted when i finally decided to embrace that which does surround me outside of myself, to savor the beauty of the changes in our seasons.  it wasn't difficult to make this shift, once i chose to find the beauty rather than the pain.  i wish it were this simple, this easy with everything else that collides with all of us in life.

towards the end of last year, i made a big decision to take an online workshop, something that is new to this gal who lives out in the netherlands where computer connection is touchy at best, who has in the past not been able to view a video, to see large resolution photographs sent on to me.  i am a horrid student, anyway:  the few times that i've taken a workshop, i've laid unrealistic, enormous expectations on myself, am the last one in class to finish a project (or the only one to not finish what we had set out to do), for the ridiculous reason that i'd vainly assumed whatever i made would be the best i had ever done.  being an art instructor by trade did not help with this, in the least; in class, flanked by enthusiastic students on either side, i floundered and flopped as each of them sailed.  a busy teaching schedule prevented me from ever having time to take a class myself at the larger art retreats; lack of funds for something as luxurious as art lessons was another obstacle i had to navigate, to overcome.  my own "style" is something that has unfolded, developed, and evolved in the thirty or so years that i've been creating mixed media art; and trying to break free of my own rigid assumptions about what i'm supposed to do - in art, in life - is a self imposed mold that i'm trying with all of my might to hammer and crack open like a very hard shell.  sitting in a classroom, working on lessons is foreign to this fifty five year old artist/instructor; working on art as a lesson in progress is something i've not taken or made the time to do in a good ten years.  What I Hope to Be, 2002

this is a big year for change, i'm promising myself that, and one of those changes involves setting enough time and funds aside to grow artistically, even when i don't have the extra money to spend on something like art.  ( i want to grow in other ways, too, that always goes without saying; too often, though, i've set the art far back on a burner to grow lukewarm, even cold).  i'm not teaching nearly as much this year as i have in the past; and for the first time in the years that Artfest has been held in port townsend, i won't be heading out to teach.  this absolutely breaks my heart, as this is its final year, and i had been the one teacher who had never missed a year.  the one.  daddy's death in the middle of may, and his rapid decline in the months of winter and spring, prevented me from meeting workshop proposal deadlines that so quickly rolled around two weeks later, at the end of may.  not having to set aside the usual time in march/early april for workshop preparation, for the vendor sale, for the trip itself, is opening up another door and window for this coming spring.  and now i do have that time to take the workshop i've wanted to take for so long.  it begins today; it begins.  like any new student, i have the usual butterflies, the self doubts, the need to organize and set aside time in the day and evening to dedicate to something other than the usual household duties/errands/studio work.  how grand!
vines on a blue wall in an asheville parking lot, taken yesterday in the rain

by engaging myself in something completely beyond the borders of myself, by blending that border so that what i learn, what is new, what is scary but fresh, what is a change from old, from predictable, from what was then and needs to be now, then i hope i'll be able to focus even more closely on the small and everyday beauty, to see and recognize what's out there, to acknowledge the sacred and the grace of living each day of this earthly walk through life.  it is a short walk.  i want it to count, every step of the way.

  All Wrapped Up Workshop, Valley Ridge 2012

i will be teaching several times this year - once again, at art and soul in portland in october, in june at valley ridge art studio in wisconsin, and in later october on the east coast in an intimate workshop that is still in the planning stages (stay tuned for that!!).  too, i'll be returning to the Tin Shop Artist Studio in breckenridge, colorado for two beautiful weeks in august, and will be teaching some sort of day workshop there as well.  the teacher side of me still stands tall (all 5'2") and proud; the student continues to learn as i walk and listen and contemplate and see.  i hope you'll continue to walk through life alongside of ever-evolving me.

xo

Comments

[Jamie V]

Oh, Nina - I'm excited for you and what 2012 will bring your way! I would love to come see you in Colorado. That is my goal for 2012! Thinking of you! Jamie V in MT

[Maggy]

xxxxxx !

do the thing

you think you cannot do.

(quote on my frig)

You can meet (even surpass) your

expectations,

and you will be GREAT!

[lilylovekin]

Relax,enjoy, stay in the moment. One of the joys of an online class is you don't have to get out of your p.j.'s!!! There is nothing expected of you except what you put on yourself-be gentle.

[sandy]

Oh such is life for me too. I could so relate to these words of yours:

..."and trying to break free of my own rigid assumptions about what i'm supposed to do..."

change...is life...but sometimes it doesn't want to come through me.

This blog post: right on time.
Thank you

[Mary G.]

Dear Nina -- I love this post -- so beautiful, so full of hope. Thank you.

Mary

[Tina in McLeansville]

one of the things i love most about the mountains is the change of the seasons...the view is never the same.
what a grand and wonderful way to start the year...wide open, with fresh, new things to experience and anticipate. i'm so excited to see what this year holds! hugs...xo

[Monica]

Happy New Year to you Nina! I am so excited for you to be taking an online class! I just know it will expand your heart and soul =-) Though I've been a Creative Beast for many years, I'm always excited to be learning something new, as I did when I took your class at Artful Journey last year...

I look forward to seeing how the online class you are taking seeps into the work you will continue to create as 2012 moves forward and share it with us all here on your blog!

[Diana B]

Can't wait to see what wonders you devise after your class - good on ya for making the time for yourself!

[Sara]

I, too am taking that same class with my mom. (We were in your class together at Asilomar a couple of summers ago.) I am very excited to get started--tonight!! I have the same butterflies and self-doubt that you do, but for me, I have allowed them to be immense roadblocks in my creativity. I am ready to immerse myself in my art and breakthrough. Let's make it count!!
Enjoy!

[Kathy VK]

This will be me chuckling ... I'm an appallingly bad student. So very happy for you taking this leap and embracing the New Year in a new way ... let bold enthusiasm rule the day!
xxx

[Cynthia]

Here's hoping that you'll post images of what you produce in Misty Mawn's workshop...sounds like great fun. Being an east coast person, I'll look forward to finding out information about your upcoming workshop.
Beautiful photos in this posting!

[Emily]

I know you will find new areas of your creative soul to explore.
Push yourself and have fun in this new medium!

[carole]

Enjoy your online workshop. :-)

I've taken a couple of good ones, and one not so good one. I've learned, finished, and liked the end result, and I've stopped dead and never finished a project (partly due to myself, partly due to the poorly designed video instruction).

I do like online workshops because you can proceed at your own pace, take your time, fuss, not be rushed.

I know you'll enjoy and come away with something new to add to your own art. :-)

[Tina Gilmore]

Someone else said "bold enthusiasm" how wonderful is that, all positive, I wish you love, luck and happiness for 2012, and i really do hope that one day you can make the UK for teaching! xx

[Patricia]

Please Nina keep me posted on your east coast workshop. I don't check blogs like I used to and I am so wanting to take a workshop with you! Took one with Alix Bluh at last year's squam and it got me dreaming of one with you someday....

[gina armfield]

Well I needed that nudge - that kick in the butt - as I have been having the blues and need to stretch and get myself out of this funk so here is to stretching and moving forward - I signed myself up and will be your partner in crime ;) xo g

[susan]

Oh Nina, what a perfect way to start this fresh new year. Enjoy your workshop - and have fun! I'm looking forward to reading/seeing your progress.

xo dusan

PS I love that beautiful tree outside your bedroom window - how lucky you are to wake up and see it each morning.

[SusanS]

You have no way of knowing this but the year you decided to stop hating winter, you wrote about it. I read it and internalized what you wrote. Tonight we had an incredibly beautiful sunset and moonrise in Albuquerque, NM. My thoughts: I used to HATE January, and now I don't.
Thank you!

I, too am making some changes this spring. Here was my plan: Take a little step, evaluate how it feels. Depending, take another. Or not. Wow! Once I took that first step, The Universe (God or whatever) just rained stuff on me that made it uber clear what I was supposed to be doing. I've never experienced anything quite like it before.

A big fan of yours...in January....S

[beth]

the best of luck to you with the online class....i have taken a few now and probably won't ever again. i put so much expectation on the classes....well, let's just say....ummm....they don't work for me.

this past fall i took a night class at our technical school and that was much more rewarding for me. plus i had to show up. dressed. awake. and prepared.

i guess i'm not a stay at home in my jammies, drink tea while listening to and watching my computer, kind of student.

[Lynn in Tucson]

Nina, have you ever treated yourself to the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show? This isn't a good year to offer you a room (but hey, if you'll settle for the TV room...) but we should definitely keep (y)our options open.

Happy New Year!

[Carla S]

Nina, your post really resonated with me, living as I am in a little corner of the poorest Africa. I can't even dream of taking online courses because of the slow internet connection and feel cut out from the world...
"...chose to see the beauty instead of the pain..." - I hope I can do that for myself this year.
Good luck with the workshop - nothing less than brilliant will come out of it, I'm sure.
Carla

[Bonnie Moench]

What a great way to start a new year....so enjoy evry moment.

xoxo
Bonnie

[Kate]

Oh Darlin' I can SO relate. That is exactly how I felt taking your wonderful hand made book class in Cortona - completely out of my league (and still not quite finished) but what a JOY! It's great to stretch our wings and fly - even when it's a little scary and out of our comfort zones. BTW: I LOVE my hairpins and the lovely key fob. Working on a little something that is coming your way soon. xxx Katie

[misty]

i so hope you will share your work here! I know it will be amazing! How could it not? Thank you for this! xo

[Minnie]

What a prefect way to wrap yourself in this class.... I hope you will share your work, and if you don't thats ok too, but the biggest joy is taking a class, and to have the teacher guide you to new doors of creativity, and I know that there are a million doors in your house waiting to open. Savor every moment, you so deserve this luxury of loosing yourself in art......it's your break from working, pure joy.......I knew youlong ago when you did workshops with journals, I told myself someday I will meet this woman and I did.....love you Xxoo

[Sharon]

~fresh is good~

[Cindy Dean]

Have fun learning and growing.....

[kamagra]

I love your art pieces. Hope to see more online workshop for this.