A painting finished, a flight in sight

Life has been a bit of a gong show lately.  You know those days...when every hour seems to be scheduled.  When the minutes slip by into days that are lost - gone forever - and you're not really sure what just happened.  It's getting to be springtime around here, and I wonder how that happened so quickly.

It's times like these where I want to just get away from it all.  Head off on a little holiday and have a little time for self-reflection and FUN.  It's times like these that I pat myself on the back for having the foresight to actually schedule in some planned fun!

That's right.  I'm heading off on a little holiday tomorrow.  It's a quick trip - but I know it will be a deep one.  I've been looking forward to this for months now.  Can't wait to see a handful of my scarf sisters...and meet this amazing artist...at this awesome looking corner of the world.  Good times, good times.

But before I leave, I feel the need to update you on my massive painting that was inspired by Flora Bowley.  It started out like this.

Then morphed into this.

And then this.

And finally, the finished product.

I actually kinda like the 3rd painting the best - but whatever!  It will be interesting to see what becomes of my canvases after being immersed in Flora's techniques for a full 3 days.

A funny story about that finished product though.  It would probably still be a half finished project were it not for my better half.  He said I couldn't go on this trip - or Artfest at the end of March! - until it was done.  He gets me.  He knows what motivates me.

But just between you and me, I probably still would have gone anyway.  :)

Adios.

On Community

Before I get too far along here, I feel the need to give a big shout out to my Scarf Sisters.  Well, I guess it’s only the 4^th post so far...so I’m not that far in.  But I likely wouldn’t have started this blog had I not met this community of amazing women.

I could tell you lots about communities.  I studied them in university.  I work with them in my day job.  There are communities of interest and communities of place – in fact, according to Wikipedia there are 45 different types of communities! (ok, enough random factoids)

But I’ve never really stopped to think about how I fit into these communities.  I’m very grateful to have supportive friends - simply amazing girlfriends - and family around me, and I’ve always been keen to travel & meet new people.  So, I’ve never really questioned that I wasn’t part of a community.  But I guess what I didn’t realize was how much I longed for a certain community - the creative community - until it hit me smack in the face in the fall of 2009!

I’ve always had creative longings...which, long story short, led me to serendipitously land myself at Liz Lamoreux’s Unearth - A Be Present Retreat, where I was opened up to a whole new world of creative dreamers and doers!

It’s such a good feeling to be surrounded by like-minded people.  To go on photo walks and not feel like you’re holding others up because you need to photograph Every. Single. Thing.   Not needing to explain that you are not narcissistic when you’re taking endless self-portraits.  And being able to share your love of buttons, funky fabric, scrapbook paper…and cute hats! 

We’re all on our unique paths, spread wide over Canada and the United States, but the strength of this community is demonstrated by the fact that a year later – this past November – we reunited.  Of course not everyone was able to make it, but those that couldn’t were definitely there in spirit! 

And so, by meeting these wonderful women I have introduced myself into another new community – of creative bloggers – and I can't wait to see what the future holds.  

Whatever your dream, whatever your passion, know that there is a whole community of like-minded people out there just waiting to be discovered.  What is your place in community? Do you long for a certain community?  Perhaps you’re already a part of it…  (daytime group shots taken by Patty Waite)