Tag Archives: wellness

Making Time

Traveling with friends and family has always been one of my favorite things. And so, amidst the chaos of packing up my home and studio and moving across town, I somehow managed to make enough time for a couple short trips – first to New Orleans to enjoy Jazz Fest with my family and then to Enchanted Rock for some camping with friends.

Exploring Bourbon Street at sunset
Catching some music after dark
Back in Texas, Enchanted Rock was absolutely bursting with wildflowers
It was revitalizing to slow down and spend some time in nature
There’s no shortage of laughter when camping with these goofballs

On top of all that, I installed my biggest art display yet at the Blue Genie May Market (you can still catch the last weekend: May 26-29).

My 8’x12′ wall of paintings and art prints!

With so much going on, I felt that my trips were too short, my home too disorganized, my body and mind exhausted, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m proud of myself for being up for tackling so many things and making it work.

I do wish I could spend more quality time with the people I love. It seems like it’s gotten harder to slow down and enjoy a conversation and that’s something I want to cultivate at my new home, where I’ll be able to host small gatherings.

I’m still working on my studio space, but it’s getting closer every day. I’d just started planning my next Big Bend painting when I had to take my studio apart to move.

Working on the outlines for a new painting

I won’t stay put for too long though, next month is going to be full of adventure. Stay tuned!

COMING UP

I’ll have a couple paintings at Art For The People Gallery as part of their Vibrance Of Summer exhibition (June 10 – Aug 11, 2023).

Stop by their sweet S. 1st Street gallery and see these babies in person!

Caprock Canyons, acrylic on three canvases, 30″x70″
Scorpion, black light reactive acrylic paint on wood panel, 12″x12″

I hope you’re finding ways to make time for the things that bring you joy!

Austin

The city I call home. I grew up visiting family in Austin and moved here in 2007, planning to move on after about four years to explore life on the Pacific coast. Somehow that never happened. Later, I tried to chart a new path when I packed up my stuff in a storage unit and traveled the Western US in an RV for five months. But I came back. And stayed.

I think about moving and get antsy. Maybe it’s just wanderlust, but I have this feeling that somewhere else I could be happier. But then I leave for a bit and when I come back I feel so relieved – I think it’s because of the people.

Texas has a sort of “you do you and I’ll do me” attitude. Freedom is a virtue. And Austin has a hippie vibe that attracts creative, open-minded people. This combination of freedom-to-be and unusual bohemian spirit results in outlandish expression that takes many forms, all of which delight me.

One day I saw a man, dressed head-to-toe in a zebra onesie, riding a scooter through the neighborhood. And I didn’t blink. It was a normal day, a Tuesday afternoon; there was no apparent reason for the costume. I realized that my lack of reaction meant I’d attained true Austinite status. If this had happened in my hometown, I would have been excited to tell my friends “you’ll never guess what I saw today!,” but in Austin, this is pretty normal for a Tuesday.

But this city keeps changing. It’s unbelievable how much it has grown in the years I’ve lived here. While driving through downtown, it isn’t unusual to spot construction cranes numbering in the double digits. The traffic has become dangerous and backed up. There are lines everywhere, parking is a challenge, and reservations are required. It’s a big city now.

Like everyone else, I’ve struggled with the changes. I began to plan my day around traffic and I stopped going out as much. I stopped going downtown or to South Congress just for fun. I stopped going to Barton Springs Pool. Everything just felt harder and I was becoming bitter.

In 2022, people started going out again and the city began humming at its pre-pandemic level. And my art business picked up. I started regularly attending gallery openings and found myself having the same conversation with other artists and Austinites: “How do we deal with these changes?”

Going into this year, I was sure that the only answer is to move. But through those conversations I’ve learned that another option is possible: I can change with my city. The key is to not stop going out, you have to continue to do what you love to do. Go to Barton Springs Pool, and learn to add time for traffic and pay for parking. Go downtown for fun, but go on a weekday to avoid crowds. In the grand scheme of things, the changes are actually very small and it doesn’t take much to become accustomed to them.

Most importantly: talk to people about it. The traffic really does suck and in some ways it is harder to live here now, but there are also wonderful new things to explore popping up every day. Having conversations with others about the city can be enlightening and the commiseration can be healing (as long as you focus on solutions and stay out of negative-spirals).

One thing I’ve learned about difficult feelings is that to get unstuck you must pick one: accept, leave, or change. If you can’t change a situation, and you don’t want to leave it, then you must find ways to accept it.

My path to acceptance is found through strengthening my community and friendships, exploring what’s new and exciting, and continuing to do what I love (despite the traffic).

I hope you’re finding ways to make time for what you love in the upcoming year!

THINGS I’M LOVING

LISTENING to this episode of The Happiness Lab about the freeing power of commitment and the real meaning of “YOLO”

WATCHING the Human Playground series on Netflix, which explores the limits of the human experience through the many amazing and bizarre ways we play.

DOING some painting after a long break. This year has been super busy for me in a lot of big ways but that’s meant less time and energy for painting. Putting that brush on the canvas and moving some colors around feels so nice!

Freedom Through Routine

It’s that time of year when we pause to take stock of the past and make plans for the future. This year feels heaping with struggles and triumphs. When I look back over my schedule I get dizzy. And when I look at the biggest lessons I’ve learned, one thing stands out: this was a year of STRESS.

Learning how to manage and live with stress on a daily basis was my biggest, longest challenge this year. And my number one goal for next year is to keep stress management as a top priority. I’ve watched myself on days when it felt like my thoughts were racing and realized that my ability to focus and make good decision is impaired…and so is my self-awareness.

If I’m chronically stressed, I’m more likely to have trouble planning, make poor decisions, unconsciously seek comfort or escape (hello, wine and chocolate!), and I’m not even aware I’m doing this because I’m stressed. The worst part is that people are really good at rationalizing our actions, so, after eating all the chocolate and drinking all the wine, I might tell myself “I deserved it” or “just wanted to relax”, which is fine sometimes, but could prevent me from confronting the stress that drove me there and finding healthier ways to deal with it.

If 2020 was a year of stress, 2021 will be a year of routine.

I’ve found that regularly scheduling stress-reducing activities into my week keeps me from getting to that spun-out place. The bonus is that most of these are things I wanted to do already (exercise, meditate, go for walks, take a long bath), I’m just encouraging myself to do them regularly by prioritizing and scheduling them.

Everyone has their own list of things that relax them; I challenge you to write yours down and pick one or two that you want to make a habit of. Write it down, make a plan, set an alarm – make time to connect with and care for yourself.

One way I practiced self-care this month was by making a reservation to visit The Blanton’s Expanding Abstraction exhibit.
Hiking is a long-time favorite way for me to get exercise, relax, and clear my head. Here, I’m soaking up the sun on the Barton Creek Greenbelt.
Some fall colors along Turkey Creek Trail in Emma Long Metropolitan Park.
Allen Park’s short but sweet loop trail.
Magical springs along the Little Fern section of the River Place Nature Trail.

MORE GOOD STUFF

In November, I was one of over four hundred artists who participated in The Austin Studio Tour. This was the first time the annual tour went virtual and I was really impressed with the quality and quantity of videos produced by the community. Check out art studio tours, demonstrations, and interviews with artists online at austinstudiotour.org for at least another week. (I’m hoping they keep the site up past the end of the year, but we’ll see.)

“Pink Prickly Pear” – Acrylic On Canvas – 12″x24″, painted as part of The Austin Studio Tour.
“Among The Hoodoos” – Acrylic On Canvas – 20″x24″, finished during the studio tour. Based on a photo I took of Bryce Canyon National Park in 2014. I think I started painting this because I’ve been feeling some serious wanderlust after spending so much time at home.

In late November I received a grant to build a sculptural art piece that’s inspired by and created from optical illusions, color theory, and color-changing light. It’ll be part of a drive-through art event just outside of Austin on January 15th and 16th. Tickets haven’t been released yet, but you can follow the event on Facebook to stay up to date.

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m loving Elizabeth Gilbert’s take on the creative process and found a short version if you don’t want to read her book. Check it out:

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for letting me share my art with you! Your support means the world to me.

Wishing you stress-free holidays and a safe and happy new year!

Finding A New Normal

Over the last eight months, I forgot what it was like to have a routine. The winter holidays turned into a breakup, then a move, then a world-wide pandemic. (Wow, that escalated quickly!)

I’ve been living in survival mode for a while and needed a vacation. So, I took a week off to relax. There aren’t a lot of entertainment or travel options right now, but I challenged myself to try to get out and experience something new each day.

It was a difficult challenge, and I did spend some serious time on my sofa watching movies, but it turned out to be a helpful motivator. Check out all the cool stuff I found:

Turkey Creek Trail in Emma Long Metro Park…
…my new favorite hiking trail!
Thunderstorm clouds rolling across the Texas Hill Country.
I played around with watercolor painting, a medium that I’m fairly new at.
I realized that I can tube in the river along a beach that’s only a 20-minute walk from my home. The water was perfect!

After relaxing for a week, I was excited to get back to work. One of the big projects I’d been putting off was writing a mission statement and 2-5 year plan. The time off cleared my head enough for me to answer all the tough questions and now I have a printed statement (manifesto?) up at my desk, a constant reminder of my goals.

The questions I tackled:

What are my values?
What habits do I want to cultivate?
Who am I?
What do I want?
What is preventing me from getting it?
Who do I want to meet?
What gift(s) am I offering them?

This turned out to be an especially helpful exercise when I realized that I wanted to make a new daily routine for myself. When I saw on paper that I wanted to do yoga regularly, I was reminded to add it to my schedule. There are bigger goals too, like getting my art into galleries in other states. It seems like such a long-term goal that I simply wasn’t including it in my schedule, but I’ve broken it down into smaller parts, making it easier to begin.

It’s only been a week on this new schedule, but I’m already sleeping better and feeling more grounded and healthy. And I’m so glad I started doing yoga again; I can’t believe how tight my legs are!

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WHAT’S KEEPING ME BUSY

Doing free online yoga classes every morning with Yoga With Adriene.

Listening to Why You Should Quit The News and Surviving The Looming Mental Health Crisis by Mark Manson.

Looking at the fun, sexy, feminist art of Robin Eisenberg.

Cooking Chorizo Sweet Potato Chili.

Re-watching The Fabric Of The Cosmos series on NOVA and trying to wrap my head around space-time. (Wish me luck!)

Adding art prints to my new online shop.