From the End of Summer newsletter

Summer where did you go?  I love the crisp fall air, back to school excitement, football games, and pumpkin spice coffee; The bitter part of that sweetness, is knowing trees will soon be naked, days will become shorter and cold, and like a bear I will hibernate... longing for flip-flop weather.

In art and in life, variety and context create meaning. Each mark, each shape, each color you place on the pictorial stage, creates a relationship and a "story". One simple, small, line says something remarkable based on its placement, high, low, or in the sacred middle. It indicates emotion based on thickness, velocity, fluidity, direction and color. Cultivating curiosity rather than judging the visual relationships you create, will help you make art that is more uniquely YOU. If you decide too soon something is "good" or "bad", you might miss an opportunity for something new to be revealed.

To illustrate this, I told my recent Arizona workshop the following Taoist story:

An old farmer's horse ran away and upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. "Such bad luck," they said sympathetically. "Maybe," the farmer replied. The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. "How wonderful," the neighbors exclaimed. "Maybe," replied the old man. The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. "Maybe," answered the farmer. The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. "Maybe," said the farmer.

The morning after telling this parable, I discovered a flat tire on my vehicle, and called AAA for a repair. Everyone in class was sorry about my misfortune, but I said: "Maybe......Maybe the repair man will be my next boyfriend!"

Students, patrons, friends, family, and AAA repairmen, you mean the world to me. Thanks for following and supporting my creative endeavor!

Wishing you lots of glorious color this fall!

Joan