Organizing to Do



Step 1: The Sketch
Where to Next?

A fellow creative soul, as well as a dear friend, and I managed to exchange a couple of emails that somewhat constituted a conversation.  With our equally crazy schedules, it has become a rarity, indeed.

In her part of the initial conversation, she was able to take a break from her thriving craft business. Instead of pushing ahead with marketing tedium, she was taking the available time to reorganize her art studio and areas.

While in several ways this may seem as if it is procrastination, I can appreciate the need to regroup. It may not seem to be working towards a successful art business, the need to step back and look at your surroundings. But, it is actually crucial at times.

Often, it seems that when we just roll with the tide of life, we flounder, unable find a focus. When we stop, look and evaluate the direction of the tide, we can remind ourselves of where it is exactly we meant to go in the first place.

I’ve found myself doing a tremendous amount of reevaluating where I want to go with my art, and with Mike’s photography. In the rush to get our name out to the local circuit of craft outlets and art groups, I found myself  being approached to do things that were, honestly, not what I enjoyed doing.  It was not what I wanted Bronson Hill Arts to become.

I enjoyed trying new crafts and mediums, techniques and designs. But I  feel  as though  I have been sidetracked in developing the type of artwork for which  I am passionate.

So, yes, here’s to “procrastinating” enough to redirect and refocus.

It’s not only a necessity: it’s a wonderful thing to give one’s self.

Step 2: Watercolor Colorization 

 

Ah, Autumn!

Vermont View
5x8 Water Soluble Pencil
©BEDeuel/Bronson Hill Arts



Autumn is here, officially and literally. It is a very wonderful time of the year in this part of the world, upstate New York.

While Earth’s outdoor residents are scurrying to prepare for cold, nasty weather and snow galore, it seems that this is the season that gives the rest of us the right to unwind and relax.

The yard is as trimmed and prettied as best it will be for the year. The weather breaks in such a way that pleasant activities are easier to enjoy without the heat and humidity. The colors are startlingly beautiful. The holidays haven’t started their demands on our time or finances yet.

Yep, it is a wonderful time of the year.

Autumn inspires creativity of the mind and the hands. It can be needlework, photography, artwork, writing letters, kitchen magic, anything! It can also simply invite you to curl up next to loved ones and dive into a book or ten.

The hope is as always that everyone takes the time to indulge their bliss. My hope is that this is the season that makes it possible for you!

Happy Autumn!

Our Yard

 

Some of the reasons it gets harder and harder to leave home.... Hope you enjoy the show as much as we do!

 

 

Magical

Charlie's Cousin
Chalk & Pastel on Concrete
©2013 BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts

 

Magic: An amazing part of the everyday, making every day different.

It is magical sometimes that an apparently uninspired day can become a day of creative fun and connection. As an aspiring artist, this is a common, incredible occurrence.

It can be accomplished with images, drawn, painted, shaped or captured digitally, words, notes of music elegantly strung together, movement both graceful and athletic.

Magic.

There is magic in babies, families, pets, friendships. There is magic in waking up each and every day.

There is no moral to this post. It is simply a celebration of magic, of life. So much has happened this past year in my world, good and bad. And I am still here.

Life is still good.

Hope yours is, too!

 

Back to Basics

Hand In Pencil by Pencil in Hand
©2013 BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts

 

Lately, it seems that we may be catching up with the list of summer projects. The house is rearranged to the point of being usable. Vacations are almost done for the season. Gardens are as finished as they will be for the year. Kids are set on their career/college paths. We’re finding some time to spend with friends and family again.

One of the things I just haven’t been able to motivate to work at, though, is getting back to the studio. It sits up those stairs, all clean and organized. Materials overflow: canvases, paints, brushes, pencils, frames and framing supplies.

I want to do artwork, I need to do artwork. It makes me feel good, it pleases my senses & my soul.

Part of the issue is that I haven’t found an inspired block of time to dive into the process. Ideas are overflowing, design execution ready to be applied. But that 3-4 hour span of uninterrupted creation never seems to happen simply because, darn it! something else pulls me away.

I’ve been trying to start the practice of a doing a “little” something regularly. Okay, I’ve done it once. But, that counts as “starting”, right?

The first (yes, there will be more) is this sketch of my own hand. It was just a quick exercise in the basics.

And, that seems like a great place to start, doesn’t it?

Summertime

Charleston Garden
6x6 Water Soluble Oils on Stretched Canvas
©2013 BEDeuel Bronson Hill Arts

 

Summertime is here and, yes, almost gone. Where, oh, where have the long days of sunshine gone?

It's been awfully hot all around the country, including these netherlands of upstate New York, land of snow and snow. So, yes, summer is still going strong, even if we are on the shorter end of the long days.

But with the "dog days" of summer, it seems to be too easy to waste the days. In avoiding the heat, we languish.

Is that really a bad thing, though? No, it's not. The quote about "mad dogs & Englishmen" always rings true to me at this time of the year.

The painting here, Charleston Garden, was inspired by a photo taken many years ago while wandering by and admiring the lovely, gated gardens in that city. It took a lot longer to finish the painting than it should have, and, while I do like the final result, it's missing a key part, the part that held up the final brushstroke. I couldn't paint a decent looking, white cat.

The original photo depicted a pretty garden with a white cat in the foreground lazily cleaning him/herself.  The image of comfortable indifference was entrancing. It was the picture of the perfect way to spend the summertime: relaxed, casual, easy. S/he was doing only what was necessary and doing it slowly, at that!

So, taking a cue from my white, Cheshire cat (that only I can see), it's time to kick back in the hammock and enjoy what is left of these wonderful, sunny, hot days! Hope you do, too!





 

Chaos

Grey Gold

 A theme often touched upon in this blog is learning to accept giving ourselves some slack in our lives. When there are so many details in your world that seem to need tending, a loss of enjoyment of your life can follow.

So, while allowing the little things slide so as indulge ourselves in the bigger and better aspects of our lives is tricky, learning to deal with the onslaught of chaos is an entirely different situation. And, much more difficult to tame.

Chaos can be induced by something as minor as a head cold, or as major as losing a job. The hassle of rearranging a week of activities and obligations can be overwhelming; fortunately, the possible off-putting of events for a week can help us to avoid having to do too much maneuvering immediately. Chaos can be ignored sometimes and, often, we are better to just do so.

But, when it is something as encompassing as loss of a job, a career, an income, the chaos that ensues can be overwhelming. A reevaluation of an entire lifestyle doesn’t come simply, nor is it something that can be pushed away in the hope that delay will make the chaos disappear.

The idea of just offering it up to the Universe begs the issue of bringing our lives back into a livable state. The tricky part of chaos descending is that it is like a violent, churning ocean storm in which you are caught without a usable vessel: you are not only treading water to stay afloat, but know that you need to be swimming toward shore before the waves overtake you. The shore is order, land under our feet the necessary control. The Universe may wash you onto the sand, but without your contribution of effort, the odds decrease significantly.

There are times when it seems like an entire front of chaos blows across your shoreline, tossing a new storm over your haven constantly, ripping the plywood you’ve just affixed for safety, off, in a single puff.

Other Side of the Door

Yep.

Been that way for a while now. Still have no system to bring chaos into line; still dealing with each crisis, unexpected expense, loss, illness, etc., at a time. Sometimes it’s relatively clear what needs to be done to move out of the storm. Other times, there is no obvious solution; or worse, any solution that you can implement as others hold the power, if you will.

Maybe it is as straightforward as letting the Universe decide for you. Maybe it is forgiving yourself for not having the ability to solve a situation brought about by chaos. Maybe it just is what it is and it’s okay to accept that. Maybe it is taking a lot of deep breaths, closing your eyes, opening them again and refocusing your energies.

It seems to most likely be the last one. And, that’s okay if that's what it has to be.

Expanse at Sunset