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In a scene from "Out of Africa", Karen Blixen speaks of being a "mental traveler" and her love of learning about faraway places, and how it makes her a better storyteller.  A favorite activity for me involves traveling via webcam.  These days you can go just about anywhere virtually, day or night.  Fun places, scientific places, human interest places, and scenic places all over the world are there for the viewing. The world becomes smaller with every new webcam and new view.  I can watch the lights on the Eiffel Tower, stroll a beach in Italy, check traffic in Australia, ascend a mountain top in the Rockies, silently pray at the Western Wall or enjoy a warm sunset at Key West.  I may be limited in my physical travel, but via the web, I can visit many of my favorite places.  A place near to my heart is Rockport, Massachusetts, and I was thrilled to find a new webcam streaming the inner harbor. (For your own look: http://www.bluefishpropertycam.blogspot.com/)

Over the past several days, post-snow, I’ve watched an artist painting the inner harbor.  He sets up early in the morning.  It’s cold outside, even frigid and chilly, and he is dressed appropriately in jacket and hat and warm pants, heavy shoes, and I think he has fingerless gloves, though it is hard to tell.  He sets up his French easel, quickly getting his supplies and gear ready.  His eyes travel from the work before him, to the nautical scene. As he works, he moves back and forth, forward and back, almost as a dancer. When he steps away, he turns his back on the art, as if to reset his vision, then turns to see it with a fresh perspective. There is lightness in his step, a certain joy in his movement that helps you understand he is really having a good time doing what he is doing.

Hundreds of miles away, I share that joy, that inspiration, even though I don’t have the brush in my hand, or the sun on my face.  I just remember and KNOW.  I have had my own experiences painting plein air -- I have those episodes to filter my thoughts on this fellow artist’s time on the dock.  Been there and gratefully done that!

All over the world, artists are working to create their personal expression of art.  We may share the frustration, discouragement and disillusion of art’s difficulties, but we also share in the joy that creating art well brings. It might be in a warm South American summer, or a blustery Canada, or a frenzied city somewhere in the world.  But the world is alive with creation.  How blessed we are to be a part of it!

This morning, he didn’t stay as long – it is quite cold, even with the sunshine.  I hope those moments on the dock brought him joy.  It brought me joy to watch him work. Now, back to my own creating!

Well, 2016 really started out with a bang, didn’t it?  The stock market jumps off a cliff, weather goes from balmy to snow and wind, election rhetoric flares, and it is again time for reassessment in the studio.  Evaluation during this time of year is a good thing – you have a chance to look over the past year and see what worked, what didn’t work, and what opportunities were worth doing, or not. 

Some changes, I know, are on the horizon.  I’m trying to prepare for them, but honestly, they will come whether I prepare or not.  What I do control is my perspective on those changes.  I can adapt, embrace this roller coaster, or I can resist, and fold up my tent.  Well, I’m not going to STOP painting OR creating, so that really narrows the choice!  But what, practically, can I do to keep a stiff upper lip and keep going?

One of the first things I am going to do is slow down and take my time.  Look around and take time to see what is around me.  Last night, I turned into our drive under a spectacular sunset.  The lavender clouds, the glowing gold light, that subtle greenish blue at the transition of color in the sky.  I really LOOKED, and pressed that moment into my artistic memory.  What a beautiful painting that would make.  The last light of the day was hitting about a third up on the big oaks in the yard, and the warm, reddish beige contrasted to the dark, cool umber of shadow. Again, that memory gets cataloged. 

Another thought is to do something different.  While I paint a great deal, I also work in creating jewelry pieces, using silver, aluminum, various gemstones, and found pieces.  Instead of sitting in front of my laptop as I watch television with the spouse, I have my work tray in front of me, turning links into necklaces.  At the end of the evening, I have created something beautiful, and an object I can market.  Being productive encourages a positive perspective.

I’m going to learn something new, too.  I’ve decided to give encaustic art a try.  I’ve been mulling it over for some time, exploring the techniques and learning online, so now it is time to step up.  My new materials are beginning to arrive, and it remains to put knowledge to the test.  It is an exciting prospect, and could lead me down a path I would never have gone.  Taking a chance on trying something new stretches the mind and challenges the skills, and changes your view of what you are capable of doing.

For 2016, the hope is that my perspective will not be shadowed by doom and gloom, or fear of the future, but an embracing of hope and new ideas.  May it do the same for you!