I just found this

I guess I must have written it about a year ago.....

along with some brilliant key friends, I set up a series of succesful art retreats based on the Artful Journey / Squam / Art & Soul / ArtFest model - but in UK / Europe. I am a succesful artist in my own right. I live in an eco friendly home which is warm and welcoming and has a big ktichen table for many friends to eat at. I do a lot of yoga, I have a studio /creative space of my own. I eat clean food. My family are healthy and happy and loved. I am surrounded by a supportive community. I have a campervan!

so all good really, still working on the art retreats, big table and the eco home!  some way to go before I could call my food utterly clean (just eaten a big bowl of shreddies with hot milk and sugar) and oh, yes the campervan.  come on campo where art thou!!

What else. well our ecomony drive with the menu planning and all is going well.  Food expenditure down really rather a lot.  Plus we over estimated on how much we eat, and so we have more meals to carry on into next week.  Cool.  I looked at the bill and worked out that I did kind of still over shop, even though I really tried not to - just little things like buying tea bags for fear of running out,  when I actually had enough to last the week, too many veg, a few things that were all a bit treaty and not really necessary.  And next week we are going meat buying in the COOP instead as its just as nice and they do a 3 for a tenner deal.  Ian bought some bacon at the car boot sale, and its actually really nice stuff - very little shrinkage! and only £6 for loads of it.  He reckons he is going to buy some more this weekend, but to be honest I think we will be fine for weeks.

Tomorrow I am going to be doing another practice 121 session of Productivity. OR how to be organised and free up time to do what you really want to do.  Hub is huffy because he thinks I am just working for nothing. But I think he's actually a bit under the weather and grumpy. 

A while ago I read a book called Wish Craft.  Which is all about wishing, for the first half of the book, and then the majority of the book is all about the craft of making it actually happen.  This involves setting timelines, and working out where you can actually make the time to do your dream thing.  It was clear that family might object and that quite frankly you had to ride with this.  As it was change and family do not like change. They do not like mummy doing her thing, especially where she used to actually be helping family out in that time.  So I am doing my best to hold down my responses to some of the comments that came out earlier!!   bless. 

Other things I am thinking about are about Bub's education.  Was at French class for him today and the other mums all send their kids to Montessori school and were all talking education.  I really want  Bub to learn to draw, to speak a foreign language, to swim, to play a musical instrument (read music) and to cook.  I am taking reading writing and arithmietic as givens that any school will provide.  I would like to teach him the love of adventure and confidence too.  But that is slightly more  esoteric.  Not sure how you get to teach that sort of stuff bar being a living example....hmm.  Anyway.  Just saying. 

Am off to read Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain.  :)

dreams can come true....

MAGIC HAPPENS WHEN YOU FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS

I can hardly believe I am getting ready to go on the Flora Bowley Bloom True painting workshop at the Do What You Love retreat.  NEXT WEEK!!  Back in January I put out a plea to the Universe to help me.  (Read this post to see exactly what I wrote back then).  I wanted to go on this retreat, but it seemed difficult, too far, too expensive.  But I really really really wanted to go.  And you know what, I decided to pay the deposit and FIND the money.  And that very week, a job I had been turned down for, called me up at the last minute and got me in.  And I earnt the money there and then.  It wasn't quite that simple, because it was still a lot of money and now that my 3 year old son is at preschool, I am contributing to the household income and it was still a lot to be spending on myself.  But since January I have consistenly got work, and good work too.  More of the 'supergroups' product development stuff that pays really well, more of the work in the gallery, more childminding and more portrait commissions.  The UNIVERSE answered me! And next week.  I am going to GO!!!! WOO HOOO


I have been packing up my kit list.  Phew, its a lot.  I have got my shed loads of paint (bought a job lot on ebay!) and shed load of brushes.  I have even got some rags and some mark making stuff like old pencils and bottle tops.  I have got a load of acrylic medium and a palette block.  And a water sprayer. 

It has been a real learning curve simply getting my kit together!  I am not a painter (yet!?!) and was initially scared and baffled by the long list of things to get.  e.g. 4oz minimum of 4 colours you really love.... all tubes in this country are like 60ml or 120ml what is 4oz?.  Should it be fluid or not? And even what appears simple, like 'colours you like', freaked me out as I am not familiar with the names of the colours! What is pthalo blue or cerulean or burnt umber.  And why are some paints £16 and some £3? And did it matter?  Luckily Beth had organised a Yahoo group for all attendees and I was able to chat with others who knew what they were talking about.  And I learnt.  I learnt that Goldens are the best acrylics but that System 3 would be fine. I went to the shops and I looked at colours on tubes and wrote down the names of the ones I liked.  I bought a colour wheel and found out what medium glaze is used for.  I even know where to go and get the foam brushes  - and yes you can get them in 'hardware stores', just not B&Q.


I am getting a lift up to Yorkshire (or 'Orkshire', as Bub has taken to calling it.... "you are going to Orkshire to do painting...) with a lass who lives near me, who it turns out is a brilliant painter herself and also a friend of a friend.  And a yoga teacher too.  We have been in email contact since the lift arranging and she has been really helpful and supportive throughout my kit purchasing panics!  In fact any contact with any of the others has been really supportive, friendly and generally mutually excited about the whole event.

I am absolutely over the moon about it.  I feel SO LUCKY to be going.  It's like a dream come true, it really is.  I am almost having to pinch myself that next Wednesday I will be travelling all the way up to 'Orkshire' to spend 4 nights in a LUXURY eco lodge, eating meals prepared for me,  in like minded creative company and PAINTING PAINTING PAINTING for 3 whole days!  Seriously I am the luckiest lady alive.  I have to say BIG THANKS TO THE UNIVERSE on this one.

And I am now working on stuff that I am taking for my wee stall on Saturday night.  Its all so very last minute,  but inspired my my last minute portrait commission, in which I did some  mixed media portraits I was very happy with, I am in the midst of creating portraits of a few of the bloggers and art bods who I know are going.  Beth Nichols, the organiser of Do What You Love (it is such a cool name isn't it?)  is getting one, and its my plan to have these on display at the event so folk can see my work and order portraits of themselves or of their loved ones, if they want to.  SO more Merry Creative Mayhem in my house tonight and for the next two days...... Oh and I need to decide which clothes are going to be my painting clothes...... hmmmm.

xxx merry blessings to you and to the universe xxxx

the optimism experiment

gets to a point with whinging about things in your head, that it all gets to be too much like hard work going nowhere fast. I am about to try some optimism. This week

I get 5 commissions for portraits
I find a part time job that teaches me proper book keeping and works hours around my other commitments.
I am invited to do 2 new supergroups
my mum calms down about Christmas
I calm down about Christmas
I lose some weight from around my middle without even trying
I get a whole day to do art stuff
the art stuff I make sells instantly for fabulous prices and turns into a new avenue for regular income
I feel happy
I am happy
I dance quite a lot
I listen to some gorgeous music
I bond with my soul friends and this uplifts me muchly
Everything works out for the best
I eat really well
Hub gets a new well paid and brilliant commission