It’s #DrawABirdDay with my blogging friends (officially April 8th, but we like to do it on the 8th of EVERY month), so I decided to give a go at a beautiful photo I saw of a song sparrow on Instagram taken by Lisa Snow in Vancouver, British Columbia.
I love the sparrows that come to our back deck feeders – especially in the winter when the snow is falling.
Thanks for your ongoing inspiration Laura @ CreateArtEveryday! This sparrow is in honor of you and your generosity and support. (She is the one who did the sweet painting of Charlie and surprised me for my birthday!)
Enjoy all that nature has to offer today and everyday, and maybe go ahead and create some art from it!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
PS This month’s #DrawABirdDay is hosted by our friends Kerfe and Nina @ MethodtwoMadness. A sweet, artistic blog of two friends. Thanks Ladies!
Dancing in the Autumn sunlight
amidst coffee-colored trunks and wispy branches
with marshmallow fluff and smoky gray clouds floating
in an azure blue sky
above a carpet of fading green grass…
A few bright leaves hang on to life
in bold and brilliant bursts
of crimson and honey and marmalade.
Autumn’s Final Act.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Photo taken 11/21/15 from my front porch (my blog cover photo) of the weeping cherry tree that has the only leaves left in the front yard.
After posting my November Clouds photo and post yesterday, a very dear friend sent me this YouTube video early in the morning saying it was a “cloud song to go with my pic.”
So I listened to the words yesterday – – – over and over – – – and I found such deep meaning, such contentment, such freedom and liberation …
Next month, I will turn 53. Still hard to believe, but I also realize I am on the “other side” of life.
I am obviously past “middle age” as I surely don’t expect to see 106!
And it has taken me a while to believe and “accept” this “stage” of life – this “over 50” stage… But somehow, somewhere, at some point, it all became clear. It all became fine. It all became great!
It all became real and wonderful and the best time of life.
I’ve had my teens and twenties and thirties and every wonderful and not-so-wonderful thing that comes with each of those stages. When 50 came, I mourned it a bit.
I can’t pinpoint exactly when or why or how it happened, but I became content – even happy – maybe happier than ever – with this phase of life.
I’ve seen life and love and even clouds – from both sides now.
And life is clearer.
Life has more meaning.
Life is sweeter.
Clouds are “bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air.”
They have also “blocked the sun and rained and snowed on everyone.”
But – “I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now, from up and down, and still somehow it’s cloud illusions I recall. I really don’t know clouds at all.”
And I LOVE that!
I’ve also seen love and life from “both sides now.”
From “give and take”
From “win and lose”
And maybe I don’t have all of the answers….
But I realize that even though “something’s lost…”
there is still….
“something gained in living every day.”
And I am cherishing every single one…
from this side now.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
“I have always thought of myself as a painter derailed by circumstance” – Joni Mitchell (June, 2000)
“A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such a speed.
It feels an impulsion…
this is the place to go now.
But the sky knows the reasons and the patterns behind all clouds,
and you will know, too,
when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond the horizons.”
– Richard Bach – Illusions
(This photo was taken late yesterday afternoon from my work office, which sits on one of the highest spots in Mars, PA. It was close to 70 degrees F again yesterday, which is so crazy unseasonably warm for November. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the blue sky and the puffy clouds and felt so inspired and overwhelmed and empowered by the beauty!)
It is awesomely Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, and I can’t remember the last time I have enjoyed this season so much!
Is it a more beautiful than ever one this year?
It seems to be peaking a bit later or lasting a bit longer this year…
The sky seems bluer…
the sun warmer and brighter…
the air fresher…
the colors more vibrant.
Or has it always been like this and I am just learning to appreciate it?
Charlie and I try to talk a walk every day, and there is a beautiful yard we walk by that has this fence that has often attracted me and I have photographed before. The colors of the trees around it yesterday were so amazing! They inspired me to come back and paint late afternoon.
I have been struggling with my watercolor painting lately… I keep thinking that I should be doing much better at this point, but then I don’t do it as much as I would like.
This little painting just felt good to do. I was relaxed and just took a half hour to unwind and enjoy. It is surely not a work of art, but it is a work of heART, and I’m okay with that.
Some wise artist friends have been offering great advice, and I am learning that sometimes trying too hard or not just enjoying what we are doing can stifle our creativity. I am trying to worry less about what the end result will be and let the art speak for itself, so this is what I ended up with.
My “Mom 2,” Carole, has been an inspiration to me in the journey to learn to love Fall. She chooses a special tree each day to appreciate, and has influenced me think about it too.
This was my tree yesterday, and I am going to send her this card to let her know how much I appreciate and think of her.
Hope you are having an awesomely amazing Autumn (or Spring for those in the Southern Hemi!). Happy Weekend!
the creative life in between 