My focus at that time was my new Nikon SLR camera (yes...before digital!) and I was just dipping my toes into Photoshop and image manipulation.  It's amazing to see just how far technology has come in such a short time.  All cameras are digital now and my iphone camera has more memory than my first DSLR!

I think it's time to update my profile pic...my hair gets whiter lighter every year!

Although my passion for photography has waned somewhat and blogging itself has also changed...it seems to be used much more as a business tool now...I'm not quite ready to give it up yet.  In the past 3 or 4 months, I've been posting more on Facebook and damnit...it's just so easy that the slacker part of me likes that.  I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook.  There's not much depth to it but it does keep people connected and I love that.  (I'm here if you'd like to connect via FB).

Bob, Ethan and Molly looking for starfish in Deep Cove...where I live.

Shedio update:  We now have one window and a door installed in the "shedio/studio" and one more window ordered...progress is being made.  I've begun the spring weeding/clean out in the garden (I now ache all over) and the cushions for the patio furniture are coming out of storage tomorrow...after a slow start, it's begining to feel like spring!  Leaving home for three months in the winter is an amazing and beautiful thing but the resulting "catch up" leaves me feeling just a little breathless.

Creatively, I'm still working with Veronica Torres/Eloheim Channel, designing posters and I'm also working with my daughter Kirsten, designing two ebook covers for her business coaching website...Re:freshed Businesses.  

created for Veronica Torres/Eloheim.  

The context here is to be concious of leaving everything...every conversation, every business interaction (even every Facebook comment)...more concious than when we came to it.

I hope your world is filled with amazement and wonder at the beauty of life dear friends.  It's always, always there when we look for it.  Sending hugs and blowing kisses,

I was inspired by words that I saw on Kal Barteski's site many months ago and finally decided to create with them myself.  Kal's work with words is created in her own beautiful natural brush script.  The font I used is Bebas Neue which is great for posters.

...and in slightly less "girly" colours...

I think I might print and frame one for myself and hang it in the bathroom...it would be great for a child's room too.

Sending hugs and blowing kisses to all you brave and beautiful people!!

I've been home for a few days now and am settling into the "home" routine.  It feels good to be here after almost 3 months away, but oh, what a happy holiday I had!  So much feels new for me in my life right now and that's always hard to put into words but I would (attempt to) describe it as a feeling of clarity and sense of presence.  I feel more present...more attentive...to myself.

My mantra these days is "step by step".  I'm (finally) understanding that I can only live one moment at a time.  I always knew the "brainiac" version of that but now it's a knowing in my heart which shows up as living the truth of it.  Coming from that perspective, there's no overwhelm and nothing seems to be too much to deal with.

It's a very good place to be!

The entrance to our bungalow in San Pancho.  This feels like a perfect analagy to me...a doorway to living life in a new way.

I've been continuing along with the painting I started in Ajijic.  I started with random lines and shapes and moved onward from the original "marks". It looks very different from start to finish but it was an evolution...I had no concept of what it would be from the beginning...it just evolved.  Its been painted over and then painted over some more and will likely have still more work done with it. 

Interestingly, since coming home and looking at it from here, I can see that I unconciously painted a portal/doorway into it that reflects the doorway above (even the colour) and I hadn't noticed that before.  It's not finished yet...there's still more that wants to be here!  (I seem to be really drawn to seed pods and botanicals right now). 

As I wrote the paragraph above, I realized that one of the reasons why I may have less to say here is that it feels as though my voice...my speaking voice...has become much stronger and clearer.  I have less fear (and leaning towards none!) about speaking my thoughts...less fear that I may hurt others or that I might dissapoint or be judged.  It feels safe to be me and to emanate who I truly am and I know there's no need to hide that.  Hallelujah!

Cooking utensils in an old Hacienda kitchen

I will be back soon with an update on my travels and my painting too...the painting is still very much a work in progress and I packed it up along with all my paints and brushes, to continue on with it in our new Mexican "home" for the month of March.

Adios mis amigos!

This is where I've been hanging out for the past week...yes, in my closet!  My amiga's took me to Ajijic's art supply shops and out I came with a canvas, paints and brushes under my arms.

I wasn't planning on doing anything here that required purchasing art supplies (and just how do I get this home if I decide it's a keeper?  No problem, they told me...just take it off the frame and roll it up!)  

I started off painting swirls and lines and then covered up what I didn't want and followed the lines and shapes that I liked.  It's morphing into something organic with seed pods and leaves and petals and....who knows what's next!  Every time I sit with it, I see something new and the next step reveals itself to me.  It's painting intuitively and allowing each step to inform the next.

It's not surprising then, that this is also how I'm endevouring to live my life these days.  Step-by-step.  Allowing this day...this moment...to inform me of what I want to experience in the next.  Not always easy but I'm working at it!

Meanwhile, I'm enjoying painting in this way...and not having a predetermined outcome.

Ajijic is keeping us busy...there's just so much to see and do. It has a very lively art, music and cultural life and there seems to be an endless supply of cafe's and restaurants to explore and enjoy.  If you're not into the arts, there are three golf courses in the area as well as a raquets club and thermal pools.  Add to this, a sunny and moderate climate and it's easy to see why so many expats have chosen to retire here.

I'll be back with a painting update soon...meanwhile I'll leave you with another poster that I created for Veronica Torres/Eloheim.

Adios amigos!

We're enjoying the views of the sky, the mountains and the lake in the distance from our Mirador (roof-top patio).

...and it's especially stunning at sunset when we sit here and sip our glass of wine and feel profoundly grateful for this experience.

We met up with friends who are wintering here and had a busy but fun few days when we arrived...including a night of food, flamenco and song.  What great energy!

I've also been busy working on a new project with Veronica Torres designing graphics for inspirational quotes.  I love the material and I love working with colour and balance in design so in all ways, it's really just a big LOVE project for me.  I feel quite passionate about the Eloheim material...it's practical and down to earth and yet spiritually inspiring too, so it's really a win/win thing for me.

I'll be posting them here from time to time...

...and I will be back again soon...much love to all,

Did you see the full moon last night?  We ate our dinner beneath the moon and stars while sitting at the ocean's edge and as the poets say, it was like a huge golden medallion shining brightly in the sky.  I've never seen a moon as golden before and I know there's a scientific explanation for it...dust or smoke in the air perhaps?...but I'm content to feel poetic about it's beauty.

iphone cameras are great at what they do, but let me tell you they don't do moon shots well at all!  This piece then, is my offering for the full moon.  I've had a picture of a figure riding on a birds back "flying" through my head for ages now and it needed to take form.

I've also been thinking of how much we limit ourselves and for so many reasons. It's often not even a concious knowing but simply an old habit or belief that's taken root and believed to be truth. Eloheim's class this past week covered this topic with the theme of "lies we tell ourselves".  We were each invited to look at our own "lie" and examine it for what it really is.  Mine came to me quickly as "stay small...it's much safer".

Of course it's always a process...this peeling away of the layers and what may be true in one area of life, isn't true for another. At one time this was a much bigger issue for me than it is now but I suspect for most of us, there's still some truth to it...and if not this "lie", then another.

As if to add a check mark to this observation, this came in my mailbox this morning from Patti Digh.  Today's "daily rock" is refine with these words...

“The process of discovering your fearless self is one of refinement, not adding.”

Steve Maraboli

Leo Tolstoy has said that

“truth, like gold, is to be obtained not by its growth, but by washing away from it all that is not gold.”

A process of refinement.

What non-gold can you wash away today?

(the rock is created by Kim Mailhot, aka The Rock Fairy)

If you'd like to sign up for Patti's daily rock of wisdom you can do it here.

It's still very hot here in Barra de Navidad, Mx, but we're keeping our cool by staying out of the mid-day sun (which is quite difficult for us non-early risers!)  I'm redesigning our business website with Wix and loving their plug and play format.  I'm also thinking of redesigning my blog with this site...maybe.

We leave here at the end of the week for the interior of Mexico and cooler temperatures.  The heat and humidity has given us two weeks of enforced rest, which I know we were in need of.

Sending much love, huge hugs and blowing kisses to all who stop by during your busy days.

 art on the Malecon at Barra de Navidad

We're in the little town of Barra de Navidad, Mexico, which is just north of Manzanillo on the west coast.  We've been relaxing and doing a lot of nothing since we got here.  Every now and then we look at each other and think we should be out doing something and then we wonder why we feel that way (guilt at not being busy?)...and then we go back to reading or listening to favourite podcasts or playing around with new art apps on the ipod...and that's the end of that!

I'm sure we'll pull ourselves out of this lethargy/inactivity at some point and decide to do some exploring but at the moment the big effort of the day involves a walk to a cafe or beach side restaurant for something cold and thirst quenching.

paper 53...just using my finger 

I found this app...paper 53...on the very talented Alicia Burke's website.  It's a digital drawing app and I'm having a lot of fun with it.  It really needs a stylus for finer detail but I did the page above with my fingers.  The basic app is free but adding more colours into the palette and a wider array of tools to work with, are add-ons.  Sketches can be saved in many different "moleskine" journals within the program.  It's not complicated and would be fun for kids too.

 using Percolator...I haven't completely figured this one out yet but I like what can be done with it!

The other programs that I've been playing with are several photography apps that were recommended to me by photographer/artist Shane Robinson.  I've spent some time playing around with Percolator, PhotoForge 2, Big Lens, Photo Toaster and Iris Photo Suite.

Percolator takes an image and works circles into into it (as in my image of Molly above)...some abstract fun.  I love what Shane did with this app and would like to work further with it to figure out the blending a bit more

PhotoForge 2 allows limited layering and blending (as with Photoshop),

Big Lens gives an iphone shot the blurred depth of field backgrounds that you normally only get with a DSLR,

Photo Toaster and Iris both have image editing capabilities for iphonography (a step up from Instagram).

Two years ago I stopped lugging my heavy DSLR around with me on trips.  Last year I took my Canon point and shoot and this year all I have is my iphone.  Times change and the new iphone (which I don't have, btw) has the same number of pixels as my old Nikon DSLR!

Anyway, just wanted to let you all know that I'm alive and loving the king size bed that I spend much of my day lollygagging around in and when I'm not there then I'm here...

sheltering from the sun in our roof top palapa

or even here...

bakery cafe in Barra de Navidad

enjoying this...

the gluten-free oatmeal/cranberry cookie is mine!

And maybe...just maybe...when I do come back here, I'll be out of bed by then!

Sending hugs and blowing kisses to all, dear friends,

Favourite Moment(s)...

The hours I spend asleep.  I feel like a bear who's hiked up a long, steep mountain side and finally found a den to hibernate in. For one who's had much trouble getting a good nights sleep for years, I'm finally sleeping through the night...and having trouble waking up in the morning and then feeling like I could put my head down and sleep at anytime throughout the day.  I'm not complaining...no, I'm loving it. It's a beautiful thing!

Favourite techie inspiration...

...this site for designing/building websites easily and quickly...all plug and play.  Time to redesign our business website.

Favourite smile...

I love Finnish artist Inge Look's delightful illustrations of these two old friends. They're such fun and make me smile...and I have a few friends that I can see myself sharing tea parties and laughing under the table with!  So much of what is essential to creating a meaningful life is about sharing joy and laughter and knowing we're never too old to play and have fun.  Inge has more happy works like this which feature "the aunties" as well as a series with gnomes in nature.

Favourite Movies...

I've seen two recently that I enjoyed:

Les Miserables...good acting, good music, good sets, good cinemetography, good entertainment.

Last Train Home... China’s cities are plunged into chaos every spring as 130 million migrant workers journey to their home villages for the New Year’s holiday. This mass exodus is the world’s largest human migration—an epic spectacle that reveals a country tragically caught between its rural past and industrial future.

Over a two year period the film maker travels with one couple who have embarked on this annual trek for almost two decades. Like so many of China’s rural poor, they left behind their two infant children for grueling factory jobs.  If you ever have a chance to see this movie, jump at it.    I've a new found appreciation and respect for just what has been sacrificed for my "made in China" products and will never take them forgranted again.

This documentary has won many awards at film festivals and Rotten Tomato gave it the "Golden Tomato" award and 100% on the Tomatometer!

Favourite Inspirations...

From the amazing photography installation Ashes and Snow by Gregory Colbert.(and on my Pinterest Board "Nourishing My Soul")

I admit it...I love Pinterest. It's full of beautiful, creative, funny and dreamy inspiriation.  It sparks my imagination and fires my creative juices.  Oh I know, it's got it's problems, especially when it comes to people pinning without giving credit to the artists (but not nearly as much of a rat's nest as Tumbler in that respect).  

Pamukkale, Turkey...on my Pinterest Board "Places to Go".  I will be soaking in these thermal pools in the next year or two! 

But all of that aside, I often come away from the site amazed and awed with what I see and peeking into a few of my own boards, bouy's my spirits when they're flagging (nourishing my soul, a heartful life and don't even get me started on places to go!) .  Tell me, do you Pinterest?

Have a lovely weekend my friends...sending hugs and blowing kisses to all,

Silence

Arabic Proverb

This new year has been an odd time for me...I'm feeling very peaceful, still beyond tired yet happily peaceful.  I've also been feeling very quiet.  When I think of writing something here, my mind is blank or maybe it's swirling with thoughts but nothing that gels into anything coherent.  I'm OK with this but honestly, I really like writing so when words escape me, it always feels strange.

Creatively, I've been working playing with creating a daytimer to take with me on my travels...it's not so much a record of what I plan to do (which is a lot of nothing!), but more a brief comment on my days.  We're getting to that happy crunch time now of counting the days and crossing things off our list that need to be done before we leave.

And yes, I'm yearning for sunshine.  I feel like a flower stretching and bending her stem, face upward, seeking light...and not finding much of it!  The greyness, the pale mist hanging over the water, the fog swirling around the dark grey/greens of the forest, it's all so beautiful in it's own way but right now...I'm craving light.  

I'll be back sooner rather than later...I feel a "Weekly Fav" brewing.  Sending huge hugs and blowing kisses dear friends!

I