DON’T GO CRAZY – JUST DRAW!

There are some days when things in life seem so shitty that I can’t get my mind bent around a single thing – except drawing. Drawing is my life-saver. Today was one of those days. I’ve been completely occupied with … Continue reading

NASTURTIUMS: MY SAVIORS

The Park Fire here in northern California tried to snake its fiery fingers right into my world, coming within three miles of my house. It freaked the living daylights out of me, relentlessly debilitating me for a whole month. The … Continue reading

FISHY LOBSTER FEAST

Today we had 101 degree heat. I melt at such high temps. My mind disappears into the deepest crack in the sea, and try as I might to sit up and work, my body refuses to function. Just about all … Continue reading

“I Can’t!”

Here’s a little inspiration for you if you are worried, anxious, scared, or having a desperately hard time. Or maybe it’s for someone you know. I’ve heard you say, “I failed.” I’ve heard you say, “I’m so tired.” And “I’m … Continue reading

What Do You Do to Come Back to Your Senses?

Do you ever start something and end up doing something completely and utterly radically different? I fought it, but that’s what happened today. I started out tonight intending to write a story about a disastrous sailing adventure I had when … Continue reading

Healing/Creating Hands

Source energies curl and furl in my palms. They remain there until I start working on something. Sometimes they churn and make my hands tingle. As soon as I begin to focus, the energy passes through to my fingers. Way … Continue reading

Be A Fierce Bear about Your Art

You have to know the value of what you create. To me, whether it’s my visual art or my writing, it is the Divine Voice speaking with my voice and hands. Its value is incalculable. Never let anyone dissuade you … Continue reading

Practice

I discovered that practice meant giving up trying to achieve perfection. What it really gave me was a calm, quiet belly. Many long years ago, I practiced Tai Chi Sword, and Naginata, a women’s sword-fighting art, where the sword is … Continue reading

Feed the Lot (A Dream that I wish was real)

In a dream, I’m the manager of a catering company. We get an order to cater The Cattleman’s Association Annual Stockman Gathering. 800 people. I’m thinking, wow, 800 people! That’s a lot of people — I didn’t even know there … Continue reading

“Where Do You Get Your Ideas?”

Have you ever wondered where an artist gets ideas from? I’m asked all the time where my designs, illustrations, paintings and sculpture come from. Well, here’s your answer! The simple answer would be, The Dream World. The more complex answer … Continue reading

I Lost My Temper, and Lost Everything

Freya. Little Freya. Five feet nothing, thin as a rail. Powerhouse. Strides in from the outside deck, leaving the door wide open to the frigid, whirling snow and cutting wind. Which wasted no time rushing in and wrapping itself around … Continue reading

I Had A Tantrum Yesterday, and It Wasn’t Pretty

Finding out I had zero choice set me on fire. I can usually put up with automated customer service, whether on the phone, or online chat. But this time? Oh my. We bought a new mattress/box-spring set from a company … Continue reading

Caught by A Monster Outgoing Tide

(Published in Small Craft Advisor Magazine) My friend Jana and I decided to take the little blue skiff out — we’d row across the harbor to the tiny crescent-shaped beach right under the old Tiffany mansion, and have a lazy … Continue reading

What’s Your Destiny? Mine Is Scary.

I’m assuming that I’m going to live to be 100. So I’ve been thinking about what I want to see happen in my life in my last 22 years. On the one hand, most of me just wants to disappear … Continue reading

Excruciating Pain and Horror to Unending, Exquisite Love

The emergency room intake attendant side-eyed me in disbelief from under frowning grizzled brows. Holding my pulse with one hand, with the other he was hurriedly filling in my chart with cryptic slashes and numbers. He looked back down at … Continue reading