Rediscovering what's important.

 I've been staying up late going through old photos of past projects so I can post some on my new Facebook page and know what I have been discovering?

Something that should have been obvious to me all along, and that I think I really did know deep inside myself. For one reason or another though I was trying to smother the knowledge.

I have missed taking a germ of an idea, fleshing it out and then creating something from it, whether in fabric, colored pencil or photography, whether it comes out great or not so much. As much as I love photography, this is what I NEED to do! I will still do photography also but the type I used to do and a lot less portraits. I enjoyed taking photos of the babies and children, but my stress level during the past year was off the charts! I firmly believe that is what caused a lot of my recent health issues.

Creating art, getting my hands dirty with paint or glue, my clothing covered with strings, threads and teeny snips of paper or fabric, trying  things never before attempted...THAT is what soothes me the most and what I really need to do.

An older piece that kind of represented me at the time :-)

In the brief time I have been back at creating in this manner I have realized exactly how much  a toll the past 2 years without it have taken on me. But no more!

I deprived myself of what I truly love in an effort to make steady money with photography. Because I do love that too it seemed like a win win situation? Not so, I ended up devoting every minute of every day to it in one way or another. There was no time to do anything else, no baking, the garden was often forgotten, as was the housework, I never had time to spend with the boys etc. And it never did turn into what I wanted it to be.

One of the first colored pencil portraits I attempted. My boys, much younger than they are now!

Sure, I want to make extra money, but not at the expense of my family or myself. I want to do things that I love doing and while I hope to sell some of my art, it is no longer what drives me. I now create for the love of creating...for the pure joy of it. I believe this happiness, peace and calmness will show through in what I make.

Having said this, I believe it is time to go make a cake....from scratch...and start some stew. While the cake is baking I will sit and begin work on another work of art and enjoy my life!

What do you love to do? Do you do it enough or has it been laid aside for more *responsible* pursuits? If so, my advice to you is this, as cliche as it is, life is too short. There will never be a better time to do what you love than today. Make time for what brings you peace and joy, if not daily, at least once a week. I know you'll be glad you did! In other words..take time to smell the flowers :-)

Painting done on fabric

I would love to hear from folks about what they enjoy doing so feel free to leave a comment about about it for me!