Starting the year with a show and a list-

Starting the new year with a show. I have been in the studio reworking large  acrylic paintings that I felt needed to be resolved and shown. I am still in the thick of it all , painting, repainting, questioning,

doubting, kicking myself, happy, miserable,wondering, dreaming, drawing, redrawing. Most of these paintings are much larger than what I have been used to be doing laltely, what with making fairly small watercolors for etsy , so this is a bit of a shock to my system. Which is a good thing.

Meanwhile, I am a lucky girl to have received this brilliant print in the mail. Kim is a wonderful artist working in all sorts of different media. Her work has a sense of humour and a playfulness I adore. You can visit her blog , and her etsy store here

So , how has your year started out? Have you spent time planning and visualising and making lists?
I still don't like the idea of making 'resolutions' , but I have decided to stay focused on 'thankfulness' this year. So here is my (long overdue) 'all things I am thankful for... list':

- Friends, all of you who have been generous and kind, and supportive, and inspiring and talented and funny, and brilliant!
-the view from my windows.
-my husband's determination to keep us walking every evening whether I am half asleep or not. I would have never had the discipline to keep at it on my own.
-this year our 'cultural differences' clashed head on , over and over and over. Even though it has been very painful at times, I think we both learned from trying (ha! being forced..) to be open to each other's perspective.
-I certainly recognised how I was keeping my 'young adults' as 'my children'. Now I am trying to think of what will help them become more responsible, organised, and self-supporting, ready to get out there and make a life! I have even (very late in the game I know!), made a daily 'chore' list for everyone.(do I feel guilty when they vacuum?)
-Again, I realised how easy it is to either copy one's own upbringing, or to just 'react' to what one experienced during childhood and do the opposite... It is so important to think about how to raise your children based on a value system that includes more information than the one we were exposed to as children!! Ideally what happened to us when we were children should not affect how we treat our own.  Better late than never they say.
- I  am trying to stay focused on what is 'better', not on what mistakes I made in the past.
- I am also grateful that my husband has remained active, working harder than ever, at a time when he has also been faced with some major personal obstacles.
- So yes, family, friends, loved ones, they keep me on my toes, teaching me and kicking my backside ...and I appreciate that!
So there you go, this is some of my list. Enough for today.
 I am looking forward to the new year!
Hugs!