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Monday, February 15, 2016

Motivation Monday - Shut Up and Paint

Shut Up and Paint With Me!

I love that song,
Shut Up and Dance with Me.

That song has special meaning to me because I was a dance student and dance teacher and I married a man who doesn't dance.
You can see the problem and the irony.

I've had a lot going on over the last six months health wise with me and my husband.  And in December I closed River Run Gallery.  It was sad, disappointing, but necessary.

 I brought all my art supplies home to my old studio,
and guess what?
I didn't have enough room for them all.
They had multiplied while I was at the gallery.

I began the year on a quest to bring order to my life.
I was overweight,
I had too much stuff,
My home and life was unorganized.
My spirituality was waning.

I spent several days working on plans to improve the areas of my life that were out of whack.  I finally got a plan together to help me get on track.
And
it's working.

I'm purging my home, one room at a time,
participating in an online weight loss challenge,
reading more, watching less TV,
learning to rest and breath!

This morning was weigh in for my online group,
and,
I lost 3 more pounds this week.
Three pounds isn't that much, but when added to the other pounds and the inches I've lost,
and all of a sudden
I felt much better about things.

I've struggled to get back on track in my painting.
It's amazing how those three little pounds lifted my heart and motivated me to get back in the studio to paint.  I haven't painted in two months, and today was the day to say,
enough!

I didn't actually get back in the studio,
I commandeered my husbands office because he has a beautiful view out his window and with all the snow we received yesterday, it was a wonderland!

(More on that tomorrow on Technique Tuesday)

The point of this post on Motivation Monday,
is even when things don't look particularly sunny, it doesn't take much to turn it around.
I don't have a depressive personality,
but I have family members who struggle with that disease and I know it can be devastating.  I wasn't depressed, I just wasn't ready to paint.
When I got on the scale and realized 3 more pounds were gone, the motivation took care of itself.  I don't know why those 3 little pounds affected my outlook so much,
but they did.

So, I guess we never know when things will change for the better for us.  Maybe we need to just keep moving forward the best we can,
knowing things don't stay the same forever.

Now,
if spring would just hurry up and get here!
 

  10" x 8" stretched canvas
Sides painted.
$100 + $6 shipping
      

Thanks for stopping by today.
Leave me a comment about how you get back on track. 

6 comments:

  1. Oh, daffodils! You are getting us motivated for spring, how lovely your painting is.

    Glad you got yourself motivated! I think sometimes the biggest step is to just get in there and get started. Then get fascinated and into it. I hope we can now look forward to seeing more of your work.

    If I don't feel like doing my usual type painting, I guess I get back on track by working with a different medium. I think it's really good to have more than one. You seem to do similar, with your refinishing projects. You are always doing something creative, it seems, even if not painting!

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  2. Thanks so much Meredith. It's amazing what rights the ship isn't it. Our brains are so weird!

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  3. "Faith is taking the next step even when you don't see the whole staircase." a quote I come back to again and again. (Luther King, JR) Keep on keepin' on, Sharon! Love the daffodils, more please! :)

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    1. Thanks Diane. Faith is moving forward when there no clear direction in view. I am moving forward in many directions and hopefully, all areas of my life will straighten out. Now if I can just get my internet to work!.

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  4. I admire you for sharing with such honesty because I know you are helping other who are going though a drought of the soul, too.
    Love your painting.
    Beautifully symbolic - painting spring flowers. New, fresh, pushing on through...survival of the winter.
    You rock!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Julie! I appreciate you seeing all the way through this post to some symbolic meanings. We all rock!

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About Me

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Ghent, Kentucky, United States
I'm a nature artist and I love to paint old barns, rivers and lakes, trees and fence rows and flowers. I work almost daily. You can purchase paintings by contacting me at slgraves6@gmail.com and there is also a tab across the top of my blog for available paintings and one for small paintings with buy now buttons. You can also purchase through my Etsy shop using the name of Fine Nature Art. . Thank you so much for stopping by.