As the final hours of 2008 tick down for me on the far west coast, I want to leave you with some new paintings accompanied by the thoughts that inspired them.

I was invited to participate in this beautiful show Nahcotta has curated that features both artwork and essays. It opens this January 2nd and runs through February 1st. And as with all of the Nahcotta shows, I’m honored to be included among such great company.  I’m already so moved by the creations and the sayings that accompany them.

Below are my contributions and above is a photo of one of the paintings with the lensbaby, of course!
(The originals are 10" x 10" acrylic with mixed media on wood and they are also available as prints at the shop)

So as we head into this new year, this is a glimpse of what I Believe.

"I Believe that life is always leading you to the greater picture of who you are wanting to become"

And I Believe that becoming one with that greater picture takes recognizing every day, that in so many ways you are already there.

I know many of you are already in 2009!! So tell me, quick, what’s it like? Is it already filled with all the wonderful moments that I hope and expect it to be? And you know, I begin every year with hope and expectation for wonderful moments ahead of me and at the end of each year I realize that the year was filled with both those moments, and some that are a little bit less than wonderful ~ and then I recognize what is also the inspiration behind my beliefs in these paintings; and that is that there is always a greater picture that we hold of ourselves ~ the best of our lives and the best of ourselves ~ and I truly believe that all the moments of each year contribute to us becoming the best of ourselves and you know how we know this ~ through the willingness to grow, to ask more of ourselves, to ask for the best in our life ~  and the clarity is always there through hindsight. I’m suggesting that we find the clarity through each moment, if we can, because it brings a sense of peace with every experience. At the end of each year, at the end of each day it is our attitude about our lives that contributes to the happiness and fulfillment we experience through of all the moments that make up each year and each day.

I also believe that we are about to enter into quite a remarkable time on this planet, where more of us, within all of the moments of our days, will come to know what it is like to truly live our dreams. It will be exciting to see what’s next for all of us.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to you!!!
...it’s almost champagne time!!!