 Sometimes you have to paint or create something because you "can't not". Today it is another gray day in Vermont. November has been gray and colorless for days and days. So I had to paint today. I didn't care what I painted but I needed to bring color into my world. So this is what popped out. This is available at a special holiday price here. What I have learned so far : You can't always plan what the heart wants to paint. I planned on working on a large interior painting today and instead this sunflower showed up. Watercolor and sunflowers have been done to "death" but for some reason today decided to be a sunflower day. 
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 The 2017 Jo Mackenzie wall calendars are ready for purchase. I guess it is time to prepare for all those pesky and non-pesky appointments that are fast approaching. With this calendar you wont miss anything important because it is 8x11 inches and you have room to write in each square all the important things you want to remember. Each month you will see a different painting from the year. There will be peonies, pet friends and surprises. Here is how to purchase.....click here What I have learned so far:
The early bird catches the worm. I didn't have many of these made this year. I have also realized friends and family now know exactly what they will find in the mail from my return address. Ta Da!  I watch QVC ( a shopping channel). Don't judge!
I don't buy anything but I watch it for 10 or 15 minutes at a time because it entertains me. The language they use for selling is genius. When you purchase something they congratulate you as if you achieved something. They ask what color you chose and when a call in customer tells them they compliment them on their wisdom and good decision making skills. Anyway....last night was the best. They often say this product ( shirt, watch, cooking pot) will change your life. Who doesn't want that? But last night they were selling a shirt/blouse and they said and I quote "This is everything and it is nothing ". I thought "Did I hear that right? " Then they kept repeating it as if it was the greatest bumper sticker ever. What I have learned so far: Is everything nothing? Things only have value or memories if they are connected to you in some way. Perhaps when you buy something it is nothing until you incorporate it into you life. Then it is your shirt, your cooking pot, your, pair of boots. I don't know. I have been selling art for a number of years and today I offer up this....My paintings will change your life, and they are worth every penny, and indeed they are everything to me.  Did you realize you are a very important person? A V.I.P.
I got "learned" that lesson this week when I went to the Adamant Co-op to buy milk. When I went in I received the warmest of welcomes and was asked how I was and what was happening in my life. I thought "is there a red carpet underneath me?" When I got home I was greeted with squirms and big canine tail circles and I thought ..I am a very important person in my little life. What I have learned so far: We are very important people to those who know us. We don't realize it until we step out of our own heads and welcome that outside energy in. So in that spirit I painted a house interior because my house is a very important person so me. It holds me in its arms and keeps me warm each day. So who are you a V.I.P for? What is the red carpet you walk every day?  Years ago I was given a diagnosis. It came during the time of peonies. I didn't think I would see peony time again . Tom planted more peonies than you could imagine and although we didn't talk about it I could see it was his way of saying "You are going to be OK".
Each year I watch the peonies come up from cracked earth into the cool spring air and they say "I'm back", They will not be denied and they remind me to keep "living forward". What I have learned so far There is always a choice to be made. Choose life. Choose kindness, choose to believe there is more to come. The peonies have taught me this and on days when I am doubtful I paint flowers and listen to Mozart and I know something bigger than me is where the space opens up and healing begins.  Today I was in a peony kind of mood so I painted this big fluffy guy . He can be found here . I think I needed a release from my somewhat relentless Instagram efforts. My brain can only work on the right side for so long.
If you are on Instagram I would love it if you would press "Follow" and tell a buddy to do the same thing. Getting some numbers on Instagram is my new nutty passion. What I have learned so far: Getting a cohesive message across when you are a painter of dogs and cats and peonies has its challenges. It is hard to find the crossover. So rather than find a link I am just going to "kick the can" down the road and keep doing what I always do. Paint what makes me happiest everyday. I wonder what makes you happy daily? So far my list is 1. cookies 2. dogs 3. A hug if you can get it  Today I can say I have tamed the Instagram Beast. I got it under control and have a plan for the future. How did I do this? I talked myself "off the ledge" and back into the room. I realized everything I have ever done has seemed impossible at first. But history shows once you break something down into manageable steps things begin to fall into place and progress can be made.
What I Have Learned So Far : Don't panic. It's just stuff. New skills always feel like trying on new clothes in the "Big Girls Department". You don't know who you are yet or you forget for a minute. Take a deep breath...You got this! |
About MeI am a watercolor coach, watercolorist, and author. 
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