My Special "Word" for 2013...

...is

BE!

I want to BE...

healthy...

active...

in the moment...

calm...(seriously)

imaginative...

curious...

inspiring...

and

wise.

This is quite similar to my word of direction

from 2009...

you can check it out here

if you like.

I guess when we feel a need for our hearts

to be directed

along a certain pathway

again and again...

repetition is a healthy and positive thing

and

time doesn't matter

at all.

So...

what word has captured your heartstrings for 2013?

"Do the one thing you think you cannot do.

Fail at it.  Try again.  Do better the second time.

The only people who never tumble

are those

who never mount the high wire.

This is your moment.

Own it."

~Oprah Winfrey

"Lemons and Roses..."

The sweet scent of it all...

We both sat outside most of the day...I sketched and painted...

Scott watched bowl games...lots of them!

The sun was brilliant and bright and full of dry desert warmth...

The air mostly calm...the skies clear and blue.

The fragrance from our outdoor table wreath, invigorated by the sun,

filled the air

with pine, cedar, and juniper.

The scent of rosemary,

from several nearby shrubs,

danced gently around us as well.

I picked a few lemons from our tree to draw...

and...to my delight...that added yet another

layer to the day's fragrant palette.

"Ahhh"...I said to myself as my brush glided across my sketchbook...

"This IS the 'Arizona' everyone comes here to experience...

...What a perfect day!"

Hmmm...:)

My drawing here is very simple,

the words not even my own...but copied from a card Scott gave me.

The true beauty of this sketch is simply in its existence.

Everything in it seemed to flow deliciously and easily together.

And...

whenever I look at this page in the future...I won't focus on the

"Lemons and the Roses"

I will remember vividly the palette of the day..

the warmth, the fragrances, the fluttering of hummingbird wings

the sunlight, and the long shadows...

Ah! What treasure it is to live life through the senses!

What a joy to "BE"!

"It's a higher frequency of consciousness when you get 'out there.' "

~Aliye Cullu..regarding plein air painting