Time and adventures

The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams.”
——Oprah Winfrey

Another month – another year – another season.
I think about the “adventures” of my life and those lives I am part of. What is the journey, what is the path, what matters in the long run, the happiness, the bitterness, the sweet and the sorrow?

Here in my area (East Coast-Maryland) spring has popped out all over and it is indeed beautiful. My favorite season. Somehow this gets me to thinking about time and what do each of us add to the giant galaxy of both physical and metaphysical space/time and the lives we share with others. The spring, the sun, the beauty helps put many of us in better moods-that’s a bonus for sure! Smiles and good spirits help positivity, and I am a big fan of that. So, maybe my point is as simple as: Try to live your life with as much positive as possible and as close to your dreams as you can. Some things are indeed way out of our control, but many are not. Our attitude is one thing we can at least try to have some equilibrium over..

There is a quote I like that is from Joseph Cambell that says “We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.” Another one I like is “Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.” – John W. Gardner (Perhaps best known as the founder of Common Cause.) Both these quotes are speaking to me these days. As I recently started another year of my own life, as the seasons change, as I watch, look, observe family, friends and the world, I try to remember: We ALL count, we All make a difference, all the pieces, and all the specks, add to up to big circles of continuous cycles. We may need to take a small step, or maybe a giant step, from our comfort circle to try to follow some of our dreams but really when you think about…Why not?

31 Days of December 2018

31 Creative Days of December

We have made it into the final twilights of 2018. December is filled with short days and the blur of holiday festivities. To mark the month, I have decided to create a 31 Creative Days of December drawing series,and so, I will be creating 31 creatures with holiday themes. The holidays I will address are:

In order of their calendar dates:

  • Hanukkah (Chanukah if you prefer)… Starts the eve of 12/2 goes thru 12/10: It’s known as The Festival of Lights and is honoring the Maccabees’ victory over King Antiochus, who forbade Jews to practice their religion.
  • WINTER SOLSTICE..12/21 at 5:23 EST: The shortest day of the year.
  • CHRISTMAS…12/25: The birth of Jesus Christ. Did you know the word “Christmas” is a shortened form of “Christ’s mass.”-makes sence!
  • KWANZAA…12/26 through 1/1: Commemorates African heritage. Kwanzaa has seven core principles, ranging from Unity to Creativity for the community.
  • NEW YEAR’S DAY…January 1: The first day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. (Yes I realize this is actually January and 2019, but it seemed appropriate to end this series with the bang of a new year.)

Starting December 1st, you can see/follow these drawing on Instagram (find/follow me at botanicalbb), which also populates FaceBook (find/follow me at Botanical Beauties & Beasties) and Twitter (find/follow me at @BotanicalB_B). If you don’t follow any social Media and you would like to see the seasons creatures, just let me know, and I will send you the full series after January 1st. It will be a combo piece, so don’t worry it won’t be 31 emails! In the meantime-Here’s to creativity, imagination, digital art, the closing of the 2018 door and the opening of a new 2019 door. Hope the holidays bring you all some joy, love, and peace.

 


Two Exciting New Workshops with a Secret Ingredient…

Time to change it up a bit?
👀 Looking for a little creative fun?
TWO NEW FUN and EASY NOVEMBER WORKSHOPS!
These are two different offerings and you are welcome to do Easy Peasy Cards as well as the Name Plate Creations they are very different workshops! Want to know the Secret Ingredient? Just keep reading!


Easy Peasy Card workshopWhat: EASY PEASY CARDS 
When: Thursday, Nov 8 or Nov 29
Time: 6:30-8:30pm
Where: Whimsy Cove Framing and Art –
209 Chinquapin Round Rd-Annapolis MD

TO REGISTER FOR EASY PEASY CARDS-
use the below PAY-PAL button ( choose the date you want to attend)
Or email me if you wish to pay by VENMO app
Or by Check –
Click this link for botanicalbb3@gmail.com 
 Easy Peasy Cards email registration or questions.

Choose a date

 I am sorry – PayPal button not working yet-please use email until fixed.



WhatName Plate Creations
When:Nov 25, 2018
Time: 1-3 pm
Where: Raye of Light Studio –
1818 Margaret Ave-Annapolis

REGISTER  for NAME PLATE CREATIONS-
FOLLOW THIS LINK ( LINK TO COME SOON)
Description coming soonCost $20

~ The “Secret Ingredient” is your imagination!
These are easy and fun classes~

 


Look both ways

A look back and forward at the same time.

The solstice was yesterday (June 21), and I am always fascinated by this day. Celebrations near and far still do happen-fires, harvest, and sun worshipers collide.

On the solstice, we are given a reminder to ‘honor’ ancient wisdom and traditions, to celebrate the summer with its abundance of light, warmth, and agricultural bounties. Overall we are much less conscious of the joy of the solstice and its celebrations, festivals, and rituals than days gone by. Our ‘modern’ world does still mark the solstice, and most of us somehow connect (somewhere in the recesses of our brain) that it is a day of celebrating new beginnings.

The simple ‘facts’ of the Solstice are that it is the day sun reaches it’s highest point in the sky all year, “the tilt of Earth’s axis is most inclined towards the sun directly above the Tropic of Cancer.” (http://time.com/5314789/summer-solstice-facts) and so it is one the longest day of the year. It marks the beginning of summer. One of the most well-known celebrations of the summer solstice is at the Neolithic monument of Stonehedge: with many of the theories of this magical prehistoric structure stating it was built to align with the sun. In doing a little research about Stonehedge, I learned a few new things that historians and archeologists are saying about this masterpiece: It took 1,500 years to erect, it is roughly 100 stones, it was possibly a burial ground, some stones are local to the nearby quarries, and yet other stones of the inner ring seem to trace to the Preseli Hills in Wales- some 200 miles away. WOW!  (BTW- want some interesting reading on Stonehedge? click.)

Icarus drawingOn this day I always tend to think of the Mythological story of Icarus, because of the sun. It’s a story of hope, and creative imagination at the beginning, unfortunately, turning into sorrow. Somehow this small Greek Myth has always stayed with me, and although it is kind of sad, I have always liked this myth. I think it’s the soaring free, the wings, flying above it all, the innovation of Daedalus and the spirit of Icarus,  that makes me admire this myth. So, on these summer days, where now, unfortunately, the days are getting shorter, there is still a joy and lightness of summer. Right now the day light is approximately five and half hours longer than that opposite day (i.e the winter solstice) and I’ll take it! Hopefully, we all get some soaring time this summer-with projects, friends, families, maybe some journeys, and always some paths with their twists and turns. With a little luck, your melting will be minimum!

The myth of Icarus:

“Icarus was the son of the famous craftsman Daedalus in Greek mythology. His father was the creator of the Labyrinth, a huge maze located under the court of King Minos of Crete, where the Minotaur, a half-man half-bull creature lived. In order for the secret of the Labyrinth to be kept, Minos had then imprisoned Daedalus and Icarus in a tower above his palace. Daedalus managed to create two sets of wings for himself and his son, that were made of feathers glued together with wax. He taught Icarus how to fly and warned him not to fly too high, which would cause the wax to melt, nor too low, which would cause the feathers to get wet with sea water. Together, they flew out of the tower towards freedom. However, Icarus soon forgot his father’s warnings, and started flying higher and higher, until the wax started melting under the scorching sun. His wings dissolved and he fell into the sea and drowned. The area of the sea where he fell took the name Icarian Sea after him, while a nearby island was named Icaria.”

https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Icarus/icarus.html