Whirlwind of Dreams and Opportunities

Since the Design Team announcement for Artistcellar, I have been quietly working on my pieces for my weekly contributions to their site.  I will have posts up both on their site and on my blog every Wednesday starting the first week in February.  I am utilizing their amazing collection of exclusive stencils.  Similar to the way I have used them in the background of this piece and each of my posts includes a tutorial.

At the same time, I started teaching Intricate Doodles at The Doris an art gallery in my town.  For the Intricate Doodles class, I am working to create a greater variety of colored pieces to teach my students how to use color in their work.  Both of these projects take time.  An intricate doodle like this one takes me about 15 hours.

I thought that the opportunity to teach and to work for Artistcellar was exciting enough and then The Doris requested that I submit pieces for a gallery show they are doing this weekend and for the month of February at the Florida Community Design Center in the Chamber of Commerce Building.  So, for the first time in my adult life, I have three art pieces in a gallery show.

The show opens with Artwalk this Friday night.  I am in the amazing company of the Artists' in Residence at The Doris and some of the other art teachers like my beautiful friend and Mosaic Artist Limor Ben-Naim Herb.  

As I spoke with Turbado Marabou, one of the incredible Artists In Residence at The Doris, he expressed interest in the Artistcellar stencils.  It was a surreal moment as my online art world and my local art world came together.  I will be sharing with Turbado the amazing line of Artistcellar stencils and I hope to discover his methods for using them in his work.

To say that I am amazed that all of this is happening at once is an understatement.  I am also extremely grateful for each of these opportunities to express myself through my art.  So, while I might be more quiet than normal, I am in my studio working away and bursting with excitement that I am able to participate in the art world both locally and online.  I am immensely grateful for your generous support.

Delayed Gratification

Learning to delay gratification is an important part of becoming a fully functional human being.  As Judith Wright points out, learning to delay gratification leaves us the space we need to discover our true selves and the truths of the universe.

As we get past our superficial material wants and instant gratification we connect to a deeper part of ourselves, as well as to others, and the universe.

Judith Wright

We are aware that products can’t fill our hearts and yet to fight against our culture we must be very mindful of this truth and live intentional lives.  It is so easy to slip into the ideology that if we just have “enough” of the things of life our hearts will be full.  It isn’t true; of course, it is one of the great lies.  Therefore, another important aspect of delayed gratification is the need to slow the tide of rampant consumerism.

By continually pushing the message that we have the right to gratification now, consumerism at its most expansive encouraged a demand for fulfillment that could not so easily be contained by products.

Ellen Willis

At the same time, I want to sound a warning bell for those of us who have taken this notion of delayed gratification to heights beyond anything that is healthy.  “Delayed” means that gratification will eventually come.  Some of us take the idea of delayed and turn it into “never” or “seldom.” 

Part of embracing the whole heart is learning to experience the joys of life.  We aren't called to buy into rampant consumerism or focus on superficial things that will never bring our hearts joy.  However we do need to break down the walls that keep us from experiencing the joys of life. 

In what ways do you delay or refuse to experience gratification in your life?  When you hear a compliment, do you allow it to seep into your heart or do you brush it away like a fly that buzzes by your face annoyingly?  What joy does your heart need to experience today?  Why delay?