Grandmothers – Page 78

The Muse is Back in Business!

Posted on May 26, 2019by sue boardman

We’ve been a little stressed around here lately. And my Muse may have been feeling a bit left out.

The good news is, she seems to have decided to play again. And I suspect she is, at least in terms of creative process, something of a quilter!

It’s time for me to start a new painting. (Okay, a bit past time.) The official title for the painting is Our Lady of the Flowering Earth.

Somehow scraps of ideas that have been waiting for their turn in my mind seem to have begun to come together in the context of this painting. Here are a few:

My delight in my own garden, which is mostly herbs and veg surrounded by oak leaf hydrangeas and the ever essential roses.

Memories of Italy… especially ancient olive trees and fragrant rosemary cascading over rustic stone walls, both silvery-green.

And then, from the fabulous book, Braiding Sweetgrass, which I’m reading just now, a fascinating description of the indigenous tradition known as three sisters planting for corn and beans and squash.

A hint from the wise and talented Julie Steelman that we painting sisters could find great support in creating an abundance canvas.

Then, oddly, perhaps, an old hypnosis healing metaphor that has lived inside me for 20 years.

And an inspiration from another dear paint sister in terms of how to begin the form I imagine for this particular feminine figure.

All of which are coming together to make a painting that will be unique to this time and place, which is really exciting to me!

At the moment, it’s a very rough sketch, an intention, and a waiting canvas.

Somewhere down the road, it will join a growing collection of my work available online.

There are two possibilities for shopping.

The first is Fine Art America which is a great place to browse fabulous phone cases, stunning shower curtains, posters, and many intriguing things from tote bags to throw pillows. Also, the beasties adore their yoga mats!

And a thrilling new option… fine art marketplace which features extremely high-resolution, museum quality gallery-wrapped canvas prints and giclée works on amazing watercolor paper I just want to rub between my fingers. I have my very own page!

The process is fascinating, and blessedly local here in Atlanta. Barry and the wizards from digital arts studio use a rare scanning system to create a digital file of a painting and then, after extensive color matching, print the image using a 12-color archival ink process.

As I learn more, there will be more options from fine art marketplace, including stunning round occasional tables. It’s like Disney World for artists and art collectors!

They do custom, archival framing. There’s also an option to inquire about a collection of original works.

Shipping is, of course, available. And, for Atlanta friends, a chance to pick-up in person and dream a bit at digital arts studio.

I’m excited. The Muse seems to be, too! We hope you’ll wander by, find some inspiration, and perhaps comment on a favorite or two.

The art work shown above is a giclée of a commissioned painting titled Mamaw’s Farm on 18×24 inch heavy water color paper, hand signed and numbered. It’s available here, in several sizes and formats, unframed or custom framed.

Art Journey Contemplations Garden Grandmothers

It’s Work in Progress Wednesday!

Posted on May 22, 2019by sue boardman

It’s a tradition, in the land of Intentional Creativity, that Wednesdays are Work in Progress (WIP) days. It’s a day for posting pictures of what we of artists are working on, along with reflections and, sometimes, puzzles.

As one of my paint sisters observed, not too long ago, “I am my work in progress”.

Wow, am I feeling that!

It seems to be the season around here for all kinds of puzzles.

How to get back to something resembling “normal” after my fall and Luther’s recovery from surgery.

How to re-claim the self-nurturing and care that kind of fell by the wayside during those weeks.

How to re-claim the strength lost in day after day of being still and trying, at some level of consciousness, to hold the peace. (And the pieces together!) It’s rather like having been sick in bed and discovering that it doesn’t take long to lose strength and energy formerly taken for granted.

How to adapt to the likelihood that “normal” is about to get different, again, and will predictably involve some changes.

That’s where my CODEX painting comes in. Nicknamed Grandmother Moon, she chose for her symbol of consciousness, at the end of Moon 8, the series of golden triangles which seem to be springing from her forehead.

The golden triangles have been showing up since my very first painting. They don’t appear everywhere, though they seem to show up in times of change which makes sense as the Greek letter delta, which is in the form of a triangle, is common in math and science as a symbol for change. Or, in my case, as a willingness to be changed.

Grandmother Moon also insisted on a winged visionary eye stitched with the legendary red thread which people have believed, throughout time, connects us, perhaps with people we were destined to know, rather like the web of life which forms our world.

As for me, I’m tending. The garden this morning. Paint drips a bit later. Me, as often as possible. A combination of intention and attention. Which is, when you think about it, not a bad way to deal with change. (Just in case you might have some, too!)

ps… While I was tending and taking pics in the garden this morning, our new neighbor, the falcon, swooped low and flew right past me. Breathtaking! And the symbolism is a wonder, too. Victory. Success. Rising above challenging structures. Wisdom. Vision. Protection. Must be a friend of Grandmother Moon!!!

Art Journey Contemplations Garden Grandmothers

I am still learning…………..

Posted on May 19, 2019by sue boardman

The 4-footed teachers have been in full form!

Luther, of course, has been the most obvious. Watching him heal, physically, from his eye surgery has been a wonder in itself. I’ve actually been able to watch his energy field come back online after all the anesthesia and the post-op meds. This big guy has been blind for a while but he temporarily lost his navigational radar.

It was all hands on deck to keep him from bumping his face until he was healed enough for the sutures to come out. I spent two weeks with a 140 pound dog literally tied to my arm, to keep him safe.

Today, he can make it out to the yard and back, safely. He’s re-negotiating his paths through the house, learning to feel gently with his nose for doorways and to pay attention to different floor mats to know where he is.

We’ve started some new walking training and directional cues to help and, blessedly, they are.

Sarah and Phoebe, meanwhile, have been in varying stages of regression. Sarah is bossy and needy and in my face, afraid, I suspect, that Luther will get most of the attention forever. She is, in some ways, assisting my inner critic in whispering messages of blame and inadequacy in my ear.

Meanwhile, Phoebe seems to have decided that, since the pattern disintegrated utterly for a few days, she is free to comply with or ignore the suggestions known in dog obedience land as commands, according to her mood.

I get it. Everything I’ve learned about sleeping in the dark with no electronics, eating real food, and believing in my ability to cope has gone astray.

I’m way beyond grateful that my inner Observer is also whispering in my ear.

One of the things that she’s whispering may have come from my old friend, Steve Glenn. Pardon the redundancy if you’ve read this recently, but it’s really helpful and deserves a re-run.

There’s no such thing as failure. Only experience to be learned from.

This, I’ve been reminded, is something we can’t teach our kids unless we, like Luther, learn to use it as a compass with which to navigate our own worlds.

So, the numbing TV, which wasn’t working for any of us and only added to the stress, has been switched out (mainly) for coloring.

The amazing Shiloh Sophia recently posted a documented medical article claiming that 5 minutes of coloring would interrupt the body’s stress response.

I already had the pencils and markers so I stocked up on coloring books. Mainly Mandalas and Shiloh’s divine feminine images. I’ve colored enough to wallpaper a good sized room and it helps. It was an easy something I could change in the midst of a bunch of stuff I couldn’t.

And, I re-examined my food issues.

Once again, Michael Pollan to the rescue.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

This is a system I can manage. (And remember!) It’s also a system I believe in.

Blessedly, lots of those plants are growing in my garden right now, since leaving home is still a bit complicated.

And tomorrow, I suspect, will bring its own challenges. I trust, though, that my 4-footed teachers and my inner Observer will still be there, shining light on the path.

Art Journey Contemplations Grandmothers

With Hope on Mothers Day!

Posted on May 12, 2019by sue boardman

As many of you know, it’s been quite the week in post-op puppy nurse land!

Luther is healing well which is great because I’m pretty close to wiped out. I’m thinking of having my mail forwarded to the magic chair where I’m pretty much living at the moment.

In an effort, perhaps, to channel my early years, there has been a lot of Grey’s Anatomy going on.

One episode in particular hit home for me just now.

An explosion, thought to be a bomb, happens at a shopping mall. Many people, including a number of children, are injured.

One of the ER docs, a young woman who is pregnant, reacts with tremendous fear and wonders over and over how to bring a baby into a world where such a thing is possible.

Her mother-in-law, a woman more given to snapping orders than to extending comfort, offers a surprisingly profound response:

Raise your babies well. This is how the world changes.

The obvious question, especially as the American Mothers Day holiday dawns, is “How?”

Allowing that we must each find our own answers, I’d like to offer a framework that has been hugely helpful in my journey. It comes from the late Dr. H. Stephen Glenn, whose work, Developing Capable People, I first encountered when my own baby was four years old.

According to Steve, much of parenting (and grandparenting) comes from helping kids to believe three things:

I am capable.

I contribute in meaningful ways and I am genuinely needed.

I can influence what happens to me.

Raising Self-Reliant Children In A Self-Indulgent World, p. 49

I believe!

In fact, I know. And it isn’t easy. It involves ditching our societal obsession with success and claiming the amazing possibility that there’s no such thing as failure. Only experience to be learned from.

Kind of like acrylic paint!

Here’s the catch.

In order for our kids to learn these amazing truths, we have to at least experiment with believing them ourselves.

It doesn’t make a great Hallmark card. It does help us to raise kind, confident children, even in this world.

Steve walked on some years ago and the book is a bit dated in terms of language and examples but it still lives in my study on a shelf I always know how to find, no matter how much we rearrange the furniture. And it lives on in my own book, Grandmothers Are In Charge Of Hope.

With my whole heart, and with hope for my own girls, I invite you to check it out. It’s never too late to start! We need all the capable, significant, influential kids we can get.

This is how the world changes.

Many blessings to all of you who are mom-ing and grammy-ing anybody, anywhere and teaching these truths in whatever way works for you. This day and every day. Amen.

Contemplations Grandmothers

Reading Week

Posted on May 8, 2019by sue boardman

When I was a seminary student, we had a rather old-fashioned tradition known as Reading Week. The week before exams, it was time to catch up on the couple (!) of things that might not have gotten done during the semester.

I loved Reading Week and I’ve missed it during all the years since graduation.

This week, Reading Week showed up again!

Luther, our Newf Rescue who is healing from eye surgery, has needed constant supervision. Sarah’s on floor duty. I’ve spent most of the time camped in my magic chair with a stack of books beside me.

Some of them are old friends. Some are intriguing new adventures.

A bit of comfort. A touch of challenge. A surprise or two along the way.

And gratitude to the talented writers who created reality from language in the writing.

One more week of sutures… And a quick break for prayer dots!

Contemplations Grandmothers

I get by with some help from the Muses!

Posted on May 5, 2019by sue boardman

It’s been a bit of a week!

On Thursday, Luther had his eye surgery. It was a very long day, made do-able by major assistance from our crew of gracious and supportive Dog Aunties.

The procedure went well, for which I am very grateful to the ophthalmology team and support staff at the Blue Pearl specialty vets on Howell Mill Road.

My very large, fuzzy buddy and I are now on our third day, camped in our new family room/library space.

Sarah and Phoebe have been helping with the healing by enjoying a Camp and Spa break. They’ll be home Monday which means that today we’re working on “normalizing” our routine a bit. Cutting back on pain meds. Spending a few more minutes outside, bonding with Dad. Moving around the house a bit more.

Luther has done the vast majority of the sleeping.

I’ve been channeling the long ago nurse that still lives inside me. Meds. Soft food. Watching the swelling. Listening to him breathe.

Blessedly, the Muses have been keeping me company.

First, the one pictured above, from my Color of Woman Muse painting.

Her face is marked with the Greek words for optical seeing, visionary seeing, and knowing, which reminds me that there are many ways of seeing, even when the optical kind doesn’t work.

Also the Muse many of you know as the writer, Anne Lamott. Especially these five words.

Dog love is god love.

This is one of those sentences that works kind of like a mathematical equation. If you replace the is with an = it can be read, at least for me, in either direction.

It’s no secret that I love our herd of Newfoundland rescue dogs. And this week, I have ached with Luther as he moves through the pain of his surgery and healing. I know that, hopefully soon, this process will relieve the pain he had before and prevent more in the future.

He doesn’t know that. He just knows that somebody yelled tilt and nothing feels normal right now.

I’ve cried when he cried and rejoiced when he wagged his tail, and I believe that the Creator of my understanding weeps and celebrates with us, as well.

I also believe that our Creator loves us like Luther and Sarah and Phoebe love us, even when we don’t get it all right.

All of which has helped through the days and long, dark nights when my piece of the red thread has been a bright blue long lead running between Luther and me.

And, there’s a bit more dog love in our family these days. We have a new granddog!

Hazel is a black Lab rescue who appears from the picture to already be busy loving my girls. I can’t wait to meet her!

To see more of my art in museum quality reproductions visit fineartmarketplace.com

Art Journey Contemplations Grandmothers

An Interesting Question…

Posted on May 1, 2019by sue boardman

I got an email this week from a dear writer buddy of mine who said she was “confused about my blog.”

I get it.

She went on to say that she, “originally thought you were interested in uniting and empowering elders as a dynamic power… also things like it’s difficult to mature in our culture, which is why we should treasure the brave and courageous people who do mature and become powerful wise elders…”

Because I know her, I can hear the gifts of her academic and activist filters which I so treasure in her question.

If you’ve been reading along for a while, you may have wondered, too.

My blog isn’t the same these days as it started out, nor is it the same as my book, Grandmothers Are In Charge Of Hope.

I still believe and want all the things my friend mentioned in her email and all the things I wrote about in my book, which is, by the way, pretty handy!

The thing is, that I, in my personal grandmother-ness, am still learning. I have grown and discovered new ways of actually doing those things I believe in. Many of those ways have to do with art and creativity.

You see, as I get more empowered and in touch with the inherent creativity in each of us and with ways to share that in the world, there’s more for everybody! And there’s way more for my girls, for we do these things together, as often as possible.

The work of Intentional Creativity is often about paint, for sure. But it’s also about putting hopeful, empowering images into a world that desperately needs them. Especially feminine images.

And, for many of us, it’s also about teaching others to put that same energy into their families and communities and the world.

Many of the people I learn with and teach are grandmothers. A whole movement of us acting in love and peace and diversity around the globe.

And it’s also about some very cool things like accessing right and left brain processes and more of our own consciousness so that we can all live our gifts in the world.

I want my girls to grow up thinking that’s the way things are supposed to be. I want them to claim their gifts and put them to work creating a world that works for all of us.

And the best way I know to do that is to share what’s changing in my life with grandmothers and grandkids and seminary students and yoga students and friends dear to my heart.

Come. Hang out. Read the stories and check out the images. Ask questions.

Roll around in fierce compassion alive in the world. Roll around in paint, too, if you’d like! Or soup. Or words. Or quilts.

Create, because it’s a huge part of being human.

Risk learning new things. (How cool a model is that for your kids???)

Grow some asparagus in your front yard.

And vote, if you live in a place where you can. Preferably for fierce compassion.