Thank You!

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who is supporting my sister to reach her goals in her fundraising and 100 mile bicycle ride in the Dempsey Challenge A Journey for Hope. I am so proud of her efforts to help support a cause that is near and dear to our hearts. The two winners from the giveaway are Megan Woodard (mounted print on canvas of Mother, Daughters, Friends) and Corrina Melino (8"x10" print of Believe in Yourself.) Love to all, Caryn and Lisa

A give away and the Dempsey Challenge A Journey For Hope

This is a photo of my mom and daughter at Disney World in June of 2005. It was a trip that we took right after my mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. We were fortunate to travel together so that my mother could fulfill her wish to see the joy in her only grandchild as she experienced Disney World. Our hearts were filled with the wish that my mother's strong spirit and her determination would help her beat this horrible disease.My mom was a woman filled strength and faith, unfortunately after a two year fight she lost the battle. This weekend my sister, Lisa Blake, will be participating the a fundraising event to benefit the Patrick Dempsey Center for Hope and Healing. On October 4Th, 2009 Lisa will be riding with the group of cyclists that will be covering 100 miles in one day! Like our mother my sister is filled passion and she hopes to raise a thousand dollars to contribute to this cause. The deadline for her to collect her pledged donations is 9/30/2009. I will be offering two giveaways for those who feel they would like to support her. The first is this limited edition 8"x10"print , "Mother, daughter, friends",mounted on a 1 1/2" gallery profile canvas. The second giveaway will be a 8"x10" print, "Believe in Yourself ",of one of my newest original paintings. A donation can be made on my sister's fundraising page on the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope and Healing. All donations are greatly appreciated and even a small donation of $5.00 will add up to help with the healing! If you are able to donate to this cause, leave me a comment or email me, and I will enter you for the giveaway. The winner will be announced this Friday. Thank you from the center of my heart,
Caryn

A New Day Dawn

I awoke this morning from fabulous dreams that filled me with ideas for new creative endeavors. Today is an exciting day for me. After I woke up and gave Kate a big hug goodbye, I started getting some last minute things together for my weekend workshop with Claudine Hellmuth. As I was grabbing my camera I just had to head out to the porch and snap a few shots of the sunrise and the glorious light this time of morning. It has been beautiful weather here. Still no frost so my flowers are still blooming. Look at the lovely little lady bug nestled in for a sunny nap. It is wonderful the discoveries you can happen upon when you take the time to slow down and take in the simple things we often pass by during our business of life.
So as I get ready to leave Brian, Kate, and I can't forget Buddy (who enjoyed having me outside for my little photo shoot that he was barking for me to comeback out to play with him) for my weekend, I want to take a moment to mention a giveaway. Gina Lee Kim, my partner in creative discovery this weekend, is giving away one of her fab paintings. Please check her out and you might win this little beauty.

Hope your weekend is filled with creativity!

On the Wings of Change

I have come to realize that this time of year is my absolute favorite. As I feel the seasons changing around me, I just love the warmth of the sun during the midday mixed with the cool winds blowing in to give the air a crisp lively energy. It has been a quiet time for me lately and I am trying to be patient with myself as I feel that along with the seasons it is time for me to be moving in new directions. I am finding that the answer is there of what is next in store, but it has just not reached the surface.

Last week I was busy, back in the studio painting and finished this new series "On the Wings of Change". These little 5"x5" canvases really speak to me and where I am right now. Notice no words of inspiration, just the simplicity being carried along in the wind. It feels fantastic to be able to work on developing my creative path and I am patiently awaiting to see where this voice of change will take me.

Indulge Yourself

Although I should be rushing out this morning to finish getting my studio organized for start of my weekly classes(which begin today), I just made myself a second cup of tea. Now I'm giving myself the gift of a few minutes longer to indulge myself with taking the time to reflect and record the highlights of the past week. I just returned home from our last summer getaway. We headed up to the Belgrade Lakes in Maine with three other families to share a great vacation home, the company of close friends, fantastic food, glorious weather, time to reflect on the ups and downs of life, and outdoor fun. I organized a heartfelt project for the Moms and daughters, ages 6 and up, these are the beautiful little paintings they made perched on the deck railing overlooking our waterfront retreat. I have much more to say about this wonderful art experience, but will save that for another post. I need to keep this short because look what awaits me at the studio. I have one new bright green wall, a new back splash for my make shift sink area, with one of my favorite quotes from Picasso "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life", artwork to hang, and materials to organize. Amidst all of this clutter I actually started a new series of 5"x5" chunky wall canvases. When I was painting the walls I was inspired by the new colors and had to pull out some canvases. I get side tracked really easy, but it usually leads to good things. I am looking forward to getting things back in there place, returning to my schedule of creating art in my mornings, teaching in my afternoons, and sharing the cool crisp fall evenings with my family. These are the indulgences that make life so meaningful. What will you do to indulge yourself, go ahead you deserve it!

The Joy of Motherhood

This morning I woke bright and early to see Kate off to her first day of her last year in middle school. I still wake up with her, pack her lunch, and watch as she walks to the end of our driveway for the bus. I sit and sip my tea until I see the bus arrive. It is a bittersweet moment, I am thankful to have my mornings focus on my creative energies, but sad to know that the busy schedule of the school year also brings fleeting moments to spend enjoying motherhood. One of the highlights of this summer was having Kate by my side to work with me at my art camps. Some of my teariest moments was missing her while I was travelling in Italy and she was away at her camp on Lake Winnipesaukee. It struck me this summer, as this time is passing (often too quickly) and Katie is growing, I am forever grateful for the joy of motherhood. It is a journey that has made me understand love, self-sacrifice, patience, respect for individuality, pain, silly bliss, the power of dreaming, growth, and so much more! So with tears in my eyes and love in my heart I file through my digital photos of Kate and record the passing of time.

Finding Time for Transition

As the summer is coming to a close I am cherishing the time of transition. I have a few weeks before I start teaching again and I am so in need of some rest and rejuvenation. My summer was so busy with work and travels. I am a little embarassed to admit that I only completed one new piece of artwork, which was a demo piece for my painting camp. I think that I have always had in my mind that summer is full of time to rest and relax. That during my lazy days of summer I would have time to paint to my hearts content. The truth is there were very few lazy days for me. I found myself working six days a week facilitating and preparing for my summer camp program. It is fantastic that I can see the growth in my creative business, but a little frustrating when I get down on myself for not having any creative energy left for my own artwork. I think that now that I know this I will at least be a bit more prepared mentally for next summer.

So in the next few weeks I am taking the time to reclaim my studio. Right now it is torn apart, I am adding a fresh coat of paint (changing up the colors a bit) and adding a few new touchs. I also stopped by the Art and Soul Gallery in Ogunquit and was thrilled to find out that my originals and prints are selling quite well. I have a hard time letting people help me, but I just love that Whitney, the owner of the gallery, does such a great job displaying my work and I that all I have to do is bring my work and she'll take care of the rest. I do plan to update my etsy shop soon. I am working on mounting prints of some of my originals that have sold onto gallery canvas. I paint the chunky edges so they blend in with the painting and its hard to tell that they are prints. I am longing to paint some new pieces and start with a bit of a new direction. In the meantime I am preparing, like a caterpillar that confines itself to a tiny cocoon, I am sitting, waiting, growing before I spread my wings and take flight.