Hello and Happy Monday!! I'm going to start of the week by announcing the winner to my class giveaway for my upcoming workshop, Twinks on Yupo! Drum roll...and the winner is Maureen H.! And it was just Maureen's birthday on Friday so that is even more awesome news for her! I hope your New Year, Maureen is a great one and full of even more luck, good health and prosperity to you!
This first week of the month has been a really busy one. I tried to start off the New Year right by cleaning up my studio (Okay so just enough to get by), making goals and planning and activities that I either want to participate in or am participating in. I'm happy to report that a week later..well almost a week and I'm still on a good path but it is easy to fall off the wagon, isn't it? Which got me thinking that sometimes less is more. There is A LOT, I mean A LOT of things I want to do, but by doing them all, will I be doing them all well? Maybe some, sure...and I know I give everything it my all but at what cost. A part two of my goals setting and activities towards achieving those goals needs to be addressed and that would be to let go of somethings. Sometimes less is more. My word for the year is Evolve and I can only really do so if I focus on the things that really pointing me in the direction that I want to go towards.It's not easy letting go is it?
Evolving has a lot to do with the types of paintings I do and their depth. This painting above is one example of my portraits that are continually evolving and getting deeper and deeper the more I do them. Amazing as I look back at previous paintings just a couple of years ago on how much I've learned and how far I've come. This painting was a special order for an old friend of mine back home, and I wanted her to look a certain way and I hope that I achieved that look..while painting her, it was easy to get lost in the spirit of the work and really contemplate so many things. Probably why I get philosophical about the direction I want my near future to go. I've been thinking a lot about it.
Thinking about new things I can do with my photography as I seem to have let that go a bit yet I have about 10,000 or more pictures on my computer of mine. How can I use what I already have in new ways.
One thing I'm not letting go of is my teaching...I really love it and love meeting all the students that I have been blessed to work with from around the world. Whether I'm working online or in person, it's the students that help fuel my fire for continuing on this path.
What is fueling your fire lately? Do you have anything in your life/world/community that you need to let go of so you can run faster towards what's really important to you?
It's a soul searching time of year and one with so many possibilities.
Have a wonderful day, week, month, year...and as always, thank you for stopping by!!
Artfully Yours,
Jodi Ohl
2 comments :
SO excited to have won this class with you. What a great birthday present and terrific way to kick off the New Year! Thanks for the giveaway and the chance to win it!
Hi Sweet Jodi! I can relate so much to your post...the New Year almost feels a bit like "spring cleaning" to me...time to toss out the things that just aren't working, clean up the things that are, and create lots of new things...even if it includes sprucing up things we already have! :) I have certainly tried to "do it all" with my business in past years and have had to let go of some things. I created my own line of scone mixes one year (like the ones I used to serve at my tea room), designed the packaging, and just loved them...everyone else did,too. But, I realized I just couldn't produce those and create all the things that my heart wanted to...so I chose to let them go. It can be hard, but usually all the other things will really bloom to their full potential when we do! This portrait is one of my favorites! Hugs to you!
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