Leanne Shawler, Artist

Small things can be so precious. This week there was a lot of small things noticed. As well, I celebrated some things that didn't happen (I didn't spill paint!) to how I felt in a particular moment. 821. chair yoga 822. laughing 823. creating 824. not spilling paint on carpet 825. surprised that I missed a day of writing down gifts 826. smell of ginger on a summer evening 827. ants! #^$#%# ants! 828. white chocolate frappe 829. white skirt 830. white vinegar 831. Heart Light affirmations 832. lisianthus 833. tired pup 834. dog wriggling into a forbidden (to dogs) room on his back 835. catching a breath of a cool still morning 836. choir 837. fixing a mixed media piece -- waking up and knowing how 838. dog scattering weed seeds with his head Am linking this up to  Ann Voskamp's  "multitudes on Mondays" (or will as soon as it goes up!)

A week of record  hot temperatures here has made looking for gifts a little harder. It's difficult to get up the energy to look (or do anything, really). 800. carpenter bee 801. public transit woes 802. cool cloudy morning 803. not getting a chair at seniors yoga (I am not a senior!) 804. the space between breaths 805. dragonfly 806. For Ann , for Liz, for Jennifer and Jennifer: speaking to me (via their blogs) of story and not waiting for all the pieces 807. cooking breakfast with a friend 808. chat with Chris 809. being a choir robe mannequin 810. overcast  but sweaty 811. spicy chicken wings 812. cool air in the morning 813. lisianthus rebloomed a bit wilty from the heat. More buds on it though! 814. red flock all over white shirt 815. early morning ant swarm in bathroom 816. chanting 817. man-cold ( link to YouTube video of Brit TV skit. Trust me. Hilarious.) 818. cleaning up my art room 819. dog's big eyes looking up at me 820. updated co...

I had planned today to create this journal. The morning was a bit of an emotional roller coaster after a night of little to no sleep. I also had a couple of church tasks to do ... And then I thought to myself: making this journal will make you feel better . And it did. Enjoy. It started out looking like this (on the bottom): And here's the end result:  The cover was a bit too threadbare (don't you love how worn and beaten-up it is?) So I ran some beaded ribbon down the side where it was the worst (you can still see a wee gap on the left), and there's some seam binding I'd picked up from somewhere that was just the right color ... I used some red flocked paper for the end papers (and my white shirt is all over it.) And re-used some of the album frames, which I filled with vintage wallpaper as a base. I'm finally using the good stuff that I treasure. The other pages are watercolor paper, and this is going to be m...

Step One It started out as three words during a meditation while on retreat in October 2011. We'd been asked to either reflect on what our calling in life might be -- or to reflect on what it is, if we had one. At the time, I fell into the latter category. "Tell your story." Those were the words, coming after I'd stopped writing fiction and had even finished mourning that the fiction I'd been writing since the age of eight was no longer for me. I fought those words, not sure they came from God at all. (His other message that week was: "Be present.") Was it ego that wanted me back writing? I groaned at the thought of telling my story. The amount of vulnerability it would take. I really wasn't sure I wanted to go there. I went for a walk, and argued with God. I knelt in the chapel and argued with God. It was a day and a half of wrestling until I was able to have a spiritual direction session. I was given the wisdom that I didn't have to s...

My apologies -- this week the list contains a few items that I've chosen not to share. Health stuff is a little TMI for a blog so I'm just gonna leave that stuff out. I guess I've discovered the limit to how real I can be here. 780. fast transit into airport and thru security 781. coming home 782. online grocery order 783. [redacted] 784. bright orange sunset 785. new gloria (choir practice is back!) 786. [redacted] 787. coloring in 788. possible clue by four 789. starting to write 790. walking properly again (blisters healing) 791. [redacted] 792. remembering to make dinner in the slow cooker just in time 793. playing with paint 794. getting food bags ready 795. pizza 796. pink flowers 797. sweat dripping off my hair while in choir 798. respecting my sabbatical 799. ice cold ice block Am linking this up to  Ann Voskamp's  "multitudes on Mondays" (or will as soon as it goes up!)

Recently, I complained about how I'd replaced the busyness of paid work with the busyness of not-working.  That all my schedule-making to make space for intentional listening for God's plan for me had kept me busy in the transitioning out, but not the transitioning in. Have you ever felt that the time is gone before you'd even started what you hoped or planned to do? One morning last week, I took a step back. I have a number of "honey do" tasks still waiting my attention. I have gained proficiency with the caulking gun and sort-of-not-really with spackle paste in an effort to prove that I am still a productive member of society -- or at least this household. I went so far that morning as to retrieve tools from the garage for the next "honey do" task. But something drew me to the back patio door. Ah, I remember what it was. I was a dog short, so I went looking for him. Sure enough, he was under the tree sniffing away. And I felt the soft br...

757. pretty closing trope (sort of a refrain thingy at the end of Lauds) 758. art in the morning 759. mixing my own icon paint colors 760. choosing to stop and be on the back patio before the heat hit 761. and spotting a single spiderweb strand across the width of the backyard 762. and spotting clear skunk footprints on our patio deck 763. and, alas, running back and forth to find a functional camera to take pictures of the same 764. dogs sunning themselves while I read, and drink tea 765. smooth white ginger pear tea 766. a "Hairspray" worthy haircut and style (so I could see what to do when dressing up to go out or to church). Can I confess I sorta kinda liked it? (Although I'd never in a million years put that much work into my hair.) 767. a dress that fits (the last time I tried it on it was super-tight) 768. being able to sign up for new classes 769. dripping with sweat 770. airplane breakfast potatoes 771. 24k gold on building top is it obvious it...

hibiscus @ the zoo A short list this month. I'm sure as soon as this is published, I will find more. The theme this month seems to be living with compassion, whether it be talking to those who vehemently disagree with you, saving unwanted lives, and being kind to yourself. this one missed last month's list by minutes. A story of a Chinese woman who rescued 30 babies from the trash, while making her living going through the trash; found via Ann Voskamp. Have Lunch with Your Enemy by Jennifer Louden; found via Liz Lamoreaux's blog. Be sure to watch the TED video she links to at the end of her post: it contains guidelines for such conversations. Emily at Chatting at the Sky posted this as one of her weekend blessings. And lastly, if you're looking for a way to bring a creative practice (art, writing, photography, etc) into your life and need support cultivating that practice, check out Chickadee Road's Fall Studio Sessions.  One of the leader is Liz Lamor...