Leanne Shawler, Artist

Well, it seems that the last video has been posted for the Ticket to Venice class, which makes me very sad because the whole experience was quite magical.  If you haven't signed up you still can, all the posts are in chronological order and the instructions are neatly kept on a separate page, and the chatter is still active on the private Yahoo group. The videos of Venice are just gorgeous, so inspiring. And you saw my book so you know how wicked awesome it is. I needed a small journal for a dedicated project, and so I went back to Mary Ann's Full Tilt Boogie (and her class is on sale!) and created a journal using the third binding she taught. And I finished sewing it while watching Laurence Olivier's Hamlet . This is the binding ... it's called Triple Chain stitch. The covers... Paper Source paper covered the  back board of a paper pad The inside consists of old ledger paper and canvas paper. (it's primed canvas) security envelope (turn...

61. muscles stretched 62. finding expression in art 63. all of us snuggled on the couch 64. cold inside, warm outside 65. God's love 66. night-time walk 67. oppressive air turning into the promise of rain 68. leaves dancing in the air above the street 69. the bus I needed to catch was 5 minutes late #madeit 70. perspective 71. crow waving a paper bag while on top of a lamp post 72. "how important is this game?" the question still being asked about football decades after that episode of The Bob Newhart Show aired (giving us the giggles) 73. rain 74. the excitement of a BHAG 75. teen praising "Cry Me a River" 76. walking in soft steady rain without an umbrella 77. falling asleep listening to the rain fall 78. English weather 79. Laura's talk 80. punching holes for a new journal 81. finish making journal Joining in Ann Voskamp's:

Posting a day late. The previous weekend (not the one just gone) was a cold one: the kind where you curl up under blankets and read and eat too much. Even in Southern California. The kind where you're congested from the heating and tired because a good night's sleep is interrupted. The week before was a week where I dutifully wrote down a handful of gifts. I couldn't see the gifts God gave me. My world was blah. It got darker. Something rather unpleasant happened. The little black cloud over my head threatened a downpour. I read a blog post about finding still points in my day and the world suddenly turned upside down. I remembered my astonishment that our tropical hibiscus is flowering in the midst of a cold snap. I recalled the beauty of watching Russian Caravan tea leaves meander to the bottom of the clear teapot. The little black cloud dried up and vanished. I felt God nudge me, remind me and say: "see? You don't need to concentrate so hard on l...

20. a friend's good news 21. appointments made 22. hot pink cloud strands 23. behold 24. ocean air 25. delicate eucalyptus blossoms and leaves 26. sinus headache almost all day 27. chanting without accompaniment 28. breathing 29. warm day 30. blustery day 31. enough food 32. woolen sweaters and scarf 33. birdie getting comfortable in the long grass 34. laughter with Dan 35. closing prayer service 36. reminded of a Taize chant "soften my heart" 37. it's a little warmer Joining in Ann Voskamp's:

By the end of last week, I needed to seek pastures outside of my house, the gym and the grocery store. I received an email from the San Diego Museum of Art about a drawing class Friday afternoon. I ummed and ahhed and then decided to go for it. By that time I had my Word for The Year (abide) and I wanted to illustrate it and be a part of the Abbey of the Arts Photo Party for the month. So I went early and wandered around Balboa Park, where the Museum is situated and just enjoyed being there. No pressure. No rush. I visited the Timken Museum of Art and gazed upon their icon collection. I bought a few slides with the hope that I can trace from the projected images and write those icons. We'll see.  I need a ton more practice first. It was a fabulous winter's day. The gloves, scarf and coat came off pretty quickly once I arrived. I sat by a fountain in one of the gardens, got out my Anglican prayer beads and prayed. a sense of peace and delight ...

I thought I would share the process of how I came to choose a word for the year.  For the last few years, I have watched folks online select a word that will last them the whole year. I'll be honest, I thought it was somewhat ridiculous to select just one word for an entire year. Who knows what will come in that year? When that word will restrict or block an opportunity to grow in a new way? I'd already chosen my word, but I was encouraged when Liz Lamoreux shared that choosing a word isn't permanent , and that's already proven to be the case. More on that , later. scorning the trend It's not the first time I've scorned a trend or popular thing.  Read Annie Lamott's  Bird By Bird ? The best book on writing out there? As a newbie author I listened to authors describe it and thought, no thanks . (And FYI, some years later, I read one of her later memoirs, thought she was absolutely brilliant and glommed everything she wrote, including Bird By Bird .) ...

Last year saw me finish the Joy Dare challenge in excess of my goal: 1,134 although it still doesn't feel like quite enough. The last two gifts of last year were these: 1,113. thick frost on roof tops 1,134. lonely seagull close by And because I want to be sure I achieve at least one thousand gifts again, I've reset the count for 2013 (and then I'll do some math at the end of a grand total). Here are the gifts for the past week: 1. higher pulp oj is actually quite good (I usually drink no pulp) 2. talking to Mum 3. patch of teal blue sky 4. chair pose - youch! 5. I  have my word for the year: abide (am posting about how I came to this word later in the week) 6. dog dragging his blanket around (he needed rescuing) 7. warm sun 8. office building lights against dark blue twilight sky 9. dangling bauble shadow 10. little girl collecting large leaves 11. praying with prayer beads by the fountain 12. sketching in the art gallery 13. palm berrie...

Jennifer Fulwiler asks us to pick a saint for the year . I don't seem to rate a full on saint. Last year was a blessed (Bl. John of Parma), and so was this one. Before I clicked on the link, I prayed that God would lead me to a saint that would encourage me to spend more time with God, being prayerful, still, listening and all that. Pretty sure God has a sense of humor. Because I ended up with Blessed Margaret of Castello . Here's her bio : Born a blind, lame, deformed, hunchback midget {in 1247} When she was six years old, her noble parents walled her up beside a chapel; she could not get out, but could attend Mass and receive the Sacraments. After 14 years of imprisonment, her parents took her to a shrine to pray for a cure. When none occurred, they abandoned her. She became a lay Dominican, and spent her life in prayer and charity. When she died {13 April, 1320}, the townspeople thronged her funeral, and demanded she be buried in a tomb inside the church. The pr...