Leanne Shawler, Artist

I have just finished another portrait (number 28 out of 52!) but before I share it, I thought I would join in this blog along about what I have learned over the past spring. Smelly Downton Abbey costumes? Before I start, I did say I would look for and find the article about wearing the same clothing for a month (one of the things Emily learned about Downton Abbey was that they never washed the costumes). I finally found it. It's more to do with bathing (or not) versus changing underwear (including camisoles etc) every day (or not). Here's the link , although admittedly for Tudor times. What Everyone Should Know about the Most Rev. Michael Curry We all watched the royal wedding, and for an Episcopalian what was striking was the sheer lack of research done in who Michael Curry is. He's the head of the Episcopal Church, the Presiding Bishop, sort of like an archbishop. Yes, the Archbishop of Canterbury is the head of the entire Anglican Communion (to which the Episcopa...

One: I don't need to draw a face to paint it. I can just dive right in, even with ink. Annie Hamman's class Close Up workshop gave me such confidence! (The class is still available as a self study) Two: I learned that while I love how long I can work with oils before the paint isn't moveable any more, what I don't love about it is the smell (even with using odorless mineral spirits) and the environmental impact. Open acrylics are supposed to be similar so I might give that a try... Madonna Oils, from Annie Hamman's Close Up Workshop class Three: Grief takes a chunk out of you, even when you're not consciously thinking about it. Dad died at the beginning of summer --and my mental acuity is just not there. Of course, I am thinking about making art a lot, because life is just too short not to do the things you love to do. I'm not even sure I am ready to monetize that, but I am moving towards it slowly... Four: My church has invited us to do a spiri...

emily p. freeman runs this  link-up once a quarter. And of course I don't keep track of new things I learn like she tells us to, so here's my best go at it. 1. Life is too short. It just is. If you have lost an immediate family member, you know this. It has been causing shifts in my thinking. 2. My feet remember the uneven paths of my childhood. It sounds like the first line of a novel. But it's true. There isn't a sidewalk for a block and half from my childhood home to the local shopping center. My feet knew the way. 3. If you neglect an orchid, it will bloom profusely by itself. Bonus: you will also ruin your assistant rector's sermon as he used a metaphor about carefully tending orchids. Don't worry, he saw the picture of the orchids on Facebook and worked his way around it. I got this last year for my birthday. It got soaked in the monsoonal rains we had this winter, the roots rotting -- and all I did for it was empty out the water from its contain...

When I meet with my spiritual director, the first question he asks me are: what are the fruits? Sabbath is so important. I've just started disconnecting from Facebook on Sundays. I figure POTUS will tweet or sign an executive order whether or not I am there to witness it and share my outrage. So far, it has been sanity-giving. I've been considering extending it to Saturdays for Lent. (Although I've already been on Facebook this morning, oops.) Meditating. This month's prompt as part of one little word was to take on a daily practice. I figured that my initial idea of praying through frustration and anger would be a much needed daily practice but it has come down to a simpler (and yet difficult) practice: closing my eyes and breathing and observing thoughts and feelings rather than chasing them down the rabbit hole. Watercolor. After completing the Ever After course run by Tamara LaPorte, I determined that watercolor is all very well but not for me. T...

Emily over at chatting at the sky , is now doing quarterly link-ups for what we've learned each quarter. Previously, it was each month and before I knew it the month was over and I hadn't gotten around to posting. So, here's hoping quarterly does the trick! 1.  I love painting intuitively. I took Flora Bowley 's Bloom True-course this fall and finished a painting that just glows with color. But the more important thing was that the act of painting (by making a series of marks, grooving, just seeing where the color and marks take you) brings me joy, even when I'm angry or upset. Putting paint on a canvas really makes a difference. Am wondering if this should really be my meditation practice... 2. Being open to other worship experiences can bring clarity It helped me to remember what is important about worship. In a short time span, I attended an interfaith labyrinth service, a UCC church and three other Episcopal churches. One of the latter is St. Gr...

1. I can still obsess over something.  Like, really obsess, lose all track of time forget to eat obsess. I spent the Memorial Day weekend emptying out most of my art room so I could reorganize the furniture to better do what I now want to do art-wise. The whole weekend, until I nearly dropped with exhaustion and then pushed through it. (I finally stopped Monday afternoon for a shower, movie and dinner out.) I still have some tweaking to do because I ran out of time, so the grand reveal will have to wait. 2. This icon of Mary (follow the link, I couldn't find a public domain image of it) is one of the oldest surviving icons from the 5th century (the 6th century saw iconoclasm and the destruction of icons). Its tradition is that this is the first icon Luke painted. This exact one. Although most date it to the 5th century, the nuns claim it has been carbon dated to 100 AD, give or take. I find her beautiful and haunting and she's going to be the next icon I write...

Here's what I learned in April. My plans are not God's plans. Okay, technically this fell on the first of May but as I do these so rarely, I figured you wouldn't hold that against me. I had it all planned out: a relaxing cup of tea before finishing packing and preparing my room for departure and then heading off to Eucharist (I was on retreat here). I am enjoying my cup when the Mission bells start, shortly followed by the monastery's bells. Hmm, I think, I wonder if Br. Timothy is checking the clapper again? No, it was the one day all week when Eucharist was at 9 instead of 11:30am because Sunday. So much for the lazy cup of tea and serene packing. Fr. Adam's sermon was all about going with God's flow of life instead of imposing our will upon God/life. Yes, God, I heard you the first time. A lack of fresh air and not sitting with nature leads to me feeling depressed and unworthy. It's amazing how 15 minutes sitting in the shade and enjoying a cool Sa...

Which sounds like the lyrics of a song but here goes: 1) When you upgrade to OS 10.10.3 and PhotoShop Elements (6.0) crashes on trying to open jpg files to edit. What to do? Drag the files to the app icon and voila! Edit and save to your heart’s content. 2) Birthdays can last for more than one day. Sometimes up to two weeks! I have the cakes (and toasted marshmallow milkshake ) to prove it! 3) I had to be shown how to use tumblr. My Computer Science degree is officially useless. 4) Texting during the Great Silence probably counts as breaking the silence. So does, I learned, reading and writing in your journal. One is supposed to be still as well as silent. our room at Mt. Calvary monastery 5) Reading in a group "From Teilhard to Omega", a collection of essays edited by Ilia Delio. Teilhard was a Jesuit whose writings were banned but appear to have recently sprouted wings. The interesting thing I learned was that Teilhard's central theology i...