Your Creative Heritage
Finding Your Intentions
Close up of Joshua Tree Sunshine - Janis Commentz
Greetings! Second week of January and it’s been cold, COLD, and windy. However, today I am sitting in the lovely Mojave, sunshine!
M I N D B O D Y S O U L S P I R I T
Encouragement
Recently, a great many changes have taught us to look beyond our small communities to the larger, global picture; we are interwoven!
This month, I was invited to participate in a local exhibit, Faces & Friends, with eight other Joshua Tree artists. I realize my choices reflect a composite of who we are---no matter what part of the world we live in. Included are portraits of my mother, our daughter, an older wiser artist, a very talented musician, and a lovely friend. These will be included at the next exhibit at the Beatnik Lounge - Opening January 13, 2024.
We need each other:
Past generations and ancestors
Our children, nieces, nephews, future generations
Artists
Older voices who can offer sage advice
How have voices from your life influenced your vision? What are your first memories of creativity? Did family or friends invent and inspire? How did these talents/skills help you to understand beauty?
Did color sharpen your intellect?
Did your body move with music? Did you dance when you painted?
Did beauty lift your spirit?
Did joy lift your soul?
Today, what are your passions? dreams of travel? A desire to learn a new art form or skill?
I have promised to share a bit of my Painting Workshop Lesson Plans—that sounds too academic! I’d like to share the fun of getting to know our goals as we begin painting.
When you begin a new activity—yoga, baseball, a knitting project—what are your goals? You don’t have to know each step, but your general reason for coming to the yoga mat, a baseball park, a basket with yarn and needles.
What is your intention?
To see? to draw? to learn to mix colors?
What is it that draws you to paint the desert? the coast? the mountains? A vase of flowers?
Or to paint at all?
Do you hope to express yourself? record a moment in time?
Do you view painting as a soothing, restorative activity?
Do you just want to get on with it and apply color, creating a desirable image?
Do you experience the tactile joy of the materials? pencils, brushes, the surface of your canvas or paper.
I ask participants to set an intention for our time together. Painting is a practice! When you show up to “play,” your brain becomes familiar with a pattern of activities and motions.
I encourage YOU complete the statement:
“I came here with the intention of ________________________________________________________________.”
Then we begin the (not work) PLAY of getting to know more about paint, composition, color, techniques, and fun topics that arise from being in community.
This week I ask you to ponder these questions. Begin to collect supplies for your intended activity. We all need beauty, calm, kindness.
We need a moment to be still, to ponder. Give yourself grace as you consider learning new things.
Or as you walk through tough times.
It sounds cliché, but breathe. Drink a glass of water! As I write this I am pouring myself a quenching glass from the Brita filter. In the desert, we know hydration is crucial, even during the winter!
M I N D B O D Y S O U L S P I R I T
Encouragement
Let color bring you joy today. Wear a scarf, grab a mug, light a candle in a favorite color!
Let your body move with music! Whether it’s Chopin or Earth, Wind and Fire!
Think on something beautiful to lift your spirit. A favorite poem, painting, pet, relationship, memory.
What will bring your soul joy? Maybe not chicken soup.
This week I am absolutely finding a bit of respite watching All Creatures Great and Small on PBS Masterpiece. And if you’ve ever been to the Yorkshire Dales… ah me… breathtaking. Sensibility, drama with an uplift. The memoir(s) by James Herriot are a must in my estimation. My parents adored the 1978 to 1990 version, but the new PBS Masterpiece production is excellent - Season 4 is out this month. All Creatures Great and Small, Season 4 | Episode 1: Broodiness (pbs.org)
Cold weather is not my favorite season. I’m thinking about the sweetness of the carrots that grow in the cold, dark soil and the lovely iris that will bloom after winter! Spring awaits and in the meantime, remember often fun does not happen unless you plan it! Plan January joy.
I’d love to hear from you!
Visit my website.
Inspired by each of you,
Janis