The Magic Change Purse

"It is essential... that discipline should not be practiced like a rule imposed on oneself from the outside, but that it becomes an expression of one's own will; that it is felt as pleasant, and that one slowly accustoms oneself to a kind of behavior which one would eventually miss, if one stopped practicing it."
~~ Eric Fromm

I have this little, woven change purse that I carry around. Didn't cost much, don't think about it much. Just a vehicle for carrying around change. No big thing.

The other day, I brought it out to put out money for a tip and someone said, "ah, the magic change purse. No matter how little money there is, that little change purse always seems to have just a little bit more."

Its all a matter of perception, I suppose. There's me who knows just how finite the funds are and then there's everyone else -- who only sees that little bit extra I manage to coax out when its needed. And who am I to contradict their perception? Especially since that perception brings with it a feeling of financial security. Not a bad thing at all, I think.

And what does this have to do with the quote?

Well, I've been thinking about creative recovery and how to move myself in the direction I need to go but more about that later. Discipline as an expression of my will is one of the concepts that goes along with that.

GULP -- I've been Tagged

Freebird tagged me a few days ago. Its a kind of challenge that gets passed from blog to blog -- the idea being to tell you six random things about myself. So, here goes.

1. The picture I did, Seated Female, has been compared to the work of Aubrey Beardsley. I (sheepishly) admit that I didn't know the artist and actually had to look him up online, in Wikipedia.  To save you the trouble, I've added a link to his work here.

2. Its only been recently that I've found the courage to actually speak to other artists -- being self taught, I've always felt as though I'm not good enough, unworthy somehow. Took me quite awhile to realize that this was my mother's influence in the background -- the voice in my head that's always said, 'yeah, but can you make money at it?' As though doing something I love wasn't reason enough.

3. I'm a bit of a perfectionist. More than a bit my family tells me. My 14 year old daughter, "She Who Must Not be Thwarted",  takes great glee in taking and saving my mistakes so she can bring them out later and laugh at them. I look on it as learning humility. :-)

4. My teenagers actually prefer playing board games with my husband and me to watching television or playing on computers. This is new. I don't expect to last. Its awesome and fun -- and irritating all at the same time. Because all of that takes time that I need for other things as well, like art. Life is a balancing act. I remind myself that I love my children and childhood is not a permanent condition. That helps in the decision-making process.

5. There are absolutely no possibilities for art courses in my geographic area -- I have searched. So, I found a correspondence course which I investigated. I thought it would be laughed at, again taking a lot of courage to ask, and found out that its actually well respected and a good grounding. So, I'm doing it. Just sent the first lesson in for review. I'm hoping this will help me move over into painting. I'm very interested in portraits especially.

6. I have white hair -- started turning when I was in my 20's. Its genetic and what they call glass white -- which means it doesn't accept die all that easily. At team meetings, which we do by video conference, my hair is the brightest thing in the room -- how embarrassing is that! 

Now the rules:

1. Link to the person or persons who tagged you. (done)
2. Post the rules on your blog. (done)
3. Write six random things about yourself. (done)
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them. (really not sure I have the courage to do that!)
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog. (see #4)
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up. (done)

EDM Challenge #2: Draw a Lamp

In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present. (Sir Francis Bacon)

He whose face gives no light, shall never become a star. (William Blake)

This the light that hangs on the bedroom wall next to my bed just above the nightstand. Took two months to get this hung on the wall mostly because there were other things that needed doing first.

Reading by the harsh glare of the overhead light, knowing that I'd have to get up and turn it out (all the way across the room), just didn't work for me. So maybe I'm a touch lazy?

What's on the nightstand at the moment? International Artist, which just arrived a day or two ago featuring one of my absolute favorite artists. Eldest (his parents are publishers). And a little brown teddy bear named Peanut that my daughter gave me as a birthday present.

Not a Drawing But Had to Share

An ivory tower is a fine place as long as the door is open.
~~Darby Bannard

Had to share this with you. Just had to --

Two firsts in our garden.

This is the cactus we call Mr. Big. Now, we've had this cactus for five years. Five years. Doesn't do anything but grow straight up. Cut it off, it makes two branches that grow straight up. Thick. Tall. Its about going on three feet tall this year. I think of it as old reliable.

Well, wonder of wonders, Mr. Big flowered this year for the first time -- at midnight! So, I rushed out in my pajamas to take pictures of Mr. Big's first ever flowers. Straight from the garden to you.


The other first is our lemon tree. We've been nursing this tree along for a year or so now.

Lemons take several months to mature -- longer if the neighborhood kids pick them off and throw them at each other when you're at work ... which is what happened to the last lemons the tree tried to grow.

Since we moved into our house (and brought the tree with us), the lemon tree is trying to grow lemons again! Here's a picture of its first effort. If all goes well, the lemon will be ready to pick in February. In Israel, the tree can put out lemons year round so hopefully, this will be the first of many.

As for art work, I made a kind of ah ha realization. I have an old set of computer speakers (with an amplifier) which I plugged into my CD player. Now I have music in my studio -- I wanted to try this without spending money before I go looking for a stereo system. Music plus my computer chair (which is incredibly ugly but also incredibly comfortable) makes the studio my favorite place to be.

Time flies away now when I'm there ... and I got two projects done for my art course (homework). Also did another EDM challenge but I need light to photograph, so I'll add that in the morning.