Misty Mawn

To the New Year

With what stillness at last
you appear in the valley
your first sunlight reaching down
to touch the tips of a few
high leaves that do not stir
as though they had not noticed
and did not know you at all
then the voice of a dove calls
from far away in itself
to the hush of the morning

so this is the sound of you
here and now whether or not
anyone hears it this is
where we have come with our age

 our knowledge such as it is

and our hopes such as they are
invisible before us
untouched and still possible

 ~ W. S. Merwin

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Wishing you a very Happy 2012!

 Although I can't really get a grasp on the fact it's 2012 already, {I swear it was just the year 2000 last week} it feels good to have a fresh start, a clean slate, a new beginning of sorts...

 "We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives… not looking for flaws, but for potential."  - Ellen Goodman

This year I hope to carry the feeling of being boundless in my heart, & look for potential in as much as I can, as I wade along in the brand new year! 
.   .   .   .   .    .    .    .   .    .  

Thank you to all of you that have already signed up for my OPEN STUDIO WORKSHOP! I am so grateful to have you join me for this experience. Thank you. 

There is still time to sign up if you are looking for ways to connect with your artistic/creative self. The course will be up for an entire year after the five weeks of lessons are over.  

I will be taking a break from here until spring to concentrate on my on-line course.

 Until then... take good care!

A big HUGE congratulations to......

Linda Fazzary! 

Your name was picked for the giveaway!  :) 

{I used theTrue Random Number Generator , there is no way I could ever pick out of all of your sweet comments.  thank you all so very much for commenting!}

                                                 

Registration for my upcoming online workshop is now open!!!!

I hope you are making time for yourself during this very busy time of year.  I find I have to try a little harder to keep balance during these hectic months.  

It's just lately that I have been feeling more in tune with myself.  I seem to have lost myself for awhile.  I realize just how easy that is to do in this world.  I was on autopilot and I kind of knew it, but I just didn't know how to turn it off.  Some aspects of my life were feeling a little flat.   I have been trying to get back into being more mindful, making better food choices, not letting negative thoughts linger about, and trying to stretch my mind & body more.   In some ways it is definitely more work than just being on autopilot, but so worth the effort.  I feel better, I feel more connected with others, my mind feels clearer, and I feel more able to share positive energy with those around me.  

Some of the things I have been loving lately, 

listening to talks like this, this tea,  listening to these books on cd with my family, painting gifts for Christmas presents, losing most every game I play with my children, walking in the woods, this cake,  yoga, and preparing for my upcoming workshop! 

What have you been loving/doing for yourself lately? 

Finally... I will be offering another online workshop this January... what better way to start off a brand new year?!  :) 

Go Here  for  all the details.

I do hope you will join me!  I can't believe it's been almost a whole year since my last online workshop.  I truly enjoyed the last one so, so very much.  It was an amazing experience for me, and I learned so much...even as the instructor.  :)

I am so excited about my upcoming workshop, OPEN STUDIO,  &  I plan on pouring my whole self into it,  hoping it will be a wonderful, artistic learning experience for all those that take part.  

  I am giving away one free spot in the class.  All you have to do to enter is leave a comment here with your email address.

 I will announce the lucky one on the day registration opens (December 5th). 

~

Other very exciting news?  My book was listed on Amazon as one of the Best Books of 2011!  Wow!!!  I can't even put into words how happy this makes me!!!   Check it out!!! 

it's autumn now and my favorite tree has lost all of its  leaves...

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness,
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

~Mary Oliver 

it's the time of year when i feel the most melancholy. a time of ebbing and tucking away until spring.  i miss summer so much already, but i do love the autumn and all it brings. without autumn and winter perhaps i wouldn't love summer as much as i do.  i couldn't image living without each of the four seasons, they all have something i love and look forward to about them. 

i finally feel like i am getting into some sort of  a groove in my studio since taking the summer off and teaching several workshops. the piece above is still a work in progess. it's a larger piece for me and will take some time to finish, i'll post another image once it's finished. 

i love this photo of my mom & boy who just turned 8!  they both celebated their birthday's together last weekend. aren't the sweet?! 

 ...and what perfect time to insert my favorite joke:  

what did zero say to eight?  

nice belt. 

:) 

art & soul, portland was wonderful...  i loved seeing some of my dearest friends again & i loved all of my students, and feel so grateful to each and every single one!  here is a small sample of some of their work.  such a fabulous variety that came from my mixed media sampler class! 

other news around here...

I'll be the guest on the Artistically Speaking blog radio show!    To be honest, I am such an introvert that this kind of thing really scares me, but for some reason, unbeknownst to me now, I said yes.  So with fear and all into it I go, closing my eyes and hoping i soar!  Hope you'll come by and listen!  ;) 

I have finally updated my Etsy shop, adding a few originals and a few...get this...prints!  wahoo!  I plan on having more and more prints now that I am getting the hang of it.  I love these prints and the paper they are printed on.  

I am preparing for my next online workshop.  I was really, really hoping to be able to pull one off before the holidays, but alas, life would just not allow for it... so it will start at the very beginning of next year.  the perfect thing to start off a brand new year!  I cannot wait & hope you will join me.  I will be sure to post all the details here soon!  

Tomorrow I am taking part in another race, this time a 5K...and as a zombie. this should be interesting... 

squam

i just spent the last few hours wandering online, looking, searching, craving, & hoping for more photos, words, faces, captured moments, remnants, anything from time spent at squam by my fellow squamies.  as i go through these motions i feel bliss from the inside out from my time spent with so many inspiring people.  i have fallen madly in love with squam all over again.  this was my first time back since the very first squam years ago.  it was so, so, so, so  good to be back.  

i learned a lot while in the woods of new hampshire,  about myself, about others, about life.  when driving away i truly felt like i had been transformed in some great way.  i am still trying to get a grasp on how or what it means... it will come, i just need to let it ferment a little longer, while my heart & head are both swirling with feelings of renewal. 

there are blog posts coming in from others out there... i hope you will check them out.

 i love what Bridget wrote under the beautiful group photo she posted:   "And here’s the most interesting part of this picture: I knew none of these ladies before Wednesday."  

That's pretty much how it works.  One minute you are arriving, finding yourself in the woods, far from the securities & comforts of your everyday life... you set your belongings down,  say hi, take a deep breath and think,  'where am i and why...?'  then something happens without effort, you settle in, you let go, and your heart opens wide. wider.   before you can even get a good grasp on anything that is happening you find yourself heading back down the same dirt trail that brought you into all of this.  but your arms, heart,and head are so full... filled love, new friendships, awesome art, great potential, beautiful collected memories, and so much that is left unspoken... where words just can't convey what you feel.

 here are my beautiful, - uber-talented housemates {Alix, Diana, & Susy} & me.  

me & my roomie, Susy, i just adore her to pieces!

 ...and then just like that, here you are, back home,  sitting in front of a screen, surrounded by all the treasured comforts you were torn to leave, wondering where you were, trying to remember every little detail, wanting so much to get back to that place, like a really amazing dream that keeps pulling you in.   how long can you keep it fresh...

i hope a really long time. 

there are many out there that gracefully tattooed a piece of my heart while at squam...  to all of you, i lift my glass and say thank you... you know who you are.  

{and to those that i spent the night with on the magical miss pixie's 40th birthday...  well, i will treasure that night forever}.  

i made you all a post squam mix here.

 and would you look at all the amazing work my students created. {i taught an icon class this year.}   holy wow!  please double click it to get a good look!  i love how each and every icon is different.  each is so beautiful!  thank you to all of my students for being there and sharing this time with me.  

 thank you elizabeth.  thank you so much!  

home again, but packing up for my next adventure.  where there will be new friends to meet, old friends to share new memories with, and more stories to gather and bring back home with me before i am ready. 

when i return i will tell you about my upcoming online course, prints for sale, and more.  the latest issue of Somerset Studio has an article I wrote about my last online class experience, paired with more beautiful artwork from some of the students.  i do hope you'll check it out!

until next time... 

take care & be well. 

last time i wrote school had just ended and summer was officially here.   deep heavnly sigh.  take me back to that day, i want to do it all over again! 

and now summer is packing up all her belongings, while fall stands by the doorway, tapping her foot impatiently.  i love the changing of the seasons, but i hate to see summer go, it breaks my heart every single time she leaves.  what a grand summer this was...

there was very little time spent in my studio this summer, as i wanted it to be. and yet it was a full summer, which made it fly by even faster...  with soccer camp, my bff from high school's wedding, a visit back home to Pennsylvania, visits from dear friends, art camp, lots of cooking/baking, hours of playing, and running... lots and lots of running.  

what there wasn't much of was being online and i must say, i really needed that this summer.  of course i still checked in here and there, but a lot less than ever before.

 back to this running thing, when i say running, i mean the kind of running where you sweat, pant, and maybe even swear a little under your breath while doing it.  not the running from this to that kind of running, although i guess we did that, too.

i find it rather amusing that i am writing this  -  i took up running over the summer.   never. ever. ever.  would i have guessed that this would be something i would or could do in my whole life.  when my friends would ask me to run with them i would always smirk and adamantly say... "i am not a runner"!  and now... now what can i say? i give myself full permission to just go with it, permission to change my mind, permission to be whatever it is i want to be, and for now... crazy as it sounds, i am a runner - of sorts.  ;) 

 how important i am finding it to be that we MUST give ourselves permission to change course or accept new ways to thinking/doing when they present themselves.  it wasn't like i planned this anyhow, my daughter and a few of her friends all signed up together for the women's 4 miler race.  so i signed up, too.. wanting to be there with her.  i figured i could walk it, if not run a little, ha.  training started in May and so, i joined in.  four months later i am very proud to say i ran the whole 4 miles in 35 minutes!  not bad for someone that is not a runner?!  ;)  

forever more, when i hear this song,  i will always think of the nights spent at the track, lapping around and around and around and around... trying to get somewhere. 

race day love! <3

as i reflect back on this summer i think it was pretty monumental in a lot of ways...

my daughter turned ten.

 a whole decade already.  i cannot even get a grasp on this idea that my children are growing up as quickly as they are.

we celebrated our 15 year wedding anniversary...

my boy learned how to ride his bike... faster than i can run!  :) 

we spent a long weekend in one of my favorite places... nyc. 

we hiked a few trails...

 

our little ruby girl is growing, growing, growing...

soon to be a cat - not a kitten.

my girl went to her very first concert.   American Idol... where she got to meet almost the entire group of performers, including Casey, her favorite. he even patted her on the head, which caused her to burst into happy tears...  oh to be young and star-struck.

and here we are...back to school already.  counting down until summer vacation.

 i am finding my way back into my studio, getting ready for my upcoming workshops, SQUAM & Portland (still space in my Cover to Cover class ;) .

i have been showing up at my easel, watching what unfolds! 

and so that's the news around here.  

hope all is well in your world!  

thanks so much for stopping by! have a wonderful weekend!   

before you go... Craftside is offering a chance to win a copy of my book... head on over and check it out!