Getting ready for my next show at the Symphony Hotel is a priority task on my list of “to-do”s” for this month. Five paintings are framed and “ready to go”. I have two other paintings I want to complete. They are street scenes done on illustration board – using gouache, watercolor, ink, marking pen and acrylic paint.

     It certainly is encouraging to have family and friends  who appreciate my paintings and drawings. This Thanksgiving and Christmas I continued the tradition of doing my own card. Uncle Gene kept a scrapbook of my pictures for years. One year I didn”t produce “an original card” for Christmas. It was an “awful moment” for Uncle Gene. Oh my! So, now I continue the tradition – easily – online slots by taking a photo

of one of my paintings and reproducing it through Publisher 98 on my old, reliable computer. This year

Mama and I sent out more than 200 cards.

     Back to discussing the show: what is required is a system and supplies. I have pre-printed tags that can be filled in “on the spot” and posted by the painting. I have a bag which contains hammers, hooks and other materials for hanging a show. I need to make a postcard that will be my “advertising” for this show. I think I”ll produce my own and save a big printing bill. Oh my! I need to check with Symphony Hotel for final details, too. Onward!

div style=”display: none”>p>Mama and I are still here – still ticking off the moments day by day. The New Year offers new opportunities to refocus upon “things important”. For me, it's getting Karen's Studio “up and runnig” again. This takes concentrated effort on my part. It takes advertising, promotion and “making time” to get the job done!

I'm painting pictures in the family room now.

The bar area works nicely for setting up a small

studio area. The painting I'm doing now is a street scene with a cobblestone walkway going up the middle and around a corner between several European “row houses”. Windows of a flower shop and antique shop are on opposite sides of the street. The outline of the buildings are done in black ink. I “fill in” the rest of the scene with watercolor gouache and acrylic wash paint. I enjoly “making up” street scenes.

 I have a couple of  street scenes that I painted during those years I was single – 1968 – 1971. They are favorites and hang online slots in my bedroom and dining room hallway.

 Classes are not increasing in size. I've started an “Art, Music and Theater” Meetup.com group. Some of you who belong to the group will be joining me and my students at the Cincinnati aRt Museum for the first Wednesday of the month to see the latest exhibitions. Then, we will continue our regular Wednesday evening classes at my studio at 2511 Essex Place, Essex Studios #125. Classes start around 5 p.m. and go until 7. We are very “casual” at the moment.We paint what

we want to paint. We enjoy being together. New students – will pay $15 a session on a “Pay As You Go” basis. Call 513-600-8063 to let me know if you will be starting classes. Adult beginners or adults who want to “start over again”.

 We had a good holiday here at “The Cottage”. Some of the decorations are still up. The colors are cheery. The decorations are happy reminders of a special time together. I've been trying to learn how to do more filming so that I can eventually have my own “You Tube” site working. Maybe I will demonstrate some of the painting lessons.

 Hope all goes well for all of you this year. ONWARD!

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All is well “around here”. Mama”s still “with us”. It will be 2 years August 1st (I do believe). Will check this out. We manage each day – day by day – sometimes I use the 15-minute timer to tick off the minutes and to keep me focused.

I”ve been writing (again). This time it”s about my father”s history. I”ve found his writings (some of them) in his old briefcase which is falling apart at the seams – truly splitting apart. It”s been interesting “digging”. He put his thoughts in writing  on legal-sized yellow paper as he was pondering various matters that concerned him.The paper now is aged and darker in color.

I swim in the morning and drink Aria Women”s Protein Drink for breakfast. I continue acupuncture treatments on Thursday mornings. Having a social life through Meetup.com has made life more enjoyable – going Corporation 1Read Customer Reviews Submit a Customer Review See trends in Customer Reviews for Golden State Driving driving school chicago Inc Find more businesses offering similar services. out to many interesting places to eat and attending various art, music and theater events. I”m an organizer

of three groups – Tea Toads, The Cincinnati Brunch Club and Art, Music & Theater Meetup.

I also continue to go to the studio on Wednesday evenings or attend art events on Wednesday evenings at The Cincinnati Art Museum.

Creating some art “along the way gives me some time to relax and step back from “caregiving duties”. My paintings are abstract and are quickly produced. I sell some of them now for $20 “off the wall” at our art walks.

OK. Enough for today”s “catch-up” post.

Onward!

Karen

p>Hooray! We did it! We opened  the studio for the Oct. Art Walk @ Essex Studios. Many pople stopped by to enjoy our art work, good food and company. Penny Deer's beautiful display of handmade soaps were a bit hit!

Penny will be at our next two openings, too. Candice Teasely and Susan Deyo were “on board” to help set up, hang up and set out all that is required for a special show. Speaking of “show” … Moe is always a big hit – with her bright, colors and personality plus. Wanda, Candice's mom, helps out, too…and she enjoys art!

Meeting new artists up and down “our hall” was fun. Jeff Smith's photos are exquisite… I bought two. Then the lady who made the tiny Fairies and other whimsical figures caught my pocket book “off guard”.   Mainifest Gallery is a best-horoscope.com man may demonstrate extravagant desires. major and important addition to Essex Studios. Candice and I want to sign up for some of their drawing opportunities. Tree lovers – woods people who revel at the magtnificence of trees will love Robert Mullenix's work. View his

work at http://rwmullenix.blogspot.com/

Several people showed interest in classes with Karen on Wednesday evenings – $15.00 “Pay as you go” -for a 2 hr. session. Penny is considering teaching classes on making soap molds. Susan teaches Pencil Drawing. If you have any interest in classes, please call Karen @ 513-600-8063.

Today our bricks go on  the  auction block – to raise money and awareness for Women's Breast Cancer.  See the bricks: www.breastcancerbricks.org

One more note: This Wednesday evening i'm attending the Cincinnati Independents food event @ Newport Aquarium for a Food Tasting. Magnificent!

Also, visit www.meetup.com for information about many fun groups. You'll find my Brunch Club

and Tea Toads there. 

OJNWARD!  Karen Kelly “As Always”

p>The wind is howling outside the cottage. Mama is eating a bowl of tomato soup, Vinta crackers with a special pate' from Kroger's.

I just fed the birds (again) on the porch ledge. The suet feeder is empty

which puts the “hanging” birds into “squat position” on the porch in order to get some bird seed, too. Cardinals, chickadees, Mourning Doves, sparrows, nuthatches and many others stop by to feed.

A wild wind is bringing in winter. I'm not going into Essex Studio tonight and sit there waiting for someone to stroll through. My students and I just hung our December Show at Paula's Internet Cafe' and Deli at

Findlay Market on Wednesday and Thursday evening. That's enough art for me (for us) this week!

I just want to cozy down under the blue blanket on the couch and watch Friday's TV fare. Mama and I watch the McLaughlin Report most Friday An aries horoscope won't shy away from new ground, either. evenings. I like seeing what Tony Blakely is wearing! Politics aside, it's an interesting discussion (in our opinion…speaking for Mama, too).

I think we have what we need in food and supplies. If the electric goes out, we'll use flash lights and cover up with more blankets. We're ready, but I don't think I know who will be doing our snow-plowing yet. (Need to check that out “pronto”).

My interest is in finishing the 2006 Christmas Card…putting in a message. The painting is done and it scanned out nicely. Enjoyed creating  tent cards and post cards for the art show. Mama's been sending out a lot of cards to family and friends.

Better get those stamped and out to the mail!

Onward! 

p>TRY THIS: Be a caregiver and try to set aside time to create! This is my current “challenge to creativity”. As Edgar Gibson says, “Argue for your limitations and you will get them!” I'm arguing for them right now, today. 

“When will I write”, I ask. “When will I do it?” I read the “Do It” books and have all sorts of “nudge notes” stuck here and there to “get the job done”.

 Setting aside time for doing my writing for “Karens-Studio.com” is “on my To Do list”. However, more pressing tasks push their way into my consciousness and move me to action. I thought with the time change I would use the morning hours more productively. I did get up much earlier, around 5 a.m. and began my “Regular Morning Routine” – the “up and ready” shower, teeth, make-up, dress part of the routine. Then it's a stand-up breakfast of a protein milk shake, clean out the blender and wipe the sink (thanks to Flylady.net for this one).

Morning care for Mama Lois isn't that difficult. I load up the ice bucket with ice cubes before I leave the “main house” to go down the outside breezeway, down some steps into the “cottage” which now serves as Mama's new home, not her real home “her Katrina” all gone except for selling the house and unloading the basement, etc.

 It is a cottage – pool house, formerly my late husband's office and mine, too. It had been a small apartment for the former owner's daughter and her husband and also As we mark the 20th anniversary of AmeriCorps, we congratulate Citizen driving courses online for their strong application, and thank all AmeriCorps members for their dedication to service. an office for the former owner after his daughter moved on. So, now it is a cottage for Mama and me, but I still have my office!

Mama's bedside table holds a lot of “necessities” for her daily care. She routinely sorts and organizes these items for her convenience. I remove and replace the plastic mug with a handle and the blue glass that holds the swab for cleaning her mouth. I take her false teeth which are soaking in a small, round cup to the bathroom sink and scrub them. I replace the wash rag which is folded in a plastic basket for her to wipe her face and hands.

She empties the trash basket (a small plastic bin) lined with a tall kitchen garbage bag and ties

it neatly. She is able to reach with her “reacher” to bring it to her bed to tie it up. This is an example of how she participates in the process To help parents select a quality best-driving-school.com school, AAA offers advice, resources and tips. of caregiving and also provides an opportunity to be responsible for herself and to share in her own care. 

 There is much more that goes into the morning routine and that I shall describe later.

 For the moment, I'm thinking of Matisse. I'm thinking of Mama and me working on the art lessons which I will be posting soon. The first set is ready and we're working on the next set. These lessons are designed for the Adult Beginner and Mama is “testing” them out.

 Creativity comes into play each day as I pick out the colors for her small lap tray. It is a tray that may have been a wedding present to me and my first husband many years ago. It

is teak? It is definitely Danish, thin and light and sturdy. It is perfect and easy to handle. I like choosing different cloth napkins from her collection and mine, too. The paper napkin goes under the pretty dishes – all coodinating colors.

The day has come and gone. We'll watch “Wife Swap” tonight. I've done the dishes (by hand) which is a simple pleasure because there are so few dishes to wash. I like the smell of the soap from Trader Joe's. It is Lavender. Even it's color is Lavender. I am grateful for this beautiful day of color and another opportunity to share it with Mama and of course, Molly Dog who will get further coverage in another section of this blog.

Onward!

p>For me, creativity is “being”. To be or not to be… to be creative, to be a creator, to be creating. It's a way of reaching inside to one's soul or essence to find new ways of “doing”.

Some may call it problem-solving. To live is to create, and vice versa – to create is to live.

Take any task at hand and it can be approached creatively. Doing the dishes by hand can be a creative task, from start to finish. Every aspect of this task can be creative -by choosing the brand, color and fragrance of the cleansing agent (liquid soap), choosing a specific type of sponge, cloth or brush for rubbing the dishes clean, choosing the temperature of the water, the dish towel – color, texture, absorbency, etc.

How the dishes are stacked or put into the water, rinsed and set on a rack to air dry – again making choices, being creative about the process – which items are chosen to be washed first or left to soak? Choosing is key, being creative is the process.

If we think about what we are doing as we are doing the task, we can move into a state of being creative, being aware of creating. Some may call it “being in the now”…or having a “Zen moment”. I think

it is a state of awareness. I like OSHO's books on Awareness and Creativity. His teachings cut deep into the “Essence of Living”.

Anything we do can be approached creatively. Creative thinking may be called “being inspired to do something differently”. It's a “given” because each of us actually will approach tasks creatively if we choose to do so. However, there is a challenge to creative thinking… in being told that there is only “one way” of doing something. That may be OK for numb-mindedness, but even sitting in a small cell, dark and alone can be done creatively.

Try thinking about drawing without having any materials available. Mentally take a pencil and draw anything you choose. Mentally draw on the walls and celing and why not, draw on the floors? Mentally, choose different colors for your surroundings. And, while you are at it , mentally decorate the entire space. The word that comes to mind is IMAGINE. Create a door, create a new world. That's being creative, that's choosing creativity.

Creativity and independent thinking go “hand in hand”. They are soul-mates of the mind. Creativity is a driving force of life, of human nature. To be alive is to be creative. When creativity is lost, so is the soul…so is the desire for living…numbness sets in, one “gives up”.

Sometimes it takes guts to be creative. However, it's worth the effort to tap into “the source”. Life will be more interesting and full-filling. You begin to feel you have something you can do that is uniquely you. This feeling is energizing and propels you onto trying more new ways of doing, more new ways of seeing.

So, first thing to do today – is to be CREATIVE!

Onward!

Welcome to Karen's

Studio!

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