Reflections

I have a BIG birthday coming up in July and have been doing a lot of processing about my life so far.   Some decades just arrive, barely noticed because of the busyness of daily life.  Others rear their heads and demand attention.  This is one decade that has been insisting that I stop, look and listen.  It seems to correspond to this weeks art lesson.  I am doing small studies using monoprint and collage.  I've had to pay close attention to white space, values, texture, shapes, composition and elemental relationships.  The assignment moved me into thinking about how I allow for balance in my life, how I give myself breathing room, what is meaningful to me, how I've learned to let go of clutter (thoughts, feelings, people, things), the value of my relationships, and how colorful or stimulating my life is.  All these questions came up for me as I was working.  My internal response is that I am exactly where I want to be at this point in time.  I've always felt that I was ten years behind myself.  It took  a while to figure it all out but now, I believe I've caught up.  How interesting that my art studies challenged me and then encouraged me to evaluate where I am at this point in time.  Rather than dreading this next birthday, I will welcome and honor the energy it took to get here and the wisdom I've achieved that is allowing me to appreciate all the gifts I have been given.  Here are a few of the studies.  Nothing major but certainly got my internal juices flowing!