Hello everyone! I hope this finds you all doing well!! I have been very busy, as I imagine the rest of you are as well. This presents a challenge when it comes to finding the time and energy to be creative. Here are some general guidelines I find to be helpful for keeping the creativity flowing: -Creativity is reduced when your senses are dulled. Good mental and physical health enhances creativity. I am sending this out as an encouragement for you all to invest in good health! -Eat Well. Eat three nutritious meals and three nutritious snacks everyday. -Cut back on sweets. Sugar is an anti nutrient, it takes more from the body than it gives. A high sugar diet can cause fluctuating blood sugar resulting in symptoms such as depression, fatigue, anxiety and mood swings. -Cut back on caffeine. restricting caffeine can do wonders for your mental state, clearing up anxiety, mood swings, and depression, among other things. -Take vitamin and mineral supplements. -Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!! Water is essential to the integrity of every cell in your body! -Exercise. Exercise is a powerful antidote to the everyday stresses of modern life. Exercise reduces stress and tension and offers immediate benefits for the mind, body, and spirit. -Sleep. A good nights sleep does wonders to reduce stress and tension, while a restless night will affect your ability to concentrate, your mood, and your general outlook on life. -Laughter. Norman Cousins calls laughter "internal exercise....a form of jogging of the innards." Laugh often and much. Tell and listen to jokes. Watch funny movies. Learn how to laugh (gently) at yourself. -Creativity often goes by the wayside unless it is actively nourished. A couple of tips for nourishing our creativity: -Practice. Practice dispels inhibition and builds confidence. Get in the habit of sketching, bring a sketchbook, pencil or pen with you wherever you go! Sketching builds our observational skills as well as our confidence. -Do something creative everyday. Reading an instructional book by your favorite artist, or visiting an art gallery would be some ways to find inspiration for your own creativity. -Experiment. Step out of your comfort zone and try something new, maybe a different subject matter, or different medium altogether! We need to continue to grow and this is one way to do just that! -Don't forget the people!! Artists can spend a lot of time alone in the creative process. Spend time building relationships that are open, honest, and loving. If your relationships are unhealthy, your physical and emotional health will suffer too. So, here's to your health and happiness! May you find yourself being wildly creative in the coming months! I would love to hear what you have found helpful in your own creative process! All my best, Tracy

N ew Beginnings….. Every time I begin a new painting I have something of an idea of how I want it to look, what colors I want to use, and the overall feeling I would like to portray. As the first colors are laid in it begins to take shape. So far so good! Often times however, my original plan is tweaked and the direction seems to change as more layers of paint are added, it takes on a different mood as the painting progresses. I am learning that this is my painting style and to just go with it rather than allow frustration (because my plan isn’t working out), or feelings of failure, (because I SHOULD be able to bring my plans to pass)! So I press on, and I keep painting. Many times, the change in direction was the perfect way the painting should go and if had I gotten frustrated and thrown in the towel instead of pushing through, I would never have had the satisfaction of completing the piece! Other times, the finished work is pretty close to my original vision. Either way It is all a process of learning and growing as an artist. We make mistakes. We learn from our mistakes. Plans change. If we don’t go with the flow when plans change we can be frustrated and fall into ruts. We fail. If we never fail, we won’t learn. We succeed, and when we succeed it brings great joy and satisfaction! Isn’t that just like life as well? We have well laid out plans for how we would like our lives to look, we paint a pretty picture in our mind. But often times our plans get tweaked, the direction changes as more layers of life are lived. It takes on a different mood than what we had in mind at the first. We get frustrated, we feel discouraged and have feelings of failure because things aren’t going as planned. We feel we aren’t doing things right, or good enough. We feel like giving up, just throwing in the towel. Can I encourage you to press on? To keep moving? To look up? In life, the plans we make; the itinerary if you will, rarely goes the way we think it should, or planned it would. It is a process of learning and growing. We make mistakes. We learn from our mistakes. Plans change. If we don’t go with the flow when plans change we can get frustrated and depressed. We fail. If we never fail, we won’t learn. We succeed, and when we succeed it brings great joy and satisfaction! “I will lift my eyes to the hills-from whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2