Today is a day of finding incredible beauty. Keanu found a dead monarch butterfly in the garage; I brought it with me to the studio this morning so I can enjoy its form.

On my way to the studio, I found some fallen banana flower petals and knelt down to pick them up. You guessed it; I brought them along to the studio with me.

Once at the studio, Rebecca pointed out a large moth resting on the screen. I took a photo so I can appreciate it longer.

Yesterday Rebecca, Sue Stagner (organizer extraordinaire), and I spent the day cleaning the studio in preparation for Open Studios this weekend. Apparently we made enough room for me to start bringing new found objects back into the space!

Participating in Open Studios is one way of ensuring the studio gets a goodcleaning at least once a year. (Hey! I work here I don't live here.)

Better yet, it's a time for me to share this wonderful space with all of you.

Come see what I've started to paint, what paintings are finished, and which ones are more or less studies. See if you can "connect the dots" that become my paintings.

Often we think that if we "felt better”, or if we "felt like painting", that our painting time would be more fun, or more interesting, or our painting “turn out" better.

Actually, we will feel better about painting (and the resulting painting) after we paint!

Rather than waiting to feel better before taking action (starting to paint), it’s important to know that our attitudes follow our actions. This means that we often feel better about doing something AFTER we’ve done it.

Whether it's painting or going to the gym or some other task, it helps to have a habit or practice in place so the decisions to act are made ahead of time. That way our resistance (fear) doesn't stand a chance of stopping us from taking action. 

When you hear the phrase “stand up straight”, whether it’s said to you or to another, do you “stand up straight”?

Did you just sit up straighter when you read, “stand up straight”?

How’d that feel?

Aside from the annoyance factor, did you feel a tiny bit better for having straightened your spine from the “I-didn’t-realize-I-was-slouching” position you’d been in?

When we don't use our creativity muscle regularly, it slouches. It goes slack. It goes limp, and gradually we “lose the juice”, the “fire in our belly” that fuels our creativity.

Nike’s famous slogan “Just Do It!” is a great start for any new action we want to cultivate.

“Just Do It Again!” is an even a better mantra to recite.

Doing something once is a start. Doing something regularly is the way in which we create a habit or a practice.

If you want a habit of feeling good or happy with yourself, figure out which of your actions produce those feelings, and then Do Those Actions Again and Again!

My students are often surprised to hear me tell them that I’m not sure what I’m doing, or what I’m going to do next when I paint.

This usually happens when I’m starting a new painting, or working on one in front of class.

What they might not realize is that I hope I never really know what I’m doing next!

I don’t want to know exactly how something is going to turn out. Where is the excitement, the fun, the thrill of adventure, if that happens?

I’m a painter and, as such, I love to paint. (I’m also a teacher who loves to teach and a writer who loves to write, but I digress).

Recently I got to test out my desire of not knowing what I’m doing by painting some giraffes on a red clay flowerpot for the Honolulu Zoo’s 2015 Gala Fundraiser, “Growing Wild.”

I have wanted to paint the animals of Africa for at least three years. Knowing me, you might be able to guess why I haven’t done so — I haven’t made the time to go to the zoo to sketch the animals!

The Honolulu Zoo gave me (and a few dozen other artists) a 10” red clay flowerpot to paint. This was the perfect opportunity for me to paint Giraffes.

First I painted Daniel Smith’s white watercolor ground on the pot and let it dry for 24 hours. This enabled the pot to accept watercolor paint.

Next, using photos supplied by a friend taken on “safari” at the San Diego Zoo, I sketched three giraffe heads on the pot.

I’m used to painting with my paper upright, so I wasn’t expecting problems painting on the vertical pot. But the watercolor ground isn’t quite as absorbent as paper, and the paint dripped in unexpected ways.

No worries. Realizing smooth washes were not going to come easily, I took a more painterly approach, blending the colors on the pot the way an oil painter might blend them on canvas.

The beauty of watercolor is its translucence, and that characteristic came through as I layered colors upon blended colors. I even added pinks to brighten up some of the warm patches on the faces of the giraffes.

I have one step left: seal the pot so the paint is permanent. This isn't a step normally taken with watercolor paints, but it is necessary for this painting adventure to be successful.

The flowerpot was a joy to paint and I hope it raises a lot of money for the Honolulu Zoo. The animals in our care deserve the very best. After all, they give their best to us each and every day they share with us.

One of the things I love about painting is that I continually see the world through “new eyes.” When we look at things through the lens of curiosity, we learn more about the world in which we live.

When I first visited the Waikiki Aquarium with my Lotus Aqua Art Escape class in April, I was unprepared for the way the octopus there grabbed my attention. 

He still has me in his grips! Which isn’t that surprising considering the gripping strength of these 8-armed cephalopods could theoretically pick up a two-ton truck. But then why would it do that?

Breaking Free/Tinker Tako

On the recommendation of two of my readers, I breezed through “The Soul of an Octopus” by Sy Montgomery. Ms. Montgomery is a naturalist who, through her book, introduced me to three octopuses she got to know personally through the Boston Aquarium.

It was through her book and some NatGeo Wild documentaries; that I learned the information I’m sharing here. When using direct quotes, I have indicated the page numbers of Ms. Montgomery’s book. 

Did you know that octopuses’ eight arms are sensory organs extraordinaire? Each arm has the ability to taste as well as touch and grip. Octopuses in captivity enjoy being touched, and in touching their human keepers. 

Unknotting the nots

Octopuses live very short, yet active lives. During the average life span of 1–3 years in the wild, they are both prey and predator. Being a master of disguises enables them to capture their own food while keeping them safe from those in search of a delicious meal. 

“Cephalopods have a command of 30–50 different camouflage patterns per individual animal, and can change color, pattern, and texture in 7/10s of a second!” p. 45

An octopus will lay hundreds of thousands of eggs before it dies, yet only 2 in 100,000 hatchlings will survive to maturity. Octopuses start life the size of a grain of rice and drift along with plankton until they are large enough to settle on the bottom of the ocean.

Octopuses are found in the myths of many native peoples. 

“The Gilbert Islands has an octopus god,'Na Kika,' said to be the son of the first beings. With his eight strong arms, he shoved the islands up from the bottom of the Pacific.

The people of the NW Coast of British Columbia and Alaska say the octopus controls the weather and wields power over sickness and health.

Ancient Hawaiian myths tell us our current universe is really the remnant of a more ancient one — the only survivor of which is the octopus who managed to slip between the narrow crack between the worlds.” Page 228

Considering the octopus’ ability to squeeze out of their confined aquarium “homes,” this last myth doesn’t feel that far-fetched!

Tako Bell: Tako is the Japanese word for Octopus, this painting is still a work in progress.