The more consciously we look for things, the more we see them. Try it for yourself. Look for a specific brand and/or color of car on your next commute to work and be amazed at just how many you see.

I asked my class at Spalding House (aka The Contemporary Museum), to take the week between classes to look for faces — not in people, but in the world around us. They found faces in the clouds, on slabs of marble and granite, on a wall of brushed metal, on a piece of wood paneling, in the lichen and moss on rocks, in trees. They brought a cornucopia of images to class.

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.

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?

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! 

Sometimes life feels too full! How can that be? Each day holds the same number of hours and the same number of molecules of air. 

Is life too full or am I too empty? Does that sound like a contradiction? I think not. I think I just hit that nail on the head! My energy is gone.

The cure? Spend less time doing; spend more time being.

I took just one painting class in college — oil painting. I loved it, but had more fun working in clay, and spent many semesters up to my elbows in “mud.” 

Years after graduating, when I decided to paint again, I dug out my old oils. They still held magic.

Have you ever felt as though “negative” vibes surround you? 

Do you wonder why all the news you hear is “bad”? Why even call it news, why not call it “only bad news”, which is what it seems to be. 

It isn’t always easy to stay positive in a world that seems to celebrate the negative. But that’s “the work.”

Let’s continue the analogy of planting a garden and growing a watercolor practice. In the last post we ended with you imagining yourself painting, even just for five minutes a day. Now, back to our garden …

If you planted the seeds too close together, you will have to pluck some of them out of the ground to give the others room to grow. If you don’t, all of your plants will be weak and their lives short and stunted.

Cultivating your confidence is like cultivating a garden. 

First prepare the soil. Dig it up and turn it over to get it ready for the seeds. The soil needs air to make room for growth.

Do you want to learn to paint? Are you open to the idea of learning something new, something that’s outside your comfort zone? 

What if …
What if everything is unfolding just the way it’s supposed to unfold?
What if you took an hour, or just five minutes, to simply sit instead of rushing around?
What if the birds got it right and we really can sing for joy at first light?

Sometimes I just have to laugh at myself. It’s so easy to make a decision after a cup of coffee in the morning when I’m feeling energized and excited about the day ahead. Do I want to start a new painting this afternoon? You bet I do! The error is in thinking that one decision is going to make magic happen. That’s not how it works. If we only had to decide something once for it to be so, we would all be fit as a fiddle, be our “ideal” weight, have our dream career, and live happily ever after.