Most paintings have a story to tell. Sometimes we know those stores at the outset. Other times we learn the stories as the paintings progress.

My inspiration for Anuenue Ali`i Wahine came to me in a dream which I recorded in my journal.

Learning the stories behind the painting requires the art of listening.

Listening to what?

Listening to that still small voice within us all — the one that we don’t always hear, but that is always there.

Listen to your paintings.

Yes, it’s perfectly okay to ask your painting for direction. And when you do, be sure to listen for the answers — and then follow the directions given.

This is the "under painting" of Anuenue (rainbow) Ali`i (royalty or goddes) Wahine (woman) —right after the texture has been removed.

Yes, it's okay to NOT follow the directions too.

Think of painting as a co-creative act. You are not alone at your easel or table. You are working with the forces of creation that surround us at all times.

Getting closer, but not yet complete.

Painting is an interactive sport. Smile while you paint and when asking your questions. Be playful about your painting. Make it a game.

If you’ve ever watched someone start a painting, you have an inkling of what it means to really want to paint something.

Did you know that you are the most important tool in your toolbox?

Your painting comes through you: through your eyes, through your hands, through the filter that is YOU.

You cannot get it wrong.

Each brush stroke informs the next. You learn and relearn as you paint.

When one stroke or subject becomes easy (and it will), challenge yourself to do something different. Change your strokes or your subject matter.

I added more layers of "rainbow",  more dark hair, and gave her skin more highlights & depth before considering her complete. Anuenue Ali`i Wahine (Royal Rainbow Woman in Hawaiian)

When you're out in nature, look more closely at the world around you. What colors do you see?

If you squint your eyes, does your vision change?

Can you see red-violets in the shadows of the leaves, or orange in the dying parts of the red plants?

While the colors fade as the leaves and flowers whither and die, we can still see the beauty they once held for us. We just need look more slowly.

Beauty surrounds us when we look through our eyes with LOVE.

A trip to the “Big Island” of Hawai`i is always exhilarating, and my July trip was over-the-top amazing!

Each of the Hawaiian Islands has its own personality. Like siblings in a family, no two are alike.

Hawai`i Island is the largest of all of the islands. In fact, all of the other islands would fit inside of it (as if that were possible).

Hawai`i is rugged, rural, majestic, and home to the most active volcano on Earth.

Two exhibits on the Kona side of the island prompted my July trip.

Tiffany DeEtte Shafto is doing a great job presenting my art to a wider audience. She hung my art at both The Four Seasons Hualalai and Henderson House at the Shops in Mauna Lani.

I stayed at the Four Seasons for one night and Ohmygoodness there are so many reasons it is consistently rated the BEST resort in the world!

The beauty, luxurious accommodations, sumptuous grounds, the happy, friendly people, the yummy food, much of which is grown on the resort and the island, are all top notch!

This is the view at dawn from our cabana at the Four Seasons Hualalai

It is paradise on steroids!

Teaching a watercolor class at the Four Seasons was great fun and very rewarding.

Me, Jeanette, & Mike in front of my painting, "Miles from Nowhere", at Henderson House

I am thrilled to have my abstract paintings hanging in the showcase design environment of Henderson House in The Shops at Mauna Lani.

Me and Rebecca Snow relaxing in the middle of a long, exciting day at the Four Seasons.

Rebecca Snow, my friend, fellow artist, and studio-mate, joined me on the trip. It was her first time to Hawai`i Island so we stayed a few extra days with my cousins Mike and Jeanette in Captain Cook.

Mike gave us a tour of their orchard of bananas, oranges, tangerines, mango, avocado, Kona coffee, Ulu, and Pamelo. Jeanette’s healthy meals gave us a delicious respite between the hectic exhibit schedules.

We rose at 2:30AM on Saturday so Mike could drive us to the southern tip of the island to see the glowing Kilauea caldera and watch the sun rise on Mauna Loa. It was breath taking!

The energy of life renewing itself is evident all over the world, in every backyard. That same energy feels amplified on the Big Island.

The contrast of birth/renewal and death happens simultaneously all around us. Our lives become that much sweeter when we realize it’s up to us to pick up the reins and make each path our own.

Putting things off does us no service. Living life is a verb. Creating a life that matters is actionable.

Let’s all take the action we need to take today to make the most of our time here on Earth!

We are meant to continue to grow, becoming more of our REAL selves here on Earth!

Sometime in the last month I reached some sort of limit and declared that I want more sweetness in my life.

That’s when I realized that I must be sweeter!

Be the sweetness you want to feel, right?

"Puppy Love" ©Patrice Federspiel

What does it mean to be sweeter in the world?

What does it feel like to be sweeter?

Sometimes sweetness is an overt action, like buying a coffee for the person behind you in line, or giving a driver easy passage to merge in front of you on the highway.

Other times it’s more an act of omission.

It’s sweet to be patient when the person in front of you at the checkout counter is counting their change.

It’s sweet to NOT roll your eyes when faced with anything you see as utterly ridiculous.

It’s sweet to not speak when speaking only serves as a volley in a useless, unnecessary argument.

It’s always sweeter to give everyone — including yourself — the benefit of the doubt.

"Seriously" ©Patrice Federspiel

Choosing sweetness isn’t always easy, and it certainly isn’t always at the top of my mind.

Still, sweetness is my new barometer; it's the antithesis to anger and resentment.

I want to live in a world of kindness and sweetness.

Just think, we get to choose sweetness with every breath, with every action, and with every non-action that we take.

I woke up at 3AM with this message in mind: Transformation Takes Time.

I got out of bed to write it down and wrote the following:

Shouldn’t I be further along in my career?

I’ve been at this for a long time.

Maybe I’m a slow learner or a slow changer or a slow beginner?

Am I “there” yet?

How much longer will this take?

Well, that depends on how much further you want to go.

Do you feel “cooked”?

Do you feel “done”?

There is no “there” to get to.

There is only now, and you’re looking pretty good from here.

Do you want to be “done”?

Do you feel complete?

What’s the rush?

If you stopped now, would you feel Satisfied?

Would you be Happy?

Would you be “good enough”?

Transformation is a process, a journey, not a destination; and it takes time.

Go back to bed. Go back to sleep. In the morning when you wake up, greet your new day with a renewed sense of self. Let the rest be up to us.

Trust. All is well. 

You’re on “target” (as if there was such a thing!)

Breathe In
Breathe Out
Move On
(The last three lines are Jimmy Buffet’s, but they came to me at that perfect time and place so I included them here.)