Make peace with where you are.

The midst of a battlefield is no place to find peace

If you don’t have something nice to say — you already know the rest.

We are all connected — collectively (in our groups, tribes, countries, and throughout the world) and individually (the foot bone’s connected to the ankle bone, etc.).

When one part of us is in pain, either physical or psychic, it’s hard to keep the rest of us on an even keel.

We know we’re supposed to focus on what we want and ignore the pain associated with what we don’t want.

That’s hard — that’s why it’s called work.

Most things worthwhile require focus, time, and effort (mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual).

Start right where you are. What will help you feel better right now?

Venting might feel good in the short term, but it won’t take you very far.

Truth, when it’s a truth we don’t want or like, doesn’t take us down the path of feeling good either.

Both collectively and individually, we must find ways to distract ourselves from the pain long enough to find our good and our common ground.

Demonizing or Deifying does us no favors.

Ostrich-like behavior won’t last forever, but if "sticking your head in the sand" helps to you find a calm center, go find a beach and chill out!

Take care of YOU. Do what it takes (speaking to myself too) to feel better.

The paths to happiness, peace, and love all begin with one step and require millions more to follow.

A few steps may stray off the path from time to time; course correction will get us where we want to go.

Be vigilant. Stay focused on what you want. Trust that you are on your way and take one more step.

The pendulum always swings — sometimes it’s got a long arc.

I paint the negative spaces to enhance the positive. Even when I’m focused on the positive, I am aware of the impact the negative spaces have.

We can’t paint one thing without impacting another.

Darker darks create lighter lights.

Go paint! Even if you don’t feel like it or don’t know what to paint, go paint! Go enhance the light.

Attitude follows Action.

What are you waiting for?

Go paint!

Join me every Tuesday morning at 11AM when I teach a FREE 30-minute Speed Watercolor Painting Class at Kuloko Arts Gallery at the Outrigger Reef on the Beach in Waikiki.

Using five bright watercolor paints from Cheap Joes and 90# Arches watercolor paper we paint our masterpieces. Each turtle (honu in the Hawaiian language) is as unique as we all are.

This is a great fun way to spend 30 minutes creating a memory to last a lifetime. Plus you have your own art to take home to grace your walls.

While at the gallery, check out hundreds of creations made by 35 artists living in Hawai`i. Watch art take shape before your eyes as a different artist paints, draws, or makes jewelry in the gallery every day.

Other FREE30-minute classes at Kuloko include an acrylic painting class at 4 PM on Mondays with artist Rebecca Snow, and a colored pencil class at 7:30 PM on Wednesdays with artist Teri Inouye.

Yesterday my friend Tamara Moan took me and another friend, Frances Hill, on a trip around Whole Foods in Kailua to teach us the ins and outs of keeping an Artistic Travel Journal.

Here you see Tamara showing us one of her many travel journals; this one is an accordion book. She's been creating her travel journals for at least 14 years, and has stacks of them. Whenever she leafs through them, she is transported back to the time and place of her trip.

A Travel Journal is the perfect way to record a trip, stay creative, and have fun, all at the same time!

Frances, Tamara, and I wandered around Whole Foods for an hour, recording what we saw. I can honestly report that the people working at Whole Foods do an amazing job creating beautiful visual displays! I wandered through twice and look at all that I found:

I started out sketching really really fast, unsure of what I would find, I wanted to capture as much as I could. I soon realized that if I wanted to recognize anything at the end of the journey, I would have to slow down a bit.

Sure enough, if you look closely, you will find tropical flowers, beets, peppers, fish, cheese, loaves of bread, even a baby that was sitting in one of the carts (yes, I asked permission first).

If you've ever thought of keeping a travel journal, I highly recommend it. Obviously you don't have to go far from home to find something interesting to record! We had a great time, the hour flew by, and we treated ourselves to a glass of wine and a slice of pizza at the end. Thank you Tamara and Frances for a truly memorable morning at Whole Foods!

Last week I posted a heliconia painting in my eZine and asked readers to help me out with a title; more on the title next week. For now, I would like to share some memories from one of my students, Charlie Young. Charlie has been taking my watercolor class at Kaimuki for three semesters and has been making great strides in his technique and use of color. Go Charlie! Here is the painting and the thoughts he shared:

"Your floral painting triggered memories of when I was a kid running around the mountains here. I remember the bright flowers and plants among the tall trees, and hanging vines surrounding my many hikes with the guys on our "secret" trails; and swimming bare ass in the many cold streams in Nu`uanu and Manoa valleys.  

My mother was always afraid I would fall off trees or drown, so she always reminded me not to climb those tall trees for unreachable mangoes or swim in those dangerous streams. Whenever she asked, I told her “no” never did. Years later, my daughter told me that me mother laughingly always knew I did all those things with my pals because my hair would still be damp and my clothes muddy and soiled.

Before taking your watercolor classes and others. I ways intrigued with the thoughts of the artist behind their works.  I always wondered what their minds were processing as they painted, hour after hour.

For me, in the short time I have started in this field of art, painting and ceramics, I find my structured thoughts and rationale coming to a standstill, having almost no thoughts at times, and finding some kind of “feelings” coming into play; at times intermingled with some kind of vague memories about childhood. It’s almost primordial in a sense, many times triggering faint memories of my 2nd grade classes when the kind teacher put aprons on us, gave us paint brushes and paint, and patiently watched us children slosh paint all over the place, on the floor, walls, etc.

So far, that's what I am getting when I paint. I feel like a kid again.

Thanks for your guidance in this area."

You are MOST Welcome Charlie!!! Thank YOU for sharing your memories of times gone by.