When I was fresh out of college, a man I worked with scrawled a poem on a cocktail napkin and left it for me to find. It read:

Angels are looking
For new skies to fly in
A virgin space for wingspread
It is your head.
God waits to be born.

I imagined myself in love with this man whose name I can’t quite recall. Fortunately, it was unrequited; he had issues I didn’t know how to handle.

Every once in a while the poem pops into my head and I smile. I still love it and all of the possibilities it represents.

Each day dawns ripe with possibility, which ones will we grasp? Which call will we answer? What new way of living, of seeing the world will we embrace?

Or will we continue down the same habitual path we're currently walking?

It may not always seem as though we have options. We have tried and true ways of doing things — and these ways work.

We can find new ways of looking at the world, new eyes through which to see it — if we try.

Habits streamline life and help us take care of business in a timely manner. Yet taken to the extreme, they can become ruts, making escape difficult.

When redundancy becomes a way of life, we’re in the “dead zone”.

Our souls crave the mystery of the unknown. That’s where our creative spirit thrives.

Challenges and obstacles are opportunities for growth. The balance beam of a life worth living spans the gap between routine and adventure.

Let's take an inventory of our habits. Which habits serve us and which ones are keeping us a bit too safe?

Are your habits moving you closer to the life you want to live or not? You get to decide!

“Our self-image and our habits tend to go together. Change one and you will automatically change the other.” ~ Dr. Maxwell Maltz

In the last 18 years, I’ve learned a lot about these wonderful islands and all that grows here. My painting style continues to evolve along with my vision of what I want to paint.

Along the way, I’ve developed a passion for writing and have begun to nurture this skill.

My creative writing began with an idea for a children’s story that popped into my head a few years ago.

I’ve never had kids, so where did this come from? I’m not sure and who cares!

Whenever we start something new, we face a new learning curve. It starts out pretty steep. It takes perseverance and trust to keep us facing that uphill slope.

It doesn’t matter how often we’ve faced a similar slope, each new incline brings a fresh set of inner and outer challenges and opportunities to be met.

Have you heard of Inner Critics? I learned about them from SARK last year.

Inner Critics are the voices in our head trying to keep us safe.

Unfortunately, they do so by telling us that we don’t know what the heck we’re doing, or that we don’t have time to learn what we want to do or myriad other problems that are sure to get in our way.

Inner Critics flourish in times of growth. Fortunately, I learned methods to handle them.

In addition to a diverse band of inner critics, I've got an insatiable drive to learn, to grow, and to expand out of my creative comfort zone.

I bore easily.

My race to mastery of anything is futile. Once within touching distance of reaching a goal, I start to look for a new creative mountain to climb, or a new way to paint something or a new subject matter to tackle.

I’m currently facing challenges on several fronts: subject matter, creative skill sets, and internal “upper limit issues”.

AND my desire to have FUN is more important than being consumed with my ingrained Midwestern work ethic.

How can I have fun doing all that I want to do?

Be on the lookout for something “new-ish” in the months to come.

Telling you something new is "afoot" is my way of ensuring that I stick to my new adventures and continue this current uphill climb on my life-long rollercoaster ride of living life creatively, from the inside out.

Every once in a while I’m gifted with a painting idea “from the gods”. These gifts are rare and unexpected. They keep me on my toes, my energy high in anticipation, and my love for painting deep.

That’s the way I feel about my current painting, “Weaving a Journey”.

This painting began about ten years ago with my idea to show two hands weaving Hala leaves.

Hala Trees are common in the Islands. The leaves are thin, long, and flowing. When the leaves are woven together, it’s called Lau Hala. Baskets, hats, mats, purses, and many other things are woven of Lau Hala.

One of my painting mantras is to only paint what I know to paint. When I don’t know what to paint, the painting is put away.

When the initial phase of this painting was finished I wasn’t sure how to complete the rest. I put it into my flat files waiting for inspiration to claim me again.

Many artists start with a plan and do sketches before they start to paint. I’ve tried that method only to find all my inspiration and energy goes into the sketch, leaving my painting feeling flat.

There are more ways to paint than there are people.

It’s important to find your own way to paint and follow the path that works best for you!

To keep my paintings fresh and alive, I jump into them as quickly as an idea hits me. By the time I felt ready to finish this painting, years had passed.

I’m honored to paint a version of the story of the journey of the first Polynesians to come to the Hawaiian Islands.

One theory is that the sails of the double-hulled canoes that brought the people here were woven of Lau Hala. These leaves are long with rough edges that will “eat your hands” until callouses form.

To weave a large sail, a line of women sat close together. It’s important that the weave remains tight and even. When one woman would tire, another would take her place so the weaving could continue.

I painted the double-hulled canoe. The people paddling it were next. I was very nervous about adding them, and until I did, the painting wouldn't be finished.

Until a painting is finished, it’s just a piece of paper!

Yesterday while painting at the kiosk at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, I asked one of the bellmen to help me understand the ergonomics of paddling a canoe.

He explained the last person in the canoe steers it, so his paddle is upright. Every paddler keeps his face forward so he can see where he's going.

Then, brush in hand, heart in my throat, I painted the paddlers, one at a time, taking breathing space between the first few until I felt comfortable to continue.

I'll let the painting rest for the weekend before deciding whether or not it's finished. See for yourself and let me know what you think.

All that angst for a few simple brushstrokes!

Kilauea Volcano on the island of Hawaii has been "actively-active" since 1983. It’s in the news today because it’s created a new path of eruption, disrupting lives and claiming homes.

I first experienced the majesty of Kilauea in January 2000, during my first trip to the islands.

I painted this oil of my friend Kit at the volcano after that first trip.

Watching lava move across the land is like watching an otherworldly life force. The energy is palpable, HOT, magical, and very, VERY alive.

Pele in "She Walks the Earth"

Five volcanoes make up the big island of Hawaii. Kilauea is the busiest of the three active volcanoes.

You might wonder why anyone lives on or near an active volcano. The answer is not as simple as you might think.

Pele as "Birth of an Island"

The islands have been inhabited for about 1,500 years. (Westerners first arrived about 240 years ago; we’re the “newbies”.)

Generations of families have grown up on all of the islands. This is HOME to them. This is not their first rodeo — or their first volcano-induced evacuation.

You might as well wonder why people live in northern climates of WI or Canada or the heat and bugs of the Deep South or even in North Korea.

We are people of the lands that call to us, that welcome us, the lands that we know and love; often the lands where we grow up.

The people living on Hawaii Island have a strong, sincere reverence for the land and the sea they call home.

Time and again I’ve heard those displaced by the volcano accept their fate with dignity, faith, and an understanding that most would find astonishing.

"Pono"

Most indigenous cultures understand that the land doesn’t really belong to us.

Madam Pele (the goddess of the volcano) shows her hand by continuing to create this land before our very eyes and in our midst. She has exclusive rights and we must accept her creative whims.

The Art of Aloha Creative Cruise this August will stop in Hilo for a day before sailing around the southern tip of Hawaii Island to dock in Kona the next day.

Pele claimed most of the southern tip of Hawaii Island awhile back. Those of us on the cruise were hoping to see her spill into the ocean there. None of us want to see homes ravaged by lava.

We have room for two more people on this very special island cruise. If the islands are calling to you, please act today! Click HERE

I promise a trip you’ll always remember.
The Spirit of the Land is tangible here.

If you want an infusion of creativity and trust that we will continue to survive and even thrive during any upheaval in life, this trip is for you!