It's Friday, time to party with the other artists at Paint Party Friday.  I hope that you will join the fun and visit all of the artists.  I promise you will see some amazing work.

This week I decided to bring out my watercolors once again.  I started this picture a long time ago but never finished it. I used both watercolors and pastels, and at least for now, I believe it is finished.  Maybe in another year I will take it out again and add something else.

This was a week of celebrations.  There were several birthdays to celebrate and tonight a good friend had her first official book launch.  It is wonderful to see someone's dream come true and to be there to help them celebrate the results of all their hard work.  We all have dreams!  This week I am very grateful to be reminded that dreams do come true!
                                                         What are you grateful for this week? 

                              " In every gardener there is a child who believes in The Seed Fairy."  ~Robert Brau

When I first started to write Wednesday's Walk, it was to inspire me to walk through different parts of town taking pictures.  Instead I seem to enjoy taking pictures of the flowers that I have planted this year.  Maybe it is because my garden is so different than I expected it to be.  Maybe it is because it is so hot that I really don't feel like venturing very far or maybe it is just what I am supposed to be doing at this time.  I am very glad that the seed fairy came to visit this year and left lots and lots of seeds that have turned into beautiful flowers for me to take care of and enjoy each day. I have never considered myself to be a gardener but I do now.  It certainly goes to prove you are never too old (or too young) to try something new.  I would love to know where your walks have taken you this week. 

                                                         "Beauty is a gift."  Aristotle
If you agree with Aristotle, and I do, then no matter where we are or what we are doing the world is full of surprises and wonderful gifts for us to enjoy. Time goes by so quickly.  As you plan each day this week, I hope that you will leave some time to enjoy the beautiful gifts that the world has to offer.  What I have learned is that I don't have to travel far to find something beautiful to look at.  All I have to do is look out my window and something beautiful is there each and every day for me to enjoy. And that truly is a gift that I don't want to miss.

It's Friday.  Writing that doesn't mean the same thing that it did when I was working.  Then it meant rest and relaxation.  Now, it means time to visit the wonderful artists that share their work at Paint Party Friday. Everyone is always invited so if you have a chance, drop in and see the amazing work done by incredibly creative artists.

This pastel is not finished but I decided to share it anyway and that is one of the things I am most grateful for this week.  It is nice to have a place to share my work each Friday.  It is nice to be part of a supportive community who shares what they are learning and creating.  It was three years ago this month that I started blogging.  It has been a wonderful experience and a journey that I am so glad that I began.  So this week I am grateful for all of the people I have met, the support I have been given, and the friendships I have made through blogging.  It has been, and I know it will continue to be, a wonderful experience.

As I walked through the arboretum, I was struck by the natural beauty that surrounded me as well as the beautiful sculptures created by man.  Each one was different and each one told a story.  As I looked at this one, I thought of how important it is to spend time with someone you care about, sharing a quiet moment in a beautiful environment. Sometimes just being together is enough while other times are meant for talking.  This sculpture says it all without ever saying a word. 

                              " If you do something you love, you can't help but be successful."
                                                                                                                  Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

We are all different so we all measure success by different standards. It may also be different depending upon the circumstances of your life or the stage of life you are in.  As I look back over the different stages of my life, the above quote rings very true.  If I was doing something I loved, I felt successful and most times I was.  If I was doing something because I thought I was supposed to or others wanted me to, I might have been successful but I never felt the sense of accomplishment that I did when I was doing what I wanted to do.  When I am doing something I love, it is never work.  It doesn't matter how long I work or how hard I work, I always feel like it is fun.  Is there something that you would love to do?  Maybe, this is the week to take that first step towards doing something you love.  It is always exciting to see what happens next.

Another week has flown by.  My contribution to Paint Party Friday is a picture that I took a month ago.  I was at the park with my husband.  The park was filled with people laughing and having fun.  I had my camera and decided to take some pictures.  As I stood quietly by the lake, I looked to my right and there stood a duck looking back at me.  He was enjoying the view just as much as I was.  He was gracious enough to be very still as I took took his picture.  It wasn't until I got home that I even saw the second duck.  I printed out the picture and then use my pastels to color it in.  It was simple but fun and a great reminder of a perfect moment in a wonderful day.
This week I am grateful for many unexpected but special moments like the one above.  I find that as I move more slowly, try not to rush from thing to thing, and quietly watch and listen for those special moments they occur more and more.  I am sure they were always there, I was just too busy to notice them.  I hope that your week is filled with nothing but special moments.
                                                                What are you most grateful for this week?

                                    "Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement."
                                                                                  Helen Keller
I really love this quote.  I firmly believe that when we look at life through an optimistic lense good things happen.  People are attracted to those who are positive and who support not only their own dreams but the dreams of others.  I think it is so important to visualize the life we want in positive terms.  This doesn't mean we won't face challenges along the way.  We all do.  It is how we face those challenges that makes the difference.  Thinking positively, speaking positively, and acting positively leads to a life filled with happiness.  I hope your week is filled with all things happy and exciting for you and those you love.

It's Friday which means it is time to visit all of my fellow artists at Paint Party Friday.  It is also the day that I spend just a few minutes sharing what I am grateful for this week.  This has been a week of fireworks, celebrations, and time with family and friends. It has been a week with quiet moments, time to paint, and time to read. It's been a week that has had it ups and its down.  It has been an ordinary week filled with ordinary days but somehow that is what has made it so special.  Just a quiet week where there was lots of time to "just be".  Sometimes that is all that you need.                  
                                                               What are you most grateful for this week?

This week I took a walk through all of the pictures that I have taken this month in order to find the one that I wanted to link to Kat Sloma's monthly Photo-Heart Connection.  I look forward to linking a picture that I took during the month as well as looking at all of the beautiful and inspiring photographs taken by photographers from all over the world.

If I do say so myself, this was a rather unusual choice for a photograph to share but as I looked at all of the pictures I took this one seemed to speak to me the most.  It is a picture of a pastel that I painted this month.  I love to draw and paint and I have just recently fallen in love with pastels.  But when I look at something I have created I can be very critical of it.  If I look at the work of others, I always find something that I like about it and if I met the artist I would be sure to say something nice about their work before leaving. But I am not always so kind to myself.

So this picture is a reminder to me and to all of the other artists who also have a strong inner critic.  It is possible to learn and to grow and to stretch as an artist while still appreciating your own work.  I always say that I love the process and the journey but when I looked at this picture I realized how much fun it is to appreciate and enjoy the final product as well.