35

 It's been a year to stretch my heart & soul.

To continue to grow & learn with relish.

To toughen up yet remain my open-eyed tender self.

To fall down repeatedly & to get back up.

To ease up on myself & to be gentle with self expectations.

To more easily accept my physical & mental limitations.

To live abundantly & creatively

& to not feel bad about all of the amazing stuff.

To honour my sensitive heart.

To survive a broken heart.

To stand more surely behind the decisions which I know are so very right for me.

I can admit that really like who I am.

I can gladly say that I love my own company.

I am can be proud of the ferocity with which I love.

I can be so very proud of all of my passion.

I can see that I am learning who I am more and more every single year.

I can rest in knowing that I am constantly moving towards being the person I dream to be.

I can love my creativity proudly.

I can finally embrace my own talent without reserve.

I can allow magic and joy and immense love to soak into the very center of my bones.

I can very bravely offer my heart over & over again even when it's rejected again & again.
I can scream from the roof-tops  I am Unique and know it's true.

Today I turn 35
I am going to celebrate all that I am.

New Painting

6"x 6" acrylic on canvas, the original will be available for purchase shortly.

I had fun with this little one yesterday. When I paint, whether it's big or small canvasses/wood, I work in my upstairs studio, which I share with Jin and Hazel. They always seem to enjoy having me in there and I just felt really content sitting there working away on this picture whiles the girls played and hopped about the room and took short snoozes on their sun-dappled window bench.

Some days are just so lovely. I am lucky enough to get alot of those 'surges of happiness' where you feel so content that your heart squeezes, or you feel so happy your sure that it's got to be oozing out of your very own pores. Yesterday was a day like that for me. It started with a beautifully sunny day and a wonderful rabbit snuggle with Roo & Ella out on the deck. I got to spend my whole day painting which I think I'll never stop feeling grateful for. And in the evening Jonathan and I went for a nice bike ride with my pal Julie, we went about 15km which was pretty good for our first time out. I admit to having my eyes glued to the sides of the path for any little creature that might need rescuing!

Here's my favourite photos of Roo napping on the deck yesterday.

I really feel like I need to say at this point that I am not trying to give the impression through my blogging, that I live with rose coloured glasses, or that I don't have my own bad days and trials and tribulations to live through, I do, we do...as a hyper-sensitive person, I have alot of those hard and sh***y days. As many of my artist readers will know, just being an artist comes with it's own confused kit and caboodle. But I think we are both very positive and strong people so we bounce back quickly. I want my blog to be positive and inspiring and yes still authentic to me and my true life, which is also very very full of those wonderful heart-squeezing days. And since I have always been a positive person, that is the vantage point that I want to write my blog from. I don't know why I am saying all this now...I could go on...I just want all my readers to know that I am being true to them...and ultimately I just really want everyone to enjoy my posted artwork, to get glimpses into my personal life which you don't get through my website and to simply share in my growing collection and accumulation of inspiration, surprises and beauty.

With that said, I am off to paint...with a slight headache I must add, so we'll see how much I get done! Thanks Everyone and until tomorrow.