Soaking

I'm soaking the rays of afternoon sun, after many snowy gray days. What a relief. I feel like a cat; I very much want to find a sunny patch on the floor to curl up and take a nap. Instead, I'll paint in the studio with the light streaming through my huge windows and let the brightness carry me through this frigid winter a little longer.

"I tell you, the more I think, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people." - Vincent van Gogh

High Five, Tennessee

Yesterday I high- fived Nashville; today I 'd like to take it a step further and high- five the state of Tennessee. I've noticed a couple things this month that are totally awesome about the state I live in.

First, results of the 2010 census reported on in the Washington Examiner earlier this week show Tennessee as one of 7 states with above national average growth; showing "growth tends to be stronger where taxes are lower. Seven of the nine states that do not levy an income tax grew faster than the national average."

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2010/12/census-fast-growth-states-no-income-tax?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4d1254c64add162d%2C0#ixzz18x69Vb2D

Second, the parks and outdoor recreation areas in this state are super. 

I was lucky to spend alot of time outdoors exploring in 2010 and can say from experience that there is so much to offer in the state, you are more likely to run out of time to explore it all than places to explore. The highlight of my summer was the Great TN Waterfall Tour of 2010, but hiking a bit of the Appalachian Trail in East TN this Fall was quite notable, as well.

Roan Mountain, like most East TN mountains, is gorgeous! But that's not all that I love about it; I love  that it is home to it's very own goat herd, The Baa-tany Goat Project. Read their brochure HERE.

What's not to love?!  Well, maybe the dreariness of winter, but it could be worse!

High Five, Nashville!

It's so great to see Nashville getting national recognition for being an awesome place to live, and drawing attention to the vibrant creative community:

"These artists are also putting the neighborhoods where they work, such as Downtown, 12South, and East Nashville, on the cultural map. "

Country Going Strong: Nashville's Best Hot Spots

Christmas Break

Christmas break has officially begun! For my first time! I' m not used to having time off work like this during the holidays; how strange to think I won't be back in the office until NEXT YEAR. It's only 2 weeks away, but still! It's pretty great. I put up some Christmas decorations this year, and hope to have some lazy days enjoying the cozy glow of twinkle lights.

Bella, Christmas Terminator

 Bella the kitty, my little Christmas Terminator, has a different plan for such things. She has pulled and shredded garland, knocked down ball ornaments, and "killed" bird ornaments since their arrival. I noticed yesterday that she actually knocked one of the lower branches loose from the tree. Kind of frustrating, but kind of don't care- Christmas isn't really a thing that I go crazy over and I guess I'm entertained by the scheming look in her eyes. I'm sure I'd be doing the very same thing if I were her!

Bella stalks a bird

I'm thankful to have had a quite decent amount of commissioned work lately; its allowed me to do a little extra Christmas shopping. I need to have one more piece done by tomorrow and then I will be working on some larger, non- commissioned things in the studio. Time in the studio is my main goal for this break. I'm a little nervous of time slipping by too quickly. Sometimes I just want to do so many things,  it's hard to pick a starting place for any one thing. I can let myself get pulled a little in 10 different directions and end up nowhere, or I can choose one direction, stick to that path, and make progress- that is where I'm at. Tying up lots of little loose ends, letting go of worrying about low priority things, and focusing my energy on my goals. Maybe I need to be channel Bella's determination.