a big country....

your country....


This country whose center is everywhere and whose circumference is nowhere...You do not find it by traveling but by standing still...

Yet it is in this loneliness that the deepest activities begin.  It is here that you discover act without motion, labor that is profound repose, vision in obscurity, and beyond all desire, a fulfillment whose limits extend to infinity.  --Thomas Merton

I found this quote the other day...and it really stuck with me for a bunch of reasons...today I'm all pensive...painting...and pensive...and quiet...in profound repose... :)  but really...

"labor that is profound repose"  Sometimes we need to do...nothing, while we do everything...sometimes just being patient and resting...while tremendous amount of work is happening...seeds planted that will be harvested later...those seeds resting in the soil...with a great day of potential later.  

and this country....the country you occupy...the youest of you...the essence of you...is perfection.  

so, enjoy your country...it's a big country...filled with wonders and potential...of mysteries and magic.  

and...my country...my landscape...my geography...

the sketch first, I really messed up the hands...and hope I can work some magic...they need to bend more...but hey- stuff happens...

and when it does...you gotta work some magic.  and...

here is the party invited...

My four year old is a pencil sharpener-emptying fairy...he's always leaving me with a nice clean...empty sharpener... :) 

and after the sketch...moving on..to paint.  

and the bed top studio.  

and then...you know...cropping in different ways...as I like to do.  

and then...the full one...I know..I know...the hands....hands are so hard.  I need to fix the hands...they are totally messed up...but I think I have...something I can work with...maybe fix with shading....maybe some magic...or a lot of magic....I should have started with the hands and worked from there....

  

so...that's it for now...  


peace...and love...and sunshine....and living in your country and traveling...without moving an inch.