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"Creativity is inventing, experimenting, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun"... Mary Lou Clark


I saw this quote in a magazine... and upon research, discovered that the author of the quote is a Santa Fe activist, author and icon (look HERE)...
I have been thinking alot about this quote today.

I have always considered myself a creative person. A few years ago, I was asked to help start and run a local gallery. At that time, I had a very hard time calling myself an artist. Partly because I was greatly influenced by a local group of artists whom I believed to be significantly more talented/knowledgeable/experienced than I... and so I felt that I would never quite reach the status of "artist."

In the few years since then... I have tried very hard to flesh out what being an artist means to me... and I think one of the crucial aspects is a willingness to put yourself out there. To do what you love... no matter what others may think of your art. To make art because you have to.... because it's part of your essential make-up as a human being.

This is one of the main reasons why I try to focus blog posts on local art, local galleries... things associated with the life of an artist... because I feel it is so important to try and lift these people up... to give them support... to show them that art is not only something they do... but a way of life.

It is a wonderful thing to be an artist... and I am so glad to be home.

photos by Elaine A. Russell

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"Time is free, but it's priceless.

You can't own it, but you can use it.

You can't keep it, but you can spend it.

Once you've lost it, you can never get it back."

--Harvey MacKay

(...time can be lost....)

(... time can stand still... or you can travel in time and space...)

(...but time waits for no one ... you must choose to live in the present...)

~~~~~

I've been thinking alot about the concept of time. Oh... time is real enough.... but it means so many different things to different people. And just as there are so many people in this world... so are the many perceptions of time-- how to use it, how to make it pass more slowly or more quickly... the list goes on.

And so today... I took some time out to take some photos of an old pocket watch. I believe it was my father's grandfather's watch... and it has been broken forever... or so it would seem.

And like that old pocket watch.... I seem to be at a fixed point in time...
not moving forward; nor backward...


*all photos by Elaine A. Russell

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Well... we started off the day by going to Erway's Market for the breakfast buffet... and looked at all their marvelous plants for sale in the store area. It was awesome. Did a couple things around the house... and I also dug up and transplanted a few plants into pots for the patio. Afterwards, we took a short driving tour (so to speak) of the downtown... then spent the rest of the afternoon visiting with my dad.

Dinner was spent with my niece and her 3 kids... burgers and corn on the cob... peanut butter no-bake cookies... iced tea.... fabulous. Then... back up to visit with my dad again.
All things considered... today was actually fairly pleasant and easy. Not all days are like this.

This seems to be (sort of ) the normal routine as of late (course, usually without the benefit of the extended meals... which I insisted on today)...and it's not that it's a horrible routine... but it is rather exhausting. We have been getting home from the last visit of the day around midnight... give or take... and I haven't been getting to sleep before 3am usually because I am trying to keep up at least with my blog and some photo projects that I am involved in. It is a hard thing to try to keep up with stuff... but at the moment... it is also the only thing keeping me relatively sane.

I suppose I am whining... and that is not my intention... but few people seem to understand how very different this is from my normal life. I have essentially been in PA for 3 months... and I am used to working on my art for hours at a stretch.... having leisurely dates with my hubby...working in my studio.... and here I am in a situation where there is no TV, no radio, rushed meals in between visits to the hospital... having to grab snippets of time to work on a daily photo... and I won't even address the family dynamics. Things have been very stressful and uptight. All families have interesting quirks and characters... mine is no exception.... I just think perhaps that I am more sensitive to it all because I am tired.

The crux of it though... is that I am quickly and definitely heading towards a nervous breakdown of sorts. It's hard to be strong and reliable and completely there for other people 24:7.... and I have made a valiant effort... but I thoroughly need a break... and not just a 3hr escape to the woods (which although it was completely awesome, and completely needed... was just not enough)...

I thank the gods daily for my wonderful hubby... whom I miss very much... who not only knows and understands my family.... but allows me to try to be a "good daughter." Who... understand me... (and still loves me)....I hope to spend much more time with him in the future.....


*all photos by Elaine A. Russell