Creatively Thinking

  Featured image: First Robin Have you seen your first robin yet? I saw mine a couple of weeks ago. So exciting, because for me that means that spring is just around the corner. But wait—what is this? Snow yet again. Oh dear, all those wonderful birds coming back. I know that they know how to stay warm when they get caught in a snowstorm, but humans, once they shed their winter coats, there is no turning back. At the same time I saw my first robin, I saw a human walking into the grocery store in shorts and flip-flops. There was no way he was going back to a winter coat. No way. And he wasn’t the only one. Gosh, he has to be cold—and he does not have whatever those birds have to keep them warm. Silly people. I had my hat on, boots, lined pants, a sweater, and a winter coat, and I was still cold. Happy spring.

  I’m honored to share that my work, Wolf—Don’t Fence Me In , has been accepted into Collage Artists of America’s Freedom Reframed exhibition . I’m deeply grateful to juror Shannon Currie-Holmes and to Collage Artists of America for including this piece in a show that centers on freedom, perspective, and the many ways we reframe our experiences. For as long as I can remember, my work has circled around the real, the imagined, and freedom , so it feels especially meaningful to have this piece included in an exhibition built around those ideas. Wolf—Don’t Fence Me In speaks to something I return to again and again in my work—the longing for freedom, the untamed spirit, and the quiet strength of what refuses to be contained. Nature has always been my greatest teacher, and the wolf, like the bird, carries a presence that is both symbolic and deeply felt. It reminds us of instinct, endurance, and the wild inner life that remains intact despite the fences we encounter. The exhibitio...

  Featured image: Intersections I Continuing Monday’s question about imitation and originality, I’ve realized that it’s difficult to talk about origins. Instead, I think about creation. I create from what already exists—from tangible things around me. I don’t invent from nothing. The challenge, then, is not the object itself, but how I use it: how I arrange it, combine it, and mark it with my own ideas. That is where originality lives. Some works merely imitate. They copy. What we are really searching for is the idea. As I begin new work, I feel this tension strongly. I look at where art is going and where I want to go, and I return to one simple desire: I want my work to be free. If it imitates, it isn’t free. If my mark imitates, it isn’t free. I will feel it. I will know. Be ready for the new work. Look for it.

  Featured image: Intersections II How does an artist find inspiration?   Do ideas simply appear in an aha moment? For me, those moments are rare. Most of my inspiration comes from looking—really looking, really seeing. We miss more than we realize. Have you ever walked the same path twice and noticed something new the second time? Or looked at someone and questioned whether their eyes were blue or green? We often see things without fully realizing that we’ve seen them. This way of seeing shapes my work. People frequently ask about the black-and-white bars that appear throughout it. There isn’t a simple answer. They come from my history—from an exhibition I once guided as a museum docent, featuring objects from an African tribe adorned entirely in black-and-white patterns. After seeing that work, I found myself drawn to those patterns as well. Was I copying them? That question comes up often in art, especially around copyright. I recently read about a photographer wrestling wi...

  Featured image: Rotating Earth “Touch the earth and plant your heart into what comforts you.”   CEA

  Featured image: Charting Pathways Commit to the less  trodden path infuse yourself  with uncertainty Exist beyond your  perceptions  and  limits  because there are no limits and there is no  lack Why??????  it is imagined  created Exist beyond  perceptions  and  limits exist beyond the  well-worn  path Commit to the less  trodden path explore  renew  yourself

Featured image: Travelers II measuring imagine the artist, she  wondering, wonder  wandering traveling along fields of wonderful rivers of tears skies of silver mountains of dreams the artist, she measuring imagine creates the journey measuring imagine

  Featured image: Rainbows in My Studio As I sit, I can feel stillness and quietness surround me. The sun appears above the garage roof, and when I look back again to my blank white page, I see rainbows dancing across it. Such a small thing, such a beautiful thing. Such a precious gift, reminding me of the divine and the glorious wonder of simply being in the sun this morning with a cup of coffee, blue sky, and rainbows. I take a deep breath and begin the day.

  Featured image: Sunrise In The Morning At The Lake First sip of coffee, and I look out at the morning beginning. The sun has moved and is rising now at the other end of the garage roof. Days are longer now—yea. Mornings come sooner. The first rocks are showing in the rock flower garden. Those smaller birds are returning that left during the really cold spell we had. Pretty soon flocks of finches will return, and the feeders will quickly empty, and I will have to fill them more often. So many things to look forward to. The sun is the best part, though—especially when it hides behind the Queenie tree and its glorious rays peek through its branches.

  Featured image: Along the Edge III Lately I have been weaving. Weavings of color symbolize a creative flow of life. The edges of the woods … well … well … they are like a fence, and I find a need to move beyond the edge into the center. The center … for the center invites discovery, and yes, protection and hiding places.

  Featured image:  Sacred Place - Cairn Gracefully do not resist change flow gracefully with it  welcome it within  it offers possibility, growth development of authentic self the way to create self the very sacred self be patient

Featured image: Sweet Blooms A stream of endless Moments Unique Energies Fills us with the Sacred flow That grounds Us ………fully In the here And now to our Present moment Of the   ….divine within ….and of simply Being….. living

  I’m honored and grateful to share that my painting Intersections has been accepted into the 2026 National Juried Exhibition of the Georgia Watercolor Society , juried by Carol Carter . Intersections was selected from among 159 submitted works, and I’m truly honored to have this work included. This painting reflects ideas I return to often—the places where paths cross, where movement meets stillness, where one direction gives way to another. Intersections can feel uncertain, but they are also rich with possibility. They ask us to pause, to consider, and sometimes to choose with courage. The exhibition will be held at the Carrollton Center for the Arts in Carrollton, Georgia, from April 18 through May 22, 2026. I’m thankful for the opportunity to share this work in such a thoughtful setting and for the continued invitation to be part of conversations that honor imagination, reflection, and new directions. 💛

  Featured image: We Are What We Wonder How do you create a sense of wonder in your life, in your artwork, if you are an artist? If you are a lover of the arts, when you look at a work of art, what is it that grabs you and gives you that sense of wonder—what stops you so you delight in the work? Do you ever stop in your tracks and ask, how did he or she do that? And then you are so curious that you look around the work to see if you can figure it out. You look around again to make sure no one is watching you, and if I were there I would say to you, go ahead, I am curious too. How did he do that? And you both bend and look underneath and try to figure it out. And if it is indeed me, you really look at it and really touch it—first making sure you don’t have a camera on you and don’t have a guard close by. No, you don’t even consider this at the MOMA. But I have inched up way too close to an artwork and been reprimanded, and then reprimanded again, and called MISS. Oh, I hate that. Do...

  Featured image: Steps and Ladders “ There is no glimpse of the light without walking the path. You can’t get it from anyone else, nor can you give it to anyone. You just take whatever steps seem easiest for you, and as you take a few steps that are easy for you, take a few more steps, and then a few more steps. We must walk according to the highest light we have. ” — Peace Pilgrim Extraordinariness it’s a grey day   but it’s not  immersed in the day   if you are immersed in  its wonders looking for extraordinariness welcome, come with me transforming the extraordinary  into a symphony of sacred  gentle rhythms   ….from the earth    ….from the sky    ….from water the extraordinary thank you extraordinary.

  Featured image: Rosie One year, when visiting NY with Holly, we were very into the interiors of the buildings in the city. Well, I was anyway. We went to the NY Public Library, and I personally was in awe of the carvings in the building’s study area—the ornamental wood carvings, the stained glass. Oh, so many treasures hidden in NY. I have but one small treasure, which I truly treasure from that trip. Holly gave it to me for Christmas that year: an Einstein boggle statue from the library’s gift shop, which I so chuckled at. So many don’t treasure the money, the time, the place—to sit in silence like Holly and I did in the library’s reading area and just marvel at the beauty of the art created there so many years ago. The person’s hand that touched that wood and created that swirl in the grain, then smoothed out the dust from their tool and went on working, loving what they did. Admiring the wood and the mark it made, never realizing it would make such an everlasting impression th...

  Featured image: Springtime Breeze “Sweet, sweet holy as the day begins.” — CEA

  Featured image: Intersections II “ Art is grounded in the evolving, changing, formal, visual language that tries to define it. ”  CEA

  Featured image: Yellow Birds at the Feeder I wonder how I can ever feel angry when I look at “my woods.” Today, I have officially decided to call them “my woods.” That is assuming a lot, but they sure feel like “my woods.” The sun is shining on “my trees,” and the birds are at my feeders. I feel so grateful. I can’t imagine ever feeling angry. Why do I get angry? And yet, I still do. Today, I am simply grateful for all this “wonder.” So I am sharing and just embracing the day, even though I have to do taxes… grrrrrrr. Love to all.

  Featured image: Valentine Valentine’s Day feels like a gentle invitation to celebrate beauty. In the studio, I am always chasing it — the hush of winter light, the lift of a wing, the fragile bloom that will not last long. To paint is to linger with what moves us. Perhaps that is one quiet form of love: to translate wonder into color, line, and form… and to offer it back to the world. Today, I’m grateful for those who make space for art in their lives — and for the simple, enduring power of beauty. Wishing you a day touched by something that stirs your heart. 💛

Featured image: Rosie Robot I just sort of fell into creating some assemblage works of art for my exhibition at the Campanile. I started doing one, discovered I loved it and was having fun doing it, so I did another one. And another. Then I began to think I was receiving a message and started to listen, to take the message seriously, and to research the concept of assemblage. Naturally, the idea of assemblage took hold in the 60’s with Duchamp and the rest of the abstract group, as I will call them for simplicity’s sake. But I really shouldn’t—they are all some of my very favorite artists, and they did so very much for art history, both good and bad. Today I began to wonder differently about them. I used to think they were the ones who opened our minds to new ways of thinking about art. I have always thought that this was good. But today I began to wonder if it wasn’t also bad, because look at what we have for art today: nothing precious, nothing unique, nothing original. Look at assem...

  Featured image: Hawk III I’m truly honored—and deeply grateful—to share that my painting Hawk has been accepted into the 17th Annual Signature Watermedia Exhibition, on view March 21 through April 18, 2026. To be included among fellow Signature artists in a show that celebrates both mastery and fresh perspective feels especially meaningful to me. Exhibitions like this are not simply about displaying work; they are about entering into a larger conversation—one shaped by years of dedication to the medium, by risk, by growth, and by imagination. For as long as I can remember, birds have carried symbolic weight in my art. Hawks, in particular, embody vision, strength, and independence. In this piece, I wanted to honor that watchful presence—the ability to rise, to see clearly, and to trust the currents beneath the wings. These ideas have shaped my life and my art, and I return to them again and again. The opening reception will be held Saturday, March 21, from 4–6 PM. I’m thankful to...

  Featured image: Intersections II I have begun working with found objects. They are often very different in their usage from their prior life—like rusted metal gears, old parts and gears, screws and washers that I have found in boxes that were abandoned long ago. A real treasure I found once—and I didn’t even know it at the time—was a wooden gear about 4” in diameter. I haven’t found a use for it yet, but I will. It just needs to be imagined. That’s the hard part. The other day, during my opening reception, someone asked me where I got all my birds, and I told him I bought them. Most of the things I am working with sell themselves to me. They know I think they are treasures and that I will make something special out of them. Some of the small birds I don’t do anything to, and others I cover with different materials, like plaster of Paris, concrete, and papier-mâché. I try not to use anything toxic, as I used a lot of materials like that in my earlier years as an artist, and I thou...

  Wings Sculpture,  10'x7' My exhibition, Opposites, is currently on view at the Campanile Center for the Arts, Campanile Gallery in Minocqua, Wisconsin, and will remain open through March. The exhibition is available by appointment only. To schedule a visit, please contact the Campanile Center for the Arts Monday through Thursday at (715) 356-9700 and ask for Laurie or Sandy. You are also very welcome to contact me directly at (715) 588-7115 or on my cell at (715) 401-9585 (within reason, of course) to arrange a personal tour. I would be glad to walk the exhibition with you and talk together about the work. The idea of opposites has long fascinated me. Without black and white, there would be no gray. One does not exist without the other. This simple truth opens up a much larger way of thinking about balance, contrast, and transformation. Much of my current work explores this idea through music and color. Red and yellow move toward one another and, in their meeting, become ora...

  Be Different I’m honored and grateful to share that two of my paintings, Be Different and Inner Compass, have been invited into Covered & Kept, an online Virtual Reality exhibition presented by Adonai Global Arts Fund. This exhibition centers on ideas of being covered, guided, and held—sometimes visibly, often quietly. These are themes I return to in my work again and again, explored through inner landscapes and symbolic spaces rather than literal narratives. Both Be Different and Inner Compass reflect that inward listening—the place where direction, faith, and resilience begin to emerge. I’m thankful for the invitation and for the care behind this exhibition. It feels meaningful to place these works within a space that treats art as a form of shelter, reflection, and shared experience. 💛 Your Inner Compass

  Featured image: Blackbird Historical time is a tangible thread woven through the fabric of my creative conceptual art objects and forms. This thread pulses with the rhythm of life, marking moments that ripple into memory, imagination, and legacy. Every brushstroke and every sculpted form becomes a heartbeat—a vibrant echo of the past, a resonant pulse of the present, and an anticipatory cadence for futures yet untold. Recording visual histories serves not merely as documentation but as celebration: a woven tapestry where forgotten narratives are revived, reimagined, and propelled forward to inspire and transform into a new dialogue. Through this dynamic interplay, time transcends its linear confines, becoming a multidimensional canvas for stories longing to be heard, seen, and felt anew. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. When I create the threads—the tangible threads that weave the creative expressions of my life ’ s journey—they all share one commonal...

  Featured image: December Loon Everything in life is movement and flow. Movement and flow Movement and flow.                                                                                                                      

  Featured image: Intersections A dear friend—I hope I can call her a friend—I have known her for a long time anyway, responded to one of my posts the other day about silence. She said something to the effect of, “Ah yes, the silence—there is nothing else like the Northwoods winter silence.” So true. So true.

 Featured Image: The Choir When you are creating art, you have to be a participant. What do I mean by that? I mean that you have to be there somehow—you have to be in the moment. You are zoned out of all things around you; nothing else bothers you. You hear nothing else. You see nothing else—really, you see nothing else but what you are creating. I find this happens when I am outside having my morning coffee, relating to the earth, relating to all that is. When I am in the moment, I am part of the blackbird, part of the bluebird, part of the snow on the ground—part of the silence of the snow. I am a participant. I am in the moment. I become a creative, and I create. Does this happen to anyone else? There is singing in my heart. There is a wonderful singing in my heart. Can you create and have singing in your heart? Try it.

  Featured image: Winter River Winter mornings bring stillness, calm, and dim light. Winter is always full of otherness. It is bitter cold; even when I don’t want to go out, I don’t know how the little birds do it. I remind myself every morning that if I didn’t want the birds to develop the habit, then I should not have started feeding them. And so I go out, come in a couple of times because it is so cold, and then go back out again. The warmth of their little bodies serves them well, somehow. It’s all part of a very, very complex master plan.

  I’m feeling very grateful today to share that my piece She Is a Creative was awarded Third Place in the Abstract National Exhibition at Mark Arts. This exhibition runs from January 9 through March 21, and being included among so many thoughtful and compelling works has already felt like an honor. Receiving this recognition adds another layer of gratitude to the experience. She Is a Creative speaks to ideas I return to again and again—the real, the imagined, and the quiet freedom found in listening to one’s inner voice. To know that this work resonated in this way is deeply meaningful to me. Thank you to the juror, the exhibition team, and everyone who continues to support my work and my ongoing journey as an artist. 💛

  Featured image: Different Journeys I’m grateful to share that my painting Different Journeys has been selected for inclusion in the National Online Showcase ’26 presented by the Watercolor Society of Alabama. Out of 115 works submitted by 66 artists, 50 pieces were chosen for this exhibition. I’m honored that Different Journeys is part of this thoughtful collection. This piece reflects something I return to often in my work—the understanding that each of us moves through the world along a distinct path, shaped by experience, intuition, and change. Though our journeys may differ, they often echo one another in quiet, meaningful ways. Moments like these remind me how art continues to connect us across distance, time, and individual paths. 💛

  Featured image: Playground My art has always been about “playing.” I can remember that I was always making little play corners all over the house. Finally, after a while, I found areas where my mom couldn’t find them and clean them up—corners under the rafters, hidden behind clothes in the closets—but they were always special places where I could play and imagine. My house is no different as a grown-up—it is filled with places that can turn into art-making areas in a jiffy so I can be with family all the time, or rather, so family can be with me. My studio is wherever I am; I just carry my supplies on a cart, like when I had art on a cart when I was first an art teacher. I would unload my supplies from the trunk of my car after loading them into the truck for the week from the central supply house for the school district, then unload them again and go into a school to be the traveling art teacher for that day—no fancy room for art teachers back then. Anyway—you carry your art wit...

  Featured image: She Is A Creative   I’m feeling deeply honored—and quietly excited—to share that I was invited to participate in the Abstract National Exhibition at Mark Arts in Wichita, Kansas. My piece, She Is a Creative, will be included in this exhibition, which runs from January 9 through March 21, with an opening reception on January 9 from 5–7 PM. When I read the juror’s letter, I was especially moved by the care and thought behind the selections. Out of hundreds of submissions, the work chosen reflects art that carries mystery, ambiguity, and a sense of resonance—qualities I return to again and again in my own practice. To know that this piece connected on that level feels meaningful and affirming. For as long as I can remember, my work has circled around the real, the imagined, and freedom. She Is a Creative is part of that ongoing conversation—an exploration of inner landscapes, intuition, and the quiet power of becoming. I’m grateful for the invitation, for the ju...