Creatively Thinking

  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.