A Little Bit Of Hope

Sheltered

Acrylic on Canvas

12"x24"

So it's that time of year in which I watch almost any and all movies that have either Christmas or Holiday in the title.  Doesn't matter how sappy it may be, the sappier the better.   I think I blogged last year around this time (I'm too lazy to go back and check) about one of my favs which is "Love Actually".  If that movie doesn't make you feel warm and fuzzy all over then I have no idea what would.  My youngest and I watched it yesterday afternoon for the zillionth time...me with a latte (chai) and she with a hot chocolate....sounds very Norman Rockwellish doesn't it??  I have to confess that having Hugh Grant as one of the leads didn't hurt either.  Such a crush on him.  I think it's that British accent and his dry sense of humour that I love..... 

It's A Wonderful Life......goes without saying how great that one is..... even though I know every word of dialogue at the end, it still makes me cry. Clarence getting his wings and all...

White Christmas...an oldie but still great.  I love it when Bing  Crosby and Danny Kaye surprise the General at the end and he's holding back his tears.

I believe that at this time of year we all need a happy ending.... a little bit of hope.  Most of my days of the year are spent in the real world and in constant awareness that life can be a struggle for many.  Bad things happen to good people and at some point in all of our lives we will suffer loss.  So call me a sentimentalist, a sap and perhaps even an optimistic soul,  but at this time of year that's exactly what I want to be.

Long Time Coming

Well there's not much I can say that hasn't already been said about the historic moment that took place yesterday. I watched on and off (thank god for Tevo) from around 10 in the morning until 11 last night..........yeah, I'm televisioned out but just couldn't miss out on witnessing an event that I never thought I'd see in my lifetime. The girls watched part of it with me last night and couldn't get over how much his dancing style resembled their Dads.

I've been a big Obama supporter since I first heard him give the keynote address at the DNC in 2004. Believe it or not I have watched all of the Democratic National Conventions since Jimmy Carter. I think somewhere on this blog I've mentioned what an American political junkie I am. So I'm not going to blab on and on rehashing what has already been said but here's my two cents worth "Barack Obama has inspired and restored a sense of hope and promise for not only Americans but for the world. He embodies everything it takes to be a leader who leads by example...........someone who walks the walk not just talks the talk. Enough said!

So as you can see my computer is up and running. John worked some sort of magic with it and voila here I am. Ok, maybe not magic since he had to stop in at Future Shop and buy a new router as ours was fried but at least, unlike me, he knew what to do.

Lately I've been quite pleased with myself as I've been keeping up with my promise to sketch something small every morning. I'm working on my compositional skills and in just a short amount of time have noticed a considerable different. Practice does make perfect or something like that.

Speaking of creativity, tomorrow my friend Steve is coming over and we are going to throw some paint around in an abstract sort of way. Yes, that does makes me nervous. Steve is a painter (loves abstracts) as well as a talented musician. We got to talking at a party in the village just recently and I mentioned to him that I had this huge canvas which I think is about 60"x24" in my studio. I also told him how it had been sitting there for what seems like years due to the fact it totally intimates me. I work on such a small scale that I've never attempted anything that big and white. So Steve kindly volunteered to come over tomorrow and we'll take a crack at it together and we see what we come up with. Maybe I'll post it................