Meditation Monday - Faces Art-A-Day Journal and Sand Dancer

Memorial day...remembering those gone, but living now and loving the ones you're with...A leisurely Memorial Day here, some gardening going on, a little art-making, family conversations, the cat's snoozing the day away, while our resident woodpecker hammers away remodeling his birdhouse, and we get ready to BBQ our dinner. Random thoughts of those long ago who landed on a beach far far away in Normandy called Omaha, to face life and death challenges, including my father. Reflecting on that, I am lucky to be here and grateful for the sacrifices of that and other generations.

Faces in my Art-A-Day Journal
So here are some faces I recently sketched in my Art-A-Day Journal. The one on the left is supposed to be Liz Taylor in her younger days. And below is a sketch from an old postcard of a Klimt painting entitled "Judith 1". I love imperfect faces, the character they display, esp., the woman below. It's a good thing, because as I get older, I find I am getting more "character", more life lines on my face...but then, we all are, so it's ok.Sand Dancer
The video below has a large face drawn in the sand. The fascinating artist featured lives to create and creates for the moment only. He reminds me of those Tibetan monks who spend days creating intricate sand painting mandalas and then when completed, they destroy them. The art, the magic, the karma is in the process of going inside to draw out that inner beauty into a new creation. Having emerged, and been created, and taken in by the viewers, the moment passes quickly, and this art is recycled into the thousands of other grains of sand, waiting to be born again in yet another form.

So here is a wonderful story about Peter Donnelly in New Zealand, who does what he does because "I want my heart", it's his thing, his creativity and there's no director, nor doing it for money. So maybe this is the heart of an artist, you do what you do because it expresses you, what you feel, and you are choosing to do it, and it makes you alive, makes you whole... What do you think? Are you doing your thing? So take 10 minutes and enjoy this You-Tube Video from Wild Scenic Films, directed and produced by Valerie Reid, other credits listed on the video.