Work, Play, Grow

I thought that after a month of playing in the garden as I got ready for the Open House at Bedlam Farm and Full Moon Fiber Arts and then played longer at a workshop on abstract Expressionism, getting back to the drawing board--to the "work" of illustrating my book would seem like, well, work.Instead, this morning as I picked up a brush to color in one of the last letters, I felt renewed and excited, and it occurred to me that there is some value to playing in the garden at least a little bit every day. so I finished the letter and got out my easel and a package of oil paints that I bought years ago but had never used and began to play. I painted the same little green apples and filberts I always paint when I'm trying a new medium knowing it didn't matter if the painting stunk. Today's stroll in the garden wasn't about turning my studio into a painting factory. It was about making it a place to keep growing.