'phew Josh, holy mother, back at the easel and A'Ha's

Axully.com/axully-blog/2019/11/30/phew-josh-holy-mother-back-at-the-easel-and-ahas

first published June 30, 2008, edited 11/1/19). I am re-releasing these blog posts to communicate how I traveled the journey to artist...mistakes I made, things I tried, money spent, hours spent researching. I have boiled all this down into a simple formula for you to Restore Your Soul | Jumpstart Your Creativity.

My FREE Facebook Group, Axully Art is here: 
I help people learn and grow as artists...filling their free time with peace.

DOWNLOAD your FREE copy of the Axully Art Roadmap here…

Watch this space for new stuff from Vicki

Well, sing along together to the tune of 'Back in the Saddle Again'...'Back at the Easel Again'...Teehee!

ACTUALLY, I made changes suggested by Mr. Leslie B. DeMille (or at least attempted)...and took heed at Grandma's comment about his hair being the wrong color...and here he is! This incarnation, anyway. My main 'phew, Josh!

Anyway, delightful day in good 'ole Rogers at the Ross abode. Slow start...did an 'I ching' reading about our (think positive) upcoming move and got a message about maintenance, repair, pride, etc. Randy came in from his fav therapy (washing cars) and said he wanted to open the pool...but first we'd have to clean leaves, weeds, etc. While he engaged in his other fav therapy (napping) I worked on Josh. It never ceases to amaze me how good it is to lose yourself in some kind of creative activity. It doesn't have to be an easel...or wetting a brush...it could be cooking, writing, decorating, rebuilding a car, or WHATEVER! For me, it is the easel.

After a couple hours, (and waiting for the spray to hopefully have killed the ticks in the back) we decided to tackle the weeds. (ala advice from Kippy...get dirty). That went quickly, so we decided to remove the cover from the pool. Randy was feeling so good that he tackled a few limbs to clear a better view of the LPGA tournament (this week). He then disappeared for an hour or so (turns out he was dumping the yard debris).

In the meantime, I settled in on one of the decks, drinking a cool one...and my iPod started playing one of my favorite songs...'Holy Mother' written by Eric Clapton and performed by Eric and Pavarotti...FABULOUS! So good, I listened louder 5 or 6 times, memorizing the words. Made me realize that quiet time, is SO theraputic. We are way too busy for quiet. Well, quiet except for 'Holy Mother'. For my new friends who aren't aware of the book I helped create 'Mélanger avec Amour' with Kippy Hammond and Jerome Henriquez of La Bonne Etoile in France, I have had several 'epiphanies' while there. Totally unexplanable...so don't know why I would try to 'splain' here...except to say that things are quiet there. Peaceful. Like the day I had here (not as exotic)

Except to be grateful...for the fireflies...the sun setting over the Pinnacle lake...a newly cleaned up back yard...and for the glorious song written by Eric...and the awareness that he has had the devastating experience of losing a child. And lived to be such an inspiration to others. I personally don't think this is a religious song per se, Holy Mother might just be a generic label for some higher power...definitely not owned by the 'cat-licks'. Whatever floats your boat, these lyrics are worth reading.

Just hope my art can someday do the same for someone else.

Link to music video:

Holy Mother Song/video

Lyrics

Holy Mother, where are you?

Tonight I feel broken in two.

I've seen the stars fall from the sky.

Holy mother, can't keep from crying.

Oh I need your help this time, Get me through this lonely night.

Tell me please which way to turn To find myself again.

Holy mother, hear my prayer, Somehow I know you're still there.

Send me please some peace of mind; Take away this pain.

I can't wait, i can't wait, I can't wait any longer.

I can't wait, I can't wait, I can't wait for you.

Then the orchestra swells...takes it up a notch and then...the angel voice of Pavarotti:

Holy mother, hear my cry. I've cursed your name a thousand times.

I've felt the anger running through my soul; Holy mother can't keep control.

Oh, I feel the end has come, no longer my legs will run.

You know I would rather be in your arms tonight.

Then things get quiet, and Eric and Pavarotti duet the finish:

When my hands no longer play, My voice is still, I fade away.

Holy mother, then I'll be lying in, safe within your arms.

And a hair-raising guitar solo...and chorus.

Find something that makes your heart sing.

Put a Funny Spin on It, Stella!

Bad Things Happen! Challenging Things! Ugly Things! Things that are of a magnitude that are SO impossible to reconcile.

Whaddya do?

1. Crawl in a hole and pull it in after you

2. Cry uncontrollably until your eyes are swollen shut

3. Throw a huge temper tantrum

4. Bore everyone you know with details ad nauseum

5. Keep reliving it over and over

6. Get revenge

You could do what I did…

Put a big ole bow on it! Wear a funny hat! And another funny hat! Draw a picture of it! Do a caricature of it!

LAUGH YOUR WAY OUT OF IT! It’ll make you feel better to forget “IT” awhile.

One of my funnies after the fire. Going through discovery with our legal team, I saw some reports that should have been removed. The next morning I work up to a bad case of shingles on my face. They came with a mild case of chicken pox which made me feel awful! The next morning, I woke up with a rare (of course) condition that paralyzed the shingles side of my face.

Because my right eye wouldn’t close, I had trouble reading. A flash of inspiration and a few minutes later, I had a dishtowel wrapped around my head and right eye…arranged so I could see out of my left eye to read. I tickled me. When I heard ranDEE coming in, I grabbed the Mt. Fuji walking stick with the Japanese flag on it and limped to the door acting like a wounded soldier.

Yeah, I know. Corny! But we laughed.

Then the next day, a friend brought over a halloween bucket full of DVD’s, candy and stuff. The prize I grabbed first was a scarecrow headband. And a black eye patch. I had my Halloween costume complete! A few days later, on Halloween, I was not infectious…and wore my garb down to our office. Another side effect was that some words came out funny…Sufferin’ Succotash was a good one. I demonstrated to the group and heard, “Gosh that’s a great costume! How do you talk like that?

Another memorable event where I turned lemons into lemonade was when I had some kind of tummy pain. The emergency room doctor laughed as I tried to blame it on the bison steak ranDEE fed me the night before. I had to drink some junk, and when the bottle was empty we noticed that the empty bottle vibrated on the chair. Made for a good video!

Turned out I had a hairball. Well, colon blockage. Requiring surgery. If you want a laugh or two, go to Facebook and search for The PooBag Report. I did several posts about all the fun that ensued.

The nurse that was on duty when I checked in that night said she was SO glad she had seniority so she could get me. I asked her why, and she said my chart was hilarious…the doctor had written everything down…including the bison.

I got up close and personal with my stoma…where the poo came out. Named it Stella.

10 weeks later, I had the reconstruction surgery, preceded by a colonoscopy. The room where all the patients are recovering is quiet as church, so when I came out, I was singing “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain”. Lots of funny looks. ranDEE laughing in my cubicle.

Coming back from recovery this time, I was yelling “Stella! Stella!” ala Marlon Brando. The nurses were worried because they didn’t know what I was saying or why.

Some things are just too difficult to explain.

Moral of the story? Have fun. Make yourself laugh. Make others laugh. Try it, it works.

xxoo

PS: My Facebook Page is Vicki Ross Art, and my private Facebook Group is Axully Art. All free! Join a group of like-minded folks! You can order anything from Amazon by clicking the Amazon picture in the upper left column. I will get a small commission :)

You got this! Be sure to get my free "Axully Art Roadmap" and learn how I did it. Age 51, empty nest...hell, NO NEST to empty...daughter didn't make it out of our house fire on Christmas morning...and my entire life exploded. Art became my focus, my salvation, my burning desire to learn. Along the way, I discovered that the act of painting gave me peace.

Peace where I could heal. Peace I could laugh again.

Last Day (well sort of)

Last Day (well sort of)

(first published June 2, 2008, edited 10/1/18). I am re-releasing these blog posts to communicate how I traveled the journey to artist...mistakes I made, things I tried, money spent, hours spent researching. I have boiled all this down into a simple formula for you to Restore Your Soul | Jumpstart Your Creativity.

My FREE Facebook Group, Axully Art is here: 
I help people learn and grow as artists...filling their free time with peace.

DOWNLOAD your FREE copy of the Axully Art Roadmap here…

Watch this space for new stuff from Vicki

I am married to the best man in the world! I even brought his last valentine card with me because it was so cute. Here it is at La Bonne Etoile. This is Amy (a wine grower from Napa), daughter of Bettie and David who posed the first day for Les. In the second photo I think I forgot to say cheese...they don't look like happy campers! Axully, they were having some good-natured fun about me and my card.

Anyway, I was supposed to get up Monday am at 6 and leave with Les for the airport and trip home. Durinda came in Sunday (she is the instructor for the next workshop) for a couple days acclimation before her group arrives on Friday. SO, at the last minute Kippy and Jerome invited me to stay over a few days...I will go to the airport with Chantal when she takes Paul for his journey back. Saves a trip for K&J.

Randy was all in favor of me staying over...in fact encouraged it. Kippy's son Michael will be at our house in Rogers when I get back...so I'll get to meet him!

The way I feel today is like I have just been put in a blender on high for the last 2 weeks. Guess I worked really hard. Painting clouds will be a walk in the park with a bucket of chicken...after all, they don't REALLY have to look like the exact cloud. Who cares if there are 3 trees instead of 4!

Painting a person is waaay different! Trying to not only place the facial features to look like a person, you have 2 hours to do all that AND capture the soul of the model. It is more and more impressive that Les is able to do all that in a few hours.

He did a sepia tone portrait of each of us...I'll send something on that later, after I collect my thoughts. I saw him tear up one and start over. That is a valuable lesson for me to realize that even the pros start over sometimes.

It is rainy today and very cool, so Durinda and I might go up to the studio and set up a quiet, little, stress-free still life.

xxoo

PS: My Facebook Page is Vicki Ross Art, and my private Facebook Group is Axully Art. All free! Join a group of like-minded folks! You can order anything from Amazon by clicking the Amazon picture in the upper left column. I will get a small commission :)

You got this! Be sure to get my free "Axully Art Roadmap" and learn how I did it. Age 51, empty nest...hell, NO NEST to empty...daughter didn't make it out of our house fire on Christmas morning...and my entire life exploded. Art became my focus, my salvation, my burning desire to learn. Along the way, I discovered that the act of painting gave me peace.

Peace where I could heal. Peace I could laugh again.

A Funny Thing Happened on My Way to the Trash…

A funny thing happened on my way to the trash…

Hi! I’m, Vicki Ross and I help people learn and Grow as artists so they can fill their empty time with peace. I want to share with you ways you can create a ZenZone in your mind and learn a lifelong craft to do it.

Have you ever found yourself wandering around your house like you were doing laps at the mall? Thoughts in your brain cycling the same things over and over? Not knowing WHAT to do, WHERE to do it, or How? 

This describes me after my daughter didn't survive our house fire…on xmas day no less. It took about 4 months for the shock to begin to wear off…about the time I started wandering aimlessly, too distraught to sit, cook, or shop. And shopping was a necessity…you have to get everything from waxed paper to bathroom bowl brushes. AND, my sole function was to fill out forms for our insurance company that listed every item in the house, where it came from and when we acquired it. 

I had to do something before I walked through to the ground. If any of this sounds familiar, you are going to relate to the solution that worked for me.

 At the end of this training I’m going to invite you to sign up for a FREE copy of "The Axully Art Roadmap" so you can learn even more about my proven path to Art & Peace. I’ll give you more details later, but for now, let’s get started!

There are two main issues I hear over and over. The first: "I don't have any talent"; the second: "I'm afraid I won't be good enough." Both are not content with the "fun" projects they were spending time on. They wanted more.

These feelings are fine, but there is more! There is a solution if you follow your Muse. If you don't know who she is, just stick around. I can lead you around the potholes I fell in.

Mistake #1: Paying $350-ish for 3 day workshops with teachers I didn't know…or their style…
jockeying with other people there for equal time and space with the teacher. 3 days, then load the car and go home to crash. Do that 5-6 times a year, then throw in a couple of 14 day workshops in Europe. Can you say CONFUSING and EXPENSIVE? Plus, each tutor requires a different list of supplies…I acquired a big collection. Many I didn't know how to use, many were similar or duplicate (different brand).

Mistake #2: I bought every book and dvd I could find while I searched for the holy grail...that KEY that would unlock the magic world. I Subscribed to art magazines year after year until I realized half of every magazine is advertising to get you to buy the newest miracle brush/paint/tool. And that they are masters of repurposing old articles

Mistake #3: Getting involved with social, weekly painting groups. Fine if you just want to visit and pass two hours, but doesn't work if you want to improve. 

Mistake #4: In today's world, trying to absorb every YouTube video by anyone you enjoy. Get involved in the social aspect of it, and learn tons of vacation bible school projects. Fun! I love it! but watch too much video and talk too much on social media and you lose your painting time.

My journey was a long, and winding road…with tons of side roads and deadends along the way. I'm proud to say that I stuck with learning to paint, and became addicted to the ZenZone…the bats in my belfrey were quiet when I was painting. 

I've mastered just about any medium I want to work with. When I started with Mixed Media I realized that "learning to play" was still an important part of my transformation. It was HARD for me to give up control…to splash paint at random, then glue down a picture from a magazine. Make a journal from junk mail? Egads! My trip to the trash bin became a fun “what if” adventure.

Funny thing is that I learned to play, just for fun! AND, met a whole different group of artists. Women age 50+ with too much empty time on their hands for whatever reason. As  my brain meandered, ideas started to form that led me to this.

I hope you can see that every mistake I share is one I made. I have also figured out a way to condense what I did in 15 years  to what I teach you to do in 30 days. If this sounds interesting, click the link and download your FREE copy of "Axully Art Roadmap". 

AND, get in my FREE facebook group and join the Axully Artists there.