January 22nd, 2023

​This month marks my 5th year anniversary blog post!
I have shared a variety of topics - from art budgets, art tools and tips, creativity for well-being, travel and encouragement for all who acknowledge the benefits of carving out creative space in their lives.
This year, perhaps the most we know is to expect highs and lows and to make peace with the ebb and flow of events in our lives. How do we live with the mysterious valleys that make our mountaintop views more joyful?
The past 5 years and our shared global experience have been a unique journey—transforming how we communicate, gather, educate, worship, exercise, and consume.  And, honestly, there have been silver linings!
Art Connections have transformed my life.
In 2018, I traveled, and my cultural attraction grew into travel sketching and a small business revolving around my passion, French Press at Etsy. I was fortunate to make two trips before the world shut down! Virtual communication and podcasts boomed. Since then, I have connected with creatives around the world and developed a small community. Zoom and similar platforms have altered how we communicate.

Relationships, alliances…rapport
Art connects us! Our creative paths lead to self-expression and better knowledge of ourselves. Art conveys emotions. Painting, dance, music, literature, cinema, artistic cuisine can launch us to unreached realms.
The sheer quantity of creativity (especially on social media) can be overwhelming, yet something deep inside draws us… to catch the light on a flower, the shape and color of clouds, the expression on a face. Rhythm and patterns can get our juices flowing!
One genre leaps to another. This may not be the Piet Mondrian image you first think of – but the title Broadway Boogie Woogie conveys the rhythm the painter felt and was expressing in 1942. And in the 1960's Mondrian influenced designer Yves Saint Laurent.

​Piet Mondrian: Broadway Boogie Woogie (1942); Composition No. III with Red, Blue,Yellow and Black (1929), Mondrian inspired dress by Yves Saint Laurent (1965-66 fall/winter collection)

During the pandemic, a musician friend and I conducted a Zoom arts experiment. She played classical piano while I painted. It was her idea – and she said she had never watched any one paint before!  She placed my Zoom image in view as she played and, of course, I painted while I listened.  We learned a lot about one another – even though we have been good friends for over 50 years!

An intuitive relationship binds artists.  We understand each other in a nuanced way and have a common history when we meet.  Artists build on connections and inspiration.

Let me connect with you! I hope you will leave a comment or email back. What connections are you making?  How are you inspired by others?
Good relationships build a good life and creative path.  A path has long been a visual metaphor in my paintings---and I realize the creative path has led me to extraordinary encounters.  Some may call it birdwalking or following a rabbit hole; I call it building on ideas and inspiration.
So far, January 2023 has held a bounty of experiences, each creating or developing connections and relationships.
On January 2nd our women artists Dialog Group, which has met for 10 years to discuss life and art, installed  "Hope in Sight" at the 29 Palms Art Gallery, open Thursday – Sunday 11-3.  My Paint and Sip Class Fundraiser on  January 14th contributed to preservation of the historic gallery.

​​Above: 29 Palms Art Gallery Exhibit Opening and Fundraiser January 2023

On January 31st I will teach a one-day acrylic painting workshop in Palm Desert as part of “Paint the Desert” Desert Plein Air Association’s 2nd Plein Air Festival.  You can register and/or sign up for a workshop at and we invite you to attend the exhibit at the beautiful Galen.

The creative path has led me to a February and March solo exhibit, "Desert Driven" at Pilates and Arts in downtown Joshua Tree - Opening Second Saturday,  February 11th 6-8 pm. I love the space which celebrates mind, body, soul and spirit! Another connection: owner/curator, Tannis Kobrinsky, and I have mutual connections in the arts!

​January can be a beautiful time in the desert, yet a hub of activity.
Let me encourage you to leave room to nurture your creative – artistic pursuits.  Allow space for quiet moments.   Beauty requires space as well as structure.  Long ago, I heard that it is space that makes lace so appealing! Leave room on your calendar, in your life, at your table—for the unexpected!
Lastly, allow me to share an extraordinary moment of quiet wonder.
Recently, at the home of a very intuitive friend, she said, “I want to show you something,” and she handed me a tiny piece of pomegranate. 
“I have a little bird visitor. If you hold it out, he will come and eat it from your hand.”
I stood extremely still and quiet – hard for me --  and he did! (The photo below is NOT my hand. For once I was being quiet).)  Apparently, the little bird, a verdin, is the only one on the property of his kind and his nest has not been located. Over time, he kept coming closer and closer. And then ate out of her hand, then out of her partner’s, and then out of a client’s.

Photos of the little verdin by Allie Irwin and Dan O'Dowd -
courtesy of Sacred Space: Bodywork for Women

Be still.
Give yourself room to breathe.
Expect the amazing.
Very best wishes for 2023! There will be valleys to accompany our mountaintop experiences, yet I invite you to greet the new year with sincerity and intelligence and expect joyous moments.
Inspired by all of you,