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From the studio . . .
I am working on building my collection of abstracts and painting with a friend is always fun. I’m so thankful my career allows me the time to do this over Christmas break. Interested in one of my abstracts? Now is the time to talk to me about it!
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Bittersweet
This will be our first Christmas without him. It is bittersweet. It had been years since he had been sober on a Christmas Day. He felt such guilt at not being the man he wanted to be for his kids that he would become overwhelmed and drink those terrible feelings into much worse ones. He…
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A lesson in holiness
Recently, as I have been searching for a deeper spiritual connection I have been attending classes at a local church. I am attending to learn about faith and about Christianity. The classes cover the history of Christianity, the beliefs of the different faiths, etc. I have learned alot in these classes. Sometimes, I leave surprised…
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Lie to me by moonlight . . .
30×30 Acrylic on heavily textured background, pieces of The Great Gatsby, resin, pen and ink. “Lie to me by moonlight. Do a fabulous story.” – F Scott Fitzgerald from Flappers & Philosophers
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What is important
When I realized my life was wonky, long before I divorced, I took inventory of what I used to have and love and compared that list to where I was at the time. I believe, especially as mothers, that it is very easy to let some of the best parts and some of the best…
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From the studio
Lovely bit of moonlight developing in this one. Now for some torn pieces of The Great Gatsby, some resin, and a tiny bit of pen and ink to finish it off. Off to a beautiful start!
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Updates from the Studio
I had a little bit of time to spend in the studio over Thanksgiving break and I was able to lay the foundations for a couple of new paintings. The circle has so many symbolic meanings and I am a bit crushing on all of them right now so look for a few circles to…
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Thanksgiving
This has been a strange Thanksgiving. I have spent the majority of my 50 years going to my grandmother’s for lunch and this year we went to the beach with my ex-husband’s family instead. It will be the first Thanksgiving we, my kids and I, have spent without my ex or my grandmother here on…
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The Christmas I gave up on love OR the Hallmark Man Prayer
This is something I think some of us struggle with after the ending of a toxic relationship. It is glorious though, to know I will be happy alone, or not, but that I don’t need anyone else to make happy happen. . . I embraced the vulnerability that allowing the possibility of love to enter my…
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Netflix Series “Midnight Mass” made me cry, after I got over being grossed out
When “Midnight Mass” popped up on Netflix it was Halloween season and I thought it might be a good sorta psychological fright. It was created by Mike Flanagan who also created the remake of “The Haunting of Hill House”. The original black and white version was the first movie to keep me up at night,…
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She would have been 107 this month
My grandmother, Mama, lived to be 105. She passed away the January before Covid hit and thankfully didn’t have to deal with any of that. It is funny, we all worried about her health all the time and she never really seemed to. She didn’t really consider death, from what I could tell, even after…
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Time to activate one of those infinite DO-OVERS God has gifted me with . . .
Really, I was just looking for a little guidance to climb out of the hole I’ve thrown myself into and instead I get an added emphasis on the power and importance of wisdom – the “she” in line 8 is “wisdom” not some random woman. So, my tasks are to 1) understand where I am:…
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The MOST lovely couple
I spent the majority of my Fall Break in Cancun relaxing with friends, finding my center, appreciating the life God has gifted me. While there, enjoying pool time, God sent to me the most beautiful and faithful woman. She was on her honeymoon and their love story absolutely renews my faith in God and my…
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Abstract: Cracked Messages
Acrylic on heavily textured background, resin, torn book pages, egg shells; 12×24 “You were my favorite word until the day I forgot how to spell you.” – Michele G Stratford I am exploring more natural texture to add to my pieces. Egg shells were a cracking good time to work with.
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I am Naomi 🙄
THEN, now this one struck me, THEN Naomi said she was too old to marry again. (Ruth 1:12) Now woman. Please. I understand that in her context, in her culture, she did not see herself as any kind of bargaining chip to use to enter a marriage that might save her from the plight of…
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Tennagery People
I was privileged enough to be asked by my daughter to take her and friends to Atlanta to see some obscure band play at the Mascarade. I say privileged because I think she and her friends are comfortable enough with me to be ok with me listening in on their conversations and they trust me…
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Abstract: Calm In the Storm
This was my very first abstract. The idea came to me when I was prepping a background for another painting. I have always textured the backgrounds with modeling medium in circular shape. My daughter was playing around with resin on some of her paintings and I thought it might be cool to add some small…
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Abstract: Crossroads
The blue in this one made this painting pop for me. “We have to get used to the idea that at the most important crossroads in our life there are no signs.” -Ernest Hemingway The Hemingway quote is true for my life – I have encountered many a decision that I was suddenly faced with…
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Abstract: Whirlpool
Some paintings declare they are finished before I had actually planned for them to be finished. This is one of those. I fell in love with it at this stage in the process.
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Abstract: Strong Foundation
The coffee dyed book pages turned out really cool. They are spotted and have a very pretty range of coffee colored hues. I believe a strong foundation in vocabulary gives us the power to communicate as well as understand most effectively. Lack of communication is the root of misunderstandings and conflicts.
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Travel feeds my soul
I have not always loved to travel. It wasn’t that I disliked it, I just hadn’t been anywhere and didn’t know. But once I’d been on my first international trip I was hooked. I want to go everywhere. Today I am traveling to spend time with friends in a far off place that requires a…
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Abstract: Searching
“Searching” 36×36 mixed media, textured foundation, resin, acrylic paint. “If I cease searching, then, woe is me, I am lost. That is how I look at it – keep going come what may.” – Vincent Van Gogh. The Letters of Vincent Van Gogh This one was s departure from the ususal circular shape. It reminds…
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Abstract: Tidepool
The Steinbeck quote is pulled from a passage describing the wonder of the world and the connection we sometimes feel as humans to all of it – the wonder of being a part of the whole of life. It is a very existential and Thoreau type view of the world. I, personally, think this pull…
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Abstract: It’s Complicated
I love how this turned out! The texture is so much fun. I delight in finding ways to make texture the focus of a piece and this painting kept me mesmerized. You cannot see in a photo the juxtaposition of matte paint against the shiny resin in the stream – but it is beautiful.
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Work in progress. . .
I love this stage of a painting. It has good bones. It has made it past the ugly phase. It is waiting on those final tiny choices that will make it into something magnificinet. Something I am truly proud of. I feel that way about me, about my life. I have good bones, I have…
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The opposite of fear. . .
Her faith trickles down like a beautiful golden honey into all areas of her life. It is sticky sweet and hard to wash off and makes her radiate in a glistening sunshiney hue.
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Silly Songs . . .
Life has taken unexpected twists and turns since I spent my days innocently singing along with Bob and Larry. I think of the woman I was and wonder, if I could travel back to her and tell her anything, would I? Would I tell her to brace for what was to come? Would she even…
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A few little birdies . . .
I will be participating in the River Clay Fine Arts Festival in Decatur, Alabama this October and these sweet little 6×6 birdies will be there! I am spending a good bit of time in the evenings and on the weekends creating pieces for this show and I am loving every minute of it!
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Champagne Sundays
Weekly check ins. This is what Champagne Sundays are all about. I have become wonderful friends with my next door neighbor and each Sunday we get together on the front porch and have champagne from my vintage champagne glasses and discuss the week we’ve had and the one coming up. We celebrate our wins and…
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Living in the moment
Being present as a person who loves to plan her future is, well, sometimes a bit tedious. My head is always trying to look ahead and skip the uncomfortable parts. BUT, what I am finding is that when I cannot see a future, I am more engaged in my present.
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Live like a college graduate
I am thankful for my Lifetime moments as much as my Hallmark moments. I am thankful to just feel again, all of the feels, to have been broken open and set free to experience life once again. Every day is a day for a new beginning or to pick up an old beginning again. I…
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How do I look at such a toxic and traumatic time through a lens of love, and why would I want to??
I was scrolling through TikTok last night, watching the many videos on trauma, toxic relationships, and narcissism that tend to be on my “for me” page, and I recognized myself in literally almost every post. I understand the trauma, I have lived in the toxicity, I have labeled my ex as a narcissist without any…
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If it was toxic for me, it was toxic for him
But what I could not see due to the bubble I had crawled into to try to protect myself, was that if I was in a toxic relationship, SO WAS HE. He was not choosing to live in a toxic place on purpose. Who would do that? He was miserable too. No one actually wants…
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I WILL SURVIVE . . . getting off of sugar. Again.
How I ease myself back into a low carb lifestyle. . .
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When stress eats away my progress. . .
I work in education. This means that this, this month of May, is the most stressful time of the year for me (the second most stressful being the start of school). I gain pounds almost every May and lose them in June. This is unhealthy. It is even more irritating. Buuuuutttttt . . . I…
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My closet is my happy place. . .
It was like the closet was a symbol of my life if it were put together, neat and tidy.
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How I lost the first 40lb: PART 2
After doing a great deal of research, I chose to eat a low carb/keto type lifestyle as a way to lose weight and get healthy. After much research I found that this way of eating: Reduces inflammation – this is the one thing that keeps me coming back. I have -0- cartilage in one knee…
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Wait. What?? What do you mean I am not in control?
My ultimate goal when I woke up every day was to see my life and my people through a love paradigm. This is still my goal. How could I have regret if I loved my way through the difficult times instead of allowing bitterness to reign?
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I want to interview you. . .
Have you been through a difficult time that taught you something wonderful about yourself? I want to hear about the wonderful thing! I want to hear about how you changed and grew from your experience. I will be featuring these interviews on a podcast I am creating. This project will focus on stories of everyday…
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You are sooooo mental (said in my best Valley Girl voice)
Shouldn’t the person we choose to spend our lives so intimately with be chosen, at the very least, with the same standards we use to choose our friends?
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Fatal Optimism (I made that up)
I allowed myself the possibility that happiness could be realized in the paths I had once been so dead set against instead of the one I was so dead set ON. I conceded that I was not giving up on the commitment I made in my marriage, I had lived it out. When I chose…
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How I lost the first 40 lb Part 1 – GUT HEALTH
Yes, seriously. I went for vitamins, specifically probiotics, first. I had just moved into the house my ex and I had renovated to be our forever home and I had also just asked him to leave for what would begin the downward spiral through his recovery and our marriage’s end. It was a lot to…
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EVERYTHING is an excuse for cake!
If you have read one or two of my posts then you can probably infer that I am divorced from an alcoholic, have 3 mostly grown kids, and am generally enjoying this time in my life rediscovering who I am and redefining who I want to be. A humongous part of my journey for the…
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Sometimes it is ok to pivot . . .
For years, I have planned to write extensively about life with an alcoholic, specifically, the lessons I learned about life, love, and grace because of it. Recently, I have been narrowing the topics and making a plan, forming questions that I know my answers to will help other women who find themselves in a similar…
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Easter Sunday
He can and DOES take situations and parts of us that we think are dead and gone and he resurrects them as something new. This right here, this is an amazing and wondrous thought, isn’t it? God can raise the dead. If he can raise the dead he most certainly can breathe new life into someone who…
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Forgiveness
This is a photo of my daughter, creating a heart out of the sand in the dunes on the coast of Oman – one of the most beautiful, natural places I have ever been. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ,…
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My inner child is a brat.
Me. Circa 1977ish My sweet, precocious, persistent inner child. She love sweets. She loves to use the vending machine. She hates being told “no” and throws temper tantrums when she can’t have what she wants. (And don’t judge her uber-chic, in style for the times “Dorothy Hamill” haircut of the 1970’s. She is very cute…
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When you travel and you are on a diet, you should plan. Just sayin. . .
Photo is from the parent orientation luncheon and presentation. The unadventures of getting happy and healthy – lesson #1 PLAN YOUR FOOD AHEAD OF TIME. Obvious right? But the thing is I was READY. Remember? Ready to start to change THAT VERY MINUTE. So, no real planning, just a do it sort of thing. The…
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Today, I am READY.
<a href=”http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/14726995/?claim=wyk2yfbazvf”>Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a> “When we settle we sacrifice ourselves, and in doing this we hurt our authentic connection wth others.” Shannon Kaiser Adventures for Your Soul I am no longer a spring chicken. I have cracks in my armor and it seems to just be missing in places. I have had my…
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The Dread of Decision
When trying to make a decision, my family looks like we are engaged in desperate game of volleyball – no one wants to be the one to let the ball drop in the sand by making a decision! Decision making has become an albatross in my family. No one wants to bear the weight of…
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Share the load. . .
“People tend to become like you treat them or believe them to be.” – Stephen R. Covey I cannot begin to tell you how much I LOVE, LOVE this commercial. I was raised in the South, where traditionally, mom stays home with the kids and takes care of the housework and the general raising of…
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To plan is . . .
planning – noun; the process of making plans for something “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” – Ben Franklin “He who fails to plan is planning to fail.” – Winston Churchill “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” – John Wooden Planning. I love a pretty planner. I love to plan. However, planning…
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This is me . . .
This is my mission statement: Be positive. Be supportive. Spend time with those I love. This is my only life. I will live it body and soul. This is the question: How in the world do I accomplish the fireworks explosion of “to-dos” and still live my mission statement? This is the blog of the…
Bonnie Hedden Hurst
Artist, mom, sometimes writer exploring creativity and the power of vulnerability