Artist-Mom

Inspirational Story

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I just read this in an Eckhart Tolle newsletter and had to share it! This is for all the parents and teachers out there. Enjoy.






Inspirational Story 

It is the little things that are really the big things. 


This year I have been teaching kindergarten students.(5 & 6 yrs ) We start off each morning with a visualization so that we can find the still place that is inside ourselves. When we find that place we can get rid of all the silly stuff that has come in from the playground etc and make room for all the great learning to find its place and settle into our minds.

Throughout the day I ring my special 'peace bell' and we have a minute of peace. Usually this is when the class is off task and getting out of sorts. It also gives me a chance to stop still and gather myself rather than losing my patience. Id rather that than feeling ugly, anger is an ugly thing in the classroom.

When we have our minute of peace, I say 'freeze and breathe'. For a minute we breath in and out slowly. At the end i ask them to cup there ears ''Can you hear that? Can you feel that?' I ask them. 'Its beautiful isn't it?' I say. The children agree. Then the best part, I love to remind them, 'that's who you really are, beautiful, still, calm and full of love and happiness. You know you can go there anytime, anyplace'.

Perhaps it sounds a bit ideal. They go on to make a racket again in a short time. But my learning is to accept that too as a teacher.

After a year of Mondays only on this class it is lovely to see that children are starting to stop and breathe on their own now, when they come to floor for lessons, standing in line etc and they say 'look at me I'm taking my breaths'.

Imagine everyday having this in kindy and right through their schooling , wouldn't the world be a calmer, more relaxed place to be?

Namaste,

Julie Pappas 

Small Works Considered

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She Loves


A Letter to Her






General Rules of Gender


Out of Life


To Do List


All



Make It So



Here is a preview to my work that can been seen at Arts on Douglas Gallery in the Small Works Considered show. Each piece is mixed media collage and is 8" x 8". The opening is December 3rd from 4 to 7pm and the show runs until December 31. I will be at the opening and I hope to see you there!



Time To Think

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This is a question for you Moms out there. Remember when they were babies...the sleep deprivation...the relentlessness...when completing a thought, never mind a sentence was a small miracle? Well I guess I had forgotten it this morning because after 2-1/2 hours of painting, I had to stop and I got angry thinking "I don't even have time to think!" Well, after I asked myself that first question, I did remember that things have changed...a lot. The demands that come with raising a 4 and 6 year old are at times still relentless (and I mean relentless with the utmost affection.) BUT, and there is a but, is DOES get easier. Different and easier. Today I had 2-1/2 hours to think. I do believe in miracles.
Time To Think

Dwell

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What a great word, dwell. Emily Dickinson wrote "I dwell in possibility." This is the mantra of an artist. The belief that if you can remain aware, any emotions, good or bad, can be channeled through a person and molded into an image, a song or a sentence that inspires. I had a roller coaster ride of emotions this week and I am so grateful to have been able to focus it and and release it onto these 4 panels of wood. I've said it a hundred times, "Any day in the studio is a great day". This is my therapy. This is for me. Esther Hicks-Abraham says that when we talk about creators, we are talking about the creating of your state of being. I hope to always linger in the idea that art in all its forms has the potential to fill me, to heal me, and to save me. I dwell in that possibility. Dwell

Not Too Late

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It has been brought up before, but I believe it's worth repeating. Should a 90 year old try to learn to play the piano? I say yes! Because by the time that 90 year old learns how to play, they will be EXACTLY the same age if they hadn't. It's NOT TOO LATE. It's never too late. It's not about mastering piano or conquering concert halls. It's about PRACTICE. Doing it. Loving it. Being in the moment with it. 


My dear friend is teaching her Mother (who has Alzheimer's) how to paint. Every lesson starts anew. But she says that its bringing pure joy to a frustrated woman who is forgetting her children's names. You are an amazing daughter Kathleen! (See her great work here: http://kathleenbrodeurfineart.com)  If they can do it, we can do it. Go try something new today!

Not Too Late

Mind

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A work of art is above all an adventure of the mind. Found this great quote by Eugene Ionesco and had to collage it! We are attracted to people and situations that mirror our energy and awareness, but art can really pull us past the conscious zone and take us on a voyage into the unexplored. Make some time to get lost in art this week! Make some, look at some and by all means enjoy it. Mind