Becoming Thrilled About What?

by Andrea Dale

Becoming thrilled with your life requires the willingness to explore. Life throws us curve balls so that we can wake up and become more authentic -- and that's a good thing. There is nothing worse than just going through the motions, hanging on and tolerating.

A painful divorce shifted my entire perspective on life, forcing me to reexamine my life.. Along the way, I discovered that painting made me feel better -- it was a way to express what I felt inside. That triggered an exploration of other activities that I loved -- dancing, writing and design.

I discovered that all of the things I loved doing as a child (and gave up due to work, family, etc.) were waiting for me to pay attention again! As I painted and wrote, I began to have hope and excitement about my future again.

How to begin::

Be willing to step out of your comfort zone
Tap into your childlike enthusiasm
Don't be afraid of making mistakes
Commit to new creative practices small bits at a time

Have the courage to become thrilled.......and your life will change!

Why Do I Paint?

by Andrea Dale

Because I have to. If I don't, I begin to lose the magic in life. This wasn't always so. I spent many years in human resources management -- a job I thought was very creative and exciting. Maybe even at that time, it was my passion, but after many years, I had a personal crisis -- a common story that involves divorce and sadness and a loss of enthusiasm for life. After struggling to find my footing for over a year, I had a vision that I should paint an abstract oil. I had never used oil paints before, but went to the local art store and bought a canvas, paint and easel. I set it all up in my dim, damp, spider infested garage, and proceeded to paint with colors that appealed to me. This is the painting I did that day.

I couldn't remember ever feeling so free.

After that day I experimented without caring whether I 'knew' how to paint. And as I painted, I healed my heartbreak. This first session led me to study more traditional methods of painting representational subject matter -- until I longed to be able to paint what my soul wanted to paint. Currently, I'm inspired by shapes, circles and lines and an occasional figure, or whatever the muse directs to me.

There is no right way -- there's only your way!!

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”

— Pablo Picasso