There’s a playful spirit to the work that I do … my painting, my writing, and my teaching, all have an element of play.

This painting was started using my Hide-N-Seek painting technique. It's still hiding.

I used to look down on play as being frivolous. Not any more. Now I see play as a necessary, integral part of life.

All animals play. Many of us keep pets to remind us to play because we forget how.

One of the reasons I teach the Hide-N-Seek Painting Technique is to remind you how to play while you create.

Painting is a journey of discovery.

Come on that journey with me; take me on that journey with YOU!

Hide-N-Seek is for you if you are willing to open to more of your “inner child”.

The more you look at your painting, the more you will see.

It’s a portal through which the inner wisdom of your heart can touch you.

You matter! You count!

What you have to paint is needed by you and by the world today
— RIGHT NOW!

When you take the time to get in touch with your inner playful self, you are actually helping the rest of us to do the same.

Paint with me!

Express your self on paper in this safest of places, knowing that you’re being loved throughout the entire process.

If it feels scary, that’s okay. Excitement might be a better way to parse that feeling.

It’s time for you to Pay Attention to your Heart,
to the core of who you are.

Pay more attention to yourself than you pay to the outside world — even for just a day or two!

YOU MATTER!

And when you pay attention to you, to your Core Self, you give more of yourself to the world, enriching it and all of us.

You Matter. If you stay hidden, the rest of us don’t, won’t, and can’t know you.

Are you curious?

Curiosity is the “carrot of inspiration”
Goals are the “stick of motivation”

We have entered the twilight of 2016.

Earlier this year, I declared this to be our second chance of feeling“Sweet Sixteen”. It’s an opportunity to experience the enthusiasm of looking at life with fresh “16-year-old eyes”.

It's still not quite finished, but it's shaping up nicely. You can see where it's headed.

Autumn is the time of year to gather the bounty of the current year. We figure out what we’ve done, what more we want to do, and what more we can do with our dwindling hours of daylight.

How’s 2016 been for you?

What more do you want to be, do, say, or have in 2016?

Have you done what you set out to do at the onset?

There’s still time for some course correction.

Telescopic painting is a painting technique I caught myself doing the other day. To paint telescopically means that instead of watching the paint brush, your eye is watching the part of the painting where you wanted your brush to go.

I was painting the horizon line on my Star Struck Mermaid and instead of watching myself paint the line; I was watching the line an inch or so ahead of my brush.

As often happens while painting, I realized that this technique could also come in handy when living life in general.

Painting telescopically is not a natural way to paint though it can be easily learned. I imagine the same can be said for “living telescopically”.

A telescope is a device through which things far away are brought closer to us so we can see them better.

To live telescopically is to live with your desired future outcome in mind. Almost as if it were already true today.

Many people have wishes, dreams, and/or goals in mind for their “future self”. Having a dream or a goal is a great first step.

The next step, the telescoping step, is to live as if your dream or goal has already arrived.

Our goals and dreams become reality not because the future is changing, but because WE are changing. We are growing into the person who lives the dream or goal. Another way of saying this is that we become a “perfect fit” for our goal.

Depending upon your current mindset, this is either a giant leap or simply a slight shift in your perspective.

Regardless, play around with this thought to see how it feels.

What if it were possible to live your life telescopically with your mind’s eye trained on your desired outcome instead of on the way things are right now?

What if it is possible that by changing your perspective you can change your world?

Living Telescopically is not something that you “should” do. It is merely an optional way to look at life, one that my Star Struck Mermaid has been teaching me while I paint.