Summer is here

These colorful postcards were inspired by the book Water Paper Paint, by Heather Smith Jones. I painted them on one big sheet of watercolor paper and then cut them to size to send out as postcards. Did I mention that summer is here and my children are out of school?  With that, finding time to do art and keep up with the documentation of my postcard project is challenging.  But I am sure I will get into this new rhythm and enjoy every minute of having my kids around.  The best moments are when we all do art together and my children are inspired to create something on their own or design a postcard as well. 

170/365, sent to Bellevue, WA

171/365, sent to Bellevue, Wa

172/365, sent to Bellevue, WA

173/365, sent to Bellevue, WA

174/365, sent to Bellevue, WA

175/365, sent to Bellevue, WA

Glasses

How do we perceive our world? Does the way we look at our surrounding change with the type of glasses we put on? (I for sure had fun designing these different glasses below.)  I am currently learning about the extrovert and the introvert lens. Then there is the female and male lens, the adult/ kid outlook.  My world view is influenced by my German upbringing, my Jewish believes, my femininity, my identity as a mother.  What color is your lens? Do you tend to color the world with gray and dark hues or do you always wear a pink tint. Just once, go through your day and try to observe how your personal perception influences your view of the world. 

165/365, sent to Bellevue, WA

166/365, sent to Seattle, WA

167/365, sent to Bellevue, WA

168/365, sent to Bellevue, WA

169/365, sent to Bellevue, WA

teacher appreciation

This is my second exploration with water color. I now understand that the trick with watercolor is to layer colors starting with soft hues and finishing up with bolder colors. It was lots of fun drawing these bunnies since they remind me of my first childhood pet, a soft white furry fellow. All these cards go out to the wonderful teachers at my kid's school who took such good care of my children this year and have generously shared their knowledge, creativity and energy with their students. All those cards are once again a big thank-you for a hard job well done.

160/365, sent to Bellevue, WA

161/365, sent to Bellevue, WA

162/365, sent to Bellevue, Wa

163/365, sent to Bellevue, WA

164/365, sent to Bellevue, WA

Before moving to Seattle

Before moving to Seattle, I lived in New York and worked at a small Judaica museum located at The Hebrew Home for the Ages in Riverdale, just north of New York City. The setting was just gorgeous, overlooking the Hudson River towards sunset. My tasks, among others, was to staff the museum on Sundays. I just loved my slow commute up to the country side and being almost all by myself in the museum. What quietness and bliss! Many of the below postcards were sent off to the lovely women I got to work with and meet during this time of my life.
In addition, I enjoyed playing with water color, documenting these small medicinals which I like to display on my window sill with one or two flowers from my garden.

154/365, sent to Riverdale, NY

155/365, sent to Yonkers, NY

156/365, sent to Berlin, Germany

157/365, hand-delivered in Seattle

158/365, sent to New York, NY

159/365, sent to Los Angeles, CA, by guest artist Yonah (6)

daily consumption

Last December, the day I decided to start my postcard project, I had spent an hour browsing through the art section of our beloved local bookstore Third Place Books. I had come across a book that featured artist and designer Kate Bingaman-Burt of Portland. I was intrigued by her idea to document her personal act of consumption through her simple, yet beautiful drawings. In her blog - http://katebingamanburt.com/ - Kate continues to illustrate something she purchased every day. The theme of my next five postcards are not so much about monetary consumption, but about food. Five things I consume pretty much on a daily basis for breakfast. What is on your breakfast menu?

149/365, sent to Mrusfreeboro, TN

150/365, sent to Lanaken, Belgium

151/365, sent to Bern, Switzerland

153/365, sent to Hawaii, US ?

153/365, sent to Berlin Germany ?

leaves and spheres

A few years ago, I was intrigued by the idea of writing a daily blog.  The title was going to be "Diary of a Worrywart." I had planned to write about all my creative ways to worry. (And trust me, I am very skilled in the art of worrying.)  Luckily, my enthusiasm quickly waned and the project lasted exactly three entries. Finding myself now on day 148 of my daily postcard project, I notice that I have gained something that I have always longed for, but never knew how to achieve:  I am much happier and more content. How can this be? After reading and being influenced by Daniel Siegel's Mindsight, The Mindful Brain and The Neurobiology of We, I do understand that by putting energy into the positive in life, the brain can actually establish new firing patterns, out-dating old and inefficient habits and traits.  And so, by cultivating the daily practice of thinking of people in a positive way, I find myself constantly concerned with thoughts of gratitude, love and appreciation. Each new postcard designed and written to an important person in my life, fills me with a sense of connectedness and crowds out thoughts of despair and loneliness. 

144/365, sent to Yonkers, NY

145/365, sent to Jerusalem, Israel

146/365, sent to ???

147/365, sent to Montreal, Canada

148/365, sent to Seattle, WA

Klee inspired heads

All of us have had the experience of walking the galleries of a museum and wondering what makes this particular painting special?  It looks like my 5 year old can do the same thing!  Only when you try to imitate someones art do you realize how difficult the seemingly simple is. Klee has such a wonderful sense of color and shape that is challenging to recapture, and as you can see, I have pretty much given up on it after the first drawing. I got inspired to venture into creating my own bobble heads that look like something from a kids cartoon. Oh,well! There are days that you are happier with the outcome of your creativity and days when you are less satisfied. So how do you live with those small disappointments, then? I try to look at them now and see how it feels to be bothered by imperfection. Where does the feeling sit in my body, how does it taste on my tongue, what energy does it release in my gut? I try to be extra curious about the sensation of disappointment and learn to tolerate the unpleasantness of it.  It sure is a life-long learning experience.

139/365, sent to Seattle, WA

140/365, sent to Seattle, WA

141/365, sent to Seattle, WA

142/365, sent to Duesseldorf, Germany

143/365, sent to Braunfels- Tiefenbach, Germany