sea bloom deet

my sweet, wise, beautiful very pregnant superhero friend andrea led some friends and i through a core values exercise a few years back… mine was, no surprise here, that i’m a treasure seeker. i wasn’t really sure what that meant to live that out at the time, but as i paint it, it’s coming into focus.

deet underwater treasures


i believe dear kelly rae’s core values phrase was brave in sadness and brave in love. i borrow this sometimes personally too to help me. i think she’s shared this sentiment on her blog before and don’t think she’d mind me telling you šŸ˜‰

deet gallop and leap into a wish

and andrea’s i believe was fun and easy. i am just starting to understand how this can apply to my life more fully too.

deet gallop & leap

andrea recently shared this in her interview that i linked to a while back. i love this concept she explains below:

MK: How do you nurture your creative spirit within the boundaries of the ā€œdo more with lessā€ mentality of minimalism?

AS: I try to live by the law the buddhists call ā€œThe law of least effort.ā€ This basically means
that more effort does not equal more results, but right effort equals right results.

I donā€™t like to pain over my workā€¦ write when itā€™s not coming, sit for many hours
at the computer trying to wring something out of myself when I really just need to fill the well and be replenished.

I listen closely to my intuition, live my real life as much as possible, and write in bursts
from the richness of my actual life. This is how I nurture my creative spirit. I listen for when there is a story that wants to be told.

sea bloom deet

i had a skype conversation with my brilliant smart agent/mentor Lilla recently about how can i “step things up”? and she basically said i’m doing everything right (thank you) and that i should paint things that are fun and easy for me~ smooshy color, line and what comes naturally to ME, not to others– that’s where your authentic voice lives.

it was a very big A HA moment. paint what is easy to me? wait, i don’t have to WORK at it? make it perfect? make it like math? i can keep it mysterious and evocative and fun? i can play with color and paint and go off on little painting explorations? love. it.

deet underwater treasures


thank you for helping me piece together these puzzle pieces friends.

deet wish big sweet darling

intermixed are close-ups that my friend bob lake (the fantastic jen lake’s mister… if you’re in the bay and need a photog– hit him up!) took of my recent treasure seeker series, which means, high quality prints soon y’all!

deet wish big sweet darling

yellow bird in boat deet

deet lilac & peonies

smooch,

mati