Hi guys! So I’m going to show you a process of frustration.

I started this as a brush painting.

Right away my colors were muddy. Ugh!

After the salt dried I added branches.

Still unhappy I smeared the whole painting!!

Finally found some satisfaction with this abstract palette knife work.

Creating art does not always go as planned!!

It was therapeutic to smear paint. Some days you just need to smear paint!!!

Reach up to Blue Skies

Winter white sculptures, birds land

Ruby Crowned Kinglet.

Art Prescription: Hiked today at Sandy Creek Park. Lots of birds. One tiny Trout Lily raised its brave head.

Long day started at my RN job and ended with farm chores.

Quite content actually!

Stormy, rainy day

Grey with sheets of big droplets

Spring a month early.

Art Prescription: What usually blooms around March 1 here in NC, is blooming now.

Mixed-media sketch:

Diva “Las Vegas” continues to find her way as a North Carolina dog. She definitely prefers the warmer weather.

Last Wednesday she had her dental cleaning, and since her teeth had been neglected she had 12 pulled. Chihuahuas have 42 teeth so not as bad as it sounds.

She was kind-of pitiful:

She bounced back the next day!

We continue to integrate Matisse our cat with Diva at bedtime:

Diva is loving going to the farm and gets into all kinds of horse smells.

We both come home happily tired from fresh air, sunshine, and horsey goodness.

And everybody gets a bath!!

Backyard signs of spring

Yellow wildflowers pop up

Among crusty leaves.

Art Prescription: I’m noticing wildflowers popping up. They are a month early. It’s usually March before we see these ephemerals.

Nature Journal: Pen and ink, colored pencil and watercolor pencil.

Feral cats cuddle

Stare inside at the window

And still they are wild.

Art Prescription: My two feral cats are hanging close to home these days. They sit and stare into the window as if they want to come in.

I don’t worry as they have big, lush, winter coats. Nature knows how to take care of itself.

I did a simple sketch and then played around with some bold acrylic strokes.

Caught up in the wind

Solo leaf flaps back and forth

Back and forth, again

Art Prescription: sometimes we use all our energy flapping back and forth…. and then we seriously need quiet time.

Winter Paperwhites

Flower clusters of sweet scent

Save to bloom again.

Art Prescription: These cheerful blooms grow and bloom from a bulb.

Nice to see flowers on gray winter days.

Pen and ink and watercolor in my art journal:

After a very stressful day at my RN job, I headed out to hay the horses.

Despite the rain and mud I was glad to be there. I had some steam to blow off!

At my RN job we have switched to full computer charting. No offense to computer programmers, but where is the time incorporated to actually taking care of a human being come in to play!!! It’s easy to sit at a computer and write programs for healthcare. How about you come into our setting and see what it’s like to put your hands on a person, deal with their anxiety, comfort the patient and their worried family. Does your checkbox include holding a patient’s hand until they stop shivering? Does your checkbox include a mom giving you a hug and asking you to take care of her daughter?

Does your robotic checkbox include the fact that caring for our patients is SO much more than a click of a mouse!!!!

Omg how did we get here?

Okay, I could possibly go absolutely down a rabbit hole on this!!

Here’s my comforting photo: