-
Recent Posts
- The Gentleman Farmer from Newark: Part 2 December 8, 2025
- The Secret is to Make Practice Effortless November 8, 2025
- An Inch Made All the Difference October 31, 2025
- The Gentleman Farmer from Newark: Part 1 August 17, 2025
- Sumac, Horses, and Crickets July 13, 2025
- Storytelling for the Soul June 30, 2025
- Telling Tales in a New Way June 8, 2025
- A Good Book Is Like a Mirror June 1, 2025
- Give Yourself Permission to have Gentle Habits May 25, 2025
- “May I?” is a Great Question May 4, 2025
Categories
-
Join 429 other subscribers
Tags
- aging
- architecture
- art
- artist
- artist's memoir
- art kit
- art supplies
- art tool kit
- Beginnings
- Being Present
- Book #2
- books
- brickwork
- color mixing
- Community
- Constant Learning
- Creative Habit
- Creativity
- Double Take
- drawing
- drawing habit
- Eyesight
- fountain pen
- Freedom
- habit
- Habits
- Innate Health
- Inside-Out Understanding
- Inspiration
- Integrity
- kieep it simple
- learning from masters
- life
- life-long learning
- lifelong learning
- Look at That!
- Looking
- mark-making
- meditation
- Memoir
- mental-health
- Mentors
- observation
- painting
- pen and ink
- pencil sketch
- Perseverance
- perseverence
- photography
- plein air
- plein air kit
- practice
- reflection
- rule of thirds
- seeing
- seeing meditation
- self-publishing
- simplicity
- Sketchbook
- sketching
- sketching with others
- storytelling
- Three Principles
- time management
- tint brush
- urban sketching
- Watercolor
- watercolor-painting
- Watercolor chemistry
- watercolor paint
- watercolors
- winter sketching
- wisdom
- Writing
- Writing Habit
Category Archives: My Story
Learning to Enjoy Ambiguity
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s birthday is Saturday, September 24th, and so is mine, so what better time to write about my very favorite quote in the world. “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas … Continue reading
Posted in Beauty, Musings on Life, My Story
Tagged Creative Habit, Inspiration, Mentors, Perseverance, Writing Habit
3 Comments
A Slammed Door and an Unexpected New Confidante
On September 10th, 55 years ago, at 6:30am, the phone rang. It was Dr. Boschenstein calling to tell Mom that my sixty-one-year-old father had a stroke at 5am. My father was dead. It was a bright, sunny Sunday morning, the … Continue reading
From Indignation to Grateful Resolve
You’ve been there too, right? You know, those times when you’ve asked someone for a second opinion, they politely tell you the truth, and your response is to flinch, even bristle. “Harumph” is not the exact word I used. On … Continue reading
Posted in Book #2: Double Take, Musings on Life, My Story, Tip Jar, Writing
Tagged artist's memoir, editing, Inspiration, Perseverance, Watercolor, Writing, writing craft
4 Comments
Time to do a DOUBLE TAKE!
As of 6pm, June 30th, 2022, the draft of my second book, Double Take, is now in my editor’s hands! His edited version of all 38,000 words should arrive in my inbox tomorrow. That will be the first time I … Continue reading
Vulnerable and scared . . . and okay.
My life as I knew it ended Thursday, March 24th, about 1pm. At that moment, by mistake (and how it happened is irrelevant now), I gave total access to my computer to a hacker from another country. I have spent … Continue reading
Posted in Book #2, Musings on Life, My Story, Writing
Tagged anxiety, Beginnings, faith, Perseverance, prayer, resilience
15 Comments
Being Bored is a Luxury Not Afforded Everyone
Each morning when I first awaken, I ask myself the same question: What shall I make of this day? I’ve entered the minefield of Elderhood, and it’s as jarring as puberty was. After the shock and insult of puberty, we … Continue reading
Posted in Musings on Life, My Story, Urban Sketching (On-Site Creativity)
Tagged aging, Inspiration, kylecease, Looking, meditation, Mentors, seeing meditation, wisdom
Leave a comment
“But in the meantime…”
I love that word, it describes a period of time that defies definition! Here’s what Merriam-Webster says: Meantime: 1 : during the time before something happens or before a specified period ends The new computers won’t arrive until next week, but we … Continue reading
Posted in 3- Magic: Art Epiphanies, Musings on Life, My Story, Tip Jar, Writing
Tagged Alison Wearing, Beginnings, Creative Habit, Habits, Inspiration, Melissa Wiley, Paperblogging, Perseverance
1 Comment
Learning how to slog, again
If this post sounds familiar, that’s good! It was originally published on July 15th, 2021 and soon after, I got cold feet. I mean, really cold feet. Cold enough for me to sign up for an eight-week online art course … Continue reading
Posted in Book #2, Look at That! book, Musings on Life, My Story, Seeing and looking, Tip Jar, Writing
Tagged Book #2, Double Take, Inspiration, Memoir, Perseverance, seeing, Writing Habit
4 Comments
The Superpower of Now-and-Next
I recently returned from a four-day vacation to the coast of Maine, and realized that on vacation, it’s easy to slip into a different relationship with Time. At work, your Time is all tied up with other people’s Time. Time … Continue reading
Posted in Musings on Life, My Story, Tip Jar, Writing
Tagged Creative Habit, Creativity, Inspiration, Perseverance, time management
3 Comments
Brickwork of Concord
Do you ever stop to think about all the brickwork in your world? It’s everywhere, and yet almost invisible. Interesting facts: A standard red brick in the United States is 3.625 inches deep by 2.25 inches high by 8 inches … Continue reading