Dual talent art show

I went to the most amazing art show tonight. Actually it was two art shows in one. Two amazing artists, both female, combined their exceptional talents into one beautiful show. The experience was really inspiring for the attendees. I don't usually mention names in my blogs, but you should know that the artists are Carrie Viohl and Chelsea Ragan. Two young, talented artists who never let convention or rules dictate how they will express themselves. Their art is fresh, young, and amazing in the way that they take objects that would be ordinary in less talented hands and turn them into pieces of art.

If you have read my blogs before, you know that I would love to be a great, unconventional painter (along with a great rock and roll guitar player -- but that's for another blog). This longing makes me appreciate artists who use mixed media or who just see the world in a different light than the rest of us. Both Carrie and Chelsea see the world in their own unique way -- the beauty of their vision is that everyone who is blessed to witness it loves their interpretation of the world around them. Carrie expresses her art through photography and Chelsea expresses hers through mixed media with its basis in painting and drawing. If you missed the opening, you should go by the gallery in Thomasville, Georgia and see the art. It's worth the trip.

Every time I see an artist's work I wonder what happens in their mind to allow them to create original pieces of art. Were they born with innate talent or did they get just the right encouragement or exposure to the arts at just the right time as their little brains developed? We know that studies have shown for years that children who are exposed to art and music early in life perform better in math and science throughout their academic career.

Note - Just humor me for a minute on this. I don't know much about kids. Really, I don't know a darn thing about kids. However, I know about flowers. I know that fertilizer must be given at the right time in the right dosage to make the flower grow. I know that too little water kills a plant as surely as too much water will kill a plant. I know that failing to "deadhead" or properly prune a plant will prevent it from ever being as beautiful as it could be. I know that a plant that is not grown in the correct zone of the country is a dead plant waiting to happen.

What in the world is the relation to art and plants? Well, when I am planting, fertilizing, or pruning my plants I make sure that these things are done at the appropriate time so that the full affects of the effort are realized. I want to do the right thing at the right time for the plant to flourish and be its most beautiful. The Connection -- when I am gardening, I often think that our children must have strong roots in the home (planting), receive the proper amount of inspiration or exposure to events that help to shape their minds (fertilizer), and be taught the restraint to allow them to take what they have learned to realize their full potential (pruning). If they miss any single one of these -- planting, fertilizing, or pruning -- can they ever reach their full potential? Once again, I don't have any answers, only questions.

I have wondered about these things for years. My mom is a wonderful gardener, her mother, and her grandmother were great gardeners. I have always received good advice about how to take care of plants. For some reason, I have always related this advice to the development of children. Like growing plants or following a recipe, if you miss a single step the plant may die or the recipe may fail. Perhaps I am still thinking about Michael Oher from The Blind Side. His life could have turned out so differently if he had not had someone to plant him where he needed to be planted, fertilize him, and prune him to become a great man.

Carrie and Chelsea obviously had the necessary planting, fertilizing, and pruning to become great artists. How do we make sure that children who need someone to fertilize them have access to that person? We can't all adopt a kid and raise them as our own. We are lucky in our community that we have such a wonderful art center that is reaching out to children to ensure that the seed of creativity that I believe God instills in all of us falls on fertile ground.

A little rambling tonight -- two things I hope you will do -- go see Carrie and Chelsea's art show in Thomasville and support your local art center in any way that you can. You and the community will be richer for your efforts.

Bravery

I am too old to be young, but too young to be old. I consider it a time of observation. A time to look back at what events, thoughts, incidents have shaped me while at the same time looking forward to how I will help shape the events of the future. I am not sure that any of us have a tremendous impact, but perhaps in our little part of the universe we are wildly impactful. The problem with trying to figure out our impact is that we don't usually know how much we affect people or situations until long after they have passed.

A movie this week has me thinking about bravery and how it manifests itself in our lives. The movie, Blind Side, is a true story of a young African-American man (Michael) who went through horrors that we pray that we will never know or completely understand. He was "adopted" by a wealthy white family who treated him like their son. He escaped the slums, drugs, and crime of his home and prospered in his private high school, at Ole Miss, and finally was drafted into the NFL by the Baltimore Ravens. His story is inspirational and moving. Michael had to be extremely brave to put aside everything he knew, even if those things were negative, in order to start a new life. Imagine leaving your family, friends, and neighborhood to live with a family that you don't know and don't know if you can trust. Michael Oher was very brave.

The family who adopted Michael was very brave also. Racial barriers still exist in the south and the Tuohys certainly went outside their normal societal restrictions when they allowed a poor, African-American male to move into their beautiful home. By the end of the movie Michael is calling Mrs. Tuohy "mama." Leigh Ann Tuohy resisted the push by friends and family who did not approve of Michael Oher being a part of the Tuohy family. I can imagine hearing "it's just not done" or "what do they have to gain by helping that boy?" The NCAA was so suspicious of the Tuohys willingness to help Oher that they interviewed him more than once to determine if the Tuohys, athletic boosters to Ole Miss, had helped Michael so that they could recruit him to their Alma mater.

In the end, Michael succeeds in winning over everyone who bothered to get to know him. He passed his courses in high school, graduated from Ole Miss, and was a 2009 first round draft pick for the Baltimore Ravens. None of this happens without the bravery of the Tuohys or Michael.

I talked to a college professor this week about the bravery of young people. The world is so different today than it was when we were growing up. He made the statement that when he married he had never seen the ocean and had never traveled out of his home state of Arkansas. He went on to say that his children had done more by the time they entered elementary school than he had when he entered college. Young people learn to be brave very early because they must. While we were insulated from the world by parents, teachers, and church, young people today have the entire world at their fingertips through their cell phones. They are born knowing how to use technology in ways that some of us struggle to master. This knowledge makes it possible for them to have friends in countries throughout the world and to have knowledge about events immediately. As Brad Paisley says in his song Welcome to the Future, "Every day is a revolution" in their world.

So, note to self: Young people can be crazy, disrespectful, flighty, and mouthy, But remember that they are witnessing a revolution every day in their world. Would I handle these daily revolutions any differently? I don't know. I am too old to be young and too young to be old. I am a participant and a witness to what may come....

Thank God for friends.

Last night my friends and I had a girls shopping night. I was tired because I had stayed up until 3 am the night before at the midnight showing of New Moon. I am so glad that I did not miss the fun trip with friends due to mere tiredness. We had such a wonderful time. Each of us has a different personality, we look different, we have different jobs, and we love each other. The combination of differences makes for the greatest times together.

We hit Dillard's first with an 11-month old gift card in hand. There is a New York trip in the plans for December so shopping was a priority. The store had very few people and we hurried from hats, to purses, to sweaters with little interruption. That is until I spotted the Lancome make-up counter. The nice lady behind the counter with the beautiful name of Saye, asked me if I wanted to have a mini-makeover using Lancome products. Well, of course I want a mini-makeover using whatever products! A makeover is a makeover. The makeover was so wonderful and the results were fabulous. I had to text my friends to finish their shopping and come look at me! Of course I then spent too much money on Lancome products. I am sure that I look younger already with my new Genefique eye cream!

In Guy Terms -- having a makeover done at the Lancome counter is the equivalent of having your vehicle professionally detailed versus you washing it in the driveway. Get it?

Next stop Tokyo Japanese restaurant. Wonderful food, wonderful service, great friends to share it with. Of course the waiter was once a teacher in our little town and we had a great time sharing stories. While we ate we received text updates on our local football team and celebrated with claps and cheers when the team won their playoff game. Everyone in the restaurant knew our team had won!

When you visit Tokyo restaurant be sure to order the Island Sushi roll. It's a full meal and you will be very happy with your order. All cooked ingredients with a little wasabi and ginger on the side with eel sauce for dipping. Just the right amount of sweet and hot!

By now it's 10:00 p.m., but Kohl's doesn't close until midnight! Kohl's here we come. We touched every item in the store. Women's dresses, purses, shoes, Christmas items, men's shirts, electronics, jewelry and Halloween stuff 60% off. Good times! We finally tallied our purchases at 11:45 p.m and headed toward home with the back of the SUV stuffed with goodies. This was a record shopping trip. I don't think I have ever shopped until midnight. Also, it was one of the best shopping trips. Good food, good friends, good health, and the football team won in the playoffs. Life is good. We are blessed. Thank you Lord for allowing me to be able to pay my bills. More shopping to do.....

My mentor

I have had the tremendous gift of a mentor who has provided me with insight and encouragement in my current career. She is one of those rare people who makes your world better because she is a part of that world. I describe her as a steel magnolia personified. When you see her in a professional setting there is absolutely no doubt that she is in charge and that her vision is being promoted throughout the organization. At the same time she is charming, charismatic, and loved by the people she surrounds herself with. I tease her that when she walks into a room of strangers, she charms the men, she befriends the women, and she raises $10,000 for her favorite charity. The wonderment of that statement is that it's true. She is really amazing and I am blessed to have her as a mentor.

Early in my current position, she would call and give me advice or "heads up" about pending situations. The unique thing about her is that she always made these phone calls seem like she was learning something from me. She never made me feel like a neophyte who was boring her with chatter that she had no time to be bothered with. She made me feel important, smart, and capable. She also challenged me through her tremendous example and pieces of advice. I am forever grateful to her willingness to take me on as a mentee when she had her own career to manage. I am not sure that I could have been successful without her guidance and kindness when I needed her the most.

After she moved higher in the organization, I talked to her less, but still relied on her for the most important kinds of advice. I always trusted her instinct and found that she never missed the target as we analyzed a situation looking for the best solution. She has two direct-reports who have become CEO's of their organizations and countless others who turn to her with their toughest problems. She never fails us.

Because of her tremendous abilities, she has been promoted to the top position in higher education in another state. I am elated and devastated at the same time. I know with Internet, Facebook, email, Blogs, Twitter, etc. we can keep in touch, but I will miss seeing her and knowing that I can talk to her whenever I need her.

She always encouraged her mentees to become mentors to others. My prayer is that I can be the kind of mentor to a new professional that she has been to me. The biggest honor I could have is to be compared to her in some small way. I do not have the words to express the gratitude and respect that I feel for her. Some of you may know who I am talking about but, others may not. I just hope she knows that she has positively changed the lives of everyone she touched in South Georgia. I am forever in her debt. My prayers and thoughts are with her as she charms and befriends new acquaintances. My love to my Mentor. Thank you for your generosity.

James died about 2000 years ago. Why am I reading his writings?

I love the book of James in the Bible. There are only five short chapters in the entire book. But, each chapter is packed with great, sensible advice for living our lives. According to my bible, The Book, "the book of James was written to Jewish Christians in order to provide them with some practical instructions in the Christian life. It contains many short, proverbial sayings and reflects in a remarkable way the teachings of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount." You may have deduced from my previous posts that I like practical, direct instruction. Theory is great. Give me facts and concrete directions.

The first chapter of James is entitled "Enduring Trials and Temptations." I don't like this part of the chapter. The premise is that when your life is full of difficulties and temptations that you should be happy because your patience has a chance to grow. Friends, you know that you should never pray that someone learns patience -- there is only one way to "learn" patience and that's through trials and difficulties. The chapter gets better (I know, who am I to decide what's good in the bible) as the word of God assures us that if we desire to know what God wants us to do, just ask him. He is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom. That statement blows my mind just a little. If God is ready to give me a bountiful supply of wisdom just for the asking, I am asking! See, practical directions on how to get wisdom.

Chapter two is entitled "Do not despise the poor." None of us think about despising the poor, but James makes this a more relative statement when he warns us that if we treat a well-dressed man with rings on his fingers with respect and ignore the man dressed in threadbare clothes then we are sinning in God's eyes. More practical knowledge. Don't fawn over the rich guy. Make sure we are looking at everyone the way God looks at them -- very hard for mere humans to do.

The third chapter is entitled "Control the tongue." These quotes are amazing, "If anyone can control his tongue, it proves that he has perfect control over himself in every other way." Another quote "So also the tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do." Additional quote "...but no human being can tame the tongue." Because we are imperfect humans, James knew that we would be unable to completely control our tongues. I think about this quote every day. Sometimes I am able to control my words, sometimes not. Constant battle.

The fourth chapter is entitled "Draw Near to God." I love this chapter. It tells us to give ourselves humbly to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. And when you draw close to God, God will draw close to you. Unbelievable that the God that created the universe and sent our savior to die for us would draw close to us just because we need him. This is a very encouraging chapter.

Chapter five is entitled "Admonitions to be Patient and Faithful." This chapter encourages us to keep praying about our troubles and that we should rejoice about our blessings. Also included in this chapter is the direction to admit our faults to each other and pray for each other. This is one of my favorite verses "The earnest prayer of a righteous man has great power and wonderful results." Wow. More practical insight from James.

I read my bible each night and I try to follow a logical pattern of reading, but I find myself returning to the book of James very often, because I like what James is telling me. Sometimes I think James had me in mind when he penned his words 2000 years ago.

Do you have a favorite book, chapter, verse that inspires or challenges you? I would love for you to share that information with me. Thanks for reading my blog and I hope that you are blessed today.

It's never too late

I have degrees in business and never thought much about art and music. I was running too hard toward another degree or the next opportunity to stop and wonder if I had any interest in art or music. That was until the last couple of years. Keep in mind that I am not contemplating whether I have any talent in either art or music, but rather do I have an interest in either one. Well, it just so happens that I have an immense amount of interest in both. I started painting about 4 years ago. Nothing serious, but I love color and I love abstract art. The cool thing about abstract art is -- it's abstract. There are no rules. You can incorporate all kinds of elements into the painting. I love to use different papers, putty, and sand to give my paintings texture. You may be thinking that anyone can do abstract painting and that some of the famous painting look like a kid painted them. You may be right, but keep this wise piece of advice in mind: It might be possible for anyone to create a piece of abstract art, but it takes an artist to create a piece that other people want to look at. An artist friend told me this. I like it.

I found that the more I painted, the more my creativity was improved in other areas of my life -especially in my professional life. While a business-kind of brain is essential for my job, a creative brain is also essential. When you are trying to think completely out of the box to create a painting, you train your mind to learn to think outside the box in all types of situations. Although I had read about the benefits of art and music education to the development of children, I was completely surprised by the effects that painting was having on my way of thinking. I started to see other artists' work in an entirely different way and still seek out artists in order to be inspired by their work. Now, I know that you will never look at my artwork and think Picasso, but I hope you look at my artwork and think Tina.

Now to music. Anyone who has read my facebook page knows that I have taken guitar lessons for the past six months. I love the guitar more than I can tell you. I am just learning the basics and can play a few songs, but learning this particular instrument makes me feel like doors that I never even knew existed have magically opened. The creation of music may be one of the most rewarding experiences for a human being to be a part of. To take a box with six strings on it and strike the strings in such a manner that almost every song known to mankind can be replicated is a powerful and magical feeling. I absolutely can not get enough of learning about and listening to guitar music. I told my guitar teacher recently that I am so glad that I got all that college completed before I found the guitar. Not sure I would have stuck with the whole college thing if I had started playing guitar too early.

I almost covet the talent that really good guitar players possess. Of course, they became good musicians through hours and hours of practice. Another great piece of advice from a friend, "no one can practice for you." My fingers on my fret hand now have sufficient calluses so that my fingers don't feel like they are being cut by the guitar strings. I love my calluses. You only get calluses from practicing. I have calluses and very short fingernails on my fret hand. Life is good. Guitar is sounding better.

My point: It's never too late to start doing something that you have dreamed of doing. Who knew that in my forties I would start painting and begin playing the guitar? Who cares who knew. The fact is, in my forties I am painting and playing guitar. I know that God leads us to what we need in different stages of our lives. I am immensely thankful that I have the blessings of art and music at this stage in my life. I am not sure that I could have appreciated either of them earlier in life. I didn't stop to "smell the roses" until just recently. Painting and playing the guitar are definitely roses in my life and I am stopping to smell those roses as often as possible.

I would love to hear about dreams that you have that just maybe you have been inspired to begin. We need to encourage each other. Life is short. Live it to the fullest. Remember, it's never too late....

I just call it love....

This may be a short post, but I need to tell you about one of the ways that my husband shows his love for me. I am very blessed to be married to my sweet husband for more than 20 years. He is the love of my life and the thought of ever living without him hurts beyond measure. I hope he feels the same way. If you know him, don't ask him. He does not do mushy talk very well. Not doing mushy talk is really the theme of today's post.

My husband is a great man. He is kind to animals, he loves his mom and visits her regularly, and he works hard. All great attributes for any person to have. If you don't know him well and only know him when you see him, you have no idea about his wonderful, tender heart of gold. But, that's ok, I know about it. Do not tell him that you now know about his heart of gold. He likes to be known as a little tougher than "heart of gold" dude.

Before I get too mushy myself, be certain that he does things that make me crazy. He does not know how to put a dirty dish in the dishwasher and has no idea how the new rolls of toilet paper mysteriously appear in the bathroom. However, he does do alot around the house and keeps our pool and yard looking like it's done by a professional. I don't even try to cut the grass anymore. Why make him redo it? He sees mystery bahaya grass everywhere when I cut the grass. I just let him make it perfect.

Now the point of the blog: My husband does one little thing that makes me feel like a million dollars each time he does this. With my job, I often have to travel out of town and come home after dark. I would rather be at home, but we do what we have to do. On the nights that I return home late, as soon as I turn onto our road in the subdivision, I see the lights shining at our house. Not just the inside lights, but every single light on the outside of our house is turned on to welcome me home. The uplights in the trees, six front porch lights, the lights on the fence by the driveway, the landscape lights, the lights on the sides of the house -- 30 or 40 lights are turned on by my sweet husband to welcome me home. The house and yard are glowing with light. I now look forward to those beautiful lights each time I return home. On the occasion when he is not home when I return, the absence of those lights always makes me a little sad. I wonder if he knows how special I feel when I see those lights.

Guys may not always use mushy words to remind us that they love us, but I will take a heart of gold and those welcoming lights any time. I just call it love....

Does your significant other have a special way to show his/her love? Keep it clean.