8-Step Plan For The Best-Yet-Holiday-Season-Ever!

Quick, before the flurried frenzy begins,

8-Step Plan For The Best-Yet-Holiday-Season-Ever!

It’s here! The holiday countdown! ‘Tis the season of high hopes, high expectations and high energy drain. This 8-step plan offers a strategy for increased strength and stamina so you can make 2011 your best-yet-holiday-season ever.
Make a list. Not another to-do list, and not a list for Santa, but a pause-and-reflect list. Find a little hide away, even if it’s behind a locked bathroom door. Take a few deep breaths, let your mind clear and write down or key in your favorite moments from holidays past. Since this season is the epic nostalgia trigger for most, be prepared to write, key in, any and every little thing that comes floating up into mind and heart.

Now, analyze your list. Is it made up of childhood, adolescent or more recent, adult memories? Are there events you initiated? Or, were they planned by family, friends, community, workplace or church? Are there quiet moments with one person; child, parent, spouse, significant other, sibling; or, festive, celebratory gatherings with many? Any travels or traditions? Was there a book you read or a movie you watched? A play or concert you attended? A special cake you made? A gift you created? Or, maybe it was something you received? Including good news?

Okay, now for the flip-side. Write down or key in your not-so-favorite moments from holidays past. Since this season is the epic nostalgia trigger for most, be prepared to write, key in, any and every little thing that comes stampeding into mind and heart.

Now, analyze your list. Is it made up of childhood, adolescent or adult memories? Are there events you initiated because you thought you should? Or, were they planned and forced on you by family, friends, community, workplace or church? Are there unpleasant, tense moments with one person; child, parent, spouse, significant other, sibling; or, outlandish, annoying, loud gatherings with many? Any exhausting travels or long, worn-out traditions? Was there a maudlin book you read or an obnoxious movie you watched? An amateurish play or a never-ending concert you attended? A special cake you made that was wolfed down without so much as a simple thank you? A gift you created that was made fun of? Or, maybe it was some tacky and cheap, obvious re-gift you received? Including some upsetting news. Couldn’t they have waited until after Christmas?

Now lay your lists side-by-side. There’s truth in both isn’t it? But which one would you rather live into this year? And how are you going to do it? Let’s eat this elephant one bite at a time.

From each list, rank your top five favorites and top five not-so-favorites. Now brainstorm. What one thing, if altered or eliminated would make the biggest difference? What one thing, if added? Or, maybe several small adjustments are needed? Or, perhaps just a check-up from the neck-up is necessary? An attitude of gratitude can do wonders.

If applicable, have a family meeting and share your vision for the best-yet-holiday-ever and encourage family members to make their lists. In the event of mixed opinions, practice the art of negotiation and concession. For example, everyone wants the elaborate, home-cooked spread that takes one week to prepare except for the one cooking it. At least it’s out on the table. Or, not

Now, taking into consideration and accepting some things are beyond our control, make your best-yet-holiday-ever action plan. Make it before the flurry gets started and there’s no time to think. Be merciless. What do you need TO DO or NOT DO to make 2011 your best-yet-holiday-season-ever? Post it on your bathroom mirror, monitor, or on Facebook.
One of the things on my action plan is to watch Dr. Seuss’, “How The Grinch Stole Christmas.”
“He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. Maybe Christmas, he thought…doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps…means a little bit more!”

“And what happened, then? Well, in Whoville they say – that the Grinch’s small heart grew three sizes that day. And then – the true meaning of Christmas came through, and the Grinch found the strength of ‘ten’ Grinches, plus two!”
And like I tell my students in art workshops, don’t expect a
masterpiece.

Happy best-yet-holiday-ever to one and all!

Enjoy The Journey,

June

Alcohol Ink Beginnings

I’d like you to meet the instructor that introduced me to alcohol inks, Karen Walker. Here we are on August 24, 2009 during that initial workshop at Artists League of the Sandhills in Aberdeen, NC, an hour from where I live. I remember feeling like a kid in a candy store:)

The morning session of our class was devoted to becoming familiar with the many ink colors and how they responded on Yupo, a 100% recyclable, tree-free synthetic paper.

I loved getting to know this highly unpredictable, extremely responsive, unconventional medium. It was just amazing how a variety of interesting shapes, textures and edges seemed to appear on their own with very little effort on my part.

During the afternoon portion of our class Karen introduced and demonstrated methods for creating more representational paintings. Out came tiny brushes and a variety of products, purchased from the cosmetic aisle, to lift paint.

All around me, my fellow class members were creating lovely representational works, from sunflowers to butterflies and even a drummer marching in a parade.

But, I was in awe with what the medium wanted to do on it’s own. Other than a simple generic flower shape I lifted out with a cotton ball,

(can you believe it?). I just couldn’t go into these almost effortless creations and begin to manipulate. To me, it felt like, I would be ruining them.

Maybe, I was just hyper-skittish because of the disasters I’ve experienced from overworking watercolors. Or maybe because I’ve been so intentional in my other paintings, I just wanted to play. Needed to play.

Whatever the reason, my inner child relished being an uninhibited, abstract artist, at least for the day. And our instructor was sensitive enough to affirm my explorations. After all, I was not doing what the teacher said. Shame on me.

Afterwards, I continued to explore alcohol inks. Gradually, out of a spirit of play and experimentation, a Dreamscape theme emerged and I began getting requests to teach.

Out of respect to my instructor, I contacted Karen, to see if she would like to teach outside her immediate area. She gave me her blessing, encouraging me to go ahead, saying my method of using the inks was different from hers.

Dreamscaping is a drop and guide approach without the use of brushes. But it is possible to achieve fascinating, representational alcohol inks with brushes, as Karen teaches in her workshops.

To see how Karen uses alcohol inks and find out about her online classes, visit: Karen’s Ink Painting Blog

All About Iris

Iris No. 11 Deep Into Purple, Watercolor, 8x20, by June Rollins

All About Iris is the name of the current series I’ve been working on the past several months.  Even after completing Iris No. 11 & 12 (shown left & below), these bearded beauties continue to captivate me.

Iris No. 12 Bashful Beauty, Watercolor, 7x10.5, By June Rollins

I didn’t plan on falling in love with Iris. It all started last summer, while looking through the White Flower Farm Catalog (www.whiteflowerfarm.com).

Each spring when I was little, the bearded irises in my grandmother’s flower garden were majestic, taller than me. I couldn’t believe these White Flower Farm iris put on their show in the spring and then again in the fall. I had to have them.

I was uncertain of their fleshy, segmented bodies and stiff, green crew cuts when they arrived last September. Cautiously following the directions, which seemed way too simple. I laid them in the ground and sprinkled fertilizer around them like I was casting fairie dust.

What transpired next was actually, the hardest part.

Watching. And waiting.

Watching. And waiting.

And then, watching and waiting some more.

But, this past spring, nine months after we first met, my iris had their first bloom! They were as grand as I remembered as a child in shades of purple, peach, periwinkle, mauve and gold.

Being the proud parent, I took well over 200 photos. I took photos in the morning; I took photos in the evening, in the sunshine and in the rain.

I know I’m not the first person to stick a camera in a flower’s face, but that didn’t matter. I had been taken in.

Before painting, my passion was photography. A growing desire to paint from my photos is what led me to watercolor. And today, ten years later, a majority of my paintings continue to be from my photo references. Yet, even I had not planned on this overwhelming pull to paint these irises!

But they had lured me in and whispered their secrets and I felt compelled to somehow express this elusive connection in my art. Maybe Greek mythology is true? Iris was believed to be the personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. Traveling with the speed of the wind she linked the gods to humanity.

All I know is, I was experiencing an iris, as I never had before. Could I show you an iris in my paintings like you had never seen before?

This isn’t the first time I’ve been smitten with a subject.

I’ll be enthralled with, you name it. But it doesn’t last. After three or four renderings of apples or oceans, I’m ready to move on. The consummate “subject hopper.”

Maybe, this time will be different.

Yesterday, I signed Iris No. 12 in the All About Iris Series and I feel like I’m just beginning. You know, that excitement and enthusiasm that fuels all new endeavors? I’ve still got it. It’s that and something more I can’t put into words. A good problem for an artist to have. Enjoy the journey!

If I could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint. –Edward Hopper

Wishing For Autumn?

Anybody out there wishing for autumn besides me?

During September and October visit, www.yadkinvalleyliving.com and click on June Rollins to read why I’m ready for summer to end. After October 2010, read below:

Autumn Already?

Maybe I’m crazy, but I love this time of year. Love the cool days and cooler evenings, love the slowly increasing darkness calling an end to a relentlessly hot, bright summer.

If this were a multiple choice for one of your favorites, which would you pick?

1. Oppressive heat and sunburn
2. Mosquitoes and poison ivy
3. Long lines and poor service
4. People upset by long lines and poor service
5. Being snowed in with that book you’ve wanted to read and a mug of hot (cider, coffee, cocoa or cognac).

See my point? While many lament the ending of summer. I’m ready for it’s passing. Like a loud, over-heated, one-way conversation that has gone on far too long. I yearn for the sacred, slowing down, sound of silence that an approaching winter brings.

In a couple of months after the autumn light show, when the mums have turned brown and the pumpkins have gone soft, things will get seriously silent. Eerily, silent. So silent you can hear snow fall.

Looking forward to getting out your mittens and scarves yet? Me either. Even though I say I’m ready, I just have a few more things I need to do.

The recent cooler weather has inspired me to work in our flowerbeds, which means my husband, Rob (bless his heart), has needed to be inspired too. Because what I wanted done, he needed to do. All that tilling, digging and mulching was too much for me. Then there was the re-digging when I changed my mind on where I thought something should go. About now, my extroverted, summer lovin’ husband is longing for that first snow too.

Next week my bulb order should arrive. Over 200 possibilities, a diverse mix of crocus, daffodils, hyacinths and tulips bursting with potential and looking for a home in our yard. Good thing we have two bulb planters Then it will be time to paint the screened-in porches, put up the shutters and refinish that bookcase.

Yes, I welcome autumn! Because I know soon, very soon, I’ll be seeing a collection of stoic black etchings pressing into a midnight blue sky and it won’t even be time for the evening news. Once again, I’ll let out a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding and feel I’ve been given permission to slow down and rest and not feel guilty for listening to bulbs dream and snow fall.

Enjoy the Journey.

“I dream my painting and then I paint my dream.” –Vincent Van Gogh

Trumpets of Hope

It’s the season of daffodils and listed below is a link to a column I’ve written that’s in the Mar/Apr issue of Yadkin Valley Living Magazine about these spring harbingers.

Here, I’ll share the “before” and “after” images of “Trumpets of Hope.”

The “before” image shows a definite strong contrast between foreground and background in value and use of yellow/purple color opposites.

Too strong and I didn’t care for the “cookie cutter” look.

I went to bed a bit discouraged, but awoke the next morning with an idea I was eager to try.

I like the below softened version of “Trumpets Of Hope” much better. In my opinion it’s not ‘in your face” stark as the “before” version, plus, there’s  an added nuance of  mystery and drama.

To read the story behind this watercolor, visit: www.yadkinvalleyliving.com and click on “June Rollins.”