ART SAVES!

This post is being sent out to all my blogger friends. It first started as a reply to Maggie's comments from my Day 30 post but as I began to type my reply I thought it was appropriate to send it as a post so everyone can read what an impact this online art community has had on my life. For it was not just one person that made this new blog experience such a joy to me but my whole interactive blog community. Thanks ladies, God Bless!!




"ART SAVES" collage mixed-media with chipboard letters and embellishments


I made magnets out of the image and gave them to the women in my life who mean so much to me like my mom, sister, close friends and I also donated a print to one of my close friend's women's church retreat silent auction.

I cannot say this enough - ART SAVES! Thanks to Jenny Doh Jenny says it best here:

"We at CRESCENDOh believe that art is all of that and more. Art is what comes out of each of us, as we use our diverse spectrum of talent to elevate and beautify our lives. Art can be a quilt ... a collage ... a rubber stamped card ... a poem ... a musical performance ... a well-loved garden ... a delicious meal ... a warm conversation. Art is what gets us through the moment, the hour, the day, the years, the lifetime. Yes indeed, ART SAVES."

Now this is the original start of the reply I was typing to Maggie which I have copied and pasted here:

You have been such an uplift throughout this blog process and believe me it has not been easy (especially when real life concerns outside of art making kicked in during the month of July; pushing my posts into late hours of the night). That's when art making became a saving grace to me along with working on the farm to release my stress and anxiety. Maggie {blog friends}, you have made me smile with every comment you have shared. I believe that God puts the right people in your path at the right times to uplift your spirit and remind you of all the goodness in this world.

Although I LOVE my family and close friends I felt I was missing a connection with my creative spirit and finding this art community and blogging has been a saving grace for me during my job layoff. It brings me great comfort and peace along with BIG SMILES when I can share my love for anything and all things art related with others who also get a jump start from mixing paints with their fingers, squealing when they learn about a new YouTube video on how to make recycled journals and just want to make markings on any surface to see what develops (and not think it was time to call the head doctor) LOL.

This message goes to everyone who has left comments on my blog or become a follower. Although the 30 Days challenge is over my blog is not at all ending and although we might all find new art challenges to participate in our futures, my hope is that we continue to revisit each other and share in our new art discoveries and how they are transforming our lives.

I call my blog ALCHEMY - Art Memories just for that reason. I am a believer that life is to be lived honoring the changes in ourselves, our environments, and our society. Along with living my life with a CURIOUS GIRL mentality I also work very hard to put into my daily practice living my life through the process of 1. discovering 2. exploring, and 3. enjoying life. Art Memories is just one chapter in this ongoing process of becoming and I look forward to sharing with you my journey along the way.

Thanks again for all your caring and support and remember this change in art challenges is not an ending but a new beginning - let's continue to share for we are all interconnected in this thing we call life ;-)

Enjoy,
Sandra