Take Courage

Thumbnail, acrylic

Take courage to explore your heart. Bravely paint or pen your thoughts, fears and desires, and you'll find the beauty, strength, satisfaction, and peace that are already yours within.

Take courage to live your life; it's a life worth living and worth loving. Know yourself, as the child of Soul's creating--perfect, sinless, whole and free!

Take courage. It's God's gift to you, to live unafraid and create freely!

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Love that Remains

A Saudade Celebration

January 30th, I celebrated, with Brazilians, the day of saudade. It can mean many things to different people, but for me, it's not so much a remembrance of lost loves or better times, as it is a celebration of "the love that remains" in my life.

Previously unaware of saudade, I must have been preparing for this day for a long time. Through trips down memory lane from watching old movie favorites to rediscovering misplaced photo albums and old paintings, I've been remembering the good times and feeling the strength and tenderness of this love that remains.

Spontaneously, a few friends came over to celebrate on this balmy winter night in a Texas style fire-pit ceremony of past joys, and joys to come-- and the love that remains.

"It's amazing, Molly...the love inside, you take it with you!" from the movie, Ghost (1990)

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According to Wikipeidia...

"Saudade is a Portuguese and Galician word difficult to translate adequately, which describes a deep emotional state of nostalgic longing for something or someone that one was fond of and which is lost."

"Saudade has been described as a "vague and constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist...a turning towards the past or towards the future". A stronger form of saudade may be felt towards people and things whose whereabouts are unknown, such as a lost lover, or a family member who has gone missing. It may also be translated as a deep longing or yearning for something which does not exist or is unattainable."

"Saudade was once described as "the love that remains" or "the love that stays" after someone is gone. Saudade is the recollection of feelings, experiences, places or events that once brought excitement, pleasure, well-being, which now triggers the senses and makes one live again. It can be described as an emptiness, like someone ( e.g. one's children, parents, sibling, grandparents, friends) or something (e.g. places, pets, things one used to do in childhood, or other activities performed in the past) that should be there in a particular moment is missing, and the individual feels this absence. In Portuguese, 'tenho saudades tuas', translated as 'I have saudades for you' means 'I miss you', but carries a much stronger tone. In fact, one can have 'saudades' of someone with which one is, but have some feeling of loss towards the past or the future."

Soulmates

Twin Flame © 2010 S'zanne Reynolds, digital image

There's a scene from the movie, What Dreams May Come, where the departed husband has just learned that his wife has left earth for the illusion of her self-created suicidal purgatory. He is determined to find her, rescue her from this self-induced punishment or hell, and bring her back to his heaven, a state of consciousness created by her paintings.

He's told he can never succeed. The devoted husband reminds his angelic guide that there are no rules. "It's not about understanding; it's about not giving up!" he shouts. "I'm her soulmate, I can find her."

I was amazed to see that the movie's background scene nearly perfectly matched the above image I took in Sedona, where I had so many past reflections of my own departed husband. The only thing missing were the animated flashes of lightening!

Wikipedia defines a soulmate as, " a person with whom one has a feeling of deep and natural affinity, love, intimacy, sexuality, spirituality, and/or compatibility. A related concept is that of the twin flame or twin soul which is thought to be the ultimate soulmate, the one and only other half of one's soul, for which all souls are driven to find and join."

A twin flame or twin soul has been defined as finding your true selfhood, without the body or ego personality.

It seems to me that a soulmate can be different things to different people, always bringing you back to discovering your God origins or spiritual oneness. A soulmate can be anything-- a lover, mother, sister, friend, pet or even a talent like painting--that accompanies you on this journey of finding your real selfhood. It would seem that we have to lose this mortal sense of self to rediscover our twin flame...which we in fact, have never really lost, as it's always been right there within us...in our ever creative self-awareness, our eternal oneness with all Being.

So while we have company along the way, sometimes we do not. But we are never really alone, as our twin flame is always there burning brightly for us to find our way home.

"I'm her soulmate, I can find her."
-- from the movie, What Dreams May Come

Creativity Is a Celebration of Life

Color Me Grand © 2010 S'zanne Reynolds, digital image

I'm working on a small pastel study from the above photo. With a name like Color Me Grand, I'll have to develop it into a huge painting!

"Creativity is a celebration of one's grandeur; one's sense of making anything possible. Creativity is a celebration of life– my celebration of life. It is a bold statement: I am here! I love life! I love me! I can be anything! I can do anything!" ~Joseph Zinker, therapist, painter, sculptor, poet

If your creativity is a celebration of your life and yourself, then you can't very well afford to think small about yourself or not like your work! Our creativity is a celebration and expression of the one Life divine. What's not to love!?

So what are you going to celebrate this weekend?

Love What You Are Painting

Variation No. 1 © 2010 by S'zanne Reynolds
10x10" pastel



Ring 'Round the Rosy © 2010 by S'zanne Reynolds
12x12" pastel

Two of my pastels, Variation No. 1 and Ring 'Round the Rosy, have been accepted into the Austin Pastel Society's Annual Juried Member Exhibition. Juror, Liz Haywood-Sullivan, PSA.

Showing March 7- April 30, 2011
Reception and Awards Ceremony: Sunday, March 27 from 3 - 5:00 p.m.
At the Corridor of Art - 700 Lavaca, Austin, TX 78701

Give your love to whatever you are doing, and your own special art will come to life. ~ Ralph Marston

To see the rest of Ralph's article on "Your Inner Artist' click here to visit Greatday.com.

On Becoming Yourself

Becoming Natasha © 2010 by S'zanne Reynolds
18.5 x 26.5" pastel

My painting, Becoming Natasha was juried into the "For the Love of Art" exhibit by Dr. Christopher Adejumo.

Opening Night is February 12, from 6-9 p.m. at Austin Art Space.
(7739 Northcross Dr., Austin 78757)

This pastel is part of the "All Kinds of Lovely" series of portraits I started last summer. Becoming Natasha is such a fitting title for this young lady as she is both becoming in beauty and becoming in spirit as she discovers herself, her talents and her way in the world. Natasha reminds me that we are all still young at heart, always in search of being fully expressed.


Sweet 'n Sour, © 2004 by my former self
19x13.5" pastel

Above is one of my early pastels, Sweet 'n Sour, which was accepted into one AVAA's annual shows. I don't recall if he was the juror or just visiting the show, but Dr. Adejumo offered his compliments on the quick, deliberate, unlabored effect of my strokes that were essentially left alone once applied. His encouragement left quite an impression on me, so much so, that I have tried to create that fresh, directly applied look in most of my paintings. I think I succeeded in Becoming Natasha, which is perhaps why he juried it into this current show!

About the Juror: Dr. Adejumo received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Fine Arts (Graphic Design) from the University of Benin, Nigeria in 1983. He studied at the University of Massachusetts, in Dartmouth, where he received an MFA degree in Visual Designs (Printmaking) in 1993. In 1997, he received a PhD in Art Education from Ohio State University. His art has been shown in solo exhibitions in Africa, Europe, and the United States.

He has received numerous research and academic excellence awards including GTECH 1992 (Dartmouth, Massachusetts) award for academic excellence; and the University of Benin 1983 "Student of the Year" award for academic excellence. His articles have been published in newspapers and visual arts and research journals. He has been the program director for the AVAA Sponsored Project The Greater Tomorrow Youth Art Program for 12 years. The program provides free art workshops taught by Dr. Adejumo to at risk kids in Austin.

Vision and Action

Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.
~Joel A. Barker

Setting intentions, and following up, has been a challenge for me in the daily grind. Sometimes a visit to the studio consists of looking through books, taking notes or sketching...and only dreaming about the next painting. Other times, with the best of intentions, I roll up my sleeves and furiously clean and rearrange my workspace....and time passes.

But, then there are the days when I grasp my vision firmly amidst the mess and chaos, and the paint simply flows through the ends of my fingertips. To me, it seems to take a little dreaming, a bit of vision...and a whole lot more painting action to find the artist within --or change the world!