Canvas to the Imagination

A few photos from a lovely long weekend on Bowen a week and a half ago. It was a good time for bird watching, as you can see from some of the photos.

There were two Anna’s Hummingbirds constantly visiting the feeder. The view of them was excellent since it’s located just outside the window beside the kitchen table. They are amazing little birds.

The Canada Geese had taken over the Lagoon with their horde of goslings. There were at least thirty of them in one group, watched over by multiple parents. Gosling daycare I suppose.

Bowen Island a place where there are lovely things to see, rain or shine.

In my monthly newsletter I always share three or four links to items I’ve come across that have inspired me. I call the section, “Found Objects”, and I’ve decided to try and continue the same thing here on my blog.

For your May long weekend reading pleasure, I present a few items you should check out:

• Mixed media artist, Carlyn Yandle, writes one blog post a week about art. Each one is well-written, thoughtful, and insightful.
• Ditto for blog posts written by M.A. Tateishi, another Vancouver artist with excellent writing skills.
• Money Money Money, a series of blog posts by Kim Werker on money struggles for the creative person. It was inspired by a letter I wrote to her.
• A beautiful post about body image and confidence by Vivienne McMaster. It speaks strongly to how women tear themselves down, but can also build themselves up.

Have yourself a relaxing long weekend.

At the beginning of this week I decided to take a much needed break from social media tools. I sometimes feel worn down by watching other people’s lives on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, and all the unwanted noise that comes out of it. I do enjoy using these tools, and often find inspiration from them, but they’re also a HUGE distraction. It’s good to turn down the volume once in awhile, and now was as good a time as any because I have a lot of work to do.

Over the last few days I’ve found myself with iPhone in hand wondering what to do with the thing. By not allowing myself to check Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram I have much less distraction from my phone. It makes me realize just how frequently I look at the darn thing, and use social media to procrastinate or distract myself.

I sometimes wish I could do without these tools, but they play a large role in how I share my work with the world. I’m not sure how I would do this otherwise. They are also the source of connections with interesting people, events, and ideas, so it’s not all bad.

Sometimes you need to step back from familiar things in order to fully appreciate what they bring to your life. And I am reflecting on this as part of break. But until I return to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, I’m going to enjoy a quiet, centred, less distracted mind.