Robert Henri's Art Spirit

The Art Spirit
inspires my art and life

Robert Henri's book, The Art Spirit, is a collection of notes, articles, fragments of letters and lectures to students. The book was complied after his death by former student, Margery Ryerson. Henri's highly inspirational material taps into the core of artistic expression and picture making. Learn more about Robert Henri (pronounced hen-rye) on my new page here.

Three Cats In The Yard

I decided that the pictures I posted of Jerry's tomato plants didn't really do them justice and show their size, so today I'm including these two shots.




When I was shooting the plants, the cats came out and wanted their picture taken too. This is Leah. Short for Ugly-a. She's a feral feline that we had fixed and take care of. At first I thought she was ugly, but now I see her beauty.

"A cat improves the garden wall in sunshine, and the hearth in foul weather." ~ Judith Merkle Riley


And Ziggy (our orange house cat, Tigger's brother). He's also a feral we had neutered. He's nothing like his laid back brother. He's afraid of us and like Leah, always stays a safe distance away. He and Leah are real pals and are almost always together.

"The cat has too much spirit to have no heart." ~ Ernest Manual

"Women, poets, and especially artists, like cats; delicate natures only can realize their sensitive nervous systems." ~ Helen M. Winslow

And last but not least, this is Princess. She is my studio cat, waiting at the studio door to be let in. She was here first and thinks all the others should definitely go!

"I had been told that the training procedure with cats was difficult. It's not. Mine had me trained in two days." ~ Bill Dana

Deer Trouble and Jerry's Giant Tomato Plants

We've had to put our hanging plants up on the side deck because we've got a juvenile delinquent problem. A brazen, ravenous, young doe started eating my flowers! I gave up years ago trying to have flower beds out here, but have gotten away with hanging baskets right up next to the back of our house. The deer have always stayed away . . . 'til now. We bought some spray, but I'm thinking it's easier just to move them around everyday. I scared the curious culprit away in the middle of the day yesterday! Any suggestions (besides hunting of course) will be considered. Here are a few shots taken early this morning with my little Cannon Power Shot.


Before I got off on that tangent, I wanted to show you these hu-mung-ous tomato plants that Jerry picked up! I've never seen a potted tomato plant get so huge. I hope the little deer doesn't decide to go up on the deck and give them a nibble.

Two More Lenses Added To Squidoo

I've been giving all my old lenses a facelift and have created four new ones so far this week. What a great sense of accomplishment. I'm on a roll baby! 

Your feedback and comments are most appreciated! THANKS!!

Check out: Hummingbirds For The Holidays

And: Native American Stories and Spirit

I also did a major revamp on : Five Steps To Happy Hummingbirds

And: Eight Ways Animal Spirits Teach Us About Life

Too Much To Share And T.M.I. !

I started looking at my Squidoo Lenses this past weekend and realized most of them had way T. M. I. - TOO MUCH INFORMATION ! So I decided to break them down into more digestible chunks.

I've got two new lenses so far. I hope you find them interesting, helpful and worth your time.

An Obsession With Hummingbirds was inspired by a comment left recently here on my web log.


Simple Sketching Steps contains a new drawing demo.

In Simple Sketching Steps, I also explain my materials and make supply recommendations. My SketchingEveryday Blog starts in one week, so if you plan on following along and doing my sketching challenges this year, make sure you read this short lens and pick up any materials you may need.

To Internet Hell And Back

I've been to internet HELL and back over the past week. To make a long story short, it all started when I went to renew my domain name, SpiritArt.us. It was ten days before it was due to expire. Turns out my domain registrar went out of business. They were resellers, so I had to go to the main registrar to find my data. With the high rate of scamming and manipulation on the web, beware, of even the big guys. I was slammed in the beginning by the company, did meet with some cooperation mid stream, but then ended up short changed in the end. Thank God for my wonderful technical support staff at ViaVerio Web Hosting !! One by one, hour by hour, Jason, Tim, Oscar, Dave, and James all got me through this. Thanks so much guys! I still have some work to do, but now there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel!

Today's InspirationEveryday quote:
"To be tested is good. The challenged life may be the best therapist." ~ Gail Sheehy

On a brighter note, I became an exclusive photographer with iStockPhoto yesterday. Now I have a bronze film canister and a gold crown by my name. It looks so much better than that old grey thing. I didn't have a photo of me in a crown, so here's the next best thing. It's a shot of me taken by Robert Genn , the Author of "The Painter's Keys" in September of 2005 aboard the cruise ship "Coral Princess" in Alaska.

THEY'RE HERE!!

I saw the first arrivals today. There are at least two of them, maybe more. I've got three feeders up now and I am in hummer heaven. Be sure to check out my Five Steps to Happy Hummers and get lots of tips on starting (or increasing numbers) of your very own hummingbird colony!

Screaming, Rearing and Charging

I'm sitting here on my screened-in back porch with two hummingbird feeders hanging on either side of the door. Jerry said he had one dive bomb him this morning, but I have yet to see one. I've been working out here for a couple of hours and no customers yet! Oh well, I did take Rudy for a spin this afternoon. He was a perfect gentleman. Rita, of course, carried on like a maniac. I figure when I ride Rudy, I get two for the price of one. Rita gets her exercise too. While screaming like a stallion, she entertainingly demonstrates her athletic ability, rearing, bucking, leaping, spinning and charging. It's quite a workout. More than I'm up for, FOR SURE! :-D
Here's a quick sketch of Rita today. I'm starting to draw more again, in preparation for my summer sketching series... I'm dreading it and looking forward to it at the same time. Hee Hee, Go figure.

Oh Where, Oh Where Can My Hummingbirds Be?!

OK, they're late. I'm beginning to worry. The first males have been arriving here around the 19th or twentieth of April for several years. (I write it on my calendar.) We did have a very cold winter here, but according to hummingbirds.net, they've been spotted as far north as Canada. Oh dear . . . I put up another feeder today by my studio window. Maybe I'm just missing them. I'm on edge and everything that goes by my window catches my eye. I'm even dreaming about the little cuties. Oh well, I'll try to be patient. Today's sketch is one I did in preparation for my studio drawing classes that I did in Florida last week. (And, I have been informed that the course was a huge hit with all the students.) :-D

An Obsession With Hummingbirds

I will be traveling and giving s few drawing demonstrations next week, so I thought I'd better practice a little today. Not drawing as regularly as I would like, my session started off slow and a little rusty. After a short time however, it became much easier. Here's a few steps of one of today's sketches. No hummers have been spotted here yet, so drawing some will just have to quench my thirst for now. Last year the first one showed up here on April 19th, so it shouldn't be too long of a wait now!

The Hummers Are Here!

I looked at Hummingbirds.net's hummingbird migration map and quickly got a hummingbird feeder out this past weekend. The little travelers have been spotted in my area and as far north as Massachusetts! No need to put out more than a single feeder just yet though. When you see one bird, you can then put up another. Once your spot is established, you can be certain within a day or two you'll be seeing more. Be sure to check out my Five Steps To Happy Hummers site to get your hummingbird season started off with a bang! I'll keep you posted on our arrivals here. Good Luck and Happy Humming!

A Mystery Project

OMG! It's been almost a month since I posted anything here on my web log. That's my longest break ever! Truth is, I'm working on a project that I'm having lots of fun with right now. I can't share it with you all just yet. I will say however, that our horses are very interested in my recent activities. I'm sure my neighbors and people driving by are thinking; "What the heck is she up to now?".

Insight Of The Day ~ Keep Dancing!

I have been receiving Bob Proctor's Insight of the Day emails for years now. You can sign up and receive an inspirational quote Mon. - Thurs. and a short story on Friday. Today's is a good one. Here's a quote from it. "If you are feeling stuck, and afraid to take the next step, or any step for that matter, you will never achieve the life of your dreams. Life is not always about being comfortable. It is about moving forward, out of your comfort zone." Worth the read here: Keep On Dancing by Veronica Hay

Meet Baby Hope

"Baby Hope, as she came to be called, was put in a cardboard box that someone sealed with duct tape and left on a Philadelphia curb for trash. She was all alone, sealed in a box with no food or water for at least two days before being discovered by a Good Samaritan who noticed a slight movement to the box. 

Baby Hope was lucky because when she was bought to PSPCA, a volunteer from Burlington County Animal Alliance (BCAA), a local rescue group from my county with a long history of helping homeless pets in the Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey area, came to her rescue."

Yes folks, Baby Hope's story does have a happy ending! She's one of the LUCKY ONES.

See Baby Hope's full story and more about her on the Art For The Animals post for today.

Birthdays And Attitudes

I celebrated another birthday yesterday and my horse, Rembrandt, will be thirty tomorrow!

America's Wild Horses

More Links about Wild Horse Preservation and the BLM Roundups:

The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign 

From their web site: "In 1971, an unprecedented public outcry moved Congress to unanimously pass the Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act, granting federal protection to America's wild horses and burros as “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West, that contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people.”

See the I-Team Special Here

BLM WILD MUSTANG ROUNDUP

The BLM, Bureau of Land Management, (also known as the Bureau of Livestock Management), is currently rounding up wild horses in Nevada. They are removing these animals from public lands because they say there is not enough forage to sustain them. However, the BLM then turns around and leases this same acreage, our own public land, (which was specificly set aside in the 70's by Congress for the protection of the wild horses and a unique ecosystem), to cattle ranchers at outragously cheap rates! It's all for the benefit of the ranchers and the government, not at all for the good of these beautiful wild animals and not for the American People! Somehow I feel that it's not only these magnificant wild creatures, it's also  our heritage that they are destroying.

This all happened a month ago. I just found out about it tonight. I will post links as I find them. 

LEARN MORE HERE:

The Secret of Personal Magnetism

An excerpt from Owen Waters' NEW BOOK ~ "Love, Light, Laughter: The New Spirituality"

"When people open their hearts to unselfish, unconditional love, a whole new world of possibilities opens. Rather than spending effort avoiding the selfishness of others, they spend time making sure that the way they choose to serve society is done in the best way possible. When people can trust others to treat each other with love and respect rather than as competitors, then everyone gains.

As heart-centered awareness grows and blooms within society, people’s primary focus will shift away from service to self and towards service to others. When it does, the world will transform out of all recognition.

But you don’t have to wait for all of society to catch up. In both your personal and professional dealings with people, you have a reputation, and it is fed by word-of-mouth recommendation. Build your reputation as someone who tends to give more than is expected of them, and you will find yourself becoming increasingly popular in both your business and personal lives. People respond to heartfelt action and, as they say, what goes around comes around.

Action and reaction are opposite and equal in all types of thought and action. Your heartfelt action, by automatic reaction, will create a heartfelt reality among you and the people who are attracted to your energy. When you operate mainly out of a heart-centered frequency, you will notice that people are attracted to you in all aspects of your life. Friends, lovers, professional associates; everyone will be attracted to your magnetic personality.

Personal magnetism has been one of the great mysteries of life simply because, in the past, so few people have operated from that heart-centered frequency of awareness on a routine basis. However, it’s really no secret. It’s just one of those common-sense facts of life.

The secret of personal magnetism is that the more you unconditionally love people, the more they love you.

You don’t have to make a big deal out of it. You don’t have to stand there like some transmitter beacon, radiating huge amounts of heart energy. Top stage performers do, but you don’t. You can be very quiet about it and everyone will be quietly drawn to you. Everyone of a similar nature, that is. Everyone who appreciates kindness and a truly warm, genuine smile.

In other words, you’ll attract the very best of friends.

There’s nothing more attractive than a warm smile from a person who quietly radiates a sense of unconditional love for themselves and all others."

This was an excerpt from "Love, Light, Laughter: The New Spirituality" by Owen Waters, which is available exclusively at Amazon.com.
www.amazon.com/dp/1932336281

"Posted Courtesy of www.InfiniteBeing.com"

Education

"The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet. " ~ Aristotle

Support Haiti Earthquake Response

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