Even In The Silence

BumberShootStudio Paintings
Copyright 2017
Chinese Ink on Rice Paper
'Bamboo'

We'd be on the phone for hours, many times quietly not saying anything. 

Sounds like an oxymoron...a phone is for talking!  But we did it anyway and still do. I've only ever done this with my husband...but there is something comforting about knowing that someone is just right there, even in the silence.

Recently it looks like I went 'missing in action' with how still it's been on my blog. Writing takes a lot of time for me and every moment I've had to spare I've been pouring into several other projects I recently started. People have told me (on more than one occasion) that I can be quite compulsive. I tend to loose myself in whatever it is I'm doing at the time...until I reach a place with it that I feel is acceptable.

It's true I can get swept away, but in my defense...I've learned to play two new instruments, put together a functioning band and learned to paint in a new medium (Chinese Ink).

Even though there hasn't been much noise on my computer keyboard,
I'm still here.

Note to self...in the future, only take on one new project at a time!

The Shadow Knows

BumberShootStudio Paintings
Copyright 2016
'Sun Rising'

Everywhere I look, I see them.
In the booth next to me...standing in line...crossing the street. Their more then just vague images that are here one minute and gone the next. They are memories...still very much alive in my mind.

My family lived in Hong Kong for many years and every time my husband and I go back for a visit, we see shadows from our life everywhere we turn.

Some find these 'shadows' of the past haunting...always popping up to remind us of days gone bye. But I think of them as small sketches of something bigger, larger then just single isolated strokes in time.

The sun rises and shines its light on another day as I take a closer look at the Grand canvas of my life...wondering just how much color I've applied to it...is there any depth at all...have I taken any risks...is there purpose?

Reevaluating whats on the palette...will the moments the sun shines upon today become the lasting shadows that reach into tomorrow...and will they make a difference?

Beyond The Chaos

BumberShootStudio Paintings

As I glance down at my watch to estimate how much time I have left before reaching the point of no return and being late for my appointment, it dawns on me that I always do this...wait till the last moment after I had plenty of time to spare but now the pressures on and I need to rush to my destination!

Racing against traffic, annoyed by everything on the road and off (pity those who may have been in the vehicle with me), my blood pressure and anxiety level would always go through the roof.

Pondering this...not wanting to delve to deep into my psyche...I realized that part of me (a very broken part) actually craved and sought out opportunities to invoke surges of emotion. This would unfortunately effect relationships with the people around me as well. My confrontational personality seemed to set fire to everything and was always followed up by feelings of guilt.

Thankfully God has helped me over the years and pandemonium's a thing of the past. I do believe this is a large reason why watercolor originally intrigued me though. The medium is not just pretty but it's unpredictable and challenging. When the paint touches wet paper and explodes across the page, it comes alive and takes you on a journey. This wayfaring can be quite pleasing but it can also leave you with what looks like a muddled up mess!

As intimidating as it may look, be patient, the true potential is what lies beyond the chaos and it's what makes for some of the most beautiful paintings...and radiant lives.

Rain Or Shine

BumberShootStudio Paintings
Copyright 2014
Logo for BumberShootStudio
Drawing of myself

My moms family all live on the East Coast in America and I still have images in my mind of dripping wet umbrellas sitting by the front door in my grandmothers house. They were kept neatly contained in an umbrella stand and when it rained...boy did they sparkle!

The Oxford English Dictionary quotes "bumbershoot" (another name for umbrella) as "originally and chiefly U.S. slang" which is contrary to popular belief that it is British...just saying. Whether you use the term umbrella or bumbershoot it always seems to transport you somewhere rainy and wet. That is mostly why I chose it as my shops logo, wet...water...watercolor and bumbershoot sounds really cool! But did you know the umbrellas design was originally created as a means to shade yourself from the sun...

Dating back over four thousand years, ancient art and artifacts from China and Egypt depict evidence of these umbrellas and parasols first being used to provide shade from the sun...because why would anybody want to go outside when it's raining!

Webster's Dictionary definition of parasol is "a light umbrella that you use to protect yourself from the sun." We have of course waterproofed them over the years...because why would anybody want to be stuck inside just because it's raining!

I recently posted a short video clip on my Instagram showing hundreds of folks walking down the street here in China using umbrellas on a sunny day. At first (to a westerner) it seems ridiculous and somewhat over the top...even vanity!

After living here a while in this sub-tropical heat where the sun is relentless and walking is your main means of transportation, you desperately reach for any type of relief you can.
That's right...

I have an umbrella with me at all times now...in my purse, in my backpack, in Marks backpack, in the outside foyer of my flat (in case one is forgotten). I have many colors and sizes...big, small, pink, aqua, red, plaids even ones with ruffles and lace. I am unashamed to say vanity follows me everywhere, rain or shine!
When in Rome.
(I mean Asia ;)

Secondary

BumberShootStudio Paintings
Copyright 2014
'Simplicity'
(Sold)

While living in the Sonoran Desert (Arizona) we often described it to others as a 'green desert'...adding 'green' somehow brings the existence of life. People picture deserts as dry, barren waste lands, not beautiful vistas filled with trees, shrubs and cacti that look like jewels placed within the shimmering red sand.    

Back East in the U.S. (New England) the view is more a smorgasbord of delicious green shades ranging from cool blues to warm, bright, radiant strokes of deciduous color completely covering the landscape. A buffet of greens that change with every season!

Then there are the deep, rich greens of the Pacific Northwest (Washington/Oregon). Green is such a dominant color there that Seattle is nick named 'The Emerald City.' Massive-Jurassic size evergreens fill the horizon along with the Cascade Mountain Range making everything unbelievably picturesque.

Here in Southern China (Guangdong) the terrain is more a jungle of thick impenetrable evergreens that are dense and leafy, impossible to walk through and quite impressive. The green colors are flat and dull, lacking saturation except in areas closer to the ocean where they sparkle in comparison.  At first I thought it was a layer of dust and everything was just dirty...not so. The colors are faded because of how hard they are working to clean the air around us. Developing countries struggle in this area (America did too) learning to balance growth of industry and protection of the environment.

Green is a secondary color and most often takes back seat to other colors competing for our attention. So the next time you stop to see a sunset with it's brilliant red hues or hear the oceans aqua blue waves crashing upon the shore, take a moment...and breath in the green.

For Convenience Sake

BumberShootStudio Paintings

From the time I first sprouted a pinto bean in a plastic bag with wet paper towels, I knew I was meant to garden, it was in my blood. I was five years old then.

My dream of growing up and having a place with this garden never transpired quite like I thought. But if it had, it would have been complete with chickens who laid plenty of eggs and a cow who gave plenty of milk. This would of course mean plenty of fresh cream and butter! There would be many other animals in my little garden of Eden as well, but that is another story...

Over the years I have seen eggs become artificial, margarine take the place of butter...and milk, well who needs milk anymore! Everything is processed now, even our fruits and vegetables have been tampered with. All in the name of convenience (and money).

The idea behind saving time and simplifying our work sounds good but somehow always seems to come at a cost.

As I sit in a foreign country that is literally riddled with cancer...dutifully soaking my fruits and vegetables in vinegar water because of the amounts of pesticides used on them...I can't help but think about the consequences for convenience sake that seem to plague us all,

no matter where we reside. 

True Color

BumberShootStudio Paintings
Copyright 2016
'Mirror, Mirror'

Mirror, mirror on the wall...
It was the day before a routine hair appointment to color my gray roots
when I glanced in the mirror and saw something I had never seen before. It looked like someone had dumped glitter all over my head!

It was a couple weeks passed the normal time I usually had my hair dyed to cover the monthly growth, so the silver was long enough to catch the light...it actually sparkled!

In nineteen-ninety-four my family and I moved to China, within three years I had gone prematurely gray. I was in my twenties when I had to start coloring my hair. I have been dying my hair every month since without giving it a second thought, never once have I questioned it...

Covering your gray hair is what we do, especially if your a woman,
my time just came sooner then others and that is as deep in thought about it as I went. Which is strange for me because I'm not the status quo kinda gal.
The stigma that comes with the gray hair is quite powerful.

Staring in that mirror, twenty years and over two-hundred bottles of dye later,
I saw a glimpse of the real me for the first time...
and I love it!