What Is

February 9, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 20 Comments

Today I woke with a feeling of being surrounded by sludge as thick and slimy as yesterday’s latte left on the counter over night. I’m on day five of my recovery from a common head cold – well enough to be grumpy and think I “should be doing things” when all I really want to do is be a caterpillar – munching and moving slowly from one comfortable place to another.

Long-time “tweet friend,” massage therapist and intrinsic coach Fred Krazeise, from Washington D.C., reminded me “Just let the day come to you Terrill!” With only a little resistance, I have. What is “is.” Or…. it is what it is. Sounds simple but I have spent much of my life resisting the sludge when it wraps around me. I tend to want to fight back as it feels like giving up or giving in. Yet, I know the harder I fight the tighter the sludge holds me. So I am going to follow Fred’s gentle advice. I’m letting the day come to me.

Here is this morning’s sketch of our window seat looking east into the side yard where the Tibetan flags hang on the six feet tall deer fence.

8″x11″ artist waterproof Indian ink quick sketch

And here is another photo from Sunday’s photo shoot in the mist….

View and purchase full resolution image here.

May you enjoy and embrace what is – even the slimy sludge days.

Sprout Question: What do you do on you slimy sludge days?

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

Ordinary

January 21, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 11 Comments

Today, I only have the ordinary to offer – the equivalent of canned moose meat. Yesterday’s walk produced nothing of significance in the way of photos.

There was the sound of the water running out of the pipe.

There was the horse and buggy “slow sign” that made me laugh.

There were the distant mountains to the north through active pass that made me think about how far it was to my parent’s farm in north central British Columbia.

All was rather ordinary. Still, I walked, I looked, and I framed shot after shot on the hopes that something might appear worthwhile of your audience. I feel like the fisherman who came home with no fish. When this happened as a child, well… we had canned moose meat. So today, I share with you ordinary images – my equivalent of canned moose meat. A creative day that is sustaining but not luxurious in its richness.

Sprout Question: Creatively, what do you do when confronted with “the ordinary?”

Note: Tomorrow I am traveling. There will likely be no Creative Potager post – unless I am very lucky find a window of time and an internet connection. If I don’t connect with you before hand, have a wonderful weekend.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

Last Rose

January 11, 2010October 1, 2011 / Terrill Welch / 14 Comments

(image may be purchased here. )

I just have to share my news with you.

I’ve known for some weeks now that one of my paintings was going to be printed in a quarterly literary journal – because the editor asked for permission.

Well, at 3:29 pm PST Friday, January 8, 2010, I received the following email:

Dear Terrill,
Thank you again for the use of your watercolor. It’s lovely and has already received compliments. Below is a link to the journal. Just click on the River Poets Quarterly Autumn 2009 pdf file. The painting and poem is on Page 11. http://www.riverpoetsjournal.com/RiverPoetsJournal-Links.html
Warm Regards, Judith Lawrence

The best part – this came right out of the blue. I had no previous connection to the River Poets Quarterly Journal, or to the editor, Judith Lawrence, nor did I make a submission. I had posted the image with my article Last Rose of Desire which is now posted on Creative Potager as “The Crone’s Passion” (I must ask how she discovered the painting.)

So please, choose your beverage of choice and celebrate with me. Raising glasses high, smiling and giggling… “To creativity!”

Sprout Question: If you were to receive a surprise request for permission to publish your work, who do you want it to be from?

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

The Great Blue Heron and creativity

December 29, 2009January 2, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 2 Comments

View full resolution at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch/art/4375903-2-great-blue-heron

I share the Great Blue Heron with us today. The heron is a bird of patience, fishing for hours to catch its dinner. It is graceful as it sits, and often awkward when it takes flight — with the most retched voice, reminding me of prehistoric times. I find it unfortunate that such a beautiful bird has such a horrible song. Yet that strange song echos and has us looking around to see where it is coming from. Meanwhile the heron, in its awkwardness, takes flight and flies to safety. I love the heron for reminding me that in order to love a part of myself (or another) I must live and accept the whole and learn when to be still, when to sing and when to fly.

I gift us the heron to remind us that we are not one thing or one way all of the time in our creativity – and there is a reason… even if we can’t see that reason in the moment.

Sprout Question: How do you acknowledge and honour the different parts of yourself in your creativity?

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.