Recently at a board meeting of Anywhere Art LLC (which consisted of Rick and I, Becky and the beagles, the other members live out of town and Max was working), we decided the word that best describes who we are when we travel is “thoughtful”. We strive to be thoughtful about the the country we are visiting. We want to learn about new places first hand. Otherwise, we would stay home and not have to pack and unpack.

We try to understand and speak with as many of the local people as we can.

Yesterday, we followed Lindsey, a certified walking guide around Bath. Lindsay explained a lot about the past and present and helped us appreciate and be knowledgeable about what we were seeing.

As we stood in front of the Bath Abbey, Lindsay explained that the sculpture angels climbing the ladders up to the top of the church and beyond were designed by the architect to make the bulding appear taller by directing your eye upward.

One of the thoughtful members of our Anywhere Art group was listening and thing about the climbing angel. She asked, “Why do the angels need a ladder if they have wings?”

Isn’t that a “thoughtful question?”

Look just above the blue flag to see the ladder, then upward to see the climbing angels.

This weekend I tried a new technique to get myself to my desk to watercolor. You may have used this technique before with a friend or family member. Maybe you’ve said to them “You can do it! You’re smart, you have a good head on your shoulders, just try,”

Pep talks are not to be cnfused with affirmations. I think an affirmation is something you repeat to yourself that you want to be or happen. You could say, “I am a successful painter, I am creating all the time, even if these things aren’t true I think the theory is that if you repeat them often enough you will believe them. Affirmations don’t work for me. I tried saying to myself, “I am 20 lbs thinner,” then I reached for a cookie.

Today I said to myself something I had been mulling over for a while. “Barbara, you need to practice the painting concepts you have been studying, you don’t need to create a perfect painting.” I also threw in, when you finish you can have a cookie, ooops I said carrot”.

Here is my practice. Going into the kitchen to get my carrot now.