Rebecca Wachtman

Frost on Thistles (Rebecca Wachtman Artist) I don't know about you, but sometimes I get a bit depressed after the holidays.  I tend to go all-out for the holidays and decorate my house and yard as much as I can.  To me, the absolute, most-depressing day of the year (baring someone dying or major illnesses etc), is the day I take down all the holiday decorations! This year to help redirect my attention to more positive thoughts, I've been making a strong effort to see the beauty of the winter surroundings.   This winter has been a chilly one with lots of ice but not much snow (which is a shame because snow is a lot more fun - and usually cancels school! lol). Frost on Pine (Rebecca Wachtman Artist)     I've been taking some early morning walks before work and found that a new park along a river has some gorgeous examples of frosty/frozen nature at it's finest.  The frost has not only decorated all the plants, but it's highlighted the bea...

I don't know about you, but there are MANY times when I struggle to create art. Not because I lack inspiration, but because I am usually very limited on time. And when I do sneak a few minutes to create art, I find myself swept away by business needs (updating my blog, Facebook, Instagram etc, or doing taxes and other office work), or I find a million other things in my studio that keep me busy but also keep me from actually creating art (like cleaning up the messes that I have previously left, or playing with new art supplies).   But then I visited a friend's house  and she has a lovely ceremony she does when she starts art or any endeavor that is creative - she creates an art alter (complete with candles and incense) and invites her muse to join her.  I LOVE that idea!!  (thank you Jacquie Calladine , for providing such wonderful inspiration!)     So I created my own little art alter.  Mine has bits of nature found on walks, bits of t...

Original photo used for Magnolia's Life Recycled In a previous post, I told you that I'm following Jacqueline Calladine's Wild Creative .  She's encouraging her followers to open their hearts and souls to be more creative, more inspired, and more in tune with their true wants and desires (both in their art, as well as in their personal lives).  This last week, she challenged us to think about what is holding us back from creating... and from stepping forward to begin our next project.   I thought long and hard about it and found that I actually have 2 issues when it comes to creating.  My first is just as Jacqui said in her Facebook post: "Have Courage To Take The First Step". Cropping in on what I want to paint To begin a big art project (or any size project really), seems daunting (if not flat-out overwhelming) because there is often SOOOO much to do.  So instead of beginning  my art project, I am amazed at my ability to find other things to ...