On October 20th, I celebrated the long awaited dream of opening my own gallery after 14 years wanting it. After one year, I found it best to close it. It all has been difficult here in Miami since I moved here, yet, I am happy as can be. I called it Bitterweet Gratitude because I was so grateful to God for allowing this gallery to open during a year where my two children were not with me, much to my heart’s discontent, shock and I can’t even begin to tell you all the emotions that went along with that. I got thru 9 months and after the Opening of the Love and Abundance Exhibit, I went back to California to get my children. That’s a whole other story. Back to this heart I had intended on painting in Gratitude of this gallery…I was driving to work two days before the event and I was still not fully inspired about how my painting presentation was going to go. As I was driving, I prayed to God to help me get my ideas together and it dawned on me that as I thought about it, I also started crying because no one in my family would be there to support me. My children weren’t with me on such a big day, my brother had died 8 months before, my dad was in such depression, he couldn’t even travel and my mom had been dead several years back. I felt so all alone that I added the Bittersweet to really show how I felt, after all, this was what Painting Your Heart Out is all about. It’s about checking in and being true to your emotions and feelings and facing them and working through them. I painted to a great set of five songs picked by spirit for me because that same day that I was driving, the next three songs on the radio were played as if just for me. So I started of course with Pink Floyd “Wish You Were Here,” Another song was “Lola” by The Kinks and “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” by Tom Petty. I can’t remember the other songs but I have the Cd and it was rad. I Painted, I cried, I prayed, I hid behind my hair hoping no one would see the mess I was inside, finally I busted out crying and explaining that I knew this would happen and that these Paint Your Heart Out workshops could be intense like this but then I got it together, I thanked everyone that had come to support me and during the painting part, we popped the Champagne, toasted and I put the cork into the art too! And now it sits here at home as a lovely memory of the Gallery I loved and once had.I now hold these workshops at my studio at 111 SW 3rd Street, Miami, FL 33130 by Appointment. For the harder stories that one might want to work thru, I offer Spiritual Healing thru Art. Check out that Blog.
