2025 - Staying Connected in Changing Times / Words Beyond the Canvas / Make Your Time Worth Your Time
Updated: Feb 11
Staying Connected in Changing Times
The start of 2025 has definitely been a challenge, to say the least. There's so much happening in the world right now that processing it all is no easy feat. These are undoubtedly some crazy times we are living in, folks!
Like many, I'm striving to understand the complexities of our current situation, doing my best to assess what’s going on, keeping informed from various angles, trying to stay both critical and open. And it's not easy!
In order to navigate the chaos, I'm realizing the importance of connecting with my inner compass. Amid the noise and conflicting opinions, it anchors me. And these days, it's been telling me to ’BREATHE’ and that's what I am focusing on.
It recently has come to my attention just how much time has slipped by since writing my last blog. I suppose one cannot attend to everything. Over the last couple years, I’ve been flexing overtime on social media and with grant writing and that has fared well, but now I would like to shift some of that attention back to my blog / newsletter and pay more attention to my dedicated 'non-social media' readers and my mailing list. As well as invite my social media readers / viewers to join me off of the familiar platforms.
I believe my newsletter and website will be reliable ways to stay connected, especially if things online change drastically. Therefore, if you would like to stay updated and you are not already signed up, I invite you to join my newsletter.
For now, I will most likely send a letter out every couple of months, just frequent enough to keep the line of communication alive and well.
I also have joined 2 new platforms, Bluesky and Substack, in case things with Facebook and Instagram go south in a major, major way. I have only just started wth these platforms, so there is not much to see on my profile right now, but soon new stuff will be shared, perhaps more frequent, short anecdotes and peeks into the development of the recent creative projects in the studio and beyond.
Words Beyond the Canvas
On that note, how about a little peek into the studio!?!
These past many months, I have been continuing to develop the Words Beyond the Canvas series, sifting through boxes and filing cabinets, discovering more of my father’s writings - passages, letters and notes - an intimate window of sorts into his life. Alongside finding these texts, I have been translating excerpts into images on canvas, engaging with his words in a tactile, visual manner and reconnecting with his spirit through the act of making.
I'm discovering that translating words into images comes with its challenges! In the studio, I tend to oscillate between giving myself space to explore and meander in all directions, and keeping my mark making 'abstract' and my brush strokes aligned with a style of painting that is consistent.
For me, the creative process is a flow, that often conflicts with my logical mind, turning the act of letting go into a delicate practice and sometimes struggle. When I fully release control and allow the paint to show the way, a sense of ‘magic’ and playfulness emerges, leading the dance. It is often in these moments of letting go that accidental treasures present themselves. I am continuously reminded that the flow of creativity is a force that deserves respect and space. It is alchemy - the transformative energy that brings art to life, and life back to the heart.
Make Your Time Worth Your Time
The reminder to stay in tune with ones inner world and its 'forces' applies not just in the studio, but in multiple areas in my life. Now, more than ever, we, as a human race, need to connect with this energy within and let it guide us. It is so easy to get lost in the noise of it all, but taking the time to check in, breathe and listen can be the best way to stay present to what is happening within us and around us.
What is the most humane and beneficial thing we can do in this moment? Let it reveal to each of us what we need to do, both for ourselves and the collective. And how can we move forward authentically and fiercely from that space?
On the first day of the year, the words, 'Make Your Time Worth Your Time', were offered up. Since then, as I let it sing in my mind, I've become more focused on what I love. I regularly check in on what truly matters to me and do my best to dedicate my time to these things, both as a means to an end and as a way to keep strong to fight the good fight. Let us celebrate the beauty of being here and let's keep hope alive, people! It's the energy that can propel us forward in powerful and humane ways.
And, of course, let's stay connected, creative and compassionate!
Verona xx
Comments