12.25.2014

Behind the Art with Felecia

Merry Christmas to my friends who celebrate it!  I must confess, there are a number of holidays this time of year I know very little about. Some of you will spend today in the midst of these very holidays. Some of you may not be celebrating a holiday at all today - you are just celebrating that it is "today" and are engaged in living. Whatever the case, I pray this day finds you joyous and content. 

My final layout for the AUTHENTIC Kit is called Up Close - as in I pray I'm not found lacking when people get up close and personal.

Have you ever noticed that something looks amazing from a distance - the beach, a painting, the snow, perhaps your perfectly tweezed eye brows (or maybe that is just me). BUT when you get up close, it may not be so attractive? Maybe the beach sand is hot or the water too cold...or a painting is found to be a print and not the original...or the snow is heavy and wet and not at all romantic...or your eyebrows...well..maybe that IS just me!

When considering authentic, my personal goal is to be found genuine, even under very close scrutiny.

Its not easy.

It has moments of great joy, moments of hilarity, moments of great pain and honestly, moments of such embarrassment that I wish I could just sink into the ground...its not exactly a nice, smooth, straight road.

It often requires examination of things that I really would rather not get into.

But to reach genuine relationship and genuine peace, I must address these places where I may be hiding, or covering, or compensating...

I'm a slave to perfectionism...its hard to unlearn years of not trying things when they won't be perfect. 

To play, to try, to be in the process of learning and growing and changing and becoming...this is where I aspire to be. 


This paper, the "spilled' effect, the silver splotches, the things not totally level and straight...again, I'm attempting to revel in the beauty that is my art in my style in my wonky way. 

Silver polka dots and pink zig zags...these are things that "shouldn't" go together...but they do. Oh, they SO DO!. 

And ONE flower, ONE heart...there are no design triangles - shame on me! - and the only element that repeats are the butterflies...(an appropriate symbol for authentically embracing "becoming") these are my authentic expression of this moment, this project, this layout...and I love how it turned out. It turned out "me." 



As we bring this one to a close, I'm reminded that in this life, to be authentic is to be somewhat adrift. It is to embrace the very things within us that do not go with the flow, do not sign on for the trend, do not attempt to be like all the others...and make that OK. What a glorious thing!

Peace, ya'll!


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