In the past I have liked to create art that is unplanned. But in the process of writing a book I have learned that some planning is necessary. It actually helps and makes a fuller, richer piece of work in the end.

I’ve also started this planning process in my painting as well. I’ve been doing digital sketches. Being a graphic designer, this allows me to use some of these skills, but be a bit freer and think about how paint might work digitally. The initial process of creating the sketch is fun, but also the interpretation of that sketch into a new medium (a well-written sentence, a full-blown book, stroke after stroke of paint creating an image on board) is a new kind of enjoyment in the process.

So, here is my digital sketch for an upcoming painting for Inspired Art (and a picture of my painting in process – in the light from my basement window). The sketch does look different from what the painting is turning out to be, but I’m happy with both. They both have their uniqueness.

Join me on March 10 at the auction event (if you’re in Denver).

I’m heading to the Bahamas in a few weeks for the very first beach vacation that my husband and I have ever taken (and really the very first one I’ve ever taken if you don’t count Disney World and one day on the beach when I was in high school). I never thought I’d go to some place like the Bahamas (and in some ways feel rather weird about it—ie: indulgent, guilty, amazed, but happy). I mean, I pinch myself when I think about the fact that I bought a plane ticket to go. I’m actually going on an ocean-out-my-window, umbrellas-in-your-drink kind of vacation. Hopefully, it will be terribly wonderful and will be one of the best memories… I’m expecting it to be an “Oasis.”

This past week, I went to a fundraiser/meet-up event for Pomegranate Place (PP), a women’s non-profit in Denver that is just over a year old. Their tagline is “An Oasis for Women.”  When I read that on their website, it made me think about my upcoming Bahamas vacation… a place I expect to be an oasis: a breath of fresh air, a time to reflect and be, a gift from God, a break, a settling, a place of beauty, and a jump-start to new beginnings.

So it’s interesting to imagine that this place for women in the middle of Denver could be something similar but in many different ways. For women of Denver, can it, will it, has it already been these things? A breath of fresh air, a break, a gift from God, a place of beauty, a jump-start to new things?

The meet-up event gave me a better glimpse into what this organization wants to be, and what it could be, and how it wants to be this kind of Oasis for many women—all women, if possible—in the Denver area. The event also made me think more about my dreams and goals and allowed me to wonder about the possibilities of being a woman in this city and maybe including other women in those dreams and goals.

In a couple weeks, at their “space” (750 Clarkson Street), PP is having a First Friday night. I hope to attend that with a friend or two as a next step to enjoying more of what they have to offer and get involved. They have tons of other events and opportunities, too. So why not take a look?

(And thank you to the lovely women—Renee, Sue, and Barb—who I met this past week at the PP event, and who encouraged me to get this blog out of dormancy.)

I’m blogging… at least for the next couple months at friendstoindia.wordpress.com. Join me there. And then return here later where I just might start blogging again. :)