'Emotional Crafting" or Painting

I have been "emotional crafting"....well, that is what I call my paintings. I use acrylic craft paints. Ever since I have been doing this, I feel a myriad of emotions and I feel it is seen in my work. Since I first started painting way back when I was 14 at Banning High School, I have enjoyed painting the female form. This is one of a few I have recently done. They are just representations and all the colors used are a representation of all the colors we as women are.

"Maggie Mindstorm"

I was sitting at the table a hour or so ago, the gesso had just dried on my canvas. Thursday I was lucky enough to find some vintage canvas' at a thrift shop and swooped them up. I pulled out some colors and was set on painting something different. During the first few paint strokes my Maggie began having a very emotional anxiety attack and wanted daddy. He was trying to help her breathe through it. She cried "Why can't I just stopped having anxiety?" She began to yell and cry. Sometimes when she has these attacks you can also get snippets of the ups and downs of her possible bipolar disorder. Ugly things fly from her mouth weaved in with worrisome cries. I painted as I felt her emotions.
For a seven year old little girl she deals with a lot emotionally, physically and mentally. She has these mindstorms some weeks, daily other weeks they are few and far between. Her meds do help but, without completely sedating her, there has been no way to keep them at a low level. I am hoping to get her some alternative therapies, she has always loved horses and I think that would be great therapy for her. She identifies with wolves and their howls, I am saving up for a membership to the California Wolf Center. Also, I am working on making her an artists box...looking for a perfect box to paint for her. She is so tangled up in herself.
Okay, I am stopping for now.

Love,
Momma

Everyday Life

Life is beginning to get a rhythm, and is flowing better these days...or well as of today. There seems to have suddenly become a bit of "normalcy". Considering there is recovery going on and a child with an undiagnosed "mood disorder", the rhythm is not skipping steps.
The picture above is one of Maggie's masterpieces. She amazes me everyday with her artistic abilities. There seems to be no end to what she can do. Often I find that she is shy about showing it or if she does she is shy about speaking about it.

Part of Jimmy's rhythm is journalism. This is helping him and he has made a commitment to it. Obviously you can see Hezzie wants to journal as well.
This afternoon brought some nice moments of partnering. We worked on the long neglected backyard some. It has been a great source of embarrassment. He cleaned up a spot and I hung some laundry. It was nice as we both listened to our perspective music and podcasts. That was followed by enjoying the front yard on our metal lawn chairs while Jimmy strummed the guitar. We went to his recovery center's Alumni meeting and came home....
Life is slowly becoming what we had hoped for, we know there are more hills on this path. I think anything worth while does not come easy.

Love
Momma