PineShoreStudio/Paintings by Helen Harris

Balance is a word  that is guiding my days. In the studio, kitchen, yard, sharing on social media or watching the news. As a noun,verb or phrase this simple word holds so much meaning today and it  describes the foundational building block of getting from one day to the next. Breathe...the path I choose to get me there. As  artists, we feel that  we have an outlet, a place to go creatively to explore life as it was, now is and imagine what will be. We are capable of creating peace as well as chaos, finding beauty and growth in the ugliness of destruction. Both hold a fascination and in the years to come will be documented in word, splashed in paint and sung with passion. We are essential to humanity, to bear witness.There is no right or wrong of how we go forward and the timing is yours. Today I picked up the brush that I put down two weeks ago and I listened to music freely shared. I'm reading a book for understanding and FaceTime my grandchildren to ease my heart...BREATHE

You've cleaned your studio, inventoried your supplies and turned those failed paintings back around. With all the best intentions you set up a schedule ...your heart just isn't in it. The time you used to have for yourself to paint is filled with other family members, invading your space and interrupting any semblance of concentration and of course there is just plain fear and anxiety right now.You may be the person that has to hold it all together for others that surround you. KNOW THIS ! You have a super power.. .your creativity. We are rarely creative in just one thing. All over this world right now the human spirit is singing to each other, playing music, reading aloud, sharing in a life that we rushed through each day and has now slowed to a halt. We are finding long forgotten interests in hobbies, crafts, picking up that old guitar or plunking on the dusty keyboards of our past. We are creatively converting spaces in our homes to accommodate the semblance of an office an

It seems trivial to be sitting here writing this blog in light of what is happening all around us today with the covid-19 virus. I'm writing as part of my self care and in an effort to also keep connected to others in my tribe of artists, collectors, friends and family. After all, art is a way of communicating everything about our lives. Historically, artist have documented the trials as well as the celebrations of mankind. This time will be no different. Our thoughts, ways of coping, our relief and grief will be drawn, painted, sculpted, danced, sung, composed and written in the coming years. Choose to be a part of this through your art! It's a healthy, sane proactive way that will help you as well as those around you! For my part, I have spent the last few days outdoors, turning dirt in the vegetable  garden and breaking ground for new flower beds(we've had a warm winter here ). As I was doing this, I formed a plan for my next project. Having just set up an exhibit of

The Scribble has been with us throughout our lives. Beginning in those first joyful movements as a toddler . Every motion a wonder to those around us and an effective diversion used to distract us from mischief! Oh the joy! Until that question ; what is it? There was a pause in our crayon fisted hand as we pursed our lips but with absolute confidence named our creation. Seeing the  questioning but adoring look of the adult that asked,we persisted . The Doodle ...ah yes those filled in spaces that connected .We forced closure and form upon our scribbles. Adding ink blotted lines that became boxes and mazes, circles and faces over the notebooks,and textbooks of our growing years. Throwing in names and dreams of what we were becoming but now we were the ones asking ; what is it? The Sketch was born of ideas, past experiences and the  places we have traveled, the people we have met along the way. It is our observed reality or expressed creativity in the abstract. A combination of the joy