Chance and Circumstance

When life hands you lemons, make something nourishing, and get stronger

It's been a long time since I've posted.  A lot has happened and I have not been in the right frame of mind to write about it.  When we are navigating through unexpected changes in our lives, all of our energy goes into steering the mothership.  It's been 2 weeks since my partner Dale and I decided to pull the plug on our brick and mortar business and it feels like it's been months.

I don't feel like it's necessary to dwell on the reasons our business isn't opening, the short story is this: a less than adequate building with an out of town landlord who didn't keep his word.  That's short, and WAY sweeter than it could be.  Life goes on.  And ours has, in a way that makes me feel like I'm swimming with the tide now, and not against it.

In the Winter I drew this to imagine the summer, now I am framing prints to hang in Lost Moth Gallery, Egg Harbor WI

In the two weeks since we decided to move out of the building I have been contacted by 4 business owners that want to display my work.  I have been busier than I could imagine framing prints and making new pieces to put into a local gallery.  I found out there were still some openings in a few Door County Art Fairs and am planning to show my work in person this summer.  The saying is old and cliche, but OH SO TRUE:  When one door closes...  The doors are many, not only doorways to new opportunities, friendships and experiences, but also the doors of the imagination, doors of possibilities, and of course.... the doors of perception.

New Clothing Projects: Find these at Olde Ellison Bay Days in Door County this June!

Of course I am happy to have opened these new doors to income generating opportunities; after all the bills don't stop piling up when plans change.  But my most exciting discovery has been the new ideas blossoming like the Trilliums outside my window.  For the past 10 springs I have been fully immersed in opening a retail shop for the tourist season.  This spring I have been at home, watching the forest floor explode into white, pink, yellow and green.  Today Dale and I listened to an Oriole calling hopefully for a mate all day long, when this evening the call was finally answered.  I noticed the subtle differences of green in the trees, the shifts in the wind, and a bird's nest resting on the fulcrum of a fallen branch.

I have had time to revel in the beauty of random events, and what they can lead to.

My day of marveling at nature led to an afternoon of creative outbursts, and I have begun to translate my experiences of the day into art.  A little assemblage...

I call this one Lone. 

And finally, I have the first exciting ideas forming for an interactive project using my painted stones.  Inspired and propelled by my interest in randomness and chance vs patterns and destiny, I am embarking on what will hopefully be a long term project affecting many friends and strangers.  There's more to come on this later, for now I'm referring to it as "Mystery Stones" and I am painting away!

Hope you like a good MYSTERY!!

For more information about upcoming art fairs, galleries or solving the mystery of the stones keep up with Dawn Patel Art on facebook, or join my mailing list.  Links can be found on this blog.  I hope you are all having your own creative rebirth this spring!

Finally, I have to credit Peter Malik for the title to this post.  It's an album I have been listening to for over 9 years.  That's right, we call those CDs these days.