Soaring alone upon a threatening wind

Just fix your eyes on the horizon

Cut off from everything

You've known or have been

I shouldn't think it's so surprisin'

Spiraling upward on a freshening lift 

Reaching the realms of fleet Apollo

You have been given the most sacred of gifts

You must be fearless now and follow

Don't look down

Though your heart may be weary

Don't look down

Though your wings are on fire

Don't look down

Though the night may seem endless

There's a reason you're flying

This fast and this far

Let your faith be your strength

And your love be your guiding star

Venturing further than

The length of your sight

Out past the reach of your beginnings

There is a gamble in each

Proud act of flight

But the losses pale before the winnings

Circling and diving with this

Freedom you've found

Illusion blows apart and scatters

There is no darkness in this place

That we're bound

Love is the only thing that matters

Icarus Ascending~~Dan Fogelberg 

From the "Full Circle" Album @2003

Mrs. C

This female cardinal is often found visiting our feeders in the front yard.  She is rather shy and timid, but one Winter's day, in the middle of a snowstorm, she sat peacefully on the tree branch.  She was at rest while the storm swirled around her.  Her feathers were fluffed up to protect her from the cold.   I wanted to capture that stillness on canvas.  Oh that my soul would practice peace in the midst of storminess.  It takes just that...practice...through experiencing and engaging with life as it comes.  One day at a time, and sometimes simply one moment at a time.
~~Using Your Wings 2016

How did Using Your Wings get its start?

Six months prior to being diagnosed with cancer for the 4^th time, I noticed repeating patterns and shapes in the environment before me. Rivulets of water on the beach left imprints in the sand

 that reminded me of chickadee wings I had just captured with my camera. Clouds behind a sunset, and their reflections on the water, were shaped like a dragonfly. The more I opened my mind to this phenomenon of looking at things from another perspective, the more I saw, 

and the more inspired I became to build a body of work.

When faced with cancer yet again, I applied this notion to my situation: I had to adopt a different, new perspective or else find myself mired in self-pity and despair. I had to dig deep to see the gift of each day. I had to develop a habit of resilience. Spending time in the outdoors of our most beautiful state of Maine, watching and recording her flora, seasons, and beings, helped to foster fortitude in my heart and soul. From new patterns emerged new truths and choices. And if this pattern of human nature repeats, what does it accomplish? Is it not our duty to help others 

who are traveling just a few steps behind us on the same path?

"Birds on a Wire"

Sometimes, at first glance, we accept as truth that which is before us.  Truth as we know it at that very moment, with all the experiences we have had each day prior to the encounter.  But somewhere along the way we might have difficulty accepting, and trusting that truth.   And so begins the journey of examination, and perhaps we begin to consider a new, different perspective.  With art, the artist can use the title of the piece to suggest that new point of view.  When I put the finishing touches on this pieces, I burst out laughing as I stepped back to see not three pears, but rather three birds, with the leaves and stems of the pears hinting at beaks and tufted crowns, all in a row on a wire.  Can you see them?
~~Using Your Wings 2016

The Mission of Using Your Wings

Who will benefit from this project? Anyone who engages in viewing the paintings! My plan is to donate several paintings to Maine agencies in locations where the painting can be viewed publically, and perhaps, for a few moments, the beholder can consider a different perspective in the midst of troubles. Included, but not limited to, are treatment rooms in cancer wings of hospitals, Hospice houses, community centers involved in healing, and similar locales. Others will be purchased by individuals and corporations who are moved to do so by the concept or the painting itself.

"Flight II"

One of the first pieces from my newest body of work, this painting was inspired by an up close look at the center of a pansy bloom.  When viewed from another perspective, the element of flight and wings appears, carrying a bird up and away from the viewer into the violet expanse of sky.  10"x12" matted and framed with a soft gold frame.  $250
~~Using Your Wings 2016

"Departure"

Introducing  Using Your Wings!   May the words written here, and the images shared within, bless your soul toward healing as you are lifted to envision a new perspective in order to cultivate resilience during seasons of trial.
~~Using Your Wings 2016

Why Using Your Wings?

My newest body of work is one that interprets and reflect the repetition of patterns found in nature, with an emphasis on winged creatures, flight, and the element of uplift. By studying these patterns, my goal is to create artwork that require the viewer to take on another perspective. Is it a tulip, or a bird in its nest feeding her young? A point of light in a shadowy cleft, or the stamen of an iris? And how does this relate to the human notion of resilience? What if “okay” is not at all what one imagined it to be? One is never the same person once returned from a difficult journey. What tools are needed, and how does one find them? How do you learn about Using Your Wings?