As I anxiously anticipate the release of Encaustic Mixed Media next week, and  still digest and assimilate all that EncaustiCamp 2011 was and is, I feel compelled to revisit and edit the opening thoughts that you’ll find in EMM. Thoughts to all the creatives out there-oh wait! That’s all the world 🙂

If the wind will not serve, take to the oars. Latin proverb
You cannot plow a field by turning it over in your mind. Anonymous

I know this first hand; creativity takes courage. I almost let go of my creative calling; willfully thinking I needed to bury it to the call of the make-a-living world. Slowly I began to watch it die as financial health, societal expectations and ladder-climbing issues snuck in to fill the loss. Alas it would not die a dignified death.  With courage then unknown, I re-embraced this part of me with an irrevocable bear hug as the last glimmer of its spark nearly ran out!

Thank God circumstances took me down this different road and allowed me the courage and veracity to grab hold of my creative will with both hands and even at times, grip it viciously between gritted teeth~

Never letting go again, I am!

Creativity is the juice of the soul that keeps each and every one of us walking upright and inspired for another day. It is the conduit through which God keeps our hearts, minds and souls tuned in to all the power and glory this world has to offer. It is not just in those who title themselves, ‘artist’, ‘author’, ‘designer’ or ‘chef’. It is there for everyone; the mechanic, the engineer, the banker, caregiver, salesman and pizza deliverer. No one is exempt from this creative power in their life because it is an element of human existence in each of us. So take hold of your bit of it. Grab with both hands the dose allotted to you and make a difference in the world. Experience it and pass it on.

And, if your ‘creative’ is in the arts-in this passion for encaustic in particular- then thank you with a double dose! You and I share a link in this creative passion and I hope that, simply by indulging in the portion that is your call you have fed me, that I will be graced the opportunity to feed you well: A bountiful feast~In love. trish