A fifth chance...

Often, life offers us a second chance.  Less often, we are offered a third, fourth, or even fifth chance.

Three years ago today, I took the sign down for Mimi's Art Gallery and Studio on 95 Palmer Avenue in Falmouth.

March 12, 2011
95 Palmer Avenue
the sign comes down!

Today, exactly three years later, I am blessed to rehang the very same sign at 410 West Falmouth Highway, West Falmouth (next to the Chapoquoit Grill on 28A)

My first thought when I came home the night I got the okay on renting the space was "Wow, God, you're giving me a second chance!  This is amazing!"

March 12, 2014
410 West Falmouth Highway
the sign finds a new home!

After further thought, I realized this is actually the 5th incarnation for the gallery.  First there was a tiny breezeway gallery in my home in West Falmouth back in 1997.  Followed by a larger studio and gallery space in my home in North Falmouth in 2001.  Followed by the commercial retail space at 95 Palmer Avenue in 2009.  Then a small studio space at the Cataumet Arts Center in 2011 for just a few months.  Then a period of only a home studio and website.

Each one of these locations served its own unique purpose at its time in my life. I consider not a single one to have been a failure.  I believe (and hope, oh so very much hope) that I have learned something from each of those other experiences that will enable me to make a better go of things this time around.   This time, the fifth time, there is a new, vibrant energy.

It is located immediately adjacent to the Chapoquoit Grill restaurant, so I intend to be open most evenings, to coincide with the restaurant's open hours, as well as Saturday mornings. Significantly smaller than the gallery many of you knew at 95 Palmer Avenue, the focus will be mainly as working studio, with ample wall space for gallery display. Other details? Stay tuned!  They will evolve over the weeks ahead.

When asked during the past several years "what do you miss most about your gallery?" my answer was an easy one.  Hands down, it was the opportunity to meet new people every day, and share my work with them - to hear their reactions, their questions, their stories about how art influences their lives.  For there is no greater reward, in this artist's humble opinion, than to see someone's eyes light up, and a grin spread on their face, when they view one of my creations.

Today, a new chapter begins.  Each painting tells a story, and I am learning to more boldly tell mine.  And yes, the novel is still in process, but more on that in another blog entry.

With deepest gratitude to each and every one of you who share this journey with me,

Mimi

To tell or not to tell... that is the question!

I have this bad habit of telling people too much too soon.

I say that it's bad because I think sometimes it clouds my ability to make my own wise decisions.  It invites in too many other voices and opinions, which of course are based on someone else's experiences, not my own, and then I feel beholden to listen to them.  Which is not always wise. I need to trust my own voice, my own wisdom, my own intuitive knowings.

I spent the past six months writing a novel.

My mobile office

There.  I've said it.  Just blurted it out.

And I've found that when I say that, the next question is always, "oh, really, so what's it about?"  To which I must answer, "I can't tell you, yet."  It's hard for me to not share more, but I know that in this case I must, and hope that others understand.

Because it is a delicate process.  One in which it is dangerous to invite in too much opinion.

Now I find myself in the querying process.  This means telling the people who have the power to take it somewhere larger, or not. It means that I am submitting a one page letter meant to encapsulate 70,000 words in such a way that an agent will find it intriguing and want to take me on as a client to sell my book to a publisher and launch my career right to the top of the New York Times Bestseller List so that I can call my real estate agent and buy the home of my dreams where I spend my remaining days sitting on my porch overlooking the ocean writing future novels on my laptop while the gentle breezes blow through my hair...

oops!  did I just run away with that thought? (and how's THAT for a run-on sentence!)

It's the dream, of course.  It happens.  Really it does.  Whether or not it will for me is yet to be seen.

For today, it's just the next thing on the to-do list.
1) Query five more agents.
2) Read possible rejection emails.
3) Pick myself up, dust myself off, and start all... well, you know.

Seriously?  There IS a novel.

I HAVE done a countless number of read-throughs and edits and revisions.  And I hope it doesn't sound too egotistical to say that after reading it through so many times, and being the one who created it, it still has the power to move me - to laughter - to tears - and occasionally to a cold shower.  I like it.  I really, truly do.  I just hope that an agent and then a publisher and then several million other people do, too. Which of course is all subjective, now isn't it? The liking it part.  I've never read a Stephen King novel, and he's done just fine in his career without me.

I'm a firm believer in "right time right place right agent."  I firmly believe that  it will sell. I'm just not sure yet how many zeros will be attached to the advance check.  Or how many letters I will need to send to find that one right agent.

Meanwhile, I am starting to write novel #2.  Not for the money.  But because I have a story to tell.

Which more truthfully is why novel #1 was written.

Which also means that if it never goes anywhere other than those few confidantes, it will be okay.

Though I really hope and pray that it does.  Go somewhere wonderful.

The number one rule of novel writing is show, don't tell.  So I will wait til I have a finished, published book, then proudly show the world.

For now, please, I simply invite you to be patient with me when I can't tell you more.  And to believe with me.  Believe in the power of a dream.  Believe in the power of beauty, truth, and passion.

Breathe in some fresh fall air.  Take in a sunset.  Give thanks for all that is good in your life.

With peace and blessings this day from me to you.

Mimi

Trusting the Muse

It happened.  The muse rushed in, just when I was doubting my ability.

It was a commission painting.  I had the entire thing done, except for the figures, and I was afraid I would mess it up.

Sat down, took, pencils in hand.  And it just happened.  As if they painted themselves.

There is no rush in this world to compare.  When the muse shows up, and takes over, it is as if we are being guided by something much larger than our own self.  Call it Spirit, God, whatever you wish.  I just know it when I feel it.  And it is, I believe, the very essence of what us creative folks live for... hope for... pursue with all our hearts.

I have set a goal for myself this week of completing the first blush of edits on my novel to get me far enough that on August 15, just three days from now, I can start sending out query letters to agents.  It's a massive undertaking to do in such a short time, but I've found that I work best under a short pressure deadline.  Because I have to.  Because I am far more likely to surrender, say "oh help me please" to my muses, and allow for the magic to happen.  So whoever is out there listening... let's go!

wheeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love to all.

Mimi

On denim...

Denim has always inspired me.

I surround myself with the color.  I've longed for years for a denim couch.  I find it soothing.  Comfortable.  To the touch, and to the eye.

Memories of my teenage years, hanging out at the barn after school with my horse.  Denim was my uniform.

It remains my favorite thing to wear when I paint.  It even appears in what I consider to be my signature piece - my business card image - my favorite most personal painting.

I've often thought that if ever I marry again, it will be on a beach, wearing a favorite pair of faded jeans, a white t-shirt, and a fabulous veil.    First things first - I need to find a groom.  I wonder if I can find one of those in denim?

When Evana did my "fashion fang-shui" analysis, she pronounced me as predominantly water element, with a hint of wood.  The color of water, and the natural fabric construction of the wood element.

It's me.  What can I say?   When I finish my novel edits, find an agent, who finds a publisher, and then the book tour, perhaps I will allow myself to wear denim.  And a black tank type, or silk blouse, or v-neck sweater.  Pearls.  No veil.

The painting is titled "The Real Me."  And that's who I continue to work on becoming.  Authentic.  True to my core.  On the inside and on the outside.

Truly blue.  Truly Mimi.

Truly yours.

A novel idea

I've just completed the first draft of my first novel.

It's a huge accomplishment.

So why then am I feeling so frustrated today?

I think it's because the easy part is over.

I wrote it longhand.  I'm now in the process of typing it into my computer.  And today, I'm stuck on a scene that was one of the hardest ones to write.  One that is based loosely, well, actually quite tightly, on an experience out of my own life that was a hard day to live through.  And now I am re-living it.

That, and it's humid outside.  And everything in my house is sticky.  And there are these tiny little ants that just won't go away and show up everywhere, like cartoon characters whose job is simply to annoy me.

I'm pulling out every tool in my procrastination arsenal, to avoid sitting down and just typing.  Seriously, Mimi, they are just words.  Copy them.  Get it done.

Remember, this beats the heck out of a lot of other jobs that you might be doing today.

I've poured a lovely glass of iced tea.  My body wants a donut.  I tell it that it doesn't, really, it just thinks that the sugar and white flour will make the task easier.  It won't.  It will just go to my hips.

Ok, so still I'm not being fully honest as to why I'm procrastinating.  The real reason?  It's fear.  Fear that what I've written isn't good enough.  Fear that the project that felt, while I was writing it, like it was my true calling in life, that I'd finally found it, fear that it won't be good enough.  I've started reading far too many articles and books about the process of finding an agent, editing, getting published, and my confidence in what I've written is waning, fast.

It's the thing that creatives need to avoid.  Thinking about whether or not the project will find financial success, rather than simply enjoying the process of creating.

I did enjoy writing it.  Delighted in it.  Had moments of sheer elation at how a sentence would be crafted.  At how a character would take an unanticipated turn.  One time, when the phone rang (in the novel, not in my house) the main character answered it, and surprised even me, the one writing the story, when the person on the other end of the phone was someone different than even  I expected.  Someone I hadn't envisioned yet.  But there he was.  And I'm still not sure where he came from.

That is the magic of the creative process.  When the muse enters in.

Today, I'm just a secretary transcribing the text.  It's like I'm just taking dictation.  But then again, that's how the writing process felt.  Like I was taking dictation from a muse somewhere out there, whispering in my ear.

A ha.  There's the answer to my fear.  Trust my muse.  No, muses.  I have several.  Stop reading those articles that create fear.  Spend my time in the process.  Move it forward to the next step.

I will type it now.  I'm ready.  And then, when I'm done, I'll say "ta da!"  And I'll treat myself to a swim.

Blessings to you and yours today.  Happy July 1.  A new month.  A clean slate.  What lovely thing will you create to bring joy to life today?

Mimi

April 1 - Fool or no Fool?

Fool - defined as "a person who acts unwisely or imprudently;  a silly person.  Or as a verb - to trick or deceive someone.

April 1 - known as April Fools Day.  A day of tricking and deceiving.

Back on March 1, I issued a personal challenge to myself to complete 30 paintings in 30 days.  It was fun, and exciting, and promised me an opportunity to get back to painting.

And I was successful, for 15 days.  Then, I stopped.

"Why" you might ask.

I've been asking myself the same question.  Until just now, when I looked back at the calendar, and found my "ah ha" explanation.

At about that same time, I made the decision to leave a part-time job that I had been working for the previous 13 months.  Please refer to my blog below dated February 25 if you would like an insight on the "why" to that decision.  My last day on that job was March 7.  I spent the following week trying to catch up at home with some things that had been allowed to pile up.  And then, around March 15, I made a new commitment, to endeavor into a fairly significant writing project that had been bubbling up in me for quite some time.

So I think the answer to what happened with my paintings was that I switched the direction for my creativity.   I began writing.  It wasn't that I didn't have time to paint.  I just felt my creative energy moving in a different direction.  Several hours, every day. Without missing a single day, until yesterday, when I allowed myself the day off for Easter.  Back to it at 7:30am this morning in my car at the beach, where I stayed until 10am.

I was feeling like a failure for not completing the 30 in 30.  Was I a "fool" for taking on such a task, making it public, and then not completing it?  I think not.  There are still 15 new paintings that were published.  And so many of you kindly asking me about it, following me on Facebook.  I do intend to complete it.  Though in all truth, I may not get back to it for another week.  I feel the need to allow the writing process to become truly anchored as an every day activity.  It is a significant part of my life right now, and deserves its place in my life, right now.

Back to the fool definition.  I'm surprised to see the word silly.  Silly?  yes, I certainly hope that I'm silly.  Silly to me is far different from foolish.  Silly means the ability to look at life and laugh, perhaps when others might not.  The capacity to find joy in sometimes the smallest things.  Embracing life with eyes wide open to the magic within each and every day.  And seeing God's grace at work in and through all of it.

Laugh.  Laugh broadly.  Laugh wholeheartedly, and unashamedly, as a girlfriend and I did the other evening at a restaurant, that had people asking us what we were laughing about that we were so "silly about it."

So sure, call me a fool if you'd like, for setting that 30 day goal, making it public, and not finishing it, and being willing to it.  I'm not worried.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.  (Alfred Lord Tennyson)

Yep, done that too.

So, I'll paraphrase:

'Tis better to have painted and paused, than never to have painted at all!!!'

Starting anew...

I've just written the email that will make my new website live and public.

It's been on my to-do list for... oh... let's call it a year?

But too many other things were allowed to get in the way.

Tonight, I am poised at the beginning of a fresh new start for my career as Mimi the Artist.

How do I feel?  Excited, scared, ready, set, oh, and did I mention excited???



I feel like I've wandered away for far too long.

Time to get messy with the paints again, wear the old soft trademark jeans with those holes in the knees, and get to work!

I'll start with my 30 paintings in 30 days adventure (I'm already on day 5!) and see where it goes from there!  30 "mini-Mimi's" - the intention mainly to get me to the easel to experiment every day.

Different mediums.  Different topics.  No rules other than doing it.  Every day.  For 30 days.

So far so good.  Here's one to share.  Or it can be followed on my new website here.

So grateful, grateful, grateful for the perspective that time away has given me, and even more grateful to be back.

Love, love, and more love,

Mimi

ps - here's the website link!  mimisart.com