How a Busy Artist Slows Down for the Summer
Painting with the July Garden and all the beautiful beings that live there with me.
Let your Soul Savor the Sweetness of Summer.
Life can be busy as an Artist. Making art for exhibits, keeping the website and socials updated, and so much more. The list can feel endless at times. But I keep hearing a little voice whisper in my ear … “But it’s Summer Darling…”
Often, Winter is seen as a time to rest and a time to go inward, but I think summer - particularly July - is a wonderful time to do the same. The warmth, the flowers blooming at their peak, all the beautiful wildlife visiting our gardens… why would we want to miss that? I believe Nature looks to this time to connect with us more deeply, inviting us into the natural world to play and ponder.
Perhaps its my introverted nature, but I think it’s time we embrace Summer as a time of sweet relaxation.
The Universe Always Has Your Back.
This year, my name finally came up on the waitlist for a plot at the community garden. It had been so long since I signed up that I didn’t even remember doing that! I wasn’t expecting to plant a garden this year, and I wouldn’t have thought had time for it..no way. I was too busy trying to build my art business.
But the universe has a way of knowing what we need and when we need it, doesn’t it?
I tend to be very ambitious in life and push myself to the brink of exhaustion. This garden has been like a healing balm… a welcome distraction. I have the sweetest neighbor in the next garden over, so I’ve made a wonderful new friend — which was much needed. I really don’t have many close friends and I’m hoping to change that.
I am treated daily to beautiful sights of Fireflies, dragonflies, butterflies, birds, baby groundhogs.. bunnies… and my favorite, the deer….. not to mention all the gorgeous open sky above me. And of course, I have some tasty food that I am growing and making into delicious meals for my partner and I.
The garden is teaching so much. For one, it’s offering a lesson in patience and reminders to SLOW down. So I am savoring each little moment with joy in my heart and taking it slower these days.
I have let go of anything other than being in the present and feeling it deeply. Cause isn’t that all there really is?
Gardens are good for our soul and our bellies 💕… I encourage you to try growing one if you don’t already, and feel the joy from a little tomato or pepper that you nourished into being. It feels good.
We need more of that feeling.
Manda Marble is a mixed media artist that loves to daydream and create ethereal paintings + collages of the natural world. She is very grateful for all of the beauty that the natural world brings us. She lives in a little bungalow with her 4 cats and can be found under an old tree amongst the fireflies every evening. www.MandaMarble.com
