 | Eve and I
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Sometimes we have the "Blahs" The thing about being self-employed is the enormity of responsibility we hold. Ordinarily that feels fine, or we wouldn't be self-employed, but when we have the "blahs", that responsibility feels enormous! Somehow the blahs must be irrelevant, even when they want to capture ALL of our attention. Even when "is that all there is?" feels like the mantra of life, the self-employed must find a path back to a sense of purpose. I remember the first time I felt the "blahs". It was in 1981, right after I had my very first solo exhibit at a women's bookstore in Madison, WI. Over the course of the previous two years, I had created a series of porcelain face  masks using a mold of my face. Lysistrata Bookstore was the perfect venue for their, and my, emergence into the art world. The mask to the right is titled "Looking Out at the World". Even then I was looking at the world through roses, I felt no need for the associated glasses! :-) Working feverishly, I finished the masks, created the "perfect" hand-lettered poster and invitations, and held the opening reception. It was exciting. A few of the masks sold and I was thrilled. And then it was over.  | | Tears of a Clown |
Nothing was on my horizon. I had nothing ahead of me. Nothing on my schedule was calling me forward. I experienced my very first "post-show depression". No, it wasn't serious. I wasn't going off the deep end. I wasn't crying day and night. I was lost and feeling bereft; I had the "blahs". Generally speaking, I have a "Pollyanna Personality". My glass is always at least half full and often overflowing. So when I feel the "blahs" for any length of time,
I pay attention! Fortunately I have learned to keep something "looming" on my horizon. And I now know that one big solo exhibit does not a career make! I know that the work must go on no matter how I feel. And I know that "blahs" or no "blahs", once I put the brush to paper, I will, at least in that moment, feel better. Sometimes the trick still remains in picking up that brush! That is when the gift of routine might be the best gift we give ourselves - whether we want to or not! **********
To satisfy your requests for more weekend workshops, the next Hide-N-Seek Watercolor Workshop will be held at the Waioli Tea Room in Honolulu on Saturday, October 22, 2011.
These one-day workshops are scheduled for one Saturday a month through April, 2012.
$125.00 includes personal instruction, coffee, tea, and water all day long, continental breakfast, and lunch.
In just one day you will take home a matted painting and the skills and techniques to express your creative ideas in watercolor. You will know how to repeat this process.
Early-bird Special: Sign up to take two one-day workshops and save $35; sign up for three and save $75!
If you want to have more fun painting, sign up now.
Sign up by calling Patrice at 808-392-9104
or emailing her at Patrice@artofaloha.com,
or call her workshop coordinator, Rebecca Snow, at 808-286-5909
This is what previous students had to say about the class:
"Because of my draftsman background, everything has scale and lines, and what this class taught me to do is use my imagination and not worry about lines. Personally I need to get over making errors and just paint!" ~ Wayne
"What a wonderful class! You have a great teaching style - encouraging, up-beat, and fun. It was well worth the trip from the mainland. The venue was lovely, the food fine. The class was an admirable combination of efficiency and artistic ambience."
~ Alice W. O'Sullivan
Click here to see Rebecca Snow's art.
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Mahalo for taking the time to read this Art of Aloha eZine. If you have a moment, I hope you will share it with a friend either by forwarding it, or by clicking on the Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn buttons!
A Hui Hou, 
PS You can find my official facebook fan page HERE . Become my online fan by pressing the Like button.
"The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own." -Benjamin Disraeli
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Born in Port Washington, WI and educated at the University of Wisconsin/Madison, Patrice Federspiel first visited Hawai'i in January 2000. Within five months she had found a way to quit her job, sell her home, and move to Hawai'i to paint. 
Patrice Federspiel