How do you see yourself?

Just playing around!

This past Sunday I was able to

attend a Calligraphy Workshop

with the sweetest teacher

Amy

of

Sincerely Amy Designs

It was an afternoon of cocktails, cupcakes and calligraphy,

filled with fellowship, sharing, laughing and inspiration!

I enjoyed the experience so much

and learned a lot from Amy!

She is amazing!

The afternoon was a gift I gave myself.

So happy to have this photo with Amy

As I was leaving the workshop,

I saw this amazing mosaic mirror

and couldn't resist taking a picture!

Don't we all love taking selfies from time to time?

All week I had lots of ideas for my blogpost today,

but somehow the question

"How do you see yourself?"

just kept coming into focus for me.

So I decided to write about it today!

It isn't an easy question,

and sometimes, on certain days,

I certainly don't want to answer that question!

What do I see when I look at myself?

A soon to be 58 year old grand mommy,

a wife and mother, a semi-retired Optician,

a friend, sister, poet, artist and teacher,

a child of God,

and a positive and loving person!

I feel that I'm living a pretty balanced life

right at this moment,

and it all feels delicious!!

It is important to re-evaluate 

how we are doing from time to time,

check in with yourself ... see if there are any imbalances!

Trust me, your body will let you know,

your mind will send you signals,

and your heart will always know the way!

Life is a balancing act,

each and every day

Don't ignore taking care of yourself,

take time to nourish your spirit,

it is so important.

If you see yourself in a positive light,

you can then be ready to give to others,

trust me ... others need you!

How do you see yourself?

We can always look at the negative side of things,

and no good can come out of it.

Take time to "take a selfie"

Write down all the positive things you can think of

about your beautiful self,

concentrate on those characteristics,

NOT the bad things going on in your life.

You may just be surprised at the list you come up with!

This beautiful spring season,

I wish you joy and abundance,

happiness in all things,

most of all

I wish you peace and understanding!

Love yourself today!

Donna Lee

Full of Beginnings

OBX Spring Beauty

Yesterday was National Poem In Your Pocket Day

and I carried this beautiful poem by David Whyte

(my absolute favorite poet!)

How I love the beauty of words!

THE LIGHTEST TOUCH

Good poetry begins with

the lightest touch,

a breeze arriving from nowhere,

a whispered healing arrival,

a word in your ear,

a settling into things,

then like a hand in the dark

it arrests your whole body,

steeling you for revelation.

In the silence that follows

a great line

you can feel Lazarus

deep inside

even the laziest, most deathly afraid

part of you,

lift up his hands and walk toward the light.

    - David Whyte

Today is the first of May

new beginnings ... yippee!

Spring is here

and I look forward to freshness in my life!

Today I am mailing out

my third Love Notes Project

postcard this morning

What fun this experience was!

(If you get the chance, sign up next time around)

Jennifer Belthoff has a gift of bringing others together

and there is usually writing at the heart of her gatherings.

I love this woman so much!!!

This Sunday afternoon I am

taking a Calligraphy Workshop

with the amazing

Sincerely Amy Designs,

and I can't wait, truly!

I am totally in love with learning

the Calligraphy process, I'm hooked!

Next weekend is another

Artful Spirit Gathering

and we are teaching the Soul Collage Process,

(link button on sidebar for details)
here is my latest card ... still in process

This spring is looking to be

a very creative and inspiring one!
I love sharing the
creative process with others.

Have a beautiful beginning of May,

Know that I think about you,

I love you

and I cherish the thought

that you come here for a visit!!

Donna Lee

The Beauty of Children

This week I had the sincere privilege

to teach the art of Zentangle®

to my niece Amy's Second Grade class

at Hermitage Elementary!

You see Virginia Beach City Schools

had to add about a half hour each day

to their schedule to make up for

all the snow days they had taken!

(Virginia Beach and snow ... hard to believe!!)

Amy and I have been trying to schedule 

a Zentangle® time with her children for quite awhile

and this was the time!

I had never taught Second Graders before,

they are young to learn the process,

but I was willing to try and see how they did.

In fact, I was curious to see how they would do!

I have taught 4-6 graders before,

so this was going to be a learning experience

for the instructor (me) as well!

I created a sample Zentangle® during the week,

trying to have four tangles I thought

young children could draw,

and then tried to have stories 

they could relate too!

Static (Harry Potter's Scar)

Crescent Moon (little lady bugs)

Knightsbridge (checkerboard)

and Printemps (spirals going round and round)

I let them know that Zentangle®

was exercise for the brain!
It would be a small gift for their classroom.

Class Demo 

We started by taking three deep breaths

to calm them down after a very busy work day,

and talked about how breathing really

helps when they need to slow themselves down

How adorable they were ... concentrating on their breathing!

I was able to demonstrate on a

cool camera which projected onto a screen for the children to see,

something new for this teacher for sure!

We took the process step by step,

and as slowly as I could

(we only had an half hour to work with)

They did so good, my heart was so happy

to see them concentrating and drawing,

asking questions,

trying!

Concentration happening here!

When we finished our work,

we talked about an artist signing their work,

so they found a place they wanted on their work,

to sign either their name or initials.

We had time to come together 

and put our tiles in an ensemble,

and view each others work!

My heart skipped and leaped, truly!

We took a class picture,

just look at those little faces!

Our Classwork Ensemble!

Mrs. Watson's Second Grade Class

I left them some other things to work on,

and I challenged them to try this same tile again,

taking their time and learning even more.

What a joy it is for me to be with my niece,

teach precious children

and share the Zentangle® process with 

any age!
Mrs. Watson will be sending each child home with
their completed artwork and a certificate
from Zentangle®

Certificate sent home

I would say it was a lovely Wednesday afternoon,

and the fact that my little grandson Grayson,

got to come along with us,

and hang with the kids

and see his mama,

well there are no words to express
my happy heart!!!

Grayson and Lauren

Have a blessed week,

do something good for someone else,

think about positive things,

and share what you know ...

whatever that is!!!

Donna Lee

The Art of Seeing

Entitled "True Vision"

I was recently able to attend

a Thursday morning

art inspiration time

with my Calligraphy teacher and mentor

Betsy Rivers Kennedy

at the beautiful One 11 Art Gallery

It was a simple two hour workshop

entitled

"Zen of Seeing"

What a treat it was for me!

We gathered quietly at the art table,

and began with a quiet exercise

of drawing for a twenty minute time period

(I was able to share my new app Insight Timer from my iPhone),

The directions were to look at the still life (below)

she had set up for us.

The only thing we were to do

was draw what we saw,

never looking at our work,

letting our eyes tell the story,

not picking up our pen

and NO TALKING!

We slowly drew,

listened to beautiful music 

softly playing in the background.

It taught me for sure to 

slow myself down,

after hurriedly trying to get to class!

Our Still Life to work with

My little finished piece

We then took the time to share with each other

 our drawings and explain how that felt

not being able to look at our work while drawing.

It is truly amazing what your eye tells your hand

Betsy's demo with Inktense blocks

She then took Intense blocks

and just colored a few areas of her drawing,

she then used a spray bottle of water on top,

and blew the water colors around,

it was so spontaneous and lovely!

(Of course now Intense blocks are on my art wish list!)

The second exercise was even more exciting to me,

she pulled out her large collection of colored inks

it was like a candy store!

Betsy's collection of colors

We were asked to chose three colors that spoke to us,

this certainly took a little time,

there were so many choices!

Betsy then demonstrated watering down

a sheet of paper,

adding ink drops of color to the paper

and then we put saran wrap over the colors,

allowing to dry outside

(it was a most beautiful morning that day!)

Betsy's demo

My color choices

Smearing the colors

After our colors had dried, we then had

a beautiful sheet of ink colored paper to work with

then the fun began ...

Betsy demonstrated and talked about different

ink pens to work with, and I was tickled

to try some new pens, I am so used to the

Micron pens with my Zentangle ....

She then began to demonstrate how to start outlining,

shapes and objects from the dried splotches on the paper,

the Zen of seeing ... enjoying the process.

We weren't able to finish our drawings

in class, but here is mine ...

 My complete work!

I enjoyed this process so much

and I have learned even more since I purchased

the book Betsy recommended to us

The Zen of Seeing by Frederick Frank

(inside the manuscript is completely handwritten!)

What a treasure to add to my creative library

Awesome book recommendation

I learned and experienced way more than I thought I would,

on a simple Thursday morning!

I was thrilled to have some time off that day,

and that there was an opening in her class!

I could have just stayed home and done housework,

but where is the fun in that?

Reach out, find a fun little workshop to attend,

all the new things you learn can just be added

to your creative toolbox!

Mine is becoming quite full these days!

Donna Lee

living creatively each and everyday!

Things that are yummy!

Spring beauty!

How wonderful that today April 1st,

is the day I get to greet my computer

and come to write my blog post.

There is something special about a Wednesday morning!

Perhaps it is because I am off today,

I can concentrate on putting the thoughts in my head,

to the page on the blog,

perhaps it is smelling the

applesauce raisin cake baking in my oven,

or feeling the warmth from the fire

(even though it is springtime!)

There are so many wonderful

and yummy moments in our lives,

if only we would take the time

to enjoy and experience them!

I pride myself on seeking out moments

to enjoy, to pause, to learn

to just be still with myself.

Perhaps the art I choose to work on,

allows me to do that as well

 Small tapestry weaving of mine ... thread by thread

 Learning the Art of Calligraphy ... patience required

Drawing Zentangle in a coffee shop

Oh how I love creating my Mixed Media Mandalas

There are so many beautiful things around me,

I scarcely can take it all in.

When I do have moments to myself,

there is usually a quiet art that follows me,

perhaps it is because they teach me ...

patience

the art of slowing down

 calmness of heart

how to center myself
being alone is okay
stillness is beautiful

Perhaps it is just seeing a movie by myself,

having coffee with girlfriends on the spur of the moment,

snuggling up to a good book,

writing a poem 
spending time in God's Word,

listening to soft music by Debussy,
writing a letter,

knitting a pair of socks

or

taking a walk at my beloved ocean

(this is truly the yummiest gift of all!)

The beautiful Outer Banks

Springtime has arrived

and now it is time to work in the garden,

planting my herbs and flowers

to enjoy all summer long!

Time to get the bird feeders well stocked,

it's going to be a beautiful season!

Backyard beauty

So on this beautiful first day of April,
grab some yumminess of your own,
be creative, be open
and share with me what you are doing,
I would love to hear.

Don't waste a moment,
living this life is a gift given ...
 we must recognize all 
the special moments we are given
Make happy yummy moments of your own
and recognize them when they happen!

Happy Easter Week
May your life be filled with love and laughter
and all beautiful things
I treasure you, my reader ...
thank you for stopping by today!

Donna Lee Zeppieri Wynn
(wow that's a mouthful!)

Believe

My daily Mantra!

I recently attended the 25th Anniversary

for Blue Skies Gallery,

in Hampton, Virginia.

I have fond memories of being a part owner and artist

in this collaborative art gallery over the years,

in fact, I truly can't believe I left there over 10 years ago!

I was thrilled to be invited and so happy to attend!

The crowd that gathered was impressive ... what a turn out they had!

I purchased this lovely clay sculpture (pictured above)

 as a keepsake,

to always remind myself to

"Believe I can do anything"

Blue Skies Gallery believed in my artistic abilities,

and back then I was concentrating on

my hand weaving and I loved my work!

Now I stand here ... 10 years later

and barely find time to sit at my weaving loom,

I miss it!

I truly miss the time I spent working in the gallery,

the fellowship with other artists, the inspirations,

creative conversation,

meeting patrons from all over

as they visited the gallery.

Those were good times, wonderful memories

and I grew in confidence,

in my artistic abilities.

Attending this gala last weekend,

forced me to think about the past ten years 

since I left the gallery to pursue a full time position

at Gilbert Eyecare,

I had to give up a lot to work full time again,

especially time!

Time is a precious gift for sure.

Now here I am ten years later . . .

now just working three days a week as an Optician,

caring for grand children two days a week,

and fitting in my artistic pursuits wherever I can!

My artwork has gone totally in another direction,

and I have learned so much along the way.

Yes, I believe in Me!

I believe there is time to pursue what interests us,

I believe in the Artistic Process and in Growth,

I believe I have a strong purpose in my life,

I believe my words matter,

I believe in God, love, truth, faith, family and all good things.

B ` E ` L ` I `E `V ` E

in yourself

in your own dreams

in your life pursuits

You can do anything!

Donna Lee

Poetry on a Wednesday Afternoon

Poetic Wednesday

thoughts flow from inside the heart

spilled wide open onto the page

scary yet cleansing emotions

 all rolled into one act

putting my pen to the page

writing freely

no holding back

breathing deeply

no holding back

i find myself at peace

with this process

meeting myself here in this moment

just being present

with my own thoughts

with all the complicated emotions

words will continue to come 

they say to me "you are safe here"

i think i will just stay for awhile

breathe in words

let them allow to flow within

comfort my own heart

relax in the writing process

poetry is a gift

not everyone gets it

but i sure do

3-10-15

5:55 pm

Walking Through Change

Entry way found on a photo walk in Providence, RI

I have been walking through some changes lately

and I must say

it takes some getting used to!

Why is Change always such a hard thing to adjust to?

Letting go of some things, or should I say

the way things have always been ...

and stepping into new is taken some adjusting for me.

I have cut my working hours at Gilbert Eyecare,

to help care for my precious grand babies,

with no regrets at all.

We are still searching for a church home,

after leaving a church after 14 years.

My artwork has taken on some changes,

and things that used to interest me,

no longer do.

I have let go of collaging, some art journaling,

mixed media and weaving

in order to concentrate on art techniques

that calm my heart.

When we enter into this art world,

we truly think we can do it all,

we spend lots of time in art stores,

spend hard earned money to buy the supplies,

only to let them go later,

because they no longer interest us,

hmmmmmmmm.....

Our tastes are constantly evolving,

our interests are changing daily,

friendships come and go,

experience come in and out of our lives,

we remember the wonderful high

we carry home with us from art retreats,

only to find that feeling slipping away 

as we settle into real life again!!!

Then we find our attention goes toward something 

new something exciting...on to the next adventure.

There are so many e-courses out there

catching our attention

in fact, it's an overload lately.

So for myself,

I have stepped back in 2015,

concentrating on what calms my heart and mind,

being choosy about about how I spend my time,

how I spend my money and my efforts.

Being choosy is a good thing!

Here it is the beginning of March,

so it is time to check in with myself,

How have I been doing these past two months???

Working less,

caring for my grand babies,

writing poetry,

teaching Zentangle and Creative Writing

learning Calligraphy just because ...

letting my watercolors flow

is just the perfect mix for me!

It was hard for me to let go of working full time,

being an Optical Manger,

making daily decisions ...

yet here I stand

Walking through Change

and I like it.

Learning to slow the pace down,

concentrating on what I now need ...

it's really good stuff!

I'm not gonna say it's all been easy,

but necessary.

There is Power in just allowing change to happen

You don't have to do it all,

you don't have to have it all,

you don't have to be into everything,

just let your life unfold,

gently and naturally

watch what happens,

and be content with it all.

I stand here grateful for learning lessons,

lessons I needed to embrace!

Creating just for the fun of it!

Donna Lee

Learning the Art of Calligraphy

View from my studio desk
(See my amazing cup by Alisa Burke???)

I have always been in love with the art of Calligraphy,

it's beauty and flow onto the page

or receiving an enveloped invitation in the mail.

It was something I always wanted to learn,

but other art forms kept taking their attention

in front of the line!

It was just one of those "bucket list" items

I hoped to get around to learning!

I took a beginning Calligraphy class

with my sister at the end of 2014.

It is where I teach Zentangle,

at The Muse in Norfolk,

it was only two and a half hours,

but it certainly got my interest!

I knew one class was just not enough!

I began to practice, practice, practice.
I created a Pinterest board for inspiration,
you can browse it here ...

Then I realized I needed more attention,

fellowship with other learners,

for reading books

(and there are some wonderful ones in my library)

just wasn't enough for me,

I need visuals, connection and motivation!

My book collection ... so far!

So like many of us, when you want to find out anything

you google it right?

I googled Calligraphy lessons Virginia Beach ....

up popped the name of

"Betsy Rivers-Kennedy"

went to her website, saw her work,

emailed her about possible classes coming up

and four weeks later ....

I attended my first class Monday night!

My work station in class ... oh my I loved it!!!!

We jumped right in ...

there were eight of us, some were returning students

that just couldn't get enough!

I found my little corner of the table,

received my supplies from Elizabeth,

made my introductions

and we began.

She jumped right in ...

learning how to dip the ink, care for your nibs,

how to properly hold the Oblique pen,

and began ... it was that simple.

Learning to hold the pen at the proper angle

is something that definitely must be practiced!

She came around and watched us,

wrote on our practice sheets for guidance,

all the while writing upside down!

She was pretty amazing.

Everyone quietly worked and shared

to soft beautiful music in the background.

I even found a new Instagram buddy!

The Art Studio we were working in was

so delightful for a learning experience,

I had NEVER heard of it before,

and had to use my Google Maps

to find it,

hidden quietly in our Downtown Norfolk area!

It's called One 11 Art!

So for four weeks, on a Monday night,

from 7:00 to 9:00pm

it will be my learning home!!

Practice sheets to guide me along

I feel as though I have found

what I have been searching for ...

sounds kinda silly huh?

I love the art forms that quiet my soul,

calm my heart and produce a gentle feeling inside.

My Zentangle, Watercolor Painting, Poetry

and now Calligraphy seem to all

go hand in hand with each other.

I can see how I can use all four mediums together

to produce amazing works.

We have to certainly try a lot of art techniques,

to finally give ourselves permission to settle in.

I have definitely settled into my art,

my life, my direction, my teaching

and I am here to say

it feels pretty darn good

at 57 years young!

I encourage you to not settle for just what is,

look beyond your normal routine,

find your own expression, not others!

Reach out and try something new,

search in your area for learning possibilities,

you won't be disappointed!

Change and Growth are all part of the process,

Learning forms who we are,

just step out of your comfort zone,

you may just find a treasure awaiting you,

I certainly have ...

Written by my teacher for me!