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You cannot live in the past; it is just a memory.
You cannot live in the future; it is just your imagination.
You can only be in the present.

"Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans." John Lennon


I am not qualified to give any advice about how to live your life, what thoughts to have, with whom to share your time. Real-life is the only source of my opinions.  But the process of writing helps me organize my thoughts. It helps me keep going.

There is no doubt that the sum of our experiences makes us the one-and-only person that we are. The most significant contribution an artist can make is to share her unique view of life with others. It is also the only thing original.   

And it is nice to have good memories. Maybe not so nice to have bad ones, but they are just memories.

The future is only our imagination. I am from the Midwest but have lived in Seattle for over 20 years. I used to say that, when I was young, I never imagined that I would spend most of my life in the Pacific Northwest.  See, that word, "imagined. "

What we do have control over is our lives today. You are the only person with true custodianship over your life;

Over your thoughts;
Over your decisions on how to spend your time;
Over what matters to your soul.

You can choose to have a life where you are not alone; focus on spending quality time with people instead of browsing online or sitting on the sofa every night watching TV.

You can choose to have a less hurried life; decide to spend less so you can have more time.

You can choose to be reflective and contemplative about your life; look out the window, watch it rain, and see where your thoughts go.

You can choose good health; take the time to eat real food, and save fast food for the people in a hurry.

You can choose to work at love, kiss your significant other, hug your kids, tell a friend you love them.  

You can choose to be generous.

You can choose to live instead of merely exist.  

I think contentment, and maybe happiness, comes from realizing you have these choices.

I get so confused sometimes about life. If anything, I am the person who thinks about it too much. Who wonders too much how my decisions today will impact my tomorrow. Who strives a little too hard to experience everything, to live that life less ordinary.

I was trying to decide on something once and talking it over with my mother. I don't remember the resolution or conversation, but I remember her conveying that "there is no dress rehearsal. You only get one chance." I think about this often.  

No matter how the future turns out, at least I know I cared enough to try. I tried to love others;

To be generous and soulful;
To raise good kids;
To make the world a little more beautiful.

So that in 30 years, or however long God gives me on this earth, I can look back on my past without regret. I can look back and say I loved the journey and tried my best.

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." Abraham Lincoln

 Life seems to be returning to pre-Covid days. I had a super busy weekend. I hosted the Membership meeting for the Woodinville Arts Alliance, where I presented the Artist Website. And I had the first party at PFA Studio in over a year. It was great to share the official re-opening with this group of ladies. I also hung new art at The Bunnel Family Cellar as more and more people are socializing again.

On a personal level, Friday night, I found myself sitting in a stadium of unmasked fans as we watched our sons play LaCrosse. 

All of this has been wonderful and great, and I am so pleased to be moving past the pandemic. 

It is interesting to find ourselves back in situations that, before, were so familiar, but now, feel almost strange and shocking to the system. Things like the gatherings I just mentioned, working out at the gym without a mask, or watching throngs of unmasked people crowd the 18th green at a golf tournament. 

Before all of this, we all had a Rhythm to Life, and that known routine of typical normalcy can bring us comfort. 

While it is great to explore, sometimes the known and routine surround us in security and happiness.

Like the moment in this painting, the sweet Rhythm of Life was evident as the light shone on this garden veranda in Italy. And it took my breath away. 

As this strange and upsetting time is finally passing, maybe it is a good idea to take a moment and appreciate the things we may have taken for granted but missed when it was disrupted. Perhaps it is a chance for some of us to recalibrate our own rhythms to maximize the time we have.  

At least be thankful that we have this opportunity to move forward with a newfound perspective.

Really truly,

Jamie

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The Northern Cardinal takes his place in the sun on a crisp early morning. He pauses for a moment to warm himself while he surveys his territory after a cold, dark night. I want to think he may ponder his activities for the upcoming day, or perhaps, simply be thankful for the moment.

Life has a way of sending us those cold nights where the dawn feels like an eternity away. But the dawn arrives, like it always does, and it brings the comfort of the warmth and hope of good things to come. I try to notice those warm, sunny mornings after the tough stretches of darkness, and it always brings me comfort. Whether it is dark and stormy or warm in sunny wherever you are, be ready to be thankful for the good weather when it comes. Because it always will.

"I've come to believe that all my past failure and frustration were actually laying the foundation for the understandings that have created the new level of living I now enjoy."
— Tony Robbins

This new ferry painting is my first work of 2021.  As I look ahead, I have to have optimism for the coming year.

Let's be honest; 2020 was a challenging year.  Last night, I watched a dark comedy about 2020 on Netflix. As the show was a recap of the year, it started in January of last year. You may recall that in January 2020, Australia was ravaged by wildfires.  It was so strange to see scenes of people gathering in crowds and going about "normal" life.  I couldn't help but wonder if we would ever gather that way again and how it will feel in sizeable social groups.  

Life will forever be changed by the course of the year 2020.

Sometimes we have to cross dark seas to reach a better reality or place.  No matter how the vaccine or the political unrest plays out, we are all heading for a new destination, leaving the anxiety and stress behind in anticipation of new beginnings and opportunities that the future can bring.  Life is under no obligation to give us what we expect.

Hopefully, we have learned what to value.  Hopefully, we have learned some tolerance.  What is the point of being on this journey if we don't come out stronger and wiser at the end of the trip?

Get on the ferry, cross the rough sea, and find your new and better destination for 2021. I am saving you a seat.

PURCHASE THIS PAINTING

I haven’t shared much on a personal level lately.  I am going through a new period of growth and change, that’s required some quiet self-contemplation and assessment.  

I broke my foot a couple of years ago. It was a silly accident - I was cleaning the bathtub with socks on and got in to reach one last spot. My left foot slipped out from under me, and my right crashed on the side of the tub on my way down. Before this accident, I loved to run. Just a week or two before the accident, I came in fifth place in the UW Dawg Dash. Pounding the pavement was my getaway, my self-contemplation time.

It helped me feel alive.  

During the long recovery period, I was talking to a friend about my dilemma of no longer being able to run. We were having a philosophical conversation as to why the world would take this passion that I love away from me?  Whether accidents are random or part of some larger intercession by the world, or God, trying to get your attention. What was the world trying to tell me?  

And the person asked what it was I was running away from?

Maybe there was a time when I was running away from what I felt like a life that was not right. A life in which my words and thoughts were not in alignment with my actions. When I felt trapped behind what I now call the White Picket Fence. A life in which I lived more of this world than in it.  

But not any longer. I now believe I am actually running to something - to doing what I was meant to do in the way God made me do it. Running towards that dream and passions that have been calling me for a long time. Running to an alignment of my words, thoughts, and finally, my actions.  

Really truly,
Jamie

Click Here to Purchase this Painting

Portrait Study in Blue, Available

Hi Friends, 

Welcome to the New Year. I am kicking off 2020, working on my portrait painting skills. I have always had this strong desire to sketch and paint portraits. Ask my kids, and they will tell you stories of my not so successful attempts in the past. But to capture someone's true essence would be a gift. So I have been practicing portrait painting.
Here are a few from January. All painted live - it's the only way to learn this skill truly.

Portrait Study with Warm Colors, 11 x 14

Portrait Study in Blue, Available

Winter Blues,16 x 12, Available

Portrait Painting with a limited Zorn Palette

Male Figure Nude Oil Painting

Looking forward to improving this skill!

Really truly,

Jamie

I don’t know Who or what put the question.

I don’t know when it was put.
I don’t even remember answering.

But at some moment I did answer Yes to Someone- or Something – and from that hour I was certain that existence is meaningful and that, therefore, my life, in self-surrender, had a goal.

Dag Hammarskjold, Markings

I had written a different story to go with this painting.  But things are changing so fast around me that my thoughts about this painting have changed as well.

Here we sit at the epicenter of COVID 19. Basically, everything has been or is closing down.  Both my high school son and my college student are home, and classes are shutdown.   It seems a lot of the local businesses are voluntarily closing. 

I have to admit, I was feeling a little down about it yesterday, when every half-hour, there was more bad news.

But I decided to reset and see the good in this.  I already work from home.  And even though my biggest show this year will most likely be canceled, I will have more time to paint than ever before.

The gym was my one outlet, and I don't feel very confident in going there right now.  But my dog loves the extra walks we are taking together, and the great outdoors is germ-free.

We are practicing social distancing, but I was out in my front yard, trimming my fruit trees a few days ago.  I had more conversations over my fence with my neighbors than I have had in a long time.  It seems I am not the only one who is a little bit lonely.  And my yard will be well-groomed this year.

I spent an enjoyable night with my college student who is home because classes have been canceled.  We started to learn embroidery and watched "Contagion."  These one-on-one nights at home with my college-aged daughter are gifts that I would not otherwise have received.

And last night, my son played his one and only LAX game of the session.  It was a scrimmage of JV versus Varsity.   I was disappointed that it was a closed event - meaning parents could not attend.  But, I was thankful it was live-streamed via Instagram.  And while it was 38 degrees and raining sideways, I was soaking in a hot bath, with a glass of wine, watching my son kick butt on the LAX field. 

Who knows what tomorrow will bring.  I am no longer watching the news.  I turned on a local TV station alert on my phone, so if something significant happens, I will find out.  Otherwise, I need to tune this stuff out. 

And I am painting.  A lot.   And I have no doubt, we will make it to the other side of the picket fence.  Be healthy friends.

Purchase Original Oil Painting

Purchase Fine Art Prints

This oil painting is my first Covid 19 painting. It expresses my feelings regarding all of this better than I can say.

In the quiet of the night, I have been visited by a set of owls. One seems to perch right outside my window, and the other is a little farther away. They sing to each other in a calm, repetitive way. Maybe it's because the world is quieter now, or perhaps they were sent to me as a reassurance, but I find their late-night calls to each other comforting and reassuring.

The owl sees what we cannot. 

The owl is gifted with a vision that focuses beyond what human eyes see or distinguish. The night bird uses his acute sense to move easily and quietly in the realm of darkness when other creatures and beings sleep or retreat to safety. He can see beyond the shadows and the leaves and the branches to where his destination and purpose await him.

In days of anxiety and uncertainty, it is difficult to see beyond the hardship and bad news directly in front of us.

But if we can open our eyes widely and let them adjust to the darkness, we may be able to make out the shapes of the details of places and times that feel far away from all of this. They are not impossible to reach. 

Let the light pour into our eyes and move ahead confidently and with agility, like the owl, and we will make it to that perch that is safe and secure with a vantage point of clarity, peace, and health.

Stay healthy my friends,

Really Truly,

Jamie

To purchase this painting click HERE.

Prints Available HERE.

Let's Be Still, Oil on Canvas, 12 x 16 Available

The world's just spinning
A little too fast
If things don't slow down soon
we might not last
So just for the moment, let's be still.
Head and the Heart

I have been working from home this week, luckily my studio is on the northside of my house, so it's an easy commute.

For those of you who don't know, I live in Woodinville, WA., about five miles from what has become the epicenter for Covid 19.

After the initial mad rush to "stock up" that left our area short on toilet paper and bottled water, things seem to have calmed down into the new normal. Most people are working and learning from home for the next several weeks.

Several years ago, I had my first confrontation with the lesson that certain things that happen in life are out of your control. My oldest daughter was in third grade at that point and wasting away from an illness that made her violently vomit. After a year of unanswered questions, she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, and, yes, she is doing fine now.

God decided I hadn't learned enough, so he put me through the challenge again when the adoption of my son from Guatemala was suddenly put on hold. He was three months old, living in a crowded orphanage in Antigua when the government decided to end adoptions. That moment broke me. But literally through a miracle, he is here now.

And here we are again in a situation where external circumstances seem to have more control over our lives than our plans or desires.

I guess through all of this, I have learned that I can't control these external events that happen, but I can control my response to them.

And in thinking about all of the events of this last week, I feel the need for calmness.

So I hope this painting brings a little calmness and stillness into your day.

As I was roaming the ancient streets of Florence, I pondered the juxtaposition of this ancient city with our modern, immediate, capture, and share the world.

What would the painters of the Virgin Mary and ancient aristocrats think of the ability that we now have to paint photorealistic paintings of Manhattan from an aerial view?

The most uniquely creative thing I can offer is my personal view of the world.  So here is my Street View - shaped uniquely by my journey through this life. 

Detail of Painting:

There is nowhere more beautiful than summer in the Pacific Northwest.   I chose to paint this scene because it is a familiar one where we spend a lot of time in the summer.   The creak of the wood docks, the sound of seagulls, the smell of saltwater.  Warm days that are followed by nights that are cool enough for a fleece jacket. 

The fading light of day shining through the flags seems made for the artistic eye.

This is my favorite time of day to stroll the docks.   This particular painting is of Roche Harbor but the scene is a common one at many marinas in the summer months.

The wood dock leading into the painting invites you to walk along with me. 

SOLD

Details

Oil on Panel 24 x 36 x 1 $2,900.00 USD Available

Artist Comments

That Golden Hour, when the day gives way to the night.  Inspired by memories from a trip to that other-worldly place Iceland.  Cannot wait to revisit you. 

Oil on Panel 16 x 20 $1,600.00 USD Available

On display at Picket Fence Art Studio.

To me, that is the job of art. To meet us where we are and to invite us in—to think, to feel, to wonder, to dream, to debate, to laugh, to resist, to roam, to imagine. Art is worthy of our interrogation and is in fact an antidote for our times.  
Ava DuVernay, Editor of Special Issue, the Art of Optimism, TIME

It collects and lays dormant, perched on plateaus and hills, waiting for an event to trigger release. The surroundings determine the original form like a frozen snowbank, a pond slowly filling to the brink, or a mist floating in the air that needs the perfect combination of factors to bring it together into form.

Occasionally there is a large scale eruption where it suddenly breaches the dam and violently rips through all in its path, leaving destruction and chaos. 

But it usually begins as a drip or a trickle.  It grows and gains mass and volume until it surpasses containment, and then it escapes and begins the journey. Each new drop clears the way, and it widens the path for what will come from behind. It finds its route and gains momentum. 
 
Its constant action can erode the soft protective layer of the valley and expose the supporting structure and shine light upon it.  The façade of appearance is removed to reveal the strength of the underlying mass. Build-up and debris are flushed away to restore and renew. Sharply edged rocks slowly evolve into rounded, polished stones, their beautiful patterns, and layers shiny and visible.

Along the way, the current moves in urgent rivulets and quiet eddies.

It establishes a refuge for others and creates serenity and peace where it resides.
It attracts others and provides respite for those who find a sanctuary.
It sustains.
As it matures, it's presence cannot be denied.
It rolls along, and the continuous movement marks the rhythm of life around it.
It slows as it reaches the destination, but the energy it contains is perpetual and unwavering.

Love is like water.

Water by Daniel Johnson

Happiness comes from making what is meaningful to you more important than what others expect of you.


I was walking my dog Strider one of those rare, deeply appreciated beautiful warm January days.  We walk up a hill commonly referred to as Heart Attack Hill.  The trail traverses a water right-of-way that runs from the mountains to bring clean water to our area.  At the top of the path you can look to the East and see the Cascade Mountains, and you can look to the West and see the Olympic Mountains.   The walk down and then back up the hill to my friend Mandy's house is about two miles round trip.  But with the elevation, it seems like more. I usually lead the way on the first mile, and I try to keep up with Strider on the second.

I was walking back up this hill with Strider on a sunny day last week, and I couldn't help but feel so happy.  I looked around, took a deep breath and had such a sense of warmth in my heart — contentment in the current moment.

If you have read along, you know I have been working on the idea of chasing happiness. In short, I woke up one day and realized I was terribly unhappy, and I have been exploring what happiness is and how to find it the last couple of years.  Through this process, I realized I was so occupied with figuring out what other people wanted and how to give it, that I never took the time to think about what I wanted for myself. 

I felt guilty even thinking that I had the right to want things for myself.   

Happiness comes from making what is meaningful to you more important than what others expect of you.

“All of the possibilities of your human destiny are asleep in your soul.  You are here to realize and honor those possibilities”.  John O’Donohue

It is strange to me the way the world tries to pull you into the ideal right direction.  And how hard it can sometimes be to choose a different path.

True happiness lies in trusting your judgment and making choices to spend your life in your own way. 

Look for the things that fascinate you just to do them.  That makes you fulfilled merely by the effort of playing the game, without regard to whether or not you win. 


Walking my dog makes me happy.  Even up that big hill. 

Making wine makes the vintner happy.

Painting makes me happy. It opens up this warm spot in my heart.  Some may call it your soul. It feels real and sensual.  Honestly, sometimes I cry when I paint.  Sometimes I laugh.  A lot of the time I sing. 

It is hard and challenging to be an artist.  I am working hard right now to reach a new growth level, and it is exhausting and frustrating and beautiful. 

And I feel confused and exhausted and entirely wonderfully alive. 

“What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”  Mary Oliver

I have always loved the ferries that serve as transportation here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.  For a girl from the landlocked Midwest, the idea that you could take a boat to work or on a weekend trip was new and wonderful and exciting to me.

Life is such an unusual thing.  Just the fact that we live and that we eventually die is a miracle of sorts.  Or maybe, it’s just the opposite of a miracle.  One thing is certain: life is unpredictable and can be confusing and hard to understand. 

I remember when my Grandfather from Nebraska passed away.  He had a terrible cancer that was eating up his insides.  He had a successful life in the standards measured by society: a nice house, big family, successful business, and an active member in the Catholic Church.  He was in the Navy during WWII and very proud of that fact.  But the last time I saw him alive, he told me, “all I ever wanted to do was retire, get a little fishing boat and spend my days on the water.”  He was 80 something but passed away before that happened.

Truly living life is rejecting the ideas that society espouses about the achievements of a happy, well lived life. And I do believe that if you have lived the “perfect” life and strove toward meeting the expectations that the outside world places on you, you might also leave this life with an empty hole in your soul. 

This is the constant battle of this world where there are too many distractions.

I picture my soul (or God) as a person swinging on a little hammock in my heart. Life goes much better for me when I choose to sit and listen to this voice.  It never tells me to conform to society, to spend my day at the mall, to watch the news on TV all day long, or to buy more for myself so I have less to give to others.  

Listen to the voice in your soul. Listen to the direction that it tells you to go.  And then go that way before the last ferry leaves.

Purchase this painting HERE.

Purchase prints of this painting HERE.

Friday Afternoon

8 x 10, Oil on Panel

$600, Available

Remember that sunny Friday afternoon a couple of weeks ago. It was at the end of a stretch of Indian Summer and we all knew the rain was coming soon.

I played hooky that afternoon and ate lunch at an outside cafe. The city was hoping as everyone knew the rain was coming soon.

Lunch turned into an afternoon of wine tasting; savoring the last bits of sunlight. It was already starting to get chilly. You knew the rain was coming.

And it did.

The next day.

As the world seems crazier and crazier, I have been trying to focus on finding the goodness in each day. The goodness in people.

The sunlight before the rain.

Purchase this painting HERE.

Purchase prints HERE.

I spent a lot of time searching for happiness, when I realized what I was looking for was love.

What is love anyway?

It is in all of us:

“The light of love is always in us, no matter how cold the flame.  It is always present, waiting for the spark to ignite, waiting for the heart to awaken and call us back to the first memory of being the life force inside a dark place waiting to be born - waiting to see the light.”

Bell Hooks, All About Love

Come sit with me in the sunlight.

Loved, 16 x 20, Oil on Panel

Excerpt from the poem, To Love is Not to Possess by James Kavanaugh;

Love only endures when it moves like waves, 

Receding and returning gently or passionately, 

Or moving lovingly like the tide in the moon’s own predictable harmony,

Because finally, despite a child’s scars

Or an adult’s deepest wounds,

They are openly free to be

Who they really are–and always secretly were,

In the very core of their being

Where true and lasting love can alone abide.

Photo Credit: Kelly Lemon Photography

Click HERE to purchase this painting.