Hello all!

It has been several months since my last blog post and I have not been nearly as regular with my blog in the last couple of years but today deserves an announcement!

I had my first international painting sale today.   This painting titled Mercy Me is 36 x 48 inches and was SO MUCH FUN to paint!

She is on the way to Granada Spain.  Honestly if only i could have personally delivered it .

I have been painting now for 10 years.    As many of you know, I started while going through chemotherapy for breast cancer. Painting is the best thing that came out of that messed up time.     I am so in love with painting and love connecting with others by way of my artwork.   

I appreciate all the support that ya'll have offered me.    

Spring is springing here in Western Colorado and it is a welcome transition.   
​ Covid has taken a back seat to sad stories coming from Ukraine and across our Southern border.   i am not sure what the answer is to any of it but my task will be to send more beauty out into the universe in any way that i can

Hoping that you personally are also enjoying the breaking spring.   

love you, 
​Stacia

--When I can be the witness, all manner of miracles occur-- old wounds heal, the past reveals itself to be released, present dramas play themselves out without sinking emotional talons into my soft skin.     

The witness welcomes truth and dares to meet reality on its own terms.     It is the ground in which the seeds of transformation take root and finally flower.   

When the witness is awake, the lake of mind is still, and in that mirrored surface, I see my own true face.

                                                                                            Danna Faulds

  
t has been 7 months since my last blog post.   In the past i  had a very regular monthly post and perhaps that may come again but for now it is when the feeling strikes.  I love that i have the register of those posts from April 2014-today!!!!

 I just had the best month of sales ever !   OCTOBER.    I sold 5 paintings in one month and several were very large paintings. 

  That makes my heart so happy .  I have recently bought several new canvases and some new paint.   With regards to paint, i have been on a mission for the last year to use up old paint and i have limited myself in terms of buying new materials.    I am in a mood to declutter in general. 

That being said, i am ready to go on a major paint shopping spree soon. !!!    My hope is to get into my studio a lot in the next couple of months .  It is hard to believe the holidays are almost upon us but for us the holidays are pretty simple considering. 

Kelly and I have been busy working with a consultant from Denver who is helping us with a multidisciplinary approach to planning for the future for Lucas.    Navigating the "system" and all of its intricacies is complex but essential i am learning.   We are in the process of putting together a team of people.   An attorney, a financial planner well versed in the planning in the setting of disability , a disability advisor ( from a mother's perspective ) and  people who care about Lucas,    

It is daunting and overwhelming and feels like a college course!!!  So that is where i am putting a ton of energy at the moment.   We have a pile of assignments.    Overall , i am confident we are taking the right steps while at the same time it pulls on my heart so deeply.   It is very hard!

This week i revisited a couple of my first paintings on FB.   i took my Be Brave , Be Bold painting which is definitely a classic painting for me as it was possibly my first.  i digitally randomly edited it and loved how it came out.  It is kind of crazy/spacy/out there but.......I will share it here.  

I am so amazed by the fall that has gone on for forever.... My favorite time of year.   There is a feeling of winter on the doorstep.  I hope that you all are healthy and as always thank you for your support.

May we all Be Brave and Be Bold .   

xo Stacia

I have been on a mission to use up the paint that is in my studio.     For me being in an art store is like being in a candy store.    I love buying paint and brushes.   At the onset of the pandemic i made a commitment to myself to use up old paint and not to buy new paint unless i knew distinctly that it was a color that I needed.  i have bought paint here and there but i have done a pretty good job sticking to this commitment.  Last night i set out to clean my studio and to organize my paints so that i really know what i have and need.

One thing I have been more and more clear about are what my colors are.    What colors am I drawn to?   What colors am I not really drawn to?   I  am getting very clear about the colors that make up my unique palette.   Some of my paints have gotten really old because they are not the ones i tend to reach for.    I got rid of those paints that i have not touched in a couple of years.  It was an interesting exercise as i thought about my own unique style.   

I ended up with a clean surface upon which to start anew.   I bought this table at an antique store a few years back.  It has a glass top and it is my favorite surface ( palette) to work on.   When it comes to color mixing, my preference is to mix on this surface or directly on the canvas itself.   I do not mix colors ahead of time but more in the moment.  This is what works best for me and my unique style. 

I like that i am gaining insight into my process as a painter.   Another one of the things that I have been doing a lot of lately is taking an older painting and allowing it to become an underpainting of a new piece of work.   Painting over.   I have also committed to not buying new canvases until I really NEED them.   I have many pieces of work that are unfinished and that is where i am placing my focus.  There are times where a raw white canvas calls me but i am really working to use the resources that are already here.  Applying universal principles to my painting process.   

Becoming clearer about who i am as a painter/artist/human.   Stay tuned for some new work!

xo
​Stacia

It has been 6 months since my last blog post.     I am hoping to return to a more regular voice.    

2020 was a crazy year and 2021 is now upon us.    Covid has changed the world in so many ways as well as our own personal lives.   If you would like to share what  the greatest impact you have experienced please do.  

As a physician it has been a huge question mark.    So much we do not know and talk about learning as we go.    A Pandemic.    
As a painter i am thriving.    I feel a new level of confidence in my capability to create beauty.

I thought i would share what happened this weekend in my studio.    I have had a painting hanging in my bathroom now for a year or so.  My husband did not think i should sell it as it is one of his favorites.    I recently posted it and got three interested customers.     The painting officially sold.    I went out to my studio to prepare it to ship to California.    I usually will finish with a coat of gel medium.   It adds a final layer of frosting.   It goes on white but dries clear.     I finished this step and went to bed.   

When i got up the next morning the painting was still white.  I realized my mistake!   I covered it with gesso not gel medium.   Gesso is white and does not dry clear.   Essentially it was like painting white over the entire painting. The painting was lost.  

I could not believe it.   I told my collector that the sale was off and then went to try to brainstorm how i could tackle this situation.    I decided to start with a sander.   I sanded it and found a fascinating texture left behind,    I will continue to work on this painting and i suspect it will come out very interesting...

​ It was stressful but what i know for sure....

My income thank God comes from me being a physician. 

 My art brings me income but i know that this painting has taught me a huge lesson.   I have gotten to a place as an artist where i am confident i can rebuild from a ruined painting and i do know that there is huge value in that.    My confidence as an artist has grown enormously.    The photos show a transition of this huge mess up / lesson.  Stay tuned for where this goes!

My passion remains.   I hope 2021 brings many new beautiful paintings and my gratitude goes out to all those who support me.  

much love,
 
​stacia

My mom had a really bad single car accident last night in Asheville NC.   She will be having neurosurgery tomorrow .  That is a big deal .   I believe that my mother is going to be fine.  

But it brings me to a deeper issue.  She is 84 totally healthy, totally deaf without her hearing aids but capable at this time to manage life with her sweet husband Matt who has dementia.   But my family is scattered all over the country
 
In the last 24 hours i have felt the village that we are.  This includes me and my sisters, Matts kids and partners who chose to be involved and my mom's dear friends in Asheville,  most notably Suzy.   

Suzy you saved us last night.  You gave us peace of mind to know that Matt would be cared for while the medical team focused on my mother.   

I realize the vulnerability of life like i always have as a doctor.  That shit happens and we cannot always be prepared.

What i recognize tonight is the value of the system that is in place to respond when help is needed.  the village.   we must have a system in place where when crisis hits, we have people to respond.  

Lessons learned.  Know peoples phone numbers which we typically do  not know as we are cell phone dependent .  In a crisis it is evident.  

Make sure you have a list of  contacts so you or others may know how and who to contact.

But tonight i realize what a gift it is.  

Thinking of how Suzy showed up to spend the night with Matt in case he woke up in the night and did not remember that his life partner was at the hospital.   That she contacted the police to figure out what happened and to find that the car was totalled.  to follow up with the vet hospital to be sure that Archie, my mom's canine companion was ok.  To assure us that Matt was ok.   

​ A total gift ... family and friends.   

    

I KNOW  there are great police.   Those who are compassionate and care and hope to do the right thing.  

There is misuse of power.   Perhaps tilted towards the black and brown population but I have my own story.   One about not brutality but mistreatment.   One about a dike cop.   Now let me clarify I am not homophobic.  Some of my favorite people are gay and lesbian and i do not use the work dike.  All but for certain circumstances like this one. It is the only time in my life I have referred to anyone as a dike.

This story takes place in 1989.   Probably August i am going to say.   

I was as a 28 year old middle class, well educated, law abiding young woman , married and mother of 1 ( Keenan).  I had struggled so much with the decision of going to medical school at 28.  Leaving Colorado .  All the fears that you hear. How it is going to change you and your marriage and your ability to be a present mom.   I did not want my life to change but i did want to become a doctor.  

We lived in Lyons, Colorado and had a tiny little house that was ours.    We decided that we needed to sell it as we were going to upstate NY for medical school at Albany Medical College.   It was stressful.  I was torn about whether we were making the right decision.   Kelly had to stay back to finish our house and get it sold.   Keenan was 15 months old and was going with me to NY.   My medical school orientation was in a couple of days.  I was so sad to leave Colorado and was intrepid about the upcoming changes.  

Kelly was taking me to the airport in Denver to fly out.  As we were driving down main street in Longmont the tension was present.   Kelly and I started to have an argument,  Nothing big. In fact I have no idea what it was about but we both got defensive and offensive.   As is usually the case with Kelly, when there is an argument he tends to want out.  He pulled over the truck and started walking up the street.    In my normal fashion (lol) I got out of the truck, grabbed Keenan and started to go after him.    When I got to him, reached for his arm and  i said "Kelly, let's talk".    He retracted his arm and said " leave me alone".  

End of story.   Suddenly the police pulled up.  An innocent bystander in Wendy's had witnessed this and called them.   This is where the dike comes in.  She was short and stout and mean and tough.   She told me that I was under arrest for domestic harrassment and she was mean.   Now Kelly is easily 100 lbs heavier than my what was then maybe 120 lbs.   She placed me in handcuffs.  Kelly told her , " no you cannot take her away .  She didn't do anything".  They would not listen and took me to jail .

Because I was leaving the state to fly to NY i was not eligible for bail.   I spent the night in Jail in an orange jumpsuit.  I had to call my mother and tell her not to pick me up from the airport as i was in jail.   How humiliating is that???

I spent the night and the next day went to court.   Me in my orange jumpsuit and handcuffs and a bunch of big guys dressed the same.  Charges?  assault, rape... who knows what else.   I was placed on probation for 6 months in Colorado and left the state that day .   When you fast forward time 24 hours i found myself in NY.  At Albany Medical College orientation. Standing under a huge totally white tent in a dress feeling very excited about what was to come.  I remember meeting new people and thinking to myself ,   " I bet no one else in this tent spent last night in jail".   I was demoralized and embarrassed and incredibly hurt and angry. 

It has been almost 31 years since that happened.   I wrote letters to the editor of the newspaper but other than that could not speak of this story for many years.  Tonight I am ready to put it into writing.    I am a white well educated female mistreated by the police 30 years ago.   It horrifies me what they did to me .   This is mistreatment and inappropriate use of power. 

I know that there are great cops but there are bad cops too.   Those that abuse their power.    And i cannot imagine how that is compounded by having black skin.   There needs to be accountability.  

Thank you for reading.   This was a very traumatic experience for me and I am happy that I can finally see a little humor in it.   Not there is nothing funny about what happened,  other than at this point I can add it as a story of my life.  As inappropriate as it was. 

Police should be held accountable for their actions. 

Peace,

Stacia

      My last blog post was 12/04/2019  and it was two days before i had lymphatic bypass and lymph node transfer done at the University of Chicago.   Many of you know the long story leading up to that but I have been getting a lot of people asking me how is it going?  

I have to say i have been a bit disappointed.   It was a hard surgery and for 4 weeks i wrapped my arm like i was a mummy and my arm was much much better in terms of volume.  I could not wait to STOP wrapping and assumed that was the end of it.    Get a sleeve and move on .    NOPE

I have become an expert in Lymphedema and it is a bear of a problem that is so not understood.   

Amazingly i have found two people here in the Grand Valley that have chosen to be experts in this field.  I did not know they existed.  At first i made a commitment to wear a compression sleeve for at least 6 months.  It does not seem to do much but I wear it.  I have spent about $1000 dollars in garments.  Two sleeves for daytime and 1 for night time.  I have been discouraged because once i stopped the enormous wrapping that did not allow me to wear clothes ( for 5 weeks). the swelling just seemed to return.  It is better than it was but it is now where i hoped it would be

This disease is a beast.  It is chronic and progressive.  I am so grateful that my case is milder than many .  Doctors do not know about it.  Insurance companies do not know about it.  

  I have returned to full on exercise and i am grateful that i have strength and flexibility.   My husband thinks it is improved but i am not convinced.  

Today i met with a massage therapist who is very well versed in lymphedema and she gave me so much hope.  Tonight it feels sooo much better.   What i realize is the surgery was not a fix .  It may help but i still have to maintain the practices of decompression and manual lymphatic massage.  ugh.   

It also is not just about fluid but about the inflammatory response that happens and I am learning the complexity of this disease.  interestingly for the first time there is a medical treatment ( medicine)  that is showing promise.  mucinex (guaifenesin)  of all things. I am not a person to take medications but i am starting it tonight because as i understand the trapped fluid becomes thick and gelatinous and will not move so this may thin it and help it move. 

I am so appreciative for those that have reached out to see how I am doing. It has been a bit discouraging but what i Know is that there is not a cure but a movement in the right direction.  I am committed now to doing this manual lymphatic massage therapy weekly for a while.   Of course it is not covered by insurance but so it goes.  

I am grateful that i have found a couple of local people who have chosen to be experts in this field.   I am also grateful that I have full range of motion and strength of my arm and that I do not have this in my trunk or legs which many do.   I am also thankful for all of the people here that have supported me and reached out asking for an update

No it was not a cure but a movement in the right direction and i realize the long term commitment i have to make , mucinex, sleeves. massage therapy and maybe future surgery, yoga and whatever may come.   we will see...

This is an art site but ...  it involves other important things too.  xo

I have arrived safely in my airbnb in Hyde Park Chicago.   As many of you know I have been referred by my favorite Grand Junction plastic surgeon to a surgeon here in Chicago.   Dr Chang is one of the experts in the exciting new procedure of micro lymphatic surgery.   

I have lymphedema from the lymph node resection i had for breast cancer 7 years ago . It has created some seriousl health challenges and I have done all the recommended conservative measures to try to treat it.  . After appealing Rocky Mtn HMO for the last year, I was able to get them to approve part of the surgery and there is a portion that i will be paying.   The surgery is scheduled for this Friday am.   check in time 5:30 AM.  It is predicted i will be in the hospital for 3 nights

So today i started my travels to Chicago.   I had some anxiety because often the route from Grand Junction to Dallas to Chicago ends up with some serious delays or  turnarounds.    Tonight the travel was on time,  planes we not full so there was  ability to spread out and I arrived in O'Hare at 10:30,  half our early.  I was on a roll.  Got my uber.  Only took about 40 mins to get the the air bnb as there was no traffic and he dropped me off at the airbnb.  Nice looking brownstone.   

Now this is southside of Chicago.   But near the University.   I know that the southside can be sketchy.  I was so proud of how smooth everything was going.  The only problem i had was that my cell phone about died in the last flight but i was relieved the Uber driver had a charger.  Only problem is that as i got out of the uber the phone totally died.   It did not seem to be accepting a charge.  

I had my instructions.   I put the code in the box and the gate opened. I could see an apartment that was all lit up that was sure to be mine.  The door was locked and I was trying the codes but they would not work.  I looked in the streets and in the nearby apartments and being after midnight there was not much action.  an occasional car would drive by with a black man or woman.  I really needed help but noone would have anything to do with me.   I started freaking out If i could use my phone to call the manager of the air bnb i would be all set but there was nowhere to charge up.  

Feeling desperate i remembered that about 1/2 .a mile away there was a McDonalds and a gas station.  I walked 3 blocks north and a couple of blocks west and then had to go under the train tracks.  Keep in mind it  is 12;15 am ish and this  is  southside chicago and i am walking with a purse with a wallet and credit cards, a back pack with an  imac and iphone . 

  I finally got to the mcdonalds hoping i could charge my phone there but it was drive through only.  I am not racist but there was not one white person anywhere.   I was so desperate for help i went up to a couple of car windows to see if they had phones and they just shook there heads and would not open the window of their car's.  

 One lady said to go over to the gas station.   When i tried to walk up to the drive through window to ask for help the lady said stay away, back up and don't come any closer on a  loud speaker .  omg crazy!!!  So i went to the gas station across the street  and there you also could only go to a drive up window.  you could not go in and i tried to ask several people if they had a phone i could use to call my airbnb manager.  All i got were nods of no. 

I have to say i was terrified.   i had dry mouth and i started to walk the 1/2 mile  back to my airbnb.  It is a beautiful street but there was no sign of life and i had a dead phone so i could not contact the owner.   I started to think i may be sleeping on the porch of this attractive building.    When i got back to my building i saw a car sitting out front.   I approached her drivers seat window and told her it was an emergency and that i needed to get in my airbnb. 

 She did not know the owner but she did know that it was an airbnb and she CHOSE  to  trust me and offered to let me use her phone to get the right directions.   Soon i was safe inside my cozy place. 

That was seriously scary.    I realize in retrospect i should have stayed at the airport until my phone was charged but my uber driver had a charger but it did not seem to charge my phone.  walking back from the McDonalds i was praying to God to send me help.  I don't think I have every felt so alone and unable to find help.   

The kind black woman in the car trusted me and she helped me.   
she was so kind.  In fact she committed to stay until i was in the apartment . 
I have never felt so out of place and isolated in a city.  Granted it is after midnight

It is now 2 AM and i am in my cozy spot with a nice glass of Merlot feeling the need to document this incidence. 

   I was truly scared and did not know what to do
Grateful to God for hearing my prayer and sending me that kind woman

here safe and sound and comfy .  Mapping out my walk to the University of Chicago ( via President Obama's home and barber shop)   tomorrow for my preop appointments and the i plan to walk to Jackson Park to see the Osaka Japanese gardens. 
Wow what a trip tonight was .  The fear of possibilities   and impossibilities.  I have never felt like i was so out of place in my life. 

a white girl carrying a backpack and a purse and an i phone and iMac computer with credit cards.     lost and helpless. in the southside of chicago.   I truly felt what it felt like to be a total minority and i was vulnerable.   

God, thank you for sending that sweet woman who was willing to just let me use her phone so I could get indoors.  

Moral of the story,  if you are going to the southside,  have your cell phone charged before you get there.  

The sweetness and safety i feel in this condo tonight is making is a Godsend.  I am comfortable and relaxed and as it approaches 3 AM. i must find rest.  

Love to you all    

Stacia

It is Thanksgiving.   One of my all time favorite holidays of the year.   

I has been small and quiet.    I am on call so close to home .   It was Kelly and Lucas and I.  At first i felt very sad about that.  But after talking to my mom and my sisters and my daughter Hannah who i will see in a couple of weeks and Keenan who is hoping to arrive tomorrow... it is all a blessing.  

This morning i went to gratitude yoga and It was the most perfect way to start the day.   It was a very physical practice with alot of balancing poses.   It was also a very emotional practice for me.   Thinking about gratitude and what is beneath that.   For many as well as myself there is alot of messy stuff.    Like the forgiveness that you wish for for that thing you said or did.   the grief for that person that has not arrived at the family table.  and the tendency to feel lonely for those you miss deeply.  For that loved one who's health is failing that that empty nest that is not empty :) .   But Lucas is at the table and for that i am grateful.   

 Matt encouraged us to look at those feelings.  the grief, the sadness, the regret and the resentment, the pain and the loss.   It is about being human and it allows us to feel that we are alive.  

Our experience with gratitude and grief and sorrow is ours.   It is unique to each of us and it is what we as humans are obliged to feel.  It was so amazing to sweat and to bow and to reach for those feelings and to take them in and let them go and to above all else be grateful for those experiences.  And how grateful i am for the ways that my body carries me.    My body has been so good to me and my health is vibrant.  

today has been a beautiful and simple thanksgiving day.    My cup is so full at the moment.   

Sending love to all of my friends and family.   This is thanksgiving 

May we feel balance in that which we give and that which we allow ourselves to receive

With Love,

​STACIA

​