If you are local, please come celebrate this season. Come appreciate local original art and music, wine and friendship, downtown lights and festivities. It is cold out there. bundle up and venture out. Let's share a minute with each other. I would love to share my art with you. AT the Art Bar 205 Colorado Avenue, Grand Junction
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As a physician, cancer survivor and an artist I wanted to share these intriguing findings. As we enter this craziness of this season, let us not forget to experience awe every day. That way we will be creating healthy cytokines that will keep us to glow with vitality. Cytokines are several different types of substances that are produced by cells within the immune system that relay signals between the immune system cells. Sometimes referred to as polypeptide regulators, there are two groups of inflammatory cytokines, each with their own particular characteristics and functions. One form is known as the pro-inflammatory polypeptide regulators. These types of cytokines are created primarily by immune cells that are engaged in the process of amplifying inflammatory reactions as a means of dealing with some sort of health threat to the body. By relaying messages between the cells, these cytokines help to trigger the immune system’s rate of response to whatever threat is present. They are important in health and disease, specifically in host responses to infection, immune responses, inflammation, trauma, sepsis, cancer, and reproduction. Along with the pro-inflammatory cytokines, there is also anti-inflammatory cytokines. These have the opposite effect, in that they help to limit of inflammation present. This means that both types of cytokines often work to balance each other as they stimulate cell production and effect communication between cells. . I began painting as I was completing chemotherapy for breast cancer. Experiencing cancer, losing my hair, the experience of pending mortality and painting have changed my life. I wholeheartedly believe that the findings discussed in this video are true. To review the entire article you can go to the Huffington Post, the third metric and the name of the article is Experiences of art, nature and spirituality may help prevent disease, Study finds. Not only is it healing for me to paint, I feel that my paintings are healing. I put my truth, my passion, love and healing energy into every painting. My painting is not complete until I feel that it holds the power to carry with it health, love and vitality into the place where it ends up residing. Living on the Western slope of Colorado, I am also in a position to experience the awe of Mother nature each and every day. I pray that these experiences keep me healthy for years to come. I also hope the same for all of you. If you have been thinking about a painting for a while or would like to share the gift of art that heals this season, I am going to be running a 25% off sale of all my work from now until Christmas. I have not yet updated my store to reflect this but if you are interested in taking part in this sale you can email me or FB message me. I am profoundly grateful for the support of all of you who have read my blog for the last year and a half and who have loved my art work. It is through our interaction with others that we live out our life's purpose. Love and awe to you all this holiday season. With love, Stacia
Things have been very busy in my life. Hannah decided she is moving to Chicago so Kelly flew down to Tampa about two weeks ago to help her and be a support as she transitioned from the tropics of Florida to Chicago where she got an apartment today and will be moving into on Monday. The beauty is that all of Kelly's family lives within an hour of Chicago in Wisconsin. They have reconnected with family . They have given her adorable couches, beds, lots of awesome stuff to furnish an apartment in the 3rd biggest city in the world. Wow. She blows me away sometimes.
Anyway for the last two weeks it been a bit of a circus juggling life in Colorado although Keenan who is in the HVAC tech certification program and his girlfriend Jill have been helping me to hold things together. And they actually have been quite helpful. There has been very little time to paint since I went back to Maine but i know my time is coming. Tomorrow I leave for Asheville , NC to celebrate my mother's 80th birthday with my 3 sisters coming in from all over this country. My flight leaves in 8 hours and I am writing a blog. That is a little insane I know. Ok, but something really amazing happened today. I have to share. Do you remember the fundraising I did about 6 months ago for the family here in GJ that was dealing with extraordinary circumstances? Well my friend Nancy decided she wanted the painting and instead of buying a raffle ticket bought the painting for $1000. Anyway we raised somewhere over $4000 for this family and donated anonymously to them. So, I shipped the painting to Nancy. Her friend, Sophie then said she wanted a print of the same size and bought it. Both were shipped. This morning as I was leaving for work, I noticed a large package in my office. It had been shipped back and was from Nancy. The address was all scratched out. I was confused. . I was actually dumbfounded.. . Last month I saw Sophie and Nancy in Woolwich Maine. Sophie and Kelley provided me a place to call home, to call comfort but also a place to eat and drink and talk and to connect kind of deeply. I was so fortunate to be hosted by Sophie and her husband Kelley Baker ( of all names, right ?) . Tonight when I got home I opened the box to find the original amazing painting. but more importantly this message.. I am speechless... Stacia,' I am returning the original of Be Brave, Be Bold to you... Your very first painting while going through a difficult personal journey is like a piece of your soul. It belongs to you. Sophie and I arranged for her to purchase the print so that you would not know of my intention to return the original. The print will have a very special place in my home as soon as my major renovations are complete. There is something about this painting , and your desire to use it as a tool to help others, that holds such a special meaning to me. I often think of the words "Be Brave Be Bold" as my recent path in life has come up against several obstacles that can weigh me down and make me weary. I have felt inspiration, comfort, and a restored sense of energy as I process the meaning...... it is not what we are given to bear that defines who we are as human beings, it is the spirit that shines through the most difficult times. Your heart, your soul, and your journey are an inspiration. i am grateful and honored to know you. Love and hugs , Nancy Again I am speechless, now one of my very first original paintings sits again on my wall. I know it means alot. It is a powerful thing and i am humbly reminded. It reminds me that my art does heal. and it is a reciprocal process. otherwise I am entirely speechless.....and grateful Tomorrow I am heading home. I am going to Maine. Maine and Colorado are the places that I call home. Fortunately or unfortunately I am split between the two. Being the gypsy that I am , it is possible that within my lifetime I may find another "home" but seeing as i have spent over 20 years in each of these places, it is unlikely.
I will soak up the sea, the friendship, the memories and the salt. I will see what is old and what is new. i will leave behind what I love here . my family and the beauty that is the high desert, the mountains, the fertility and the altitude. I recognize how lucky i am. The last several weeks have been seriously busy. Harvesting amazing things from the garden and preparing for those delicacies to be here in December. Immersed in my medical practice with births , deaths, celebrations and disappointments, i experience the same things in my own personal life. My family too has major things to celebrate and things to grieve. I know this is life and I need to embrace it all. I have not been in my studio much at all for the last two weeks. I long to get back to painting but I am regenerating, resting, preparing and knowing that my creative time will be there when i am ready to return. I am going to Maine for the fall equinox. As the season transitions, i hope we hold on to the memories of the magic of this past summer and the mystery that is coming with the fall. I hope that with that mystery comes health, fearlessness, adventure, inspiration and new possibilities for myself and for my friends. Do you sometimes feel really challenged by life? I do. I have many times in my life. Especially in my adult life. Sometimes I feel like i am hanging by spider webs that are ready to give way, sometimes I feel like i am going to be plowed over by a tidal wave.
I am a faithful optimistic person . But sometimes i lose my ground. I get caught up with the turbulence and the storms of the world around me. I feel that the "responsibility of life" overcomes me. I feel small and scared. Can i carry on? Can i hold up? Can i stay the course? Can my loved ones do it without me? Why do i bother ? I imagine that if i can stay present and allow myself to feel this vulnerability that it will pass and it always does. I stand strong every day and do what i need to do. I care for people. I am present as they face dying, life, pain and suffering, joy and celebration. It is the joy of my career, I am blessed to have this life as a doctor where people entrust me and share with me. But there are moments where I feel vulnerable. Sometimes . I want the universe to hang a large net and to catch me as i fall. I have needs. Sometimes they are not met. I can not blame anyone for that. It is what it is..... Today... Ok so I wrote that about a month ago. Was not going to share it but it was how i felt at the time. Brene Brown says " courage is born out of vulnerability not strength". I am not always great at sharing my weak moments. I decided that this saved draft should be shared...... Ok so to change gears.... So I recently did my first every art festival at the Carbondale mountain festival. What a beautiful place to spend a weekend in July. It was alot of work but overall was a great success. An interesting observation that I made. I had three 4 year old girls come into my tent. They all three were immediately drawn to the painting that I call Sands of Turmeric. They went directly to that painting and all asked me to tell the story. I found this amazingly fascinating. This was a painting inspired by Robi Chakraborty Photographer extraordinaire. He lives in Minnesota but he is from India and the majority of his photography is from India. This was a girl that he photographed in the desert of Rajasthan , With his permission, I painted this painting. I love this painting but i am left with the question. What is it about four year old girls ? I love that it reaches them, just leaves me with a question mark... Thank you for taking the time to read this. I have found it challenging to get to my blog recently. So much going on lately. Working full time, new pilates class and ongoing yoga classes, gardening, family reunion weddings in Raleigh NC that fill the cup to the brim, hiking when its not too hot, family and summertime stuff and attempting to paint 30 paintings in 30 days. I have not kept up with completing a painting every day but I have painted almost every day. Wow. That is a commitment which has transformed into a practice.
I had my opening in downtown Grand Junction a few weeks ago and unfortunately the road was closed off to all traffic for a bike race so there was very little "walk by or ride by traffic". However, I loved sharing my art with the public on large beautiful walls in an empty commercial space. I got amazingly positive feedback about my art. I am currently taking an on line course by Kate Thompson called fractured portraits. Kate is a genius at painting them. I love how portraits capture the human spirit. I have a painting in my head but getting it from my head, thru my hands and paintbrush to the canvas is a challenge. I am growing as an artist but I feel the growing pains for sure. I am now noticing how faces are shaped and how light and shadow appears on them. It has been alot of in my head work which is counter to how I normally paint. I think it is good exercise but I need to take a break and go back to my "simply painting" which is where my soul emerges. I will be doing the Mountain Art Festival in Carbondale Colorado July 24-26th ( near Aspen). That will be a new experience for me. It is always a treat to spend time in Alpine country in the summer. I should be a lovely weekend. I thought I would share what my studio looks like after some serious time spent painting. Most of these paintings are not complete. Morgan and Paddington always hang out in my studio while I paint. Yes the floor has some paint on it!! I sometimes wonder what did I do when i was not a painter? . It has really changed my life in so many ways. I hope you enjoy viewing my art. I hope you are enjoying one of my favorite things... summer nights. We never really know what tomorrow holds so treasure the treasures. No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader, Robert Frost I am reaching out for help! As many of you know I am having a solo art opening coming up on May 29th. It will be at the old Brink Jewelry store at 120 N. 5th street in downtown Grand Junction. This is currently an empty commercial space and thanks to my dear friends Ben and Elise I will have the opportunity to show my work live to the public. I will be there most of the weekend but the opening is from 5-8:30 PM on Friday evening. This is the weekend of the Grand Junction art and music festival as well. Friday Night Big Sam's funky nation ( from N'Orleans) will be performing and Saturday Shakey Graves ( from Austin, TX) will be performing. It will be happening.
I am working with Red Fox Cellars who will hopefully be doing a wine tasting at the opening. We are working on the legal licensing issues. If not i will have mango punch and lavendar iced tea! Appetizers will be served. This is where i am asking for help. I will be at a wedding in NC next weekend. Then the week before the opening I will be working every day and its going to be busy. If there is any one local who would like to provide an appetizer or dessert for the opening, I would be profoundly grateful. If you are interested please contact me by phone 207-522-4754 or email staciabaker2012@gmail.com. Thank you , thank you in advance. It has been very busy and there is a lot going on . For those who are too far away to come, you will be with me in spirit. xo Stacia The date has been changed. New posters have been ordered. I need to be at a medical meeting in Breckenridge on the 1st. The exciting thing about this change is that this is the weekend of the art and music festival downtown. There are some great bands from Nashville that will be playing and there will be a lot of Art on Main street. 120 N. 5th is one building off Main behind the Candy Time Shoppe. There will be a lot going on . This official opening is from 5-8:30 but we will probably be there a good part of the weekend so come on by! |
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