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“Life, love, suffering, anger and passion are why I create and why I am so inspired. This is why people can relate to my work; because in that sense I am not alone.” Gayle

Guest Post by Gayle Arnold – Painter/Artist – Vancouver

On one hand, I was born to paint. I started when I was eight and even then people were noticing how incredibly patient and absorbed I was in what I was doing. By the time high school came around one of my teachers was set on getting me accepted into Emily Carr. He pushed me and it was the first time I considered Art as a career. I always tell people that painting chose me. When I got accepted into Emily Carr I put my head down and worked my ass off to learn as much as I could. By the end of it, I was fully committed to making art for the rest of my life.

Art for Life –

In adolescence I began to suffer from depression and it seemed like everything was fueling that unhappiness. My first relationship was a disaster, and was followed up by further disasters. Art was always the fastest way to calm me down, it was a peaceful way for me to focus my negative energy and transform it into something positive. After high school I began having some physical health problems as well. The physical problems were interesting because they were so minor that no one could tell by looking at me, but they were significant enough to cause me a great deal of discomfort and pain. Some inherited health problems mixed with some emotional health problems and a life that appears easy on the outside created quite a few walls between people and I. Many mistook a lack of complaining as a lack of pain. I think a lot of people see me as a spoiled little rich girl, but the truth is I am a passionate and giving person who works their ass off at something which makes me no money.

I think people get lost in my work because they can see the emotion that has been invested in it. The paintings portray a certain truth that is lacking in our day to day living. Capitalism profits from lies, and sometimes it seems like the art world does too. Maybe people like my work because it lays it all out on the table. If you want to know what it’s about, you really need to open up. A lot of artists are still creating minimalist works that they write whole essays on when it’s just an abstract design. My work, especially the portraits, has been about identity and communicating without words. The body language and colour schemes of each work tell the viewer something. I have always been more interested in work that communicates without having the artist telling everyone what to think.

All the negative things that have happened to me are trumped by my desire to create and to be seen. My work is a lot like me, people make assumptions at first but after they take a really good look they can see the layers and depth of what’s in front of them. The truth is, I am an artist with an ego, but I am also the kid sharing half her chocolate bar, inviting you to family dinners and helping you move. I am the girl next door but I am also a talented artist. Even when I put on a suit and pretend that working in an office was what I was made to do, I will be planning my next painting; song and making people laugh and forget where they are. As unlucky as I have been, I am also blessed with a handful of friends who have become family and a family that I love more than anything. It is true I needed painting to love myself but painting is what made me love being alive.

Life, love, suffering, anger and passion are why I create and why I am so inspired. This is why people can relate to my work; because in that sense I am not alone.

To contact me or see more of my work – Please visit www.gaylearnold.com

All artwork links directly back to Gayle’s site and was shared with the consent from contributing artist – Gayle Arnold © (Copyright) All rights reserved

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Guest post by Gary Molloy – Painter/Poet – London England

My name is Gary Molloy, I’m an Artist, poet and charity worker. I was diagnosed with Bi-polar 1 disorder, which is a severe form of the illness in my mid-twenties. I use Art, as a medium for channeling crippling mood swings.

Painting still-lives, landscapes and figures, my interest lies in the outline of forms and not in their intricate details. My work is insular and immediate – a characteristic which is accentuated by use of impasto and broad brush strokes.

Ten years ago, I arrived at Core Arts, a mental health charity which helps people connect with and discover their creative potential. I’d never been remotely interested in Art before, but the spark of creativity that my first visit ignited, flared into a blaze of exuberance with flame like forms and scar like brushstrokes. In recent years the glow of this period has blended with more subtle realizations of beauty in the observed object or chosen motif.

Through my art and poetry, I could finally connect with something creative. I had found my vocation and it turned into my purpose. I have rediscovered my dreams, which were shattered by 10 years of illness.

One of the first paintings I sold, in the early days at Core Arts, was titled Freedom. I slowly realized that Freedom is not escape from the Storm; its peace within the Storm. Another Painting I sold was titled Forgiveness. This began the journey of forgiving myself and others and inspired this poem.

Lost for Words

I’m lost, lost for words
Having so much to say and
No way to say it

Losing your life
through debilitating illness
Makes me feel lost, lost for words

Being held down by six nurses
And injected with medication
Makes me feel lost, lost for words

Taking a brisk walk
Drugged up, depressed and isolated
Makes me feel lost, lost for words

Losing your selfish self
and coming back to life
Makes me feel lost, lost for words

Hoping that dream will be answered
And looking for a love that was once so real
Makes me feel lost, lost for words

Taking time to reflect on goals
And ambitions of the past
Makes me feel lost, lost for words

Gaining self-confidence and losing my inhibitions
Developing peace of mind
Makes me feel lost, lost for words

Learning to live in the moment
and forgiving myself for past unhappiness
Makes me feel lost, lost for words.

For years throughout my illness, I was living in fear, fear of failure and the future. Fear seemed to be my best buddy. I felt very controlled, closed and dead. Today I am living out of purpose; I’m happy working on my Art and being creative. Now I’m living from a place of love, and I feel open, free and alive.

I had a very serious side-effect called Akathisia in 1999 from a high dose of Anti-psychotic medication. It took years to find out what had happened, but through research, I found other people online who had experienced the same condition. They described an extreme condition with an inability to sit still, coupled with an inability to move. You struggle to breath and it can go on for days, some sites on-line describe it as chemical torture. I wanted to highlight this in an Art form and so designed a puzzle and short book titled Akathisia which was completed in March and will be available soon.

It took me years to realize my happiness, health and Harmony was my choice, my right, and it would lead to Freedom. My work has been exhibited at the Tate Modern, Christies Auction House, Mayfair (Alongside Andy Warhol) and currently at the V&A childhood museum London.

Finally I’d like to say I have been well for 12 years. My wish and goal is to inspire, encourage and help people through art.

Feel free to visit my website to see more of my Art: Gary Molloy – Artworks

The storm before the calm…

“Gary’s paintings are like oxygen on fire, he reignites hope and makes the mind, aware that the space inside the ribcage has other purposes beyond that of navigating the labyrinth of daily struggle. What Gary finds and brings to us through his paintings is the ability to dream of restoring our hopes…” Rossen Daskalov

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Quotes on Art and the way of the Artist:

“Art is not a thing; it is a way.” Elbert Hubbard

“Of all lies, art is the least untrue.” Gustave Flaubert quote on art

“In art as in love, instinct is enough.” Anatole France

“Art hurts. Art urges voyages – and it is easier to stay at home.” Gwendolyn Brooks

“The moment you cheat for the sake of beauty, you know you’re an artist.” David Hockney

“At the age of six I wanted to be a cook. At seven I wanted to be Napoleon. And my ambition has been growing steadily ever since.” Salvador Dali quote

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” Thomas Merton quotes on Art

“All true artists, whether they know it or not, create from a place of no-mind, from inner stillness.” Eckhart Tolle quotes

“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” Vincent Van Gogh

“This world is but a canvas to our imagination.” Henry David Thoreau quote

“An artist is a dreamer consenting to dream of the actual world.” George Santayana quote

“An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision.” James Whistler

“The holy grail is to spend less time making the picture than it takes people to look at it.” Banksy

“Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” Scott Adams

“In art, the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can imagine.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

“All art is autobiographical. The pearl is the oyster’s autobiography.” Federico Fellini

“Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known.” Oscar Wilde

“There’s no retirement for an artist, it’s your way of living so there’s no end to it.” Henry Moore

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Guest Post by Daniel Juarez – Photographer – Seattle

Art is all about the beauty in nature, objects, and people.  Being an admirer of nature, I find myself constantly amazed and dumbstruck by the beauty before me. Nature isn’t the only thing that does this. Mundane and ordinary everyday scenes suddenly become extraordinary with just a closer look – a simple shift in perspective.  If you find yourself cursing the boring place you now live in, yearning to see new things and wishing you had this or that, I invite you to open your eyes a little wider, and take a closer look…

Photography is a passion of mine, alongside literature and Film making. These are hobbies that with the passage of time have grown to be passions; ones that I am very fond of. These art forms convey powerful messages and evoke emotions. What is unique about photography is its ability to attract people from all sorts of places. It’s visual and universal. It is something that anyone from this world can see, and perhaps relate to.

A picture can transport you to a place you’ve never been to, a past memory, or the future. If any photograph of mine is able to impress and influence you in a positive way, then I have done my job. But I don’t want to take credit for what the world and Mother Nature has to offer, I am merely the beholder…

All Photos Contributed by Daniel Juarez and link back to his website Visual Mirth. Daniel Juarez © (copyright) All rights Reserved

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Guest post by Jim Tolles – Spiritual Teacher, Healer, and Writer

Nowadays, finding yourself and discovering your spiritual path are big business. The self help sections and spirituality sections are bulging with books. This isn’t a problem. As far as past times go, this is one of the better ones. But the big issue that I have with a lot of these “self improvement” plans and “finding your spirit guides” techniques is that the most important teacher in your whole life can be forgotten. And that person is you.

Now, I’m a spiritual teacher. And I have an ebook, and I’m sure that I’ll have a hard cover helping to fill up book shelves (at least until ebooks mostly take over the world). But what I and others who really understand the spiritual path are telling you is that you already know your answers. You already know what path you want to take, and the real problem lies in facing your fears and doing it.

Continue….

This isn’t sounding very spiritual yet. You’re like, “I could have had my mom tell me that.” I know, right? When spirituality is so practical, it’s kind of a buzz-kill. You’re like, “Aren’t I supposed to feel better and be blissed out and in love all the time?” Um. No. This isn’t a psychedelic ride. Spirituality is about learning to accept every moment in your life. It is the age old adage of “Resist nothing.” So much fear and pain is found in the resistance that we have to what is. And subsequently, if you’re seeking spirituality to find some different way of feeling, you’re most likely resisting and not-accepting what your life is currently. You’ve placed your happiness in a future moment, and that future moment does not exist. Only the present moment exists.

The Purpose of Intention and Walking a Spiritual Path

With all that said, it is important to put forth the intention to walk a spiritual path. What this means is that you’re learning how to unconditionally accept life, move from the space of your heart, and not take crap anymore. I hope you like the last one. I put it in there because sometimes people get the inaccurate view that they just become leaves that blow about in whatever wind current is moving in their lives. No. You know what you want. By accepting what is and falling in love with your life, you’ll find that there are certain things that matter to you. You’ll want to do them. And you’ll seek tools that help you clear away all the internal obstacles–the fears, resentments, and disappointments–that block you from those goals. This isn’t goal-setting in the old way. The old way says that you’ll be happy when you achieve the goal. The new way says that you’re happy with the journey towards the goal as much as the goal itself. I know. You’re like, “Please tell me something I don’t know already.”

But that’s the point. You know this already. You just haven’t seen it presented to you as spiritual before. Spirituality has been lost in dogma, robes, rituals, and other tasks for which people have forgotten the original purposes. The new teachers that are coming forth these days are telling you that all that stuff can be helpful only when you know what’s real. If you don’t really understand a ritual, you’re just going through a process. There’s no substance to it. There’s no essence. There’s no spirit. And reconnecting with spirit is essential to discover your path.

Tools for the Road Back to Yourself

You may feel frustrated. I’m not giving you the magic pill that you want. That’s not life. The illusion that there’s a magic pill to solve all of our problems is part of the problem. You have to let go of that idea. You’ll find that you have to let go of a lot of ideas. That’s far more important than acquiring new experiences. Experiences come and go; the inner still point is where the journey takes us.

To that end, many of us use techniques like the following to help stay clear:

• Meditation
• Breathwork
• Chanting
• Yoga
• Tantric or Taoist sexual practices to cultivate energy
• Journaling
• Reading spiritual texts
• Listening to spiritual teachers on YouTube (Gotta love YouTube: check out Mooji)

There’s plenty more. I’m just naming a few places to start. But they are not goals. You will not get anything from it. You’ll find yourself having less. You’ll find that you want to have less because so much stuff clutters the mind, body, heart, and soul. You’ll find that your spiritual path is much less cluttered, confusing, or difficult than you think. It starts and ends in the same place. And that place is you.

Buy Everyday Spirituality: Cultivating an Awakening on Amazon

Jim Tolles is a spiritual teacher, healer, and writer. He draws upon the beauty and truth of multiple spiritual and religious traditions and helps people come into their embodied awakening. He is the author of Everyday Spirituality: Cultivating an Awakening, which can be bought on Amazon.com. Jim blogs regularly at Spiritual Awakening Process.

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Guest Post by Ellen McMahill – Painter/Artist – Sacramento

Without an audience, a painting or any work of art has little meaning except to its creator.  Every painting I make is for an audience, because I am expressing my heart out into the world to inspire everyone who sees it to know that we are all souls on earth experiencing through our bodies and minds – the lives we have chosen to live.  To understand that we are all connected by love every moment is why Enlighten Your Day is an excellent site for my paintings to be seen.  Enlightenment is what we all seek even if we don’t realize that we are.Ellen McMahill – Bio/Artist Statement

“Each human being has a story. Each visual artist is telling a different story about a private perspective of the world made public through image form, color, and concept. I am the fruit of my history and the explorer of the present and future. With insight and compassion my history becomes the knowledge I use to imagine my art and the contribution I can make to the world through it…    Continue -

On a linear, ordinary level my life has been a labyrinth of experiences which seemed to distract me from being a visual artist at all. In fact, those experiences allowed me to understand the world and myself deeply enough to be able to create on canvas my vision of this life on earth.

I am now focused on the interaction between the artist’s inner world and the viewer’s perception of what the artist has created. As an artist what do I want to express and how will the viewer see the juxtaposition of images, colors, lines and symbols I paint on my canvases? What do people actually see and what do they pay attention to? How do the eye and mind experience a painting when everything we see is affected by past experience, when we so often look with eyes and mind that already have preconceived ideas about what we think we are seeing?

I find that my task is to draw the viewer into paying attention by presenting ideas in a way that asks the mind to think beyond our ordinary perceptions. I am expressing my inner world as I engage the audience in re-viewing their own inner world and possibly understanding themselves and others in a new way.”

All artwork links directly back to Ellen’s site and was shared with the consent from contributing artist – Ellen McMahill © (Copyright) All rights reserved

If you’re interested contacting Ellen or purchasing a painting or prints – visit Ellen’s website and Market Place.

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Guest Post by Papuna – Painter/Artist – Seattle WA

The hardest thing for human brain seems to be thinking “outside of the box”, and yet change is the cornerstone of life and all of nature. Fortunately another cornerstone is the contradiction. I just try to learn as much as I can about reality, discover more layers of our universe, since those layers get infinitely complex, like Mandelbrot Set describes it, “more we learn the less we know” proves right at every stage. Art like knowledge needs to be regarded as an end in itself, only then it’s real. It’s the journey that matters not the destination.

I think everyone has a natural talent for something, and in life happiness comes from trying to find that something and do it. I saw this quote on the wall somewhere, “we write not because we want to, but because we have to…” and same applies to my art, every piece started out as an image in my mind begging to come out somehow.

Papuna Bersenadze is originally from the country Georgia. He’s been living in Seattle area for almost eight years now, and finds writing about himself in third person rather strange. I’ve been painting since fall of 2008, no grand story there, just felt like oil paint one evening in Ellensburg, so I went out and got some and in a few months my first painting was born. I don’t have any official art education/training, I just do what feels right and that encompasses my method.

Since I’ve been painting… I like oil the most, but somewhat recently I’ve started to use acrylics more and more, because of the drying time… I still love the smell of oil paint, but it’s hard to stand the waiting for weeks for them to dry. But the oil paintings have their own allure somehow, and because of the time they take, each one is a bit more significant…

Photos of Paintings by Papuna Bersenadze © (Copyright) – Painter/Artist – Seattle WA

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“My paintings are the beauty of a single drop of water and startling complexity of the entire universe.” Amara Kopakova

Guest Post by Amara Kopakova - Artist & Painter – Seattle, WA

“Hello, Jonathan!

I am an artist based out of Seattle, Washington; a wanderer to the emerald city, from New York originally. In my travels I have seen the sunrise gleam on the Brooklyn Bridge, the cold regalia of Washington DC, the poverty of Georgia, colorful Pride in Oklahoma, the overt loveliness of the Ozarks, the barren glory of the mountains and plains, and the winding road leading up the west coast.

Statement from an Artist – Uploaded by AmaraK1 on Feb 15, 2011. To all galleries who have asked that I sum up my life and my work in a 50 word blurb.

“My paintings are the beauty of a single drop of water and startling complexity of the entire universe.  I am the culmination of all that has come before me, and all that exists now, and the shadows of the future, whatever it may hold for the microcosm, the macrocosm, and we creatures that exist between.”

I do not claim any purity of original creation – the concept is a fallacy. I do claim creativity, the ability to take the inspiration of sources consciously and subconsciously; and create something that visually encompasses the nexus of my sources.

Emerge and Obey by AmaraK1

One of my favorite parts of my art is when the painting is done.  It hangs around, being moved here and there and around.  As me, my bohemian roomies, and guests ponder the work, the inspirations apparent, scraps of song, quotes, tags, and titles are written around the back and side frames.

The painting has a life of its own, a birth, a life, and eventually, a death.  As long as it lives, going from home to home, place to place, to museums and attics, traveling and staying still, it will speak those names and songs and quotes when they’re forgotten.  The painting is a memory of the future.

You can see my work at Amara Art. Videos of performance painting with live bands and morphing process/emergence videos are on YouTube search  AmaraK1.  To get first looks at paintings as they are being created, you can follow me on twitter @AmaraArtist

Cheers!

Amara – @twitter Artist & Painter – Seattle, WA

Check out my new video featuring the process and morphing of two paintings: Emerge and OBEY!!

The Amara site of all things

Photos of Paintings by Amara Kopakova © (Copyright) All rights Reserved.

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Guest Post by Mia Alexander – Fine Artist. San Rafael, CA

Today is a great day for EYD. My open invitation for Artists to contribute their artwork has been resounding success. Emails have been flooding in since last night. My first email was from Mia Alexander.  Mia: “I am a local bay area Fine Artist/Photographer and Calligrapher. I am also a vocalist, spoken word artist (poet), a spiritualist and writer with a profound desire to shed and spread enlightenment throughout the planet, so your site resonated deeply with me. You can see some of my art, calligraphy and photography at my online gallery.”

Mia’s Art, photos and Calligraphy immediately sparked my imagination as I delved into her online gallery. Her work with the Reggae and World Beat music caught my eye right away. She has original photos and prints for sale of legends like Ziggy Marley, Burning Spear, and Bunny Wailer on display. All I can say about that is – Wow. The Artwork that enlightened my day the most was Mia’s amazing calligraphy. Her Calligraphy renditions of Harmony and OM The Sacred is true artistic Zen. I feel both privileged and grateful to be able to start a new chapter in the evolution of EYD with her work. All photos are copyrighted by Mia Alexander and link directly to Mia’s Gallery.

“Mia studied calligraphy with several masters (of Japanese, Chinese, Tibetan, Sanskrit, etc.) on the west coast, and was hooked after brushing her first Ichi (one stroke of the brush) and Enso (one uninterrupted circle) after years of study. She exhibits in galleries all over the bay area and teaches individual calligraphy lessons.”

Quoted from Mia Alexander Photography and Fine Art – Continue

Mia Alexander Bio:

“Mia fell in love with the craft of photography while standing in a playground in Europe observing a friend’s three children at play. She noted that each time they moved and changed positions, it was another opportunity for framing a great shot, vertically or horizontally. She recognized that photography for her meant the careful selection of what she terms, individual and isolated ‘rectangles of reality’ frozen forever in time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Iris Dancing – flwr iris wht org pur lil thr copyright mia alexander photos

 

“Mia’s work has been exhibited on both US coasts, at art galleries in New York and California. She enjoys the fascinating light and excellent location spots for which the bay area is famous. Professionally, she shoots weddings, portraiture, models portfolios, real estate, events, cd jackets, corporate, portraiture, publicity shots for musicians and artists, etc. For stock work she shoots landscapes, seascapes, dancers and more.”

If you would like to see more of Mia’s photos visit her Online Gallery. You can also check out more of her Calligraphy on Calligraphics. Thanks Mia for sharing some of your amazing Photos and Calligraphy on EYD. I consider your email last night a good omen… Peace    Jonathan

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As EnlightenYourDay.com enters its fourth year of publication, I decided to expand my horizons and issue an open invitation to Artists, writers, and photographers who would like to contribute and share their work on EYD. What I’m looking for is Art, Photos, or Articles that will spark my readers imagination, enlighten their minds and inspire their dreams.

Open Invitation to Enlightened Artists, Photographers and Writers to contribute Artwork, publications, or Events. To Contribute visit my New Contribute Art Page and send me a message.

The following Artists are invited to contribute their Artwork, upcoming events or relevant News:

Open invitation to Writers and Bloggers:

– Write a guest post on a suitable topic for Enlighten Your Day and it will be shared with over 100,000 unique monthly visitors and over thousands of email subscribers and social media enthusiasts.

Open invitation to Photographers:

– Introduce a new audience to your work and share a photo blog post with some enlightening or inspiring pictures. A minimum of 10 photos are needed for each post. All contributed photos will be credited to you and will link back directly to the original source on your website or blog.

Open invitation to Visual Artists:

– You can write a quick introduction about your work or share information regarding an upcoming art show. The more pictures of your art work the better.

Open invitation for Book Reviews:

– If you’ve recently published a book that you think my readers would enjoy, drop me a message below and I would be happy to discuss writing a post or review about it for you. Note: it must be related to theme of EnlightenYourday.com to be considered for publication.

Open invitation to Environmentalists:

– If you have an upcoming project or information you would like to share about protecting the environment, increasing awareness, or thinking green. Please use the Contribute Art page and send a quick message. Enlighten Your Day is published out of Vancouver and is dedicated to protecting the environment and thinking green.

Open invitation to Self-help Gurus:

– Let’s help each other… Drop me a message with your thoughts

The Benefits of Contributing your Artwork:

Link Love:

– I’ll be sure to share a link to your blog or website and encourage my readers to check it out. You can also share links to your social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to help increase your followers.

Expand your Audience and Readership:

– You can introduce yourself to thousands of new readers who have a passion for Art, happiness, and enlightened philosophy. Whether you’re just beginning or an established professional, you will benefit from EnlightenYourDay’s over 100,000 unique visitors per month. Your post will also be shared with over 1100+ email subscribers and 3000+ Social Media enthusiasts. In addition, my posts often go viral on Facebook or Stumbleupon and have the ability to send you lots of new subscribers or buyers.

Increase your Page Rank and get your Art on Page 1 of Google:

– Yes I get on Page one of Google. Don’t believe me? Google ‘Quotes from the Alchemist’ and see it for yourself. I will make sure that your article or photo blog is properly Search Engine Optimized for maximum exposure. Moreover, feel free to add lots of links to your post that will redirect traffic to your site and increase your page rank.

Submission Guidelines:

Send me a quick message and I will respond promptly. If you have a link or 2 to your Artwork online – please include it. And of course some information about what you would like to share.

For Safety reasons, EYD currently doesn’t allow UPLOADING of Photos or Data at this time. We can exchange info and data via email.

Rule 1) Is your Artwork relevant to the Theme of Enlighten Your Day?

E.Y.D is committed to sharing what inspires the imagination, quickens the heart and enlightens the Soul.  This blog is a gentle reminder to self, a guidepost, and umbrella.  A Cybersphere portal sharing Simple Enlightenment & Beauty: Hoping 2 Inspire Peaceful Actions & Zen filled Days. Learn Valuable Lessons. Find Social Media friendly Laughs, Creativity, & Fun.

Rule 2)   “In Art – their aren’t supposed to be any rules.” Banksy

Suggestion 1) I like to think that people come to my blog to see Artistic Beauty, Enlighten their thoughts, Find Inspiration and ultimate get a little 5 minute refresher about ALL THINGS GOOD.

Suggestion 2) Every Artist has a story to tell. What is your Art all about? How has being an Artist brought joy, peace, love, or Spiritual enlightenment into your life? What valuable lessons have you learned on your path to becoming an Artist? Why do you love it? What is your creative process and why? What or who inspires you? Can you make my audience smile, learn, and share? Let’s find out

Suggestion 3) I love great Quotes. I would like each guest post to start with a favorite quote from the contributing artist. It can be your favorite, or one that you think is relevant to the work you’re sharing.

Suggestion 4) If your submitting articles or essays – Please be sure that the content is original and has NOT BEEN ALREADY PUBLISHED ONLINE.

Suggestion 5) Try to engage my readers to comment by asking them a question.

Suggestion 6) I would like posts from visual Artist, Painter, Calligrapher, or Photographer to have a minimum of 10 pictures to a maximum of 25.

Sample Posts:

Here are three great Examples of what I am looking for…. Thanks for considering contributing your Artwork on EYD.

A Desire to Spread Enlightenment by Mia Alexander

Statement from an Artist by Amara

Art needs to be regarded as an end in itself

Contribute Art Page or Contact

Contribute Articles, photos, and Art that sparks the imagination or enlightens the mind. Please be sure that all material is relevant to my audience and has a positive impact on my readership. Feel free to drop me a question or inquiry. To Contribute visit my New Contribute Art Page and send me a message.

Thank you and Kindest Regards,

Jonathan

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The Zen of Kung Fu Panda | Kung Fu Panda 2 Movie Quotes

“Now… The most important time is now…” Soothsayer

“Your story may not have such a happy beginning, but that doesn’t make you who you are, it is the rest of your story, who you choose to be…       …So who are you Panda?” Soothsayer

“Anything is possible when you have inner peace.” Shifu

“Once I realized the problem was not you but within me. I found inner peace and was able to harness the flow of the universe.” Shifu – Kung Fu Panda 2 quote

Lord Shen: “How did you find peace? I took away your parents, everything, I scarred you for life.”

Kung Fu Panda: See that’s the thing Shen, scars heal,

Shen: No they don’t… wounds heal.

Kung Fu Panda: Oh yah… what do scars do? They fade I guess.

Lord Shen: I don’t care what scars do…

Kung Fu Panda:  “You should Shen.  You got to let go of the stuff from past – because it just doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters is what you choose to be now.”

Kung Fu Panda 1 Movie Quotes:

Po: “Maybe I should just quit and go back to making noodles.”

Oogway: “Quit, don’t quit? Noodles, don’t noodles? You are too concerned about what was and what will be. There is a saying: yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the “present.”

Oogway: My friend, the panda will never fulfill his destiny, nor you yours until you let go of the illusion of control.

Shifu: Illusion?

Oogway: Yes.

[points at peach tree]

Oogway: Look at this tree, Shifu: I cannot make it blossom when it suits me nor make it bear fruit before its time.

Shifu: But there are things we *can* control: I can control when the fruit will fall, I can control where to plant the seed: that is no illusion, Master!

Oogway: Ah, yes. But no matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.

Shifu: But a peach cannot defeat Tai Lung!

Oogway: Maybe it can, if you are willing to guide, to nurture it, to believe in it.

Shifu: But how? How? I need your help, master.

Oogway: No, you just need to believe. Promise me, Shifu, promise me you will believe.”

Mr. Ping: “The secret ingredient is… nothing!

Po: Huh?

Mr. Ping: You heard me. Nothing! There is no secret ingredient.

Po: Wait, wait… it’s just plain old noodle soup? You don’t add some kind of special sauce or something?

Mr. Ping: Don’t have to. To make something special you just have to believe it’s special.

[Po looks at the scroll again, and sees his reflection in it]

Po: There is no secret ingredient.”

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