The Case for Beauty

A recording I made in the swirl of uncertainty that so many of us humans are feeling at this time.  Speaking for myself - I'm compelled to know - to understand, to be able to predict what will happen.  It's a comfort.  In this episode I take a look at the flip side - the wisdom in being in the place of "I don't know."I reference a journal post from September of 2016.  You can read what  wrote here:https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/july-26-2016-wisdom-not-knowing/ICara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

I just discovered a recording I made - and then in the swirl of my life this past summer, I completely forgotten about.  It was late one night and I was in the car with the dog, while waiting at the emergency. I was prompted to share it here after reading a Facebook post from my dear friend Betsy Graziani Fasbinder about the lifecycle of butterflies. Just before recording I read about an aspect of this creature's makeup that I found fascinating - and applicable to human unfolding:  imaginal cells.  This episode stands on its own without a journal post on my website.  However, I came across one whose ideas are adjacent to those I talk about here.  It seems nature has similar processes that impact life and life cycles.  "Destruction Before Creation" can be read here:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/june-28-2016-destruction-creation.Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

Recorded early one morning while on vacation at the end of a supercharged summer, sitting on the shores of Lake Tahoe.  A rare moment of solitude on vacation, shared with you, including reflections on my experience of committing to paint every day the summer of 2024. In this episode I refer to a post, written at the end of 2016, when I shared my thoughts at end of a year-long commitment to paint.  You can read it here: https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/dev/life-stories/december-27-2016-futureless-moment/.You can see the sketchy, loose paintings that accompanied me the late evenings many nights this summer, online here:https://www.facebook.com/cara.brown.75033Orhttps://www.facebook.com/LifeinFullColorOrOn Instagram: fullcolorcara.Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

A short-ish episode to update you on how my 92 Days of Watercolor are going, amidst a life that suddenly became very full of everything else besides art. While recording the previous episode I was inspired to spontaneously make a commitment to paint every day the summer of 2024 - and invite others to join me.  Check it out on my Facebook pages:  Cara Brown and Life in Full Color - join the Facebook Group:  92 Days of Watercolor if you like too.  I'm also on Instagram: fullcolorcara.Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

In this episode I share some fresh thoughts about something that I was left wondering about at the time I was writing my online journal every week.  Something came to me early one morning that I jumped out of bed to share.  It's the interplay and intersection between two ideas - creative confidence and commitment.  While recording I was inspired to spontaneously make a commitment to paint every day the summer of 2024 - and invite others to join me.  Check it out on my Facebook pages:  Cara Brown and Life in Full Color - and on Instagram: fullcolorcaraCara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

Another episode exploring the challenge of time and attention for our creative work in our lives.  I take the "both-and" point of view in debates.  We do need to corral ourselves to get to our studios, *and* there are natural rhythms that directs all of life on earth.  What if we learn to really pay attention to ourselves and follow our inner direction?This eposide was inspired by a post that I published under the title "Trusting your own rhythm"  on March 1, 2017, which is here: "https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/march-1-2017-trusting-rhythm/" if you'd like to read what I wrote, and see the chart I made of my productivity!Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

This is a calendar time-specific episode, though the ideas are applicable for any time in life.  I wrote a journal entry in the spring of 2016 when I was in a place of sorrow that coinsided with Holy Week - between Palm Sunday and Easter.  I drew upon something I'd learned about a day that isn't talked about - Easter Saturday - for solace and for the reminder, the permission to honor my time of grief.   Having a creative practice is a form of the light of love that can transform our suffering.  My original writing, and a the painting I had just finished that was meaningful for me - to this time - can be found here:  https://https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/march-22-2016-easter-saturday.Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

What is beauty - how is it part of life on earth?  And most importantly what is its impact on us - and does it matter?  These are the questions I ponder and muse upon in this episode.  The story of the restorative weekend that I told  in this epsode  came from this post: https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/my-art-and-process/august-16-2016-just-make-beauty.  It's where you can see a little photo collage in bright summer color - and read the whole story.  Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

I took inspiration from something that Martha Graham famously said.  Humans can be blessed by a certain unrest, by an inner disturbance, of sorts, that causes us to take action to make stuff happen in the world.  It had me clean up my studio, and it keeps me making one new piece of art after the next.  It also causes us to do all kinds of things, like tending to some aspect of brokenness in our beautiful world.   This eposide was inspired by a post that I published under the title "Blessed Unrest"  on September 27, 2017, which is here: https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/september-27-2017-blessed-unrest/,  if you'd like to read what I wrote and see a photo of my cleaned-up home studio.Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

I'm here to support and encourage each of us to follow our own breadcrumbs towards our art.  There are strong opinions about whether or not making art based on photos ought to be done.  As with all aspects of art-making whether or not to use photos is up to each of us.  This eposide was inspired by a post that I published under the title "Photos or life - we get to decide"  on February 9, 2016, which is here: https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/february-9-2016-photos-life-get-decide,  if you'd like to read what I wrote and see some photos that give a peek into my Photoshop editing process.It was also inspired by a journal entry at the same time as I recorded this episode, where I show a few of my early paintings along with their reference images. https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/my-art-and-process/paintings-and-the-images-they-came-out-of-november-14-2023Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.