Friday, April 10, 2015

Spring Cleaning (Art Sale!)

In my pre-Cowgirl days, regularly I would toss my bike into the back of my pick-up truck (yes, truly a lifetime and two cars ago) and head over to an amazing trail that afforded me 16, 25, and 40 mile riding options. Heading out, the trail seemed flat but slowly gains altitude until I hit a nice patch of hills that would take me up and down and up and down through wooded areas and rolling farmlands. I carried snacks to fortify me and to celebrate the turning around point, although the longer trek had an ice cream shop as its incentive for schlepping over more hills. But the real treat was the return ride with its gradual decline which meant long stretches of coasting, sitting upright and hands off handle bars to savor the view and the exhilaration of cool air washing over sweaty skin and tired muscles. 

It's been years - no, more than a decade! - since I rode that trail, yet it came to mind as I tried to explain to a friend how I am feeling right now after sloughing through a series of emotional hills since my mother died.  Some weeks things seemed smooth-ish although there still was the sense of effort, the need to keep peddling, keep moving. Then came a number of steep hills: all the firsts one goes through in the initial year of mourning. My first birthday without my mother; first Thanksgiving, Christmas, her birthday and now Easter. I actually have traversed much of the steepest terrain with Mother's Day as the last big hurdle. 




So right now, I feel like I am in the coasting section... the fast flying over stretches of time and geography ... moments of pure exuberance as I engage with renewed enthusiasm in favorite creative practices.  It helps that Spring is ushering in gentle and cleansing rains, greening the landscape around me while the birds add their raucous soundtrack to my days. I've been Spring cleaning while whistling a happy tune and as I pause to catch my breath, I see a number of old friends needing new homes.




I literally have paintings stacked against the walls in my home. (I once joked after watching a documentary on the painter Alice Neel whose New York apartment held corridors of canvases 2 to 3 pictures deep that this would be Cowgirl's inheritance) Many paintings have stood by my fireplace, warming my heart and hearth throughout the previous seasons.  It is time for them to find good homes.

Here then is my blog-exhibit: Spring Cleaning!

Each piece available for adoption purchase has a link to its own page (click on the title) with full information on size, materials, and price.  If you are interested in giving a painting a good home (ahem, purchasing a piece), just leave me a comment on the appropriate page or send me an email and I will make arrangements for payment and calculate shipping cost. 

Email: Lishofmann88(at)gmail(dot)com)  
Shipping to U.S. destinations will range in price from around $7 for small pieces to $10 for the larger ones.


Baby Ganesha

xoxo (Girl 1)

xoxo (Girl 2)

Buck's Magic


Hopeful (Fox and Bird)


Mermaid


Rooted (Rabbit)


Believe & Receive

Seeing all of these friends from the past year arranged in one space, I get a little weepy thinking about the journey they have taken me on.  I know it is time to release them, to share their magic with others.  They have been part of the uphill journey; now it is time to let them (and myself) enjoy a stretch of coasting, a period of celebration and release.    


4 comments:

  1. Lis,
    We seem to have shared bond of being motherless daughters this year. I have gotten through all the holidays, but I have to say this Easter was even harder than the first one. Possibly because I put my home of 41 years up for sale in March and cleaned out 41 years of memories. The art oracle cards you sent have given me the Release card so many times I have thought about removing it from the deck. Every time I say "I 've got it" but I guess the universe says I have to be reminded. Enjoy this stretch of coasting---breathe deep and embrace the weepy days.

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    1. Oh yes, how well I know the surprise of grief ambushing me and my confidence in having really released, really let go only to be shown another layer, a deeper holding requiring me to relax my grip. Yes, the coasting IS lovely and yet I know the place to be is in the center of the wheel aware of the up turn and the down turn. It's amazing the way memories become woven into the most common of objects? Clearing out 41 years of living and memory making, oh that IS a Herculean task and lots of permission granted for all that is required in doing that work. Release indeed! Oh, I pull that card frequently myself ... lots of snake energy for me ... I wonder how many times can I shed my skin? Sending you love and deep breaths as well xo

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  2. Release and letting go are so very important. You keep continuing on your journey. I know that each piece will find a wonderful home. xoxo

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  3. The pangs go grief seem to always be there, suddenly catching one unaware. However, it does become somewhat easier to coast and know my turn will come in time as well.

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