Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves. ~Dale Carnegie
I am humbled by the followers of my blog, and the fans of my Face Book art page--Art of Maxie Lee, some whom I have not met face to face. It still surprises me that people are interested. I was reflecting today how I got started in writing on the web. About 12 years ago I joined an online self-help email group. The first time I posted a share to that group I was so tense that my heart raced, as if I was actually standing in front of that goup in person. Over time sharing in this group became easier and I became good at it, often sharing in their chat room. Out of that forum came a smaller gratitude group where I share every day things I am grateful for--something I have been doing for about 8 years--maybe more, I can't remember. I have discovered that I have this urge to entertain-- I certainly wouldn't want my shares to be boring-- and I have used the daily writings to tell stories and to attempt to make people laugh. I confess I can be the class clown. I have become quite comfortable with online writing, but the best thing is that I have formed beautiful friendships. So writing a blog has been natural and easy and I am comfortable most of the time in posting it where others can read. Thank y'all for reading my thoughts and responding to them.
This painting, Summer Gate, is done on a radiant heating panel, which actually heats the room. It is done in acrylic and was a commission. It is rather a flight of fancy but it makes me smile. The garden gate is in front of a real home in my town, I took pictures a few of years ago and I have used the fence in a couple of paintings. The gate still exists but something happened to the roses, and it is sadly plain now. I confess I borrowed the bird house from a Fred Swan picture. Sorry Fred.
