20/20

6 x 8, oil on canvas

"Literature is personal,

always one man's vision of the world,

one man's experience,

and it can only be popular when men are ready

to welcome the vision of others."

W. B. Yeats

dawn's early light

12 x 12, oil on canvas

"The borderlessness of our world is most evident in wild places.

Nature spreads herself in all manner of variety and helps us to grasp her unity.

The tumbling tumbleweed knows no borders...

By honouring our world we speak to the universality of our mother earth."

Robert Genn

Holding Hearts and Hands

16 x 20, oil on linen

If pressed to choose a favorite subject to paint, I would have to say that portraying children, who are busy exploring their world and just being themselves, would be at the top of my list. Pondering other "faye-vorites" inspired the whimsical list below...

A frosting of fancy pearls,

and flip-flops on hardwood floors.

a fireplace with flames aglow,

the soft caress of fleecy fabrics, and a fluffy poodle.

Music, compliments of a forever flawless Jagger,

and dreams of a festive, fabulous Italia.

a fragrant fog of fresh limon,

fleur de lis,

french-toast and

fancy chocolate strawberries with tea.

fresh floating flowers and fields of pink peony,

flutes, fireflies, and tiny footprints,

fairy-tales and fantastic sunsets all painterly.

Twinkling lights, fuzzy photographs and

four cherished loves added to my "five-fambily"

Fair of face,

February's child is humbled

by figure eights

filled with grace.

fcp

Here's hoping you too find ways to celebrate all your favorite things. A great place to start can be found in Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts". The author, a young mother of six, is a photographer and gifted "painter of words" that inspire and uplift.

explore, imagine and dream...

"Lila"

12 x 16

Author Peggy Orenstein writes that "Children are naturally driven to understand their world. They live by that incessant creativity-inspiring "why? Why does the grass grow? Why is the sky blue? Why can't I fly? and to answer these questions, they experiment, imagine and explore. Their minds are free to wander and wonder." And this remains true until they enter school. Once they become first or second graders, they begin to compare their work with that of their peers when Ms. Orenstein points out that "Suddenly there are right and wrong answers. Expressing their own tentative understanding of an idea becomes less important than figuring out what the teacher makes of it" and the rigors of school replace the why questions with "what do you want me to do and how do you want me to do it?"

If you broach this topic with adults, you will discover that almost all of us have a story to share where this truth played out in our own lives. As children we asked WHY? As adults, parents, grandparents, caregivers and teachers, we are beginning to ask other questions.

WHO will be at the forefront of discovering new paths? WHAT will future classrooms look like as we dare to imagine better solutions? WHAT innovative approaches to learning can we implement now? HOW can we honor creativity and wonder? HOW can we provide a nurturing environment that encourages experimenting, imagining and exploring, so all minds are free to wander and wonder?