I’ve been working in watercolors this week. My oils I find flat these days. No real direction or passion. I thought it would be good to change medium. Hoping that it would stimulate something inside of me.

There should be a drug for after the holiday season. Something to soften the jolt of reality that hits you January 2^nd. For one month between Thanksgiving until December 25^th one loses all sense of reality, thinking only of gifts to put the smiles on children’s face and approval from smileless family members. 

This year was the first in many that I found I was happy to live in my decorations, surrounded by the soft glow after the lights went out. I found myself many nights, sitting on my couch with all the house lights out except the Christmas tree. It gave me great joy to feel the twinkling of colors. I must be fair and give credit to Andrea Brocelli for filling my day with wonderful Christmas carols.

It was different this year or maybe I was different. I allowed fun to join me during this season. I spent only what I could afford and felt no guilt. Amazingly, my gifts seemed to be more loved than in previous years. I believe we all had less expectations. Such a good thing.

But back to January 2^nd.  2009 is gone now.  As always I find myself walking through the past year with a magnifying glass pressed up against each life event. So much happened to and in me in 2009. A trip to Perth, Australia to see my son and family. Wonderful. Jessy buying my painting “Ladder” and completely changing her life because of it. She became a great friend and manager of my artwork. She sent me a ticket to visit her in Beijing, China, has set up two art shows for me in April of 2010. That seemed a long ways away in August of 2009, but is now quickly approaching. My most beloved watercolor “Ladies Night Out” destroyed for the insurance money by the gallery owner where it was hanging. I even had a scammer try and pass along forged traveler’s checks in exchange for my watercolor painting “Light House”.

Yin and Yang. Balance. It’s all there in my examination of 2009. I can’t leave out the usual family drama’s and happy moments. I failed in my 2009 resolution. I complained of the heat the entire summer. I won’t make that mistake again. No new year’s resolutions for 2010.

Except one. I’ve decided I’m going to be rich. It would seem a perfect time for this since I have never gotten my timing right yet. Everyone else is feeling quite poor these days so I thought now might be the perfect time to become rich. I want it to be from my art. I have to be specific about this. I don’t want to become rich due to someone else’s bad fortune. So I will become rich from selling all of my inventory of art works in 2010. And I’ve decided that I will spend my January 2^nd, 2011 on a faraway beach where I can quietly examine the previous year with my toes digging into the sand.