February is a Time to Spend With Loved Ones

If I could give you a gift for February it would be 'Time to Spend With Loved Ones'.

​I've never really cared much for Valentine's Day so this month's theme might seem a little hypocritical. However, this has been on my mind over the past few months for two reasons.

Switzerland, 2013

One. I often think about and talk about my grandparents with my children. They passed away quite some time before my kids were born and I wish they could have known them. I want them to know their history and where they come from. I want them to learn how they might be like them. Just before the holidays, I found some video recordings of my grandparents just a few years before they passed away. It was from a family reunion that I wasn't able to attend, the last one that we had before my grandmother passed away. As I watched them and listened to their voices, it brought back so many memories. I savored listening to it! Listening to them tell stories and listening to them advise the members of the family who were present to hear them in person was beautiful. It was about an hour long in total, and I was so sad when it ended.

I cried. I miss them and think about them often. I think about how something about their presence made everything feel right in the world. In the 10+ years since they have been gone, I wish I could still go to them for advice, to hear them laugh, to be in their home, and to feel the warmth that was there.

While I will always wish that I had more time with them, I'm also grateful for what time I had. I was very close to my mother's parents growing up.

My grandmother Martha is on the far right

Two. My husband's biological mother is in a nursing home in another state. At one time we lived close to her and would try to visit as often as we could. After we moved my husband and his siblings wanted her closer to everyone else in Idaho but we couldn't find an acceptable care center nearby for her condition. We chose to keep her where she was. We get to visit her about twice a year now, sometimes my husband can go visit more often, but we usually go around the holidays and once in the summer.

This year when we went to visit her I was so grateful for the staff that take care of her. Our time there is always so short, yet everyone is so friendly and helpful and I do feel like they care. They go out of their way to help everyone feel comfortable. I feel that people who work in healthcare situations have a heart of gold. It must be such a hard job and yet, we are so grateful that they are there to take care of our mother because we can't.

I often wonder if I'm taking the time to spend with those that I love daily. Do I show them that I care? Am I really present when I am with them?

From an artistic standpoint, what does spending time with loved ones have to do with art?

More than we realize.

​Connection is really why we make art. We are connecting ideas, feelings, and people from different backgrounds. It is a form of communication with the senses, which I believe is unique and beautiful. Sharing our deeper feelings, as hard and bold as it may seem, is really what connects us as humans.

When I connect to those around me, the people I know well and maybe the people that I don't, I'm always inspired by the beautiful feelings that can be shared in a simple conversation. When I connect with others I connect to something deeper within myself. Feelings, emotions, senses. All of these play a vital role in creating art, no matter the style.

Throughout this month I will continue to share ideas and thoughts about this connection and how important it is in life and your art practice.

We need to connect. We need to be present. We need each other in every different phase of our lives.

It's a Gift to Spend Time with Loved Ones.