This photo is from above my sink in my studio. I made the “Trust” sign at least 25 years ago. It has been prominently displayed in my studio work place ever since. It reminds me to trust my work, my art, my self. It reminds me not to lose faith or heart in what I am doing as an artist and as a human. I hate to admit it but there are times when I do lose heart and worry about money and how to keep it flowing and not let it affect my work. There have been times when I go into contraction and fear around the lack of sales and how I will pay the bills much less buy that new press I want. I wish money wasn’t part of the exchange and I wish it wasn’t how we measure success in our society. It does get in my creative way when I feel that I have to justify myself as an artist with respect to how much money I am bringing in. I do not have the answers and I don’t know how it will all work out. I can only know where I am in this present moment and I choose to be in trust.
Along with the “Trust” sign is the “Art is Always Worth it”. This I added to the wall about 10 years ago. I don’t think of this sign in terms of money worth. I think of it as, no matter what my circumstances or my state of affairs, doing my art is of utmost importance. Art is always worth it even though I cannot always see or know the effect my art has in the world and whatever the effect or affect, this cannot be measured monetarily. It comes back to trust.

I have the “Caution Mind Your Head” because when I am in my head I am trying to know what I can’t know. I am trying to figure it all out. And when I can’t figure it out I go into worry and I back track and start doing the things the way I have always done them because this is what I know but this doesn’t work anymore because this is a new day with new challenges.

Yesterday’s solutions do not fix today’s problems. My heart just isn’t in doing something the old same way. So I try to mind my head and stay in my heart and breathe and trust. Sometimes doing all this is a lot of work just to keep myself clear enough to be an artist and allow what I am reaching for, to reach for me. This is one of the magical things about art making. When I am in trust with my work, my art, and my self, my creativity is unstoppable and alive with potential and purpose.  When I am doing my art I am the best that I can be.

The “I Taught My Pet Monkey” card speaks for itself.
I just learned that EARTH without ART is,    Eh?