A Matter of Perspective

     It's been a hot minute since I have written a blog post. I still want to share the last of my fan art project from last year at some point, but I have found something very inspiring that I want to share right now as a dear friend of mine is off on a new adventure.

    Midlife can be magical. It can be a time of exploring new options, making new friends, and reconnecting with pals from the past. 

It can also be stressful due to health changes that occur during that time frame -hello midlife crisis and menopause. We often times find ourselves having to help our older loved ones as they face their own age related health issues, some severe. There can also be the challenges of having settled into a career and then finding it pulled out from under you due to downsizing, changing sales landscapes, and the lingering aftereffects of a worldwide pandemic.

Whatever the reasons, it can be a time of reflection, change, and upheaval. Sometimes it helps to look outside of our usual viewpoint, to make changes-such as one of the hardest changes of all-a change of our perspective.

I have recently had the privilege of reconnecting with a dear friend from my high school days, Valerie--owner of Valerie Sue Creations. She has found herself in interesting territory as she starts her creative journey, exploring her talents for poured painting art, marketing, and entrepreneurship.

I think one of Valerie’s own paintings best illustrates the point of how changing our viewpoint or perspective can bring about positive growth and change. When she first created the painting it didn't seem too special to her and then she turned it around look at it from a different perspective. It was then she saw the emergence of a butterfly and that changed how she felt about this art piece. It is such a great truth for us to hold onto, a change of perspective can be just what we need.

    Please enjoy a brief interview with Valerie as she explains her new journey-how it emerges from her past and is leading to a fulfilling present and future. Please also enjoy the two perspectives on her artwork at the end of this essay. Please also make note of events Valerie will be at this year-where you can meet and speak with her and buy original artwork. A link to Valerie's website is at the end of this post.

Valerie--in her own words:

I am a fluid artist who does original art work, wearable artwork and functional artwork.

 

How did you learn about fluid art?

I was immediately intrigued when I happened upon a video of paint pouring/fluid art. In 2020 I started watching paint pouring YouTube videos. I found it very soothing to watch – and addictive! I loved watching the movement and energy of the colors. It seemed almost magical how lines of paint or puddles of paint quickly transformed into something beautiful!

Gradually I started purchasing some of the supplies, but I didn’t make the time to try it for myself. Honestly, I suspect I was reluctant to try because I was afraid of finding out I couldn't achieve the same stunning outcomes as others.

At the beginning of 2023 I found out that my position at the company I had been at for 24 years would be done at the end of the year. The company decided to no longer provide the service that I supported. I was asked stay on with the company until the end of the year. That year was quite unique as I transitioned from a hectic workload to a more relaxed workload since we were no longer pursuing and onboarding new clients.

During this time, I had the privilege of meeting several people who absolutely loved whatever it was they were doing. I even met an 80-year-old gentleman who was getting cancer treatment and couldn’t wait to get back to work. He said that when you love what you’re doing, it isn’t a job. My jealousy kicked in and made me want the same thing. I chose to break out of my comfort zone and aim for a job that I love. Rather intimidating goal when I had no clue what it was that I loved to do!

My mind was spinning with all of the looming unknowns and endless possibilities.  I finally started exploring paint pouring to quiet my mind. Once I tried it, I was hooked! It also proved to be a clue to what it was that I loved to do.

 

How does this expression of your artistic endeavors fit in with other art forms you practice?

Honestly, I'm amazed that I enjoy fluid art now, considering I used to not be a fan of abstract art and couldn't really grasp it. I liked things clearly defined and easily understood. In life, I used to be very black or white, no in between. But now I’m just thrilled we live in a colorful world! Things aren’t nearly as easily defined as I once thought they were. I think my taste in art reflects this transition.

In the past, I’ve dabbled in oil painting and acrylic art painting. The first painting class I went to was with you (Terri). It wasn’t something I would have pursued on my own, but I was up for going with someone else. Terri’s excitement for trying it was enough to get me to try it.

I’ve never been good with “simple” so the first picture I choose to paint was a ridiculously complex one to start with. It took forever to finish. Partly because it was a lot for someone new to painting to do. And partly because I was shocked that I could do it (with LOTS of help from the instructor) and I was concerned about messing it up. So, I stalled working on it. I finally finished it on the last day of the year 2004 because I didn’t want it to extend into another year!

I can be a very analytical thinker, so I never really thought of myself as artistic. I’ve explored different types of creative activities throughout the years such as pottery classes, stained glass, painting parties, etc. In my role as a data analyst, I enjoy tapping into my creative side by building new spreadsheets to tackle issues, designing fresh charts and graphics to present customer data in a user-friendly manner, and creating ways to enhance our processes. When the data analyst position ended and I took time to explore, the creative side of me blossomed! I suspect it will be an ongoing balancing act between the two for me.

I enjoyed oil painting, but there was always the pressure for it to match the expectation, which wasn’t enjoyable to me. But with fluid art, my approach is totally different. Rather than the goal of painting a picture of an apple, it’s now an exploration of colors and techniques with general ideas of what the results will be rather than a specific expectation to achieve. For one painting, an abstract butterfly emerged quite unexpectedly!

There’s also the element that paint pouring results are much faster for than the realistic type of oil painting. It takes a lot of time and patience to paint the layers and details in oil painting. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll try a more abstract oil painting and find out that I enjoy that as well.

 

What are your hopes for your art as well as for your business?

Valerie Sue Creations allows me to combine my passions: fluid art painting, designing, fashion, and shopping all in one place. I am having so much fun designing products with some of my paintings on them! I'm really enjoying the process of seeing my artwork come to life in a new way.

My goal is to create artwork and products that brings me joy during the creative process and I hope my they bring joy to those who view or use them.

I'm constantly developing my creative style, aiming to establish a distinctive and recognizable signature that resonates with people.

I plan to start a YouTube channel featuring amazing fluid art videos. I hope it will become even more captivating as I develop my own distinctive style.

 

Have you ever thought about teaching classes?

YES! I love to teach so the idea of combining that with fluid art excites me. I recently gathered some friends to demonstrate how to create fluid art, and we had an amazing time together!

Right now, I'm working on uploading my original artwork onto my website. The project that’s next after that is to start offering classes or paint pouring parties.

 

What is your current schedule for in person sales events?

I’m currently working on wearable and functional art for upcoming events. I’ll have original artwork, coasters, wine glasses, jewelry, wine totes, and phone cases available for purchase. The upcoming events are:

Summer Art Market at the Rotary Club Pavilion in Rockford, Saturday 8/3/2024

Holiday Market 11/9/2024 at Bella vista Church, 5100 Belding Rd NE, Rockford MI

Valerie Sue Creations

 

Permission to Thrive

     What do you need to give yourself permission to do in order to thrive? What changes do you need to make so that you can feel affirmed and capable and move ahead?

    This sweet hibiscus had a few blooms when I brought it home from the store, then nothing for weeks and weeks and weeks. Finally, I said to myself and her, that it was okay with me if she never bloomed again. Her leaves were a lovely shade of green and that in itself was enough beauty. 

    This allowed me to enjoy her as she is and to focus on her care right where she is at. I kept watering her and used the plant food I bought. 

    And then one day, when she was able, she bloomed. She has the biggest blossoms I have ever seen on one of my hibiscus plants. Ever. Once I gave her permission to just be, it freed both her and me.

    Then I realized, I need to give that same grace to myself. I need to accept that it is okay to change as I go, that some goals need to be altered, as life and circumstances are so changeable. Changing your plan or changing your mind does not mean you have failed. It means you realize you need to make changes in order to continue to learn and grow, to truly thrive.

Tripping Down Memory Lane, Part 2

     Years ago, I took my dad on a little adventure just before Father's Day. It was part of my gift to him that year. We drove up to Croton Dam area near Newaygo and we explored the property that his grandparents and later his parents owned.

    It was a fun trip, as he was never one to shy away from nosing about. No one was at the remodeled cottage, so we walked right up to the windows and peered inside. We walked all around the property. He told me stories about why there was a chunk still missing out of the concrete steps leading up to the back door. It was him, in 1951. His older brother had built a car from scraps and let me 12 year old dad drive it-and he crashed while backing up to the house. He never got to drive it again,

    We walked across the street and looked at the lake where his grandpa, and then his dad and uncle, would put their boat in the water for fishing, the Kildaire, which was supposedly named for the area the Kelly family came from in Ireland.

    As is often the case in this life, you discover how small the world really is through sharing stories. It turns out, all those years ago, my dad knew my Aunt Sandy, my mom's brother Jim's wife, way back when they were children. Sandy's family would come rent a cottage near the dam and she said, years alter, that she remembered my dad's family--and their difficulties in getting their boat across the street and into the lake.

    Back in August, as the two year anniversary for my dad's last illness was on my mind, I started to feel pity for myself. I was feeling nostalgic and wanting to take my own trip down memory lane. But where could I go? We moved around a lot when I was a child. What was my touchstone? And who would want to go with me? Being the oldest sibling, and so much older than my younger siblings, we don't always share the same set of memories, so what I might care about, they might not even have been around for yet.

    I finally settled on touring around Grandville, MI. This was where my mom and her siblings were raised. We often went to my grandma's when we were children. I was in Grandville schools for part of my childhood-when we lived in both Walker and Wyoming. When we lived in the upper peninsula I came down and stayed with my grandparents for several weeks during the summers. As an adult I stayed with my grandma often, after my grandpa died, to help her with chores and take her to church. I even lived with her for several years, before it became necessary for her to go into assisted living.

    Once I had that settled, I deiced to go for my little trip down memory lane after I was done donating platelets since I go to the donation center in Grandville every few months to make those donations.

    The first place I headed was Grandville's small downtown area. When I was in kindergarten through about second grade, my parents tried their hands at owning a business, a bookstore they called The Book Nook. I know which two store fronts might have been it, but I am not quite sure. My mom created a special children's section in the store-that she called Pooh's Corner. Another local bookshop later used that name when they decided to open book stores that were for children only. I was so pleased when the classic older car drove by in the last of this set of four pictures, as we had a gold car similar to that when I was around 6 or 7.

    

    The next place I headed to was Wedgewood Park, a park that was right by my grandma's house-we could walk there from her house. In the winter they would flood the football field and you could ice skate there. When I was in 6th grade-I went to the elementary school that was opposite the park, Central elementary. At recess, I would go by the fence by the tennis courts-and that was right by my grandma's backyard, and she would hand me chocolate chip cookies through the chain link fence.

    Wedgewood Park has a special children's playground that is dedicated to the memory of a friend of mine, a little boy named Bobby. He died in an accident just weeks before we were supposed to start kindergarten. When I was looking at his memorial at the park and brushed away some debris that was on it, a butterfly floated by.

        

    Then I went to look at the war memorials and the garden's dedicated to the Rosie the Riveters. I also walked past the softball field. I sued to go there at night to watch ball games when I stayed with my grandparents during the summer. You could hear the games from their house, the crack of the aluminum bats, the cheers. It was so much fun to walk over and watch and grandma always gave me to change to buy snacks-such as Big League Chewing gum, or popcorn, or a candy bar.

    I walked along Buck Creek. We used to look for crayfish and walk along the banks, climbing on the bigger rocks.

    I ended my little journey by walking over to Central Elementary. The playground has changed a bit. The tennis court is now for horseshoes. It isn't the same basketball hoop, but it is where I made my first basket. Grandma used to walk me over there to play and I had two small rubber basketballs, an orange one and a green one. When I was about 5 I finally made my first basket.

    

    

Health and Rememberance

     My previous blog post was about the mission statement I had to write for the wellness program through my employer wellness plan. Little did I know the very next day some of those thoughts would be put to the test when I myself was suddenly very ill.

    It became crystal clear to me that now was a time I needed to focus on myself and self care. Self care is something that often gets kicked to the side as we live our every day lives-trying to fulfill all our obligations to our jobs, our families, our friends, and communities.

    I found myself needing emergency surgery to fix an issue with my gallbladder. I had not really had previous issues, but now I found myself with continual excruciating pain that had to be dealt with.

    I was a little leery about the fix, as I remembered my dad had such terrible problems when he had his surgery decades ago. Well, technology advances over time and as I much as I enjoy being like him in some ways, I am not him, I am me, and my body will react differently. Happily, my husband was told while I was in the recovery room that the surgery was textbook, and my recovery has been steady ever since that day in the beginning of April.

    I wish that recovery from a broken heart was more of a steady progression toward wellness like my physical recovery has been. It is such a journey of starts and stops, and steps backwards, and sometimes no progress at all. I think that is my big take away in the almost year and half it has been since my dad died. You just never know how you will feel about it on any given day. I don't you think you ever really get over it, but you learn to live with it better, you learn to give that pain a back seat, or a side seat to every day events and moments. It is still there, but it doesn't always color every little thing.

    And eventually more of the happy memories come forward to lend their glow to present moments. This is the first year that Memorial parades and events have taken place since the pandemic started. My heart was not ready for a large event like that.

    I am more about the small every day remembrances being done to honor those that have gone before me. I am all about enjoy desserts, having the sampler platter like my dad would if there is more than one ice cream being offered, eating all the cookies, and enjoying a second piece of cake.

    Last summer I took a trip down memory lane with the Tony Hillerman books my dad introduced me to many years ago. We are big mystery readers in our family. This summer I might revisit Sue Grafton's books. We'll see.

    Tonight we will watch The History Channel special on Teddy Roosevelt, as in 2020 the Washington and Grant specials were a big deal in our household while my dad was with us. He was a huge history buff, and that has been passed down to us. 

    There are so many ways we honor and remember those that have gone before us, do what every brings you peace, comfort, and happiness-especially if it involves ice cream.

Mission Statement-Begin to Heal

     I do take part in my employer's wellness program, not so much because I believe it will impact my overall health by much, but because if you do participate, and do contribute to your own health savings account, they will also make a donation if you complete certain physical and educational tasks through this program. The main task for this month was to write a mission statement for ourselves.

    My statement currently fits in with my belief on how we can help heal the world and make this experience of living better for ourselves and each other.

    The first task to recognized the things I can do for others, and the things I cannot do for others, and then to act accordingly.

I often feel helpless and overwhelmed by all the sorrows and difficulties in the world, like there is nothing I can personally do to alleviate those suffering from the impacts of war around the globe. Then I do nothing because I am overwhelmed and I end up feeling so hopeless. 

In reality, I can at least take an action to help in my own community, to help alleviate the suffering of others-such as people that are undergoing treatment for various illnesses and need blood or platelets. I am able to take a 4 hour block of time out of my day once a month or every other month and do a donation of a triple unit of platelets. It can’t fix global ailments, but it can help with local suffering, and if we all follow that lead-of helping out when and where we are, we could heal the world bit by bit, by healing our own communities.