LAST TWO WEEKS!

HELLO EVERYONE!!!!!

Sorry I haven’t been able to write in two weeks, and thank you for your patience.

We went through the worst storm I’ve ever been through this past weekend in the southern part of France. It was worse than the one they had in 1999 in force winds, which clocked over 175 mph at the west coast of France. A lot of people have been without power and water this entire week because of the storm and we were some of the very fortunate in Appart Valley to only have problems with the internet for a few days. Some of you are asking me about this because it’s been in the papers and in the news. It lasted for many hours during the early morning of Saturday a week ago. I was so thankful to feel in a safe place. There were a lot of families who had to come and stay at Appart Valley because of their lack of utilities for the week.

I’ve had a lot of great food, and such sweet times with Osamu and Lisa. They became two of my best friends while here. Osamu left today to go back to Florence, as his school is starting back on Monday. He will be sorely missed, especially by Lisa who found a brother in his time here with us. Lisa and I are going tomorrow to Albi, France to see her favorite artist’s museum and his works. I’m looking forward to going, but am wanting a day off too LOL.

We had an Open House at the studio all day today and were busy there watching Pierre do his famous marbles. It was so tediously and eloquently done and I cannot describe poetically enough how beautiful it was to watch his hand doing the marbling. I felt privileged to be in the presence of such a Master and to feel his sweet and humble spirit again since meeting him in Paris in early December. He remembered the “American hugs” and I was able to hug him again.

We are all fatigued and worn out from the long hours we are working on our mural in the studio each day. I leave at 7:45 in the mornings and don’t get back into my room until well after 7:00 p.m. All of the students are tired. The extensiveness of the mural Michel chose is much more than I could have possibly imagined doing and is a very complex and technically challenging mural. (See photos). I’m working through it though and we should be finishing with it sometime early this next week. YEAH. Then, we get to work on an ocean and sky and also come up with a project we want help with in prospective and composition. The next two weeks will fly by.

We had two weeks when we first returned from Christmas break of prospective and color theory. We loved what we learned and then the mural started. We are thankful to gain the knowledge and experience of painting this piece and are proud of our accomplishments. All of us who have been in the program for the entire five months can tell a huge difference in the energy levels in the three new students in this particular module LOL. They are raring to go and we are all exhausted LOL, and it’s NOT just because we are older either.

I have been going through a lot of personal growth and am learning so much more about myself and others and by listening and paying attention. There’s so much to be learned when you put yourself in a position like this.

I read something in regards to the personal things I’m learning and wanted to share it with you, just in case you find yourself in this place in your life. I’ve found it takes courage to look at yourself and see what you need and what you want in this life. Deciding that you are going to expand yourself and grow, is HUGE and costs you something along the way. I’ve also found that fear is nothing but a cloud and when we start to walk through it, it dissipates.

There were five lessons to make you think about how you treat others sent to me via E-mail by my sister and this one was the fourth. Sorry the author is unknown; else I would give credit to him/her.

The Obstacle of Our Path

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then, he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the King’s wealthiest merchants came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand! Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

This is so about what I’m learning about me, about others, about life, about love, about getting in my own way in life, about faith, trust, hope, and moving into my future. It’s not easy being here and in this place, but I’m facing it and am actually thankful for all the struggles with me personally, because a lot of my walls I didn’t even know I had are tumbling down before my eyes and there is freedom in facing things inside yourself. There is gold to be found later when you uncover things and get things not needed or wanted out of your life taking up your space.

I hope this E-mail gives you all some hope for your own lives. When you don’t have the normal vices in life to divert your attention and fatigue is your best friend on a daily basis, you find a lot out about yourself. It’s truly the best gift I could have received during this time in my life, even though through difficult times.

I must say that my precious husband has been through so much in this journey with me as well and has been the most patient and loving husband I could have asked for. He’s sent me so many care packages and reminded me of his love for me, his belief in what I’m doing and the purpose of me being here and our relationship is blooming even more over it all. I’m so thankful for him in all of this and don’t feel I would be quite so brave without his support, kindness and love through all of this.

I also want to thank Susan for all the cards and notes and pictures she sends frequently while I’ve been here. You are such a GREAT friend and I’m thankful for you woman!!!!!

Thank you to the rest of you who are watching, listening and learning through my experiences here, you are on this journey with me as well. I am thankful for the “village” it is taking to raise me LOL.

Until next time, with great love and knowledge of a much fuller life to come ---- Tammy!!!