7 Reasons Why I Scuba Dive

7 Reasons Why I Scuba Dive:

Diving in Cozumel

1. Appreciation for beauty: I love color--in my art and in the world around me.  The colors in the fishes and corals I see underwater are so spectacular and beautiful that it brings tears to my eyes at times when I think that HE created it all.

2. Sense of Adventure:  I love trying new things.  I guess I have a touch of reckless abandon.  People always told me I couldn't, ........but I can !

3. Photography: Photography with my Nikonos V underwater camera make the reference material I use for my underwater themed watercolors and oil paintings.

4. Peaceful Feelings: Underwater, I am alone with my thoughts.  All I hear is my own breathing.  Comfortable, relaxed feelings take over my body and mind.

5. Commaderie: I have something wonderful in common with the three girls I dive with and the people we meet on our dive trips.

6. Learn respect: Seeing life under the sea can do nothing but make one respect our environment and want to preserve it.

7. Educating: As I learn more and more about the oceans and the inhabitants, I like to pass this information onto school children.  They are like sponges in that they want to learn and they ask a million questions when I'm done speaking.
Educating and increasing public awareness through my art is my mission to get people to think about the health and survival of our oceans for future generations to enjoy.

Better blogging

My friend, Elizabeth, is a big blogger, who is always trying to nudge me to get at least one entry a week in my blog.

We had lunch together last week and while we were enjoying each other's company she pulled a thick folder out of her canvas bag and handed it to me.  As I opened it she explained that she was taking an online class (with about 400 other women) to better blogging and she challenged me to join her in this endeavor.  

Liz doesn't need to encourage me to find time to paint, but she likes to "push and nudge" me to be a better business person, and that I don't blog faithfully is one of her biggest beefs about me ! 

So..........after much deliberation, I decided to take the "31 days to a better blog Probloggers Challenge."

Task one is to write an "elevator pitch": a short description of the focus of our blogs.  When I started this blog two years ago, I wrote that I was "Talking to you about my life as a scuba diver and the art I have created because of it. "   The painting I put with this tag-line is called "Parrot Talk".  It shows 3 parrotfish in conversation.  I like my original tagline and think I will keep it as such.

Task one completed !  

Sketchbook Project Tour 2011

A sketchbook is a place to put down your heart and soul.

There is a website called Art House Co-op.  It is based out of Brooklyn, NY.  Every year they have a sketchbook tour open to anyone from all over the world. 

You purchase an 80 page small sketchbook from them, chose a theme from a list they provide, and then when they mail you the sketchbook with a UPC code on it, you have a time limit to fill it and return it to them.  You can draw, color, write poetry, paste pictures............anything you want, just so you fill it and do not change the dimensions of the book.  The sketchbooks then go on tour to 6 major cities around the United States, and people can check them out just like a library book with the UPC code. When they return to Brooklyn, NY, they are put into the Brooklyn Art Library as part of a permanent collection.

I have heard about this before, but never thought of doing it until now.  The theme I chose is "Below the Surface".  I am using it to educate people who do or do not have the opportunity to see what I have seen "below the surface" of the ocean.

I am doing sketches, small watercolors, original poetry and whatever else I may think of that will  depict life under the sea.

I'll keep you posted as I progress with the sketchbook and let you now what cities it will be touring.

My blogging

In case you have not noticed, I have fallen behind on my blogging. 
I have promised myself that I am  going to get better at this.  I am going to try to make at least one entry a week.
Starting now !