Go Ask Alice

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Sue Shanahan

It was a warm summer day that gave rise to the tale Charles Dodgson wove to entertain his neighbors, Alice Liddell and her sisters. Boating down the river Thames, he spun a tale of pure magic for the girls. At Alice’s insistence he wrote it down, so the story wouldn’t disappear. In 1865, it was published as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland under the pen name of Lewis Carroll. Nearly every year since that time a new edition of the book is published somewhere in the world.

An interesting man, Charles Dodgson was a mathematician and a scholar. In other words, the left side of his brain was highly developed. How in the world did he access the level of artistry needed to create his wonderland masterpiece? I think by making up the story for the sheer pleasure of it. No pressure to perform in any capacity, his lighthearted muse was given free rein. What came through him was a gift to delight the ages.

Once again, the lazy days of summer are upon us. A perfect time to untether our imaginations and dabble in our creativity. There is no better time to try something new, just for the fun of it. Charles, a shy bachelor, certainly was out of his element when he penned Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland for the Liddell girls. Who knows what we are capable of bringing forth in the spirit of joy.

And it’s down the rabbit hole we go…

I based Alice on my niece Andi. A more perfect Alice there never was.

I based my Alice paper doll on my niece Andi. A more perfect Alice there never was.

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Ready to Let Go

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Sue Shanahan

Children are the Most Beautiful Flowers of All

And why are children the most beautiful flowers of all? Because they allow themselves to be who they are. Without agendas, they flourish in the now. Whether the sun shines or buckets of rain pour, it’s a good day. We are all born with a sense of wonder, but it soon fades. We learn not to trust our own nature. It happens to some earlier than others, but it’s rarely escaped. This lack of trust is the root of why we think we have to control every aspect of our lives. It’s not only self-defeating but futile. I’ve spent years praying for my hands to unclasp the control I hold so tightly. I have come a long way. I’ve discovered that I don’t know what is best for others or myself. I am open to what life brings me – most times.

An area I’ve found impossible to loosen my grip on is my creative process. I have a schedule in my mind that I’m never able to adhere to. Always pushing, I resist any interruption in my work flow. When something does get me off track, the wheels of reprimand begin turning in my brain. Why do I hold on so tightly? Because my creativity burns like a fire in me. I’ve guarded and protected it my whole life. I’m afraid to let it run its own course. If I do that, will it eventually die away?

Matthew 6:34 reads, “Therefore do not worry for tomorrow; for tomorrow will look after its own.” Does that mean if I let go, my commissions will be completed in perfect timing? Have my attempts to direct the flow actually interfered with the Creator’s plan? Why am I so insistent that illustrating is a 9 to 5 job anyway? My attempts to manage only seem to bring frustration.

I am ready to take a leap of faith and live like a child. That means being immersed in the now and turning my creative undertakings completely over to God. I’ve done that in other areas of my life. Remembering the peace of being guided makes this leap less scary. I’ve learned life works itself out and to count on the missing pieces coming to me. Stress is a sure sign I’ve taken control back. What spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle shared in a lecture makes good sense to me, “Enjoy the doing in the now. With the enjoyment of the doing also comes the power that flows into it. Enjoy the energy that flows into the doing and it becomes empowered. And then the goal looks after itself.”

Yes, I’m ready to let go. If flowers and children blossom at exactly the right time, then my paintings will too.

Is there anything you cling too?

Aine, my little muse.

www.sueshanahan.com

Hold on Tight to Your Dreams

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Sue Shanahan

I Do What I Want

“There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all your life spend your days on the end of strings that somebody else pulls.” -Howard Thurman

The first memory I have of myself painting was when I was in kindergarten. I was working on a profile of a woman with blond hair, wearing a red dress. My teacher was so astonished at the level of my skill she brought the rest of the faculty in to watch me. When I ran home and showed my creation to my mother, she barely gave it a glance before she discarded it. Today, I believe she had a personality disorder and didn’t have the capacity to be supportive. I really struggled searching for the courage to live my dream of being an artist. Part of me believed I was gifted, and the other half thought I was delusional.

Preparing for college, I informed my high school counselor that my sights were set on a career as an artist. She assured me that wasn’t realistic. No, my future had teacher or nurse, stamped across it. I was heartsick. Even though I didn’t argue her prediction, my mind still whispered, “Someone is going to do it. Why not you?” That thought is was what lead me, at 17, to begin reading books by Norman Vincent Peale, the father of positive thinking. His message fueled my longings and gave me the determination not to abandon them. Holding on to my gift is one of the triumphs of my life. I could have so easily accepted what the adults in my world told me. As time unfolds, it becomes increasingly clear – authority figures don’t know everything.

When I became a parent, my joy couldn’t be contained. The love I felt for my children made my mother’s lack of interest in me even more obvious. One thing was certain, I would make sure my kids knew they mattered.

The girl in the illustration is my daughter, Bridget, when she was 21. She sits on a moon composed of her dad’s chagrin. Yes, that is his face embedded in it, and those are her words waltzing across the sky. Bridget was born with a sense of entitlement. At 3 years old, when I told her I was the boss, she exclaimed, “I’m the boss too!” At that moment, I made a pact with myself to protect that fire in her. I wanted her to believe she could do anything. I wanted her to know that her hopes and aspirations where important, and nothing could stand in her way of achieving them. When she was in junior high, I took her and her cousin to the Oprah Winfrey Show. We were in the audience for an episode on girl’s self-esteem. I hoped they’d make the connection that Oprah and her staff weren’t so different from them. Knowing that regular people do amazing things makes what we long to achieve more attainable. This first occurred to me when my children’s friends looked at my illustrations and couldn’t believe I had painted them. I saw the significance of understanding that the extraordinary always comes from the ordinary. Knowing that is what gives credence to the words, “Someone is going to do it. Why not me?” And why not you? What gifts were you born to share with the world?

I snapped the above photo of Bridget to base my illustration on. Under my direction she sits on a “picnic table moon,” holding a martini glass.

Today Bridget is is still doing what she wants as a local television news anchor and reporter. Once she got the bug to be on TV, she never even considered it wasn’t possible. She is a born communicator and loved being on air from day one. Bridget’s role model is Diane Sawyer. So in 2010, when the Oprah Winfrey Show requested recommendations for a “Harpo Hook-Up” show, I sent an email (okay, 33 emails) to her website telling her staff about Diane’s influence on my daughter and how inspiring it would be for Bridget to meet her. Sure enough, the Oprah Show hooked her up. Bridget got to sit in on ABC’s World News as Diane’s guest. It was one more opportunity for her to see that big things are accomplished by ordinary people. Most of all, what I yearned for Bridget to take away from that experience was that dreams do come true. And they do.

www.sueshanahan.com

Sunrise Faith

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Sue Shanahan

Whenever I have to begin a new illustration, I’m always afraid to start. I hem and I haw and I haw and I hem. Why? Because there is no earthly reason that I’m capable of bringing forth that kind of beauty. In my mind, the images are always vague. I want them to be in perfect focus before I get going. But it doesn’t work that way. Until I learned the meaning of the phrase Sunrise Faith, I could stay paralyzed for weeks. It never occurred to me that the same power that calls the sun to rise, lives in me too. The magic begins when I put my pencil to paper. That act of trust opens the floodgate for Spirit to flow through and express itself. As it turns out, I don’t need to know exactly what the end result of my painting will look like. God will fill in the details.

Sunrise Faith is a concept for anyone who has something they want to accomplish. Divinity plants the seeds of our aspirations in our hearts and grace brings them to fruition. From creating a masterpiece, to finding the perfect job or house, it’s a benevolent, loving wave we ride. If you’re trying to figure out exactly where the current is taking you, you’re resisting the flow. And that is exactly when we begin to sink. All we need to get started is to simply begin. We will be given the next step to take as the process unfolds.

Twenty years ago a dream was planted in my heart. I wanted to create a picture book. Over time, it was put on the back burner as “real life” took over. Finally, finally my longing is being realized. My story Glory in the Morning is finished and is now in the hands of app company extraordinare, Auryn. They are in the process of transforming my work into a picture book app for tablets and e-readers. But my dream won’t be in full bloom until there also is a traditional picture book in children’s hands. I’m not sure how that is going to come about, but I wait in joyful anticipation for it to be revealed.

Being confident that God, who began a good work in you, will carry it to completion. -Philippians 1:6

What dreams are you and Source bringing to fruition?

Spread the word! Be one of the first 5 people to leave a reply and I will send you a signed print of Sunrise Faith. Follow my blog. Each new post will include the chance to win a free print.

In photoshop I made a book cover for Glory in the Morning and placed it on a picture book. I believe visualization is the beginning of realizing a dream.

http://www.sueshanahan.com

Born Under a Dancing Star

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Sue Shanahan

“A star danced, and under that was I born. ”

― William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing

I love children. They move through life unabashedly, celebrating exactly who they are. Try asking a kid under the age of eight, if they think they’re cute. Anytime I have, I’ve always been answered with a resounding “yes.” Each child could barely contain their good fortune at being born. Few of us are lucky enough to carry this joy of existence into adulthood. At what point did we become blind to our exquisiteness? Perhaps this lack of vision contributed to Peter Pan’s decision to never grow up.

It’s true, we each have our own beauty and peculiarity’s. I am encouraged by the trend to love who we are, both inside and out. It’s refreshing to know that we don’t all need to fit into the same box. Moreover, we were born not to. Woven together we make up the tapestry of our perfectly, imperfect world. The contrast of our uniqueness is what gives depth and vibrancy to life. Children know what medieval artisans knew when they purposely left a mistake in their tapestry – perfection is boring. Idiosyncrasies are what make life interesting. Thank goodness, because we all have them.

Today is the perfect day to begin viewing life like a child again. Love yourself because of your flaws, not in spite of them. They may well be God’s gift to you.

My cousin’s daughter Kenna showing me what “Ta Da” looks like.

Kenna all grown up. Born under a dancing star, indeed.

http://www.sueshanahan.com

Life is a Gift

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Sue Shanahan

Life is a Gift

The gift is always wrapped in risk. It takes courage to open it and dive in. From cradle to grave we’ve been indoctrinated to dedicate ourselves to safety. Which doesn’t seem like such a bad thing, until you consider all you’re likely to miss. I’m convinced real safety lies in the willingness to be surprised by life. A mind that weaves safety nets ends up boxing itself in. Being open leaves room for the unimaginable to enter.

At the end of my days, I will be glad I followed my path as an artist. Sure, it’s risky. There isn’t a steady paycheck, and I walk hand in hand with rejection. If I had abandoned my gift for a more conventional career, no doubt I’d have more money in my pocket. But to experience the fullness of life is why we are here. I am in agreement with George Bernard Shaw when he said, “I want to be totally used up when I die.” Yep, life is for living.

My muses for this piece were my great-niece Aine and her little brother Colin. Notice a younger version of Aine in the banner at the top of the page.

The dog in the picture is the beloved Quincy.

The beloved Quincy modeled for the dog in my art.

http://www.sueshanahan.com

Dreams Begin in Books

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Sue Shanahan

There is no substitute for a book in the life of a child.
– Mary Ellen Chase, Recipe for a Magic Childhood (1952)

Dreams Begin in Books

When I was a little girl, I decided the most wonderful things in the world were books. They were my friends. They kept me company when I was lonely and showed me a bigger world when I felt like I didn’t fit in. Around age ten is when Little Women captured me. I loved Jo March. She was self-conscious but pushed the boundaries of being proper anyway. She was a bold, outspoken dreamer. She revealed myself to me. I wanted to grow up to be Jo March but with a paintbrush.

Imagine my surprise when I learned that Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, had modeled Jo after herself. Louisa was an ordinary woman who lived and breathed. In reading about the real Jo, I made the connection that art is created by flesh and blood. It comes through everyday people, to inspire us all. And so began my dream to become an artist…

In honor National Reading Month, Auryn Inc. is giving one of their children’s book apps away every day in March. My app Love You to the Moon & Back will be free on March 22nd. You can get a link to the offer by going to Apps by Auryn’s Facebook page on that day. I will send out a reminder on the 22nd to everyone who has signed up for my blog.

Share the love of reading with a child. Ignite their imagination.

Rachel looked like she was plucked from the 1940’s. She had the perfect look for the vintage feel I was going for.

Ashley lived down the street from me. She was a delight and had no problem dropping everything to model for me.

A detail of the original art. In it is a huge mistake I missed until a third grader pointed it out. During a school visit she asked me why the book cover was backwards. I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t noticed that. A clear case of missing the forest for the trees.

www.sueshanahan.com

Keep Going: Harriet Tubman’s Legacy

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Sue Shanahan

“Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.” – Harriet Tubman

No one knows if Harriet Tubman really uttered these words, but there isn’t any question that she lived them. Harriet was born into slavery and raised in a world with no hope. Still, she dreamed her dreams and did what she had to do. She broke the law of the land by following the North Star to freedom. Where did a woman who was whipped as a child get that kind of courage?

Harriet had a deep and abiding faith that she was being guided. She was steadfast in her conviction that all she had to do was keep going and God would take care of the details. She shepherded over 70 slaves to freedom. If any of her fugitive charges became faint-hearted and wanted to turn around, she threatened to shoot them. Turning back could mean death to them all. She gave them no choice but to keep going.

I too have been known to buckle and want to backtrack. Somehow the pain of the mundane seems safer than pioneering into new territory. The only way I’m able to move past that kind of paralyzation is to borrow some of Miss Harriet’s grit. She always remembered to ask for direction and then listen for the answer. The way was always made clear. What stands between me and that kind of guidance? Remembering to ask.

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Live From the Inside Out

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Sue Shanahan

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. -Steve Jobs

Live from the Inside Out

Live from the inside out. That’s my motto for the year. I have put the kibosh on following social convention and fulfilling other’s expectations. Living in a box of someone else’s making leaves little room for sharing your gifts with the world.

Over the years, I’ve learned to actually feel when my heart is speaking to me. It takes quieting the mind to discern the embedded whisper. Granted, many times I’ve ignored that guidance and gone into my brain. There is nothing like trying to reason your way to safety for a sense of false security. Being safe and being an artist do not go hand in hand.

I’m a firm believer that we are born to share our gifts with the world. The older I get the clearer it becomes that I’m just passing through this realm. That knowledge is what has brought me to the decision to take directions from within. Living from the inside feels risky until I consider the ticking clock. American author Erma Bombeck said, “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me’.”

Allegra was the perfect model for my illustration. Living from the inside out is something she was born doing.

Me too.

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Always Had the Power

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Sue Shanahan

You’ve Always Had it My Dear. You’ve Always Had the Power. –Glinda the Good Witch

In 2000, I was lucky enough to sell the original painting from the above image to Oprah Winfrey. A series of small miracles brought the piece to her attention. After she purchased it, an even bigger miracle occurred. I was invited to be on her Favorite Things show. I was thrilled with the prospect of what her spotlight on my illustration could bring. Looking for approval of my artwork from the world had become a pattern with me.

It turned out the message in my painting was not only for Oprah. Although I was unable to grasp it at the time, it was also meant for me. Of course, I understood why Oprah took so much significance from Glinda the Good Witch’s words, “You’ve always had the power.” She had just won a defamation suit filed against her by Texas beef producers. It took many years and reading Jean Houston’s The Wizard of Us before it dawned on me that I hadn’t been honoring my own power. I recognized myself in the Scarecrow’s search for brains. I was also waiting for the world to tell me what to do. The Tin Man asking the Wizard of Oz for a heart was no different than me not acknowledging and trusting my own. The lion’s quest for courage was his belief that he didn’t have what it took to be king of the forest. Didn’t that parallel my belief that my art couldn’t stand on its own? What I learned from Dorothy was the most meaningful. The power to realize one’s heart’s desire lies within.

Creating art is revealing one’s soul to the world. Unconsciously I believed if my gift wasn’t celebrated, I had no value. Seeking validation from the outside is like trying to fill a cup with a hole in it.

All my striving to make it as an artist has brought me to this realization. Yes, it’s scary to be exposed, but who I am is enough. My art is enough. The light that burns inside of me is enough.

The image of Oprah that I based my portrait on.

Not many people know that Dorothy’s shoes were silver. In the movie they were transformed into the ruby slippers because they looked better In Technicolor.

Not many people know that in L. Frank Baum’s book the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy’s shoes were silver. In the movie they were transformed into ruby slippers because they looked better In Technicolor.