Robin's Egg (present moment) (+ mindful practice scholarship)

Private Collection

Lately, I've been painting still life objects that were given to me as gifts. It's so wonderful to receive a gift (like a broken robin's egg) because someone had the thought, "Abbey could paint this!" To me, it means that my work inspires others to see everyday moments as possible paintings -- just as I do.

I paint daily -- and often think and read and write and teach and teach and teach some more about mindful practice as it relates to the studio and to life. To create more awareness, I am working on creating a "mindful practice scholarship" of sorts, which would be funded by voluntary donation (including my own donation, too). The goal would be to reserve mindful practice scholarship subsidized spots in each of my workshops as well as provide funding to subsidize Private Painting Mentoring for interested people. Applicants would send an application consisting of a few questions that relate to the spirit and content of this idea of mindful practice.

On a related note, the feedback about my Innernet course has been phenomenal, and we are planning to offer it again in January 2016. I've gotten a bunch of requests, so I will select a few snippets of course feedback to share here soon.

In the meantime, here's something I often read as it relates to present moment and mindful practice:

"If we have mindfulness and concentration, everything we see and hear in our daily life becomes a Dharma talk -- a falling leaf, a flower as it opens, a bird flying by, the sound of a bird calling. We say that it is the Dharmakaya, the Dharma body of the Buddha, which is always revealing the teaching of the Dharma. When we feel refreshed and attentive, we can be in touch with the Dharma body and hear the Dharma being taught from moment to moment. We shall see that it's not necessary to put a tape in our cassette player and press the button in order to hear the Dharma. We can hear the Dharma at any moment."   ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, Present Moment, Wonderful Moment

To purchase my work, view my Current Painting Auctions and All Available Paintings.

Enjoy,