Uncomplicate.
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Uncomplicate.

in pursuit of a simpler, more sustainable creative life.

Uncomplicating, One Day at a Time.

Uncomplicating, One Day at a Time.

August 5, 2020 Beth Comments 0 Comment

I’ve been off to a slow start here with the new blog.

You know, because life. All the things, like everyone deals with all the time. Navigating, juggling.

I’ve got a pile of ideas for posts covering practical creative stuff I think people will find inspiring. But this is also about me being real. About my mistakes and challenges and the hope maybe my experiences spark something for someone else trying to uncomplicate their own life.

I’ve joked (ok maybe just with myself) that with what’s been going on I should have named this blog “Complicate.” With a 93 year old mother with dementia living in Memory Care during Covid where family has no in-person contact: concerns over her well-being as she ages and fails more quickly from this, the strong possibility of becoming a primary caregiver in her final days and navigating hospice and in-home nursing care, all really weird and foreign adulting issues for my little brain. Attempting to help another person I care about get away from an abusive, destructive situation. Reinventing my waning morphing and changing art business. Flourishing summer crops need attention today or they’ll go to waste, others require extra attention just to stay alive, weeds on the property keep growing (like weeds). The pets just keep pooping and it’s not going to scoop itself. Right? All the things. The world keeps turning and stuff keeps happening. Big important stuff, tiny dumb stuff, all of it.

We all have our versions of this, right? Faced with varying levels of hardship and concerns, it just keeps coming at us all the time. You’ve got families, kids, jobs, lack of jobs, worries: what’s happening with school, church, sports, birthdays, weddings, all the things that filled your life before. Beloved local small businesses are dropping like flies. People are grouchy about having sweaty faces under their masks. Conspiracy theories are thriving. Everyone is mad at “the other side”. Everyone just that much more on-edge about each little situation, the general vibe of unrest hangs over us like a thick fog. In that fog we have this tendency to hang onto worry and fear over everything else.

Days go by so fast; seems like way faster than they did before. I mean, life does that anyway as we get older, right? But in this new and different semi-quarantine/whatever-it-is world, time is different, schedules are wonky. I’ve been taking breaks from social media for my mental health, but then lose track of the time that goes by during those breaks.  I start each day with an intended schedule and list of goals, but then the day is over and I let stuff slide: oops, time’s up, I guess I’ll just do yoga tomorrow (then I wonder why my bones are so crackly and I feel tired the next day). Stuff on my to-do list gets pushed one more day, over and over again. Maybe I should have been more realistic when planning those blocks of time in the first place, or: maybe I shouldn’t have gotten sidetracked with that one project, or: yeah but my slow internet made that task take way longer than it should have…. You know, it’s always something.

But it’s ok. The important part for me is to not beat myself up about it. Keep facing forward. Every day, every moment, gives us the opportunity to reboot, refresh, start over, move on, all of it. What complicates a lot of us is our habit of worrying about the past. Why did it happen that way, or: but that one thing held me back, or: I should have done that differently…

Seriously none of that matters in this moment and all the moments to follow.

Today is the best day ever because it gives me the opportunity to move forward and work toward all my dreams. My past is just a bunch of lessons I’ve learned and stuff I now have the opportunity to build on, and today I’m grateful for every one of those things.

Today I wish you all the peace and confidence and mostly gratitude to face forward and do the best you can. Because, that’s enough.


Mind & Body
covid life, daily gratitude, inspiration, pandemic life, real life

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bethlogansart

bethlogansart
Day 27 of #28featheredfriends: Mama Bird ๐Ÿ’™๐Ÿ’•๐Ÿ’œ
Visit our fabulous host @lorisiebert.studio for more awesomeness ๐Ÿ˜Š
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#sketchbook 
#mamabird 
#youareloved 
#birdart
#onmydesk 
#dailychallenge 
#dailyartchallenge 
#birdlovers 
#colorcrush 
#happybirds 
#birdchallenge 
#birdsketch 
#acrylicsketch 
#prismacolorpencils 
#birdhug 
#quietvibes 
#bethlogansart
#artstuffstudio 
#theartstuffstudio 
#creativechallenge 
#dailyproject 
#putabirdonit
Day 26 of #28featheredfriends : Nesting Bird. 
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Most of my designs for licensing are painted/drawn, scanned, separated out into layers in Photoshop, then pieced together. I realized recently that I have a lot of art from this past year that never made it past the scanning stage and has been just sitting in my computer doing nothing so Iโ€™ve been cleaning and piecing elements. This is like playing with a puzzle or building blocks...really good zen work I can get super lost in.
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But sometimes, like this one I was doing the other day, I get so lost in putting together the pieces that I forget to stop and what I end up with is a crazy mishmash of completely filled-up space that doesnโ€™t make any design sense whatsoever ๐Ÿ˜† itโ€™s kind of like my brainโ€™s been lately (!) or in this case, my own home sweet home ๐Ÿ˜‰ this little bird is so tightly surrounded by stuff...itโ€™s all pretty stuff, useful pieces and cool stuff...but could definitely benefit from some serious decluttering ๐Ÿคฃ
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Back to the drawing board on this guy. Or maybe I should do some housework/organizing/purging... ๐Ÿ˜‰
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Visit our host @lorisiebert.studio for more about 28FeatheredFriends and cool art & inspo
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#maximalism #workinprogress #homesweethome #nesting #nestingbird #homesweethome #havenothinginyourhousethatyoudonotknowtobeusefulorbelievetobebeautiful #williammorrisquote #putabirdonit #artchallenge2021 #dailyproject #whatwomencreate #creativechallenge #birdchallenge #lifeofanartist #creativehappylife #maximalist #maximaliststyle #colorfulbird #birdlovers #colornerdsociety #ihavethisthingwithcolor #ihavethisthingwithdetail #maximalistvibes #idontknowwhentostop
Also, Sioux says hi. ๐Ÿ–ค ๐Ÿ–ค ๐Ÿ–ค ๐Ÿ–ค ๐Ÿ–ค #ha Also, Sioux says hi. 
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#handsomeboy #kingofthemountain #oratleastthebackyard #boynamedsioux #gooddogsioux #goodboysioux #rescuedogsofinstagram #huskyshepherd #shepherdhusky #rescueismyfavoritebreed #blackdogblueeyes #countrydog #mybackyard #gooutsideandplay #pnwonderdogs
Todayโ€™s #28featheredfriends prompt is Tropical B Todayโ€™s #28featheredfriends prompt is Tropical Bird. So this guyโ€™s maybe not so tropical but ready for an early spring tropical downpour. Sort of. 
#stretchingitalittle 
#maybealot
#notverytropical 
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Visit our fabulous host @lorisiebert.studio for info, art and inspo!
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Also, this was partly inspired by the adorable little early snowdrops blooming in my backyard. Every late-winter I wish I could personally thank whoever planted these little beauties, they make me smile. 
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#birdartchallenge #dailyartchallenge #birdart #cutebird #putabirdonit #birdwithboots #almostspring #springart #artlicensing #bethlogansart #colorfulbird #springbird #surfacedesign #thatsdarling #creativechallenge #birdchallenge #birdsandblooms #birdlovers #dscolor #abmcolor #springcolors #springrain #smileattherain #earlysnowdrops #myownbackyard #thingsthatmakemesmile
Just sayin. โœจ ๐Ÿ’™ ๐ŸŒฒ ๐Ÿ’™ โœจ ๐Ÿ’™ ๐ŸŒฒ ๐Ÿ’™ Just sayin. 
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#friends
#friendship 
#oneinamillion 
#campvibes 
#outdoorvibes 
#goplayoutside 
#wildernessculture 
#woodsvibe 
#gratitude 
#gratefulforyou 
#artlicensing 
#appreciationcard 
#thankyoucard 
#greetingcarddesign 
#dhgartspark 
#bethlogansart
Todayโ€™s #28featheredfriends prompt is Proud as a Todayโ€™s #28featheredfriends prompt is Proud as a Peacock. 
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The other day my friend @soulsticegardens posted a stunning photo of her sanctuary peacocks โ€œdancing in the sunsetโ€ and Iโ€™ll confess Iโ€™ve been drawing versions of her photo in my sketchbook since then, but I havenโ€™t liked any of them nearly as much as I liked her original photo. You could say Iโ€™m not very proud of my peacocks 
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Itโ€™s hard to not go overboard with detail when drawing or painting a peacock, because peacocks. 
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Then today I decided to play with the dancing peacock shape again: Iโ€™m still not totally sure about this but thatโ€™s what sketchbooks are for, right?
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Thanks @lorisiebert.studio for the inspiration to stretch our creative brains with this challenge!
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#sketchbook #trialanderror #creativityfound #dailychallenge #creativechallenge #peacock #peacocksketch #proudasapeacock #floweredpeacock #dancingpeacock #localfarmsanctuary #sanctuaryanimals #onmydesk #inmystudio #watercolorsketch #bethlogansart #artstuffstudio #birdart #ihavethisthingwithcolor #acolorstory #putabirdonit
When I saw todayโ€™s prompt for #28featheredfriend When I saw todayโ€™s prompt for #28featheredfriends the first thing that popped into my head was how an old friend described someone we used to know who was, indeed, ๐Ÿฆ‡๐Ÿ’ฉ crazy. 
#cuckoobird 
#youknowtheones 
#theyreeverywhere 
#watchout 
Having fun with this challenge! Check out our host @lorisiebert.studio for more ๐Ÿฆ๐Ÿ’•
#sketchbook 
#justforfun 
#cuckooforcocoapuffs 
#batshitcrazy 
#worldgonemad 
#seriously 
#funbirdart 
#putabirdonit 
#highlyinfavorofcocoapuffs
#mixedmediasketch 
#onmydesk 
#inmystudio
Todayโ€™s #28featheredfriends prompt is Spring Chi Todayโ€™s #28featheredfriends prompt is Spring Chicken ๐Ÿ“
Itโ€™s the nagging question every year: is this going to be the spring I finally get chickens? 
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It could happen. You know, always balancing that tightrope between properly preparing and totally overthinking ๐Ÿ˜‚
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Visit our 28 Feathered Friends host @lorisiebert.studio for info + amazing art & inspiration. 
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#cutechicken #springchicken #birdartchallenge #artlicensing #bethlogansart #theartstuffstudio #creativechallenge #creativityfound #dailyproject #cottage #cottagecore #aslowmoment #thesimpleeveryday #backyardchickens #farmstyle #farmhousestyle #barndominium #myhomestead #simplelife #uncomplicate #creativelifehappylife
Anyone who knows me knows I have a thing for corvi Anyone who knows me knows I have a thing for corvids. 
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My old city yard was close quarters with the crow family there, and for decades I had a front row seat witnessing generations hatch, mate, raise babies, scavenge, play, and sometimes die and mourn. 
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Now I live in raven territory and they keep track of us from high up in the trees. I rarely get to see them close to the ground and when I do, Iโ€™m still always surprised how huge they are. 
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Todayโ€™s #28featheredfriends prompt is Big Bird. 
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Visit our host @lorisiebert.studio for more info and amazing art and inspo
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This is one of those heavily layered mixed media pieces that morphed and changed and got painted over a gazillion times before finally just putting a bird on it. Really sometimes that IS the only answer. 
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 #putabirdonit #corvids #crowsandravens #ihaveathingforcorvids #birdpainting #mixedmediabird #mixedmediacrow #mixedmediaraven #birdsandblooms #artchallenge2021 #birdlovers #dailyproject #whatwomencreate #creativechallenge #colornerdsociety #wallart #etsyseller #forsaleonetsy #etsyhandmade #birdchallenge #slowliving_create #shinyprettythings #lifeofanartist #bethlogansart #theartstuffstudio #artstuffstudio
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