How can I NOT paint?

I asked myself recently: if I had one month to live, what would I regret not doing? Well, I might regret not traveling more. Certainly, there are many places that I would love to see and many places that I haven't been. But travel is limited by funds and I know that funds are not endless. I'm lucky to have been to as many places as I have been.
Would I regret things that I've said or haven't said? Not really. I've worked hard on my relationships, made amends and realize that some of them may improve, some of them may never get any better and will never live up to my ideals.
The thing that I would regret the most is not painting more. I majored in painting in college (SUNY Binghamton, BFA, 1993) and have never again had such a way to explore, think and intuitively understand things about the world that I could not get to in any other way. Different from prayer, meditation, reading, discussion, thinking, exercise and work. I have become very practical: I have 2 Etsy shops and am working to pay off my library school student loans with them. I'm also a mom, with lots of responsibilities that I take seriously. I'm a deacon at our church and have coffee to prepare and picnics to plan. But, how can I neglect painting? I think it's time to begin again...

Where there's smoke...

I began my new Etsy shop in January. It is vintage and I've been having so much fun running it and finding great things to stock it with, that I haven't really been writing here very much. I've also learned a thing or two about what to buy and what seems to sell as what never sells (for me, anyway). I want to share a tip with you when buying at any kind of sale or auction.

Where there's smoke, there's fire. I walked into a sale once and a man said "all of these papers, fabrics, etc. smell like smoke." I hadn't noticed that the owners of the house were smokers, but he was right! I found an amazing pair of red pumps and bought them anyway, thinking that they didn't smell like smoke. Lo and behold, I got them out of the house and in my car and I regretted that decision: they were SMOKEY!! There was nothing I could do to get the smell out, so eventually I just gave them away. This has also happened with a couple of dresses. Even in a house of non-smokers, formal dresses may have been in a smokey bar or party and I have not been able to get the smell out through dry cleaning or anything. So, my best vintage tip, is don't be ashamed, pick it up and smell it! You'll be happy that you did.