Tag: Dad

“Gratitude”

Encourage, Impressionist Painter., Photography & Painting, Portrait Painting

Gratitude
“Gratitude”

It is so interesting to me that just by simply being grateful, one is able to move themselves closer to a healing state, able to remove stress, attract prosperity, calm themselves down, come out of depression, be joyful and even affect others in a positive manner.

http://heartmath.org has done some amazing research into understanding the heart and it is so inspiring for me because I see such great potential in not only helping and healing ourselves and our loved ones, but I see great potential in healing other people, blessing others, lifting others up…and why wouldn’t we? 

My dad and mom raised 9 children, in those days there were many large families and I am so happy and thankful that I was raised in this one. Some of the things that I remember my dad teaching us is to always be kind and caring, loving and compassionate, sharing and respectful.

He always taught us that we are all human beings, all made the same and that we all deserve to have the best life possible. That’s what I remember, that is what I took away from my childhood, in a time when racial discrimination was still alive he made a point of teaching us that was not acceptable.  It was a time when we didn’t lock our doors, we didn’t even take the keys out of the car. We trusted and we were trustworthy. We were grateful for what we had and felt as rich as could be when my dad came home with groceries. 🙂 Oh what joy.

My parents grew up during the “great depression.” Times were more than tough back then, many families sent their children off to orphanages because they couldn’t afford to raise them. I remember my mom telling us about how there was no sugar available here and so people just went without (I now know that having no sugar is a blessing.) She told us how the poor had to eat whole wheat bread and the rich ate white bread. Time sure have changed.

When I was growing up I thought that our family was the only family who was “poor” and that idea didn’t even come into my mind until I started going to school, children will say the darndest things and I was so tender hearted (still am) that I took it all in. I think it makes sense that ,because we are social beings and we have mirroring neurons, we are affected by those around us whether positive or negative. 

In my family growing up, I remember that we were grateful (as grateful as children can be) and I am still grateful to this day no matter what. I feel as though I am among the wealthiest on this planet.

I know that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So I make a point of speaking gratitude, speaking love, speaking compassion, speaking joy, speaking health; try it if you haven’t already and see how your heart and life becomes overgrown with such an abundance that you cannot help but give it away.

I just wanted to share my painting and some of my thoughts (I could go one forever) on my parents, my life and gratitude.

I also want you all to know that I am writing my blog posts with very little editing so please forgive the errors. If I started editing I would never share anything since it takes so much time for  me to do so.

As my Instagram [heatherdawnkemp ] says, this is “me, as is, the real deal, always living to do better, love more, understand more.”  

This painting is 36 x 48 inches oil on canvas. I see this painting as a testament of love, gratitude, abundance, prosperity, family and value for all the lives we encounter daily. Love is the key.

Where do I envision this piece you might ask? In a beautiful dining room where it can be most appreciated is my first thought, it was created to reside in that special place where Gratitude is paramount in honor of my dad. 

Enjoy your life, take time for your precious self, love others and wow the world.

hugs ❤

Hello, What’s New? It’s Good to See You!

Impressionist Painter.

Well hello, what’s new with you? It’s good to see you here! I am looking forward to hearing from you. I am seeking to hear back from you, in the comments, please share at least 1 thing that you are grateful for in your life right now.

 Let me tell you a short story. Years ago when I was a single mom I worked two jobs and was raising two children on my own with no financial support. One day we were invited to some friends house to dinner and someone said to me “Something must be suffering in your life.” He was talking about the fact that I had to work two jobs, raise my girls, and take care of our home, our finances, our bills, our health, our food preparation and so on, by myself, and he was so right, something was suffering. I could not handle it all so very well, not so very efficiently but what I did was handled the most important things first. I made sure my girls knew that they were loved, I made sure that I spent time with them and that when I was working, they were well taken care of. I made sure that we had food on the table and that we were not sick. I did the very best that I could do at the time.

 The reason that I am telling this snippet of a story is because I have let this blog slide a bit by not posting often and, to me, that means that I have let you down as well. I apologize for doing that and I promise that I have made a commitment to write something or share a photo or two on here every week. I am committing to being here, not trying to do it all at once, to share something that I believe will be of benefit to you. I am here for you. I may be sharing a quote, a short and sweet word, a photo of what’s happening in my life or something else that I find inspiring or a video link. This blog is now going to be a place where you can feel a little or a big lift.

 I intend to speak (write) as I do to my own family, to share love, helpful information that will inspire you, health information that will boost you and of course my artwork painted with love.

 YOU are special, you are worthy, you are enough, you are important.

 Today`s photo that I am sharing is of the Hibiscus plant flowering in my dad`s atrium…what a joy to see these flowers in the middle of winter like this. Plants are very healing to us in many ways; living in a climate where it gets pretty cold and white, I like to visit some of the greenhouses here and spend sometime with the plants, it lifts the heart for sure. So try it, even if you are not in a winter wonderland you will notice the benefit of plants by getting to a place where they are in abundance. If you are in the city, visit a greenhouse, a florist or even the local store where they sell cut flowers…and do what the song says …stop and smell the roses, (Oh my this is a song from my childhood…see how powerful our words are? They affect us for years.) 🙂

hibiscus

My Dad’s Driveway

Impressionist Painter.

winter at dad's
winter at dad’s

Going out to my dad’s at any time of year will always prove to be a beautiful experience. I love the country, not only is it peaceful but there are so many stunning views in a landscape full of simplistic, delicate, natural beauty.

This is one of those times when the sunset was just so breathtakingly soft yet warm, shining onto the snow, displaying intimate, soft pastel colours contrasted against the naked trees and bushes.

It is so satisfying for me to paint thin layers of paint onto the canvas and see the bounty of life’s blessings come alive.