A pair. Pairings. And a pear.

Reflect.

I’ve started something new. Or you could say I’m returning to something old. Art. Painting, more specifically. Exploring the world through creative expression. It’s been about 30 years since I picked up a paintbrush. Stood in front of a canvas. Listened to my gut about colors and shapes (and had fun with it).

No goals. No finish line. Just me, a few canvases, some paint, and a few loose guidelines. Two guidelines to be exact. A pair.

• Follow the fun.
• Action over fear

That’s it. If it were a business plan it wouldn’t be terribly conventional. And so far it’s worked. Following fun requires listening to my heart and my gut, getting out of my head. Action over fear requires doing the things that scare me a bit. Taking chances.

So, in the spirit of being my own best friend I will simply remind myself to: 1) follow the fun and 2) let action overcome fear.

On a side note… sometimes I translate “action over fear” into something a little more raw in my head, and I simply tell myself to “grow a pear.” This works on the days when I’m getting in my own way by telling myself I can’t or shouldn’t do something.

Eat.

As long as we’ve gone down the path of pairs. Let’s talk about a few of my favorite pairings for an afternoon snack…

• Apples and cheese, both thinly sliced
• Peanut butter and chocolate, especially dark or semi-sweet chocolate
• Rice cakes with mashed avocado and a sprinkle of salt
• Pears (of course) and walnuts or pecans, ideally the nuts are roasted and lightly salted

Happy snack pairing!

Art.

Since we’ve had so much fun with pairs and pairings, let’s move onto a pear. (Thank you to those who’ve stuck with me!)

Two weeks ago I created a few backgrounds on canvas with acrylics and various texture tools. Here’s one of them.

I decided it needed a fruit on the front, but which one… an apple, a banana, a mango. Well, obviously, it was a pear!

Wishing you a lovely week ahead. May it be filled with unexpected pairings. And maybe a delicious pear or two.

Out of curiosity, are you Team crisp-pear or Team soft-pear?

Team crisp-pear all the way over here!

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Any books or products mentioned in this blog are things I wanted to share. I don’t receive any compensation. They are simply things I liked and/or choose to write about.