Art Of Tracy Verdugo Blog

Big message from the Universe to me at the end of this amazing year.... SLOW DOWN!!!! Have been flat out on my back or on my side dealing with lower back spasms which my chiro says are a result of a twisted sacrum... ok, ok I get the hint...so I've been a little bit (understatement!) in overdrive, so I've been playing the role of Superwoman all year, trying to be the best mum, wife, artist, teacher I can be, studying full time and setting a standard of Distinction or High Distinction for my results, setting the wheels in motion for an EXTRAORDINARY 2012!! So for now I'm getting the message, chilling out, actually watched a whole movie in bed today and bawled my eyes out for the whole second half.. if you havent seen The Notebook you should so watch it... absolutely beautiful and just the right thing for me to see today and to contemplate the biggest most real,truly important thing in life...LOVE ♥♥♥ I'm also counting down the last 20 hours till the inc...

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." ~Lao Tzu~ Hello beautiful friends...i hope you've all had the loveliest time over the past week of holiday festivities..I've been busy, busy, busy painting happily away, indulging in delish food and yummy wine, hanging out with Marco and the girls and getting in a little beach time. today I felt moved to share a process with you which is especially relevant at this time of the year.... in honour of letting go of those things which no longer speak to us or even about us and allowing ourselves to move forward into our most amazing ever blossoming newest and shiniest selves.. this painting is the last large one left of a series I painted in 2008 inspired by our family's 7 month creative sabbatical which took us from Australia to the U.S , Canada and Mexico...(you can read more about our adventures here ) all of the rest have found their new homes and gone to live with lovely new families....but th...

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven~ Ecclesiastes 3 another Christmas come and gone....... we celebrated on Christmas Eve with family and friends, a long, languorous meal that stretched over 7 hours as the hot afternoon sun gave way to a balmy evening breeze, we feasted on turkey and sweet potatoes, strawberries marinated in balsamic, creamy potato bake ( always the favourite of the girls), honeyed carrots, salads and home made cherry pie, drank lots of wine and indulged my dads passion for making sweet banana cocktails by drinking a bottle of the stuff between two... my sweet friend Elhi and I drank the lot while others politely declined! As the afternoon light changed our two beautiful girls, no longer children but on the cusp of womanhood, chilled out together on the trampoline, giggling and sharing...oh how I LOVE to see them growing up and valuing and loving each other In the morning light Christmas day they opene...

Oh Geez...I was just about to have a rant about how much I have on my plate and how my blog site is beginning to resemble my studio with 6 unfinished posts(canvases) awaiting the magical touch before publishing(showing) but not enough time to do it blah, blah, blah and then I checked my email and here was this lovely message from my friend Toni....... last month or maybe the month before (time moves soooo quickly) Marco and I performed at our friend Jo's fundraiser for Trek for Timor and Jo's gorgeous daughter Rose broke out her cello ( well actually we practiced for weeks before!) and played with us..Jo and her friends were raising money to put solar power in villages in East Timor so we based our set around "Sun" songs..."Here Comes the Sun", "Dont Let the Sun Catch you Crying" and "I Can See Clearly Now the Rain has Gone"... what a beautiful night...in the moment, playing music, making a difference...thanks for the sweet pics Toni...

Less than 6 months ago my vision of "What is Possible" was changed forever. I had created my vision board 2 years ago around living a life of purpose and passion while traveling the world and helping others to find joy in their own creative spirit. It still felt very far away. I had created a great presence in my local area, selling my art and teaching kids and adults for the past 12 years and like a happy little fish in a small bowl I was a little bit scared of what lay outside my comfort zone. I wanted to shine my light and I had to start breaking barriers one by one.....I remember an analogy I heard years ago by the larger than life Tony Robbins...it really stuck with me....in my mind it created a picture of all of us walking around inside bubbles, some small, some very large. Each time we saw a new possibility, achieved a new thing our bubbles expanded slightly and from the perspective of our bigger bubbles it became easier to see even more possibilities.... and ...

One thing I know for sure.....here in this beautiful online world I have found a place where tribes gather..... like minded..... encouraging..... joyfully sharing. I know that when I have a moment that's a little hard to explain there are a whole bunch of you out there that KNOW exactly where I'm at. I LOVE that. So many of you share my love of thrift stores....here in Australia we call them Op-Shops- Opportunity Shops..how cool is that? Anyways we live in a small, small town but we have an awesome op-shop and the elderly ladies that volunteer there....well can I say they kind of know me ;p I walk in the other day and my eye goes straight to something delicious sitting on the counter. I dont remember the exact words but something to the effect of " you always like things for the dress up box"..not quite sure where that came from, perhaps just my love of the out of the ordinary, preloved exotica that noone else wants. Who wouldn't want this? torn, fragmented memori...

wandering out early in the morning...coffee in hand :) sunlight through the leaves of the umbrella tree... succulent colour burst on the front deck♥ wild sweet strawberries appear in unexpected places...little bursts of sunshine in our mouths x agapanthus ready to bloom... pretty pink roses down the side passage... bring on the zucchinis! last years spinach has sprung to life again and is snuggled next to bunches and bunches of self seeded coriander :) baby sunflowers...can't wait to paint them! a perfect caterpillar munched on love heart leaf! blissed out bee inside a mulberry splattered arum lily ♥ mulberries galore! and the occasional berry lovin' fairy♥ Birds of paradise outside Marco's recording studio... and lilies outside mine♥ a wild untamed corner of nasturtiums and daisies! Bottlebrush blossoming! and our wild boy Gingy lazing on the back deck ♥ I cant help but be inspired by all of this Springtime scrumptiousness..... finished this little inky artwork on the wee...