Laura Griffin Designs

I visited the Arboretum for a couple of hours this morning with a friend, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many pumpkins in my entire life! They were lining every main walkway of the gardens…just thousands of them. One section even had a hut built entirely of pumpkins, gourds, & maize:

What is even better is that the pumpkins were for sale. Imagine being 6 years old, walking into a place like that, and being able to choose one special jack-o-lantern pumpkin from thousands! Too cool.

I went to the Nasher Sculpture Center this past Saturday with my friend Rhonda. It is one of the few museums in Dallas I’ve never been to, and it is full of Patsy & Raymond Nasher’s amazing private collection they began accumulating in the 60s. Most of the work is modern art, though they did have a few pieces from Rodin…including one of my favs “The Age of Bronze”. This was Rodin’s first great masterpiece, and at the time, he was even accused of making a mold of his model because it was so lifelike!

I’ll never forget the first time I stepped into the Rodin museum in Paris at 17 & saw Le Baiser. It literally took my breath away. It amazes me that he could take a medium like marble & create something so lifelike.

And a few more of my fav pieces from the day…

I loved the shape & curves of this giant eraser by Claes Oldenburg. The brush was made from thick metal tubing.

Not only were there sculptures in the museum, but they also had some paintings from the Nasher collection, including this Picasso. I’m normally not a huge Picasso fan, but I loved the brilliant colors used in this piece… [...]

I’m teaching myself how to draw & paint faces digitally using a WACOM tablet before I attempt putting my acrylics to canvas. I figure this way – my mistakes are all erasable. heehee I made this angel drawing in Photoshop tonight inspired by Kelly Rae Roberts. Shouldn’t all angels have big earrings? *LOL*

Kelly Rae has a wonderful new inspirational book out called Taking Flight where she describes how to make beautiful collage canvases in her style. I’m hoping to attempt several soon. You can drop by her website to learn more about the book & be sure to check out her amazing gallery of work!

A friend sent me this poem by Marianne Williamson & I thought I’d share it with you today. It’s a great reminder of all we have to offer the world.

Our Greatest Fear

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other
people won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of
God that is within us.

It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.

—Marianne Williamson, From Return to Love, Harper Collins, 1992

Let your light shine,