LOVE letters!

This is the kind of stuff that I love to do!!  A customer sent me the picture above and asked me to paint a similar pattern onto the letters "LOVE".  I think they came out pretty groooooovey :). 

Boca Grande!

Yesterday we spent a fabulous day at the beach!  We went to a beach called "Boca Grande" and it's about a 1.5 hour drive from Fort Myers.  Not a bad drive at all!  The water is too cold for swimming but the kids had a great time playing in the sand and we saw some great wildlife!

Sting ray (they put it back right after the picture). 

A little Bonnethead SHARK :)

Rainforest mural!

Before! 

After!  I only did the Monkey on the vine with the leaf, the tiger and the grass were already there!

The boy to the left is Brady and the boy to the right is Riley, they are so cute!!  They aleady asked me to paint more things :).  Gotta check with daddy though :). 

Practicing "zen"...

I used to run marathons, and I did it only because I loved doing it.  I was never very fast and never won anything.  As soon as the bullet went off many people people would take off and thousands of people would run by me and I would of course feel like I was doing something wrong, that I was too slow, and not as good as all the rest.  At the same time I knew that this was only the beginning and that we had 26.2 more miles to go.  And sure enough, later during the race I would see people hobbling along or even walking - probably the same people that made me feel inadeuate in the beginning.  This just enforeced my philosophy even more, that I do this my way, and I will get there when I get there. 
There probably are people that feel better because they passed that "slow" woman in the beginning.  I however don't fel better or worse wheter or not I come in before or after someone.  I just love to run.
The only thing that I really hated about running was when someone was right behind me panting right in my neck.  I would just step to the side and let that person get ahead of me. 

Now, the same thing holds true for my business, I do this because I love to paint & express myself through artwork.  I know that competition is fierce out there and I'm doing my best to promote my stuff and get some sales.  I don't care if other people are getting more sales or if other people are more successful.
However currently I do have one of those pesky people "running right behind me".  A person who is turning a friendly event into a bloody competition, where people's feelings & friendships don't count. 
I'm trying to practice the same  kind of thinking as I did when running, I do this because I love it. 
I'm not competing.  Feel free to get ahead of me. 
I will get to where I need to be eventually.  And my friends will be there waitning for me.