Skip to main content

Painting my celebration this Saturday



As I await the beginning of our poetry workshop this morning, I will celebrate my week. Please join us at 11AM EST...at TeacherPoets.

Spring Break this week...and I'd decided for a quiet week at home. I had lots planned and I just wanted to be...

I took a break from blogging this week, and I missed it more than I thought I would. I missed writing here everyday and seeing my blogging friends. It was a needed break, but I'm so glad to be back. Taking a break gives perspective and I needed some perspective. 

This week I painted...I found my inner artistic self...and I love her! I set up my painting studio.





I also finished one canvas. 

I am addicted. It's a new kind of creativity. I've always loved writing, but with painting, I'm free! Free to explore and take chances and mess up and discover something more beautiful or more ugly than before. 
It's a new kind of journey for me and I'm LOVING it. 

I'm wondering how I can incorporate these skills and opportunities into my classroom.

This week I organized...I cleaned out lots (not all) of Leo's stuff. 
It's sad and it's hard, but it's necessary. The cleaning helps me and gives me some time to remember him and all of our good times. 

This week I read and wrote...but not as much as I thought. It was a break for me...I did read a great book recommended by my mom: The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin! 
If you like reading, you'll enjoy this book. I finished it in one afternoon. 

Monday we return to school. I look forward to seeing my students and finishing out the school year! Thanks for celebrating with me today. 

Hope to see you at 11AM at the TeacherPoets Workshop! If you can't make it, you can still watch the video...it's archived on youtube. (Wish me luck! We are workshopping MY poem today and I'm a little nervous and a lot excited!)


Labels

Labels:

Comments

  1. Carol VarsalonaApril 19, 2014 at 11:14 AM

    Glad to see that your creativity blossomed this week. Sometimes it is so important to pause. When you said that you took a break from blogging this week, I thought of a blog post I wrote. Maybe you would like to take a quick peek=>http://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2013/10/time-to-pause.html

    Looking forward to TeacherPoets digging deeper into a thought.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michelle HaseltineApril 19, 2014 at 2:49 PM

      Yes, I agree...it's important to pause! I'll check out your blog post now. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

      Delete
  2. Linda BApril 19, 2014 at 11:50 AM

    So happy to hear that the art is becoming even more important, Michelle. That's so exciting. Glad you had a good break, although with a bit of sadness for your dear dog. Have a good week back, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michelle HaseltineApril 19, 2014 at 2:49 PM

      Thanks Linda! I can't believe how much I'm loving the art!!!

      Delete
  3. Terje April 19, 2014 at 2:27 PM

    You have a painting studio - awesome. Your words show that art gives you pure joy. I like that one piece features risk and authenticity - that's what sharing your poem was about today. I look forward to reading your reflection about TeacherPoets experience. I hope to read your revised poem. I know revision takes time, so I will be patient.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michelle HaseltineApril 19, 2014 at 2:48 PM

      Thanks, Terje! And THANK YOU for your kind words about today. I'll be blogging about the process soon. I will be revising my poem and I promise to share. Thank you for being there and commenting. It means a lot that my blogging friends were present! :)

      Delete
  4. JaanaApril 19, 2014 at 2:41 PM

    LOVE your paintings!!! I need to discover my creative in practical ways and not just in my head:) So glad you had a good spring break! May I use your paintings as an example with my students?? We are planning to do some art therapy with our refugee students.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michelle HaseltineApril 19, 2014 at 2:47 PM

      You may, Jaana! I'm honored. Please know that only the Risk one is finished...the rest are works in progress. I can't wait to hear about art therapy!!! Sounds amazing! :)

      Delete
  5. ElisabethApril 19, 2014 at 4:22 PM

    I've been plotting a new course I want to develop on creativity--in part because I want to invite more creativity into my own life. (I'm with Jaana--very creative inside my head!) I have loved reading about your journey on your blog!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michelle HaseltineApril 19, 2014 at 4:23 PM

      Ooohh! I'm intrigued with your new course. Let me know...
      And thank you for your kind words. :)

      Delete
  6. JulieanneApril 19, 2014 at 4:31 PM

    I love your studio and your painting. Wonderful visuals of what's inside you. So much warmth and vibrance. I so enjoyed the work you did this morning. Looking forward to revision too. I'm working on revising one of mine now. Having some trouble with it. May have to take a break!

    ReplyDelete
  7. LoraleeApril 19, 2014 at 6:58 PM

    Phew! You're back! Missed you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michelle HaseltineApril 20, 2014 at 6:55 AM

      Haha! Thanks Loralee! It's nice to be missed. I missed you (and blogging) too.

      Delete
  8. CarolApril 19, 2014 at 11:25 PM

    I want to try this painting thing! Would love to hear more about your creating process!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michelle HaseltineApril 20, 2014 at 6:56 AM

      Carol, I'm taking an online mixed media art class with Kelly Rae Roberts. The process is about...well, maybe there's a blog post there... OK, thanks for the inspiration! I'll get working on that! :)

      Delete
  9. AnonymousApril 21, 2014 at 10:43 PM

    There's something about doing a creative project that always revitalizes me too. I'm loving your artwork and the space you created to work on projects.

    Hope you had a wonderful spring break and wishing you a great week back.

    Jen

    ReplyDelete
  10. CatherineApril 29, 2014 at 6:40 AM

    Michelle, I've been on an unplanned break from blogging, so I missed this post, but wanted to let you know that your art is beautiful! Hooray to you for taking a risk and learning something new. I'll be looking forward to seeing more of your work! Glad to know you liked A.J. Fikery. I read a preview and really enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Please share your thoughts. I love comments!

Popular posts from this blog

Here I Am

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. I've been thinking for the past couple of days about this post...but I can't think of anything to write. Frozen in my failure, I want to quit, but I push through and show up here...even though it seems pointless. Who wants to read a blog post about nothing?  I begin to panic a bit...Have I "lost it"? My passion for blogging? My ability to blog? Why can't I think of something clever? What do I have to say that anyone will want to read? (By the way, I'd have all of these answers if it was you asking the questions!) Should I quit? Give up? Accept defeat? NO.  Instead, I show up.  Instead, I remember the words I said yesterday to my seventh-graders,  "Show up. It gets easier." Instead, I write and show grace to myself. Instead, I remember that blogging is a muscle that I haven't stretched in a while and I need to warm up, I need to take some deep breaths. Here I am. Showing up to the page. I'...
17 comments
Read more

Someday...

Thank you to Stacey, Betsy, Dana, Tara, Beth, Anna, Kathleen & Deb for this amazing platform to write and share writing! What a wonderful community you've created! I'm honored to be part of it. Join us at Two Writing Teachers . Do you have dreams? Kids are good at dreaming. I find many adults struggle with it. Speaking for myself, I get so caught up in the everyday drudgery of life, that dreams get nudged aside until they disappear.  It's important to have dreams. I've been writing about my dreams in my notebook and so I thought I'd share my dreams here... 1. Writing a book.  While I'd love to get a book published, my dream is to write a book...to complete the act of writing it.  I've started on this dream and it's hard and challenging and exciting and amazing.  2. Living at the beach.    I love the water, the waves, the ocean smell, the seafood, the sand...all of it! The Outer Banks is my favorite place in the...
23 comments
Read more

Chasing My Dream

I'm doing it. I'm chasing my dream. I've always wanted to run writing retreats and workshops for people, but I've always been too scared to do anything about it...until now. I don't know what's changed...maybe I've changed. I'm not allowing the fear to stop me anymore. I've started Selah Writing Retreats.  The past couple of weeks I've been getting the business end in order. I thought I would hate that...I don't. It's scary, but I am surprising myself with how efficient I am. Yesterday I went to a bank to set up a bank account. The woman I met with was kind and helpful and so enthusiastic about my dream. My website is set up. I've done lots of work on it. I hope you stop by and let me know what you think. It's  selahwritingretreats.com . Balancing creative with business has been challenging but fun. Creating the website, getting a federal tax id, making business cards, planning dates... My favorite voxer group is called Butt Ki...
21 comments
Read more