New Theme... due Tuesday, April 21st

UPDATE: Deadline moved to April 21st. I am on the road with business and won't be able to host and visit everyone until then. For some of you, that means extra time. See you in a just over a week back here. SIGN-UP is at end of post. :)

– Happy Flying a Kite (by moi)! –

After a grueling 30 hr. Greyhound bus ride, Alexandra and her brother arrived back here weeks earlier than initially planned. As such, it's meant a lot of rearranging schedules, cancelling tickets, getting things set up here, and so on. Whilst she now finally gets to focus on (all Easter weekend, actually) catching up on lost time and missed assignments for school and upcoming artwork projects, I now have the opportunity to write this post!

So, anyway, sorry to have kept everyone waiting for any of you who wanted to jump ahead with this project. As it is, we have Christine to thank here with her marvelous suggestion. As she aptly put it:
"How about asking everyone to draw what HAPPY means to them? Could be a cup of tea, a sunrise, a favourite food, a flower. Just think of things that make you happy, which should be fun in itself."

I like that! And with it, I want to lay out some clarifiers/guidelines here for this one. Please consider these points when thinking about what you would like to show and how to depict it.

• Concentrate on what just makes you HAPPY — not what brings you joy, per se, or inner lasting peace and so on! I want us then to simply focus on CIRCUMSTANTIAL happiness ...like merely drinking a cup of coffee and so forth. So, yes, we're talking about superficial happiness, if you will. There's the rub, the challenge! It may even be "fun" but that's not the primary focus either!
• Ask yourself this: "What physical thing or sensation makes me smile/makes me HAPPY, but is not something that is long lasting in its feeling, yet wonderful nevertheless when experiencing it?"
• Think about the small wonder of fleeting moments of happiness. They may well be superficial but are wonderful nonetheless... like, petting one's pet, flying a kite, riding a bicycle, getting a haircut, etc.

OK, well, now that you are all duly challenged with what is seemingly a simple theme....go find a HAPPY moment, capture it in your creative piece and report back to us in just under two weeks! (Hmm...maybe I'll paint some Easter Eggs? :D ) Oh, and Happy Easter everyone!

Thanks again for your visits, leaving comments, and building this online art community as a safe place where we can help keep each other wanting to create regular artwork and hopefully be inspired, or at least challenged, along the way!

P.S. Everyone, please go check out ChrisJ (Flamblogger)'s Bouquet piece. Looking at the lack of comment thus far, I think many of you might have missed it as did I, since it was, likely, a last minute entry but she did it! Let me just say, it's got amazing petals!