Art is Joy. Joy is Art

Welcome to B Extraordinaire Gallery. The idea of B Extraordinaire Gallery evolved out of a desire to form a creative alliance between artists. It is a channel to activate, open, and expand our creative selves individually as well as collectively. It is a space to practice and share the joy of making art. We hope you join us on this adventure to find joy.
 
It all started with a 21 - day meditation challenge, a coronavirus epidemic, and a simple question. “What brings you the most joy?” Naturally, first, my family and friends popped into my head. As I thought more about joy, I thought of the pleasure of making art and tapping into my creative mind. My whole life, I have always considered myself an artist. Although, there were many stretches of time where I did not practice making art at all it was always in my mind.

I questioned myself, "Why am I not painting more? What is keeping me from painting daily? What are the barriers?" These type of questions can be uncomfortable.  Excuses take over.  There is never enough time. Self-doubt creeps in, am I good enough? What if I fail? Shouldn’t I be doing something more productive? The list of barriers goes on… Self-examination can be painful. Discomfort and challenge as hard as it can be provides us some of the greatest opportunities for growth. 

Where do you find creativity and joy? And why are you not doing more of it?  What are the barriers and excuses you tell yourselves? We ask ourselves these same questions often and find we can’t always answer them. 

Thinking is not doing. As my hectic and busy life has slowed to a crawl during this time of the coronavirus. Time opened wide, and I began painting again. Joy returned and I painted more often.  Joy multiplied!

So instead of putting your hobbies out of sight, and out of mind, I encourage you to get uncomfortable and put yourself out there and find joy.
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Art is Joy. Joy is Art. 
​B Extraordinaire today, Kathy