Tuscany! Join me for an Artfully Tasteful Tour of Tuscany 9-27 to 10-4-14

Sign up for this exciting trip by following this link! (Numbers are limited so sign up early)
https://www.ilchiostro.com/index.php?action=workshop-details&item=257

Let's slow down and savor life the way they do in Tuscany...

Sometimes we need to distance ourselves from real life in order to gain perspective. After my fourth trip to this region, I have come to the realization that I love the Tuscan lifestyle!  I love focusing on the meal at the end of the day, with an appreciation of the fresh food and great wines that this region has to offer.  

I have a dream...

I am hosting a trip back to Tuscany combining all the things I love: Travel, Great Food, Cooking, Wine, Art, Teaching, Friends, Music…it's a dream fulfilled! 

Let's share the peace and tranquility created by the beautiful scenery.  

Let's share the experience of making art in beautiful settings. Personal and intimate connections occur with locations and people when you take the time to paint or sketch them while traveling.  

Let's learn more about how to cook "Tuscan style"...
and have a good time doing it!  

Then let's relax and enjoy delicious food and great wines! 
With home-prepared breakfasts, and dinners prepared by our excellent chef: 5 course gourmet meals and wine included in your price.  

In the process I hope we can cement new friendships and make some great memories.

Prerequisites if you would like to join us:

1. A positive attitude and a capacity for laughter
2. Willingness to dwell on beautiful things and/or indulge others as they dwell on them
   
3. A taste for farm-to-table organic foods and wines,  
   
4. Willingness to explore incredibly beautiful and wonderfully medievel Tuscan towns.  
   
5. Interest in learning about art, and/or making art through drawing, painting, photography, and/or writing.  
   
   If you aren't an artist, then you can either indulge us when we talk about these things or do your own thing...take a walk, swim in the olympic size pool, grab a nap, read a book, write your novel, make notes in your journal, or take advantage of #6...
6. Have an interest in Optional opportunities to cook with my favorite Tuscan chef, Andrea Anichini?  If you are part of this trip, then you can enjoy some cooking lessons..how fun will it be to learn a few of Andrea's Tuscan Tricks of the Trade?! And yes...he is just as  FUNNY AS CHARMING AS THIS PHOTO IMPLIES! (He is also a sommelier!)

   

   Our Chef -Andrea Anichini

7. Interest in Optional tours of local Tuscan wineries, viewing local art history sites and/or historical sites.  (These might be alternatives for artists and non-artists alike). 
   
   
   
   Act now and hold your spot on this great trip!  A deposit of $500 will hold your spot in this very LIMITED GROUP. This deposit may be made by following the link below.  I will cap the number to keep it manageable and friendly.  

In case you have health concerns, my husband Paul is a physician and is ready to lend medical assistance to our group members.  I always ask him to bring along antibiotics...just in case. 

The dates for this trip are set for Sept. 27-Oct. 4, 2014. I have developed an itinerary with Il Chiostro, who will be handling all the registration. The complete description of the tour is found on their website which you may review via this link.

https://www.ilchiostro.com/index.php?action=workshop-details&item=257

I’d love to hear from you and possibly have you join me for what is sure to be a memorable time in Tuscany Sept. 27-Oct. 4, 2014. If you'd care to come early and/or stay longer, feel free to use this trip as a jumping off point for further travels in Europe...

Comment here or contact me via email. Andiamo!  (let’s go!)

Bubble Boys- Castellina, Italy

San Fedele Awaits- Watercolor by Rebecca Zdybel

Rebecca Zdybel
Artist, Instructor, Art-Travel Instructor
Art Lessons in all media
Myrtle Beach, SC
rebecca@artmyrtlebeach.com

Spread Light, Share Love, DO Art!

Feel free to share this blog post on your own blog or website, but I ask that you you include:

Rebecca Zdybel is an artist and instructor in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Follow her and see her work at http://www.artmyrtlebeach.com/

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Divine Creativity- Celebrate the Divine within YOU!

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 doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are 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

Takako's first watercolor done in class- YAY!!!!

This quote really speaks to me. and I firmly believe it's true.  Everyone can shine, and what's more, it would be my hope that everyone will be able to shine!  In my art classes, that is truly my goal for each student.  I celebrate right along with them when they do something they love! 

I marvel every day of late at the fact that I have the ability to paint and work as an artist!   I also have a new-found avenue for poetry and writing. Who would have thought?  Certainly not me!  It was not my intention to go out and find a job as an artist.  It was not my intent to become a poet...How did I get here?  What has the journey taught me?

I got here by pursuing what brings me joy. Joy is not the same as happiness for me...it's deeper.

The pursuit of joy is not necessarily easy...it can involve stepping out into uncomfortable realms.  It can require paying attention to the "inner voice" which beckons you. It can be accompanied by anxiety.  But it boils down to being determined, and refusing to let fear dictate your actions. 


For me, joy is the result of faith.  Faith in a higher power, and faith in the fact that as a child of God, I am capable of wondrous and marvelous things. I don't have to have faith in my own capacity and ability, I can send that faith a little further up the ladder and relax, knowing that it's not all up to me.  What a relief!

Swimming With the Fishes- Watercolor and Acrylic Line
New Painting by Rebecca Zdybel

When I am "in the zone" while painting or drawing... I feel as if I am meditating.  Perhaps I am channeling spirit at those moments.  Who is to say?  

Am I the creator of the paintings which come off my brush?  

Do the words that come to me while writing all come from within?

Perhaps I am simply channeling the creative Spirit of God...or maybe it has nothing to do with me, and comes down to the fact that all creation is "of God"? I like this idea.   I find it romantic to think there is something a little divine at work in the process of making art.  By giving credit to a higher power for that source of inspiration, I somehow feel freer to celebrate the result.  I can stand back and say, "isn't that cool?!" and not feel as if I am somehow being a braggart. 

Humming in the Hibiscus- Watercolor on Aquabord
New Painting by Rebecca Zdybel

We should all feel free to celebrate our creations.  If they bring us pleasure and achieve what we hope, why not celebrate?   Few of us will be art superstars.  Fewer of us will sell what we paint.  Does it invalidate what we do?  Absolutely NOT!

Celebrate the art which you create...it IS cool when you make time to be creative, and if you enjoy doing it, then there need be nothing further required.  It doesn't have to be great, you don't need anyone's validation, you don't have to frame it, you don't have to sell it.  

It's enough that it brings you joy just doing it! 

A painting by Susan done at an Arty Party with me-
definitely worth celebrating!

I encourage you to celebrate the divine in me...and in YOU! After all, you deserve the same loving-kindness which you extend to others.  
Namaste my friends...



Rebecca Zdybel
Artist, Instructor, Art-Travel Instructor
Art Lessons in all media
Myrtle Beach, SC
rebecca@artmyrtlebeach.com

Spread Light, Share Love, DO Art!

Feel free to share this blog post on your own blog or website, but I ask that you you include:

Rebecca Zdybel is an artist and instructor in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Follow her and see her work at http://www.artmyrtlebeach.com/

"Like" my facebook page: Rebecca Zdybel- Artist
Join me on Google+ Rebecca Zdybel Google+ Profile

Loggerhead Fever- The Poetry Bug Strikes again!

A loggerhead turtle nesting at night

The tracks left behind by a nesting loggerhead- a sign of where the nest can be found

Living in beautiful South Carolina on the shores of the Atlantic, loggerhead turtles nest here in the summer and fall on our beach.  It's a quiet and natural beachfront, unlike so much of the Grand Strand.  Those turtles and their nests are associated with some of my most magical moments over the years.  Last year, it was my privilege to witness the emergence of a few baby stragglers out of a nest which had partially hatched the previous day.  They came out late in the evening one night.  The full moon and I were the only witnesses to their birth.  The experience is one I'll never forget.  

A baby loggerhead makes its way to the sea

22 years ago, I also had an amazing experience with the loggerheads.  My little children were in various stages of undress after a long day at the beach.  Rather than deal with sagging diapers, I let the youngest two just run around naked.  While there, during the twilight hours, a nest began to emerge.  We were able to escort the hatchlings to the water.  It was fantastic!  Watching my naked babies escort the baby turtles to the ocean is something I'll remember forever with nostalgia.  

As it happens, I was reminiscing yesterday about those memories, and felt inspired to write the beginning of a poem based on my ideas about loggerheads, their birth, and their relationship with the moon.  This is getting to be a new habit!  Having been bitten in Greece,  I lost yet another day to the poetry bug (yes, it seems to be contagious, especially among artists! )  I took the day off to relax and lost the afternoon developing an idea into a poem.  It was a great way to while away the day!

I don't know that it's finished, but I thought others might enjoy the spirit of the piece even in its rough form.  I've painted turtles in the past, but hope to let this poem inspire a painting or perhaps even a series of paintings!  I hope you enjoy it.  

Turtle Dreams- Abstract Mixed Media

Mother Moon 

and the Loggerheads  Poem by Rebecca Zdybel

Mother moon she shines her light,

Her kingdom is the sea.

She rules in silent majesty. 

The queen of night is she.

Her sister sun she steals the show, 

With heat and colors bright.
Her children; plants and all of life 
Who count on day for light.

The moon, no colors and no voice, 

Is left to rule the sea.

The waves, her arms,

Reach toward the shore, 

Her song their melody.

A mothers heart she does posses, 

But children she has few.

For nature often chooses day 

When life seeks to renew. 

The loggerhead is special then... 

Among the favored few, 

Who look to Moon as Mother, 

And their birth she oft will view.

When nest is lain 

On dunes piled high, 

The loggerheads will leave.

Trusting Mother Moon 

To guide their babies to the sea.

Her sister sun will watch the brood 

When night becomes the day.

She’ll  splash upon the peaceful scene 

With colorful array.

Almost home...!

All day she’ll shine and try to claim

These children as her own.

But mother moon, 

Does soon return, 

And wait for them, alone.

Vigil she keeps nightly 

O’er her sandy nursery.

Returning every evening,

Time of birth a mystery.

As nights do pass without event,

She’ll often shed a tear,

And mourn the prospect of 

Another day without them near.

On those morns, she leaves forlorn,

As night becomes the day.

Her sister sun allowed once more

The chance to have her way.

Mother Moon does come again

Whene’er she has the chance.

Waiting, watching, shining,

On the waves her light will dance.

And so it was that moonlit night,

So very long ago.

Their little noses poking through the sand

As if ‘twas snow.

Her lamp lit bright and beckoning.

She called them from below,

The blanket where they long had slept,

Warm and safe to grow.

Their hopes raised high, their path well lit,

They crawl over the shore.

Their fins imprinting on the sand  

A trail to come once more.

The water sings her lullaby.

Her arms, as waves do reach.

She woos them forth, 
With mother’s love, 

 As they cross o’er the beach.

That song rings on when e’er we hear

The waves upon the shore.

A song of love’s unending hope.

A song none can ignore.

Schedule an Arty Party and paint this turtle with me!


 

I hope you enjoyed my little poem.  I'm not sure about the title (it almost seems like it would be a great name for a rock band, lol!

 A Happy side-note- Since having originally posted this poem, I've been asked to read it for the local gathering of Turtle Volunteers later this month.  They are the stalwart folks who patrol the beaches daily and help to protect and preserve the nests and the turtle hatchlings.
They have some other surprise plans I can't reveal at this point, but I'll be sure to write about THAT experience later this month!  So exciting!!

If you're interested in knowing more about Loggerhead turtle activity on the beaches here in SC, or want to get involved in their protection follow this link

S.C.U.T.E.- SC United Turtle Enthusiasts Facebook page

Rebecca Zdybel

Artist, Instructor, Art-Travel Instructor

Art Lessons in all media Myrtle Beach, SC

rebecca@artmyrtlebeach.com

Spread Light, Share Love, DO Art!

Feel free to share this blog post on your own blog or website, but I ask that you you include:

Rebecca Zdybel is an artist, instructor, and writer in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Follow her and see her work at http://www.artmyrtlebeach.com/

"Like" my facebook page: Rebecca Zdybel- Artist

Join me on Google+ Rebecca Zdybel Google+ Profile

Michaelino sings at San Fedele Tuscany

This video was typical of our after dinner entertainment from our host and all around great guy, Michaelino.  Il Chiostro did a great job putting our art tour together!

If you're interested in taking a fabulous trip to Tuscany, contact me!  I am planning a get away Sept 27-Oct 4 2014.  We will be doing art, having lessons, cooking together and having instruction from a fabulous Tuscan chef, drinking local preservative free wines and eating authentic farm to table fare, while traveling the small quaint towns of historic and beautiful Tuscany!


Rebecca Zdybel
Artist, Instructor, Art-Travel Instructor
Art Lessons in all media
Myrtle Beach, SC
rebecca@artmyrtlebeach.com

Spread Light, Share Love, DO Art!

Feel free to share this blog post on your own blog or website, but I ask that you you include:

Rebecca Zdybel is an artist and instructor in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Follow her and see her work at http://www.artmyrtlebeach.com/

Awake and Dreaming and Writing Poetry

Have you ever daydreamed your way into a great idea?  Have you ever paused before waking in the morning and had creative revelations come your way as you laid there...somewhere between sleeping and waking...in that pleasant and relaxed realm?  

 "Beyond Imagining"-  Acrylic on Canvas      16X20     $350

If you have kids and jump out of bed at the last minute with a million things to do, you may not get too many of these moments (I sure didn't while I was raising my family).  These days, I've come to love the morning hours when I'm by myself and before the day begins.  I like to keep it quiet.  I like to let my mind wander.  Maybe it's meditation.  Sometimes it turns into a prayer, but often its just quiet.  

I have found these times to be especially subject to creative thoughts...ideas for new work, new classes, new themes.  So much so in fact, that I've taken to keeping a journal next to my bed.  As with dreams (or honestly, most things I want to remember), I've found that unless I write it down, I tend to forget it.  

I was so inspired by my new friends and their poetic creations during my trip to Greece.  Their words were truly beautiful.  I found their poems heartfelt and inspirational. I found myself reminiscing about how I used to write poems as a teenager.  Then I stopped.  I don't know why, but I can imagine that I just got worried about baring my soul too transparently.   I do love words and I do love writing, so I decided to pass the time on the way home from Greece, not only painting, but trying to describe my love of these morning reveries through poetry.  (It was a REALLY long journey home).


I didn't have a personification for inspiration, until I looked up the god of inspiration (it seemed appropriate, having just left Greece- home of both gods and poetry).  It was then that the idea of personifying inspiration came to me.  After that, it all fell into place.  What fun!  

Next on my "to-do List":
I want to let these words inspire a painting...

Victory Song
Giclee Prints available upon request in size of your choice on Canvas or paper. 

Here's my new poem below.  

The Muse  Rebecca Zdybel

In that space of quiet
Rest
Awake and dreaming free 
Abide a while 
Peacefully still 
And linger luxuriantly

Pause and watch the moments slip 
Sense of time now gone
Comes a flow 
of thoughts inspired                                           
Somehow new yet known

Taking shape
Familiar guest
The Muse she beckons me
Her veil aside
Her face revealed
Inspiration now I see

Beckoning 
The siren sings
"Come, linger by my shore..."
Songs of brush and pen and theme
 I hear her Whispering roar!


My heart caressed
In a breath dive deep 
No movement made
Its there...
A promise kept
Her generous heart 
Awaits, and its laid bare

Taking shape 
Thoughts---forward press 
Not urgent, yet a surprise 
My grateful spirit 
an open door for
For what the Muse inspires

Pearlsong revealed
I hear her tune,
The lyrics, every line
I float, I smile
Receive as gift
Her song for now its mine

Currents move
I journey on
Away from siren's shore 
What were those notes? 
They rang so clear 
As if I'd read before


I shift to stay
But force helps not 
So on and on I go,                   
a leaf afloat in currents unknown
I surrender to the flow

Again the notes her song become
Their waters quench my soul
I drink them in
Connection pure
Aware of my new goal

I wake inspired
Our tryst complete
Somehow its now so clear
I smile a lover's gratitude 
So glad I lingered here...

I can tell you that whether or not you relate to this poem, I had a fabulous time constructing it.  Finding just the right meter and just the right word or imagery, was similar to searching for just the right color or value in a painting.  I definitely felt myself shift into Right-Brain mode when trying to compose.  It was the same way I feel when I am painting or drawing.  Perhaps the Muse visited me.  


Let me know if you can relate to the sensation of inspiration coming to you as a gift, perhaps a heavenly one.  I'd love to hear from you...





Rebecca Zdybel
Artist, Instructor, Art-Travel Instructor
Art Lessons in all media
Myrtle Beach, SC
rebecca@artmyrtlebeach.com

Spread Light, Share Love, DO Art!

Feel free to share this blog post on your own blog or website, but I ask that you you include:

Rebecca Zdybel is an artist and instructor in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Follow her and see her work at http://www.artmyrtlebeach.com/

Out of My Mind Again! Art- My Favorite Drug of Choice

Have you ever had an out of body experience?  I just did.  I passed a very long 9 hour flight without the need to sleep despite getting up at 3 AM in Athens.  I'm a little fatigued, but during the flight I completed a few small watercolor sketches in my travel journal, and did some writing.  So fun! I was really "in the zone".  Either that, or once again,  I was out of my mind!

Athens

Octopus on the line...Scala Sykaminia

Remembering Manh Manh Restaurant in Athens...OHPAH!!

Note to self: sketching is probably best done on smooth paper...

this one done on rough paper is an illustration of why =)

Windmills of Chios- a must see!  You can eat dinner there as the sun sets...just lovely!

If you're as old as I am, you may remember that old Calgon Bath commercial.  The catch phrase was,  "Calgon, take me away....!" Good old Calgon Bath products never had that effect on me, though if I had enjoyed them this way, perhaps they might have!  

If you're old enough to remember that commercial, you may also remember the natural child-birth technique called Lamaze.  Breathing was at the heart of the Lamaze method and I relied on for all 4 of our children's births.  It really worked.  

That was the first time I remember being transported mentally in a remarkable way without chemical assistance.  I always thought of Lamaze as self-hypnosis, and a way of going "somewhere else" in your head while all hell was breaking loose with your body.  

That feeling is not just available through chemicals or hypnosis.  Music can also transport me.  Playing music can be a quick way to lose a few hours once I settle in and get engaged.  

Sports can also take me there.  Being an athlete all my life, I've had times when I've played "out of my mind".  My hand and eye were incredibly connected.  When this happened my entire being was on fire and I was doing things I could not believe possible.  Everything worked and was in sync. I was in the zone.  It was the best!  If you're an athlete, you may have also experienced something similar.  I don't think I'm that special...I just think it's part of the human experience.  

Those times are incredible, and sometimes I feel myself in that same kind of head space while "in the zone" doing art.  Every artist who has seriously spent time focused on their artwork has felt some version of this phenomena.  Time slips away, you're focused and ideas are flowing.  You see more and more clearly, perceive more and more discerningly.  Associations come, ideas flow, and you may even forget to eat, drink, or sleep.  Concentration is keen, and yet you are not on edge.  It's a calm and centered mental place to dwell.  In her book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, Betty Edwards calls this mental state, Right-Brain Mode.

Having grown up in the generation before the "just say No" era, I confess to having personally had a motto of "just say Yes" to a whole lot of things that would prevent me from running for political office.  Having sampled a few wares of the legal and illegal sort,  I can report to those of you who may have made other choices, that nothing compares to the "high" I feel from art. ART is my new drug of choice.  


I have had conversations with a few of my friends who write as their means of expression.  They report a similar feeling when they are focused and feeling especially creative.  Betty Edwards encourages writers to do a sketch prior to writing as a means of focusing their creative centers and starting up that sense of flow.  The idea is, that once you begin the Right-Brain Mode, you can transition to writing and ride the wave of creativity a little more easily. 

Have any of you had this feeling?  I'd love to hear about your experiences..comment here if you would like to share.

Rebecca Zdybel

Artist, Instructor, Art-Travel Instructor

Art Lessons in all media

Myrtle Beach, SC

rebecca@artmyrtlebeach.com

Spread Light, Share Love, DO Art!

Feel free to share this blog post on your own blog or website, but I ask that you you include:

Rebecca Zdybel is an artist and instructor in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Follow her and see her work at http://www.artmyrtlebeach.com/

Photos of My Art Trip to Greece: Lesbos, Chios, Athens

What Inspires You??

Beautiful Light?

Landscapes?

Sunsets?

Perhaps something unusual makes you pause...

Yes, those really are octopi hanging on the line!

Maybe you find beauty in wildlife...

Maybe color inspires you...

I loved the lavender shutters in the house shown above

The beautiful bougainvillea against the magenta shutters was inspirational for me...

Perhaps you like shapes, and Abstract forms...

Maybe you love things with character and texture...

Whatever inspires you visually, you'll find plenty here in Greece! There's nothing better than traveling as an artist!  If you'd like to try it, think about joining me next year in Tuscany for a painting and cooking trip...Sept 27-Oct 4 2014!

Rebecca Zdybel

Artist, Instructor, Art-Travel Instructor

Art Lessons in all media

Myrtle Beach, SC

rebecca@artmyrtlebeach.com

Spread Light, Share Love, DO Art!

Feel free to share this blog post on your own blog or website, but I ask that you you include:

Rebecca Zdybel is an artist and instructor in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Follow her and see her work at http://www.artmyrtlebeach.com/