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to be The Joy of Christmas

This Christmas I want to wish you all the special Joy that comes with the Holidays. We don't think enough about joy and in these days leading up to Christmas it can easily get lost in the stress of acquiring the right present, waiting in long lines, crazy traffic and even family expectations put upon us to carry out old traditions. So, What is it about this season that can bring genuine joy to the artist even in the midst of commercialism, traditionalism and selfishness, especially in the area of giving? Here are four areas I have noticed that brings me the most Joy during Christmas and the New Year.

1) Enjoy your Stuff. It is really important to realize in this season that an artist gets joy when they reflect on and are fully thankful for what they have. Not only with what has been given to them throughout the year but experiencing satisfaction with what is given daily. If you can not enjoy the blessings you have received presently, how will you ever enjoy what you are working hard to attain later in your life? Appreciating what you have now and what you have made from your hands this last year is key to finding Joy. Being content with your stuff is the best state of being when you are going into the coming new year, especially as an artist. I have always known artists who never seem to be satisfied, who have more and better stuff than I do, always looking for the newest equipment and gadgets to help them create greater works. But, in the end, one by one, they all eventually became uninspired and frustrated in their dissatisfaction. Then again, I have known frugal artists who don't have very much by way of fancy equipment or top quality supplies, yet are content with what they have and produced exceptional art. They always seem to be inspired. The point is, wheather you have a lot of stuff or very little matters less than how much you appreciate what you have right now.

In this season it is good to take stock, appreciate your daily blessings and to experience joy from all the things you have received and have made from the work of your hands. What I like to do is steal away and go on a walk alone with my creator, meditating and enjoying all the blessings I have received this year. Not only does this time serve to recharge my creative batteries, but it gives me joy to reflect on what I have, even today. The contentment that comes with enjoying your stuff in the present is essential in opening yourself up to receive even more in the coming year.

2) Share Your Talents and Resources. No joy ever came from owning a multi-million dollar Vincent Van Goah and locking it up in a basement for no one to enjoy or appreciate. The greater joy comes with sharing your art and being generous during this time of the year. Sharing your art process, your abundance of supplies or even encouraging someone that you see who might need an artistic boost, produces great joy and satisfaction in the artist who gives. If you are an artist who is living well and you see a fellow creative person in need, but show no compassion toward that person, How can there be any love in that? But if you do extend a hand of hope to that person, this can be a real source of joy not only for them but for you too during the holidays.

This season I took on extra work as the art teacher at the Indian Island School and in two weeks painted with my elementary students a 7 foot x 30 foot holiday background canvas mural that helped to WOW the audience in our new music teacher's first Holiday Concert. I also posted 30 paintings on eBay in an auction-style sale to make my work available to people who might not be able to afford them. In my church I held a glaze painting class of hand made Christmas bulbs that were made out of hollow clay including over 20 children and delivered them in time to hang on their Christmas Tree. All of these extra activities and more, in addition to over a hundred art projects that went on display in my own school wide student holiday show, gave me added joy as an artist because I knew I made a difference. Sharing your talents during this special season, to pay it forward or even to fill the gap where a need is presented to you, can provide great joy and satisfaction, particularly when you realize that your gift as an artist can make a difference in the lives of others.

3) Know That Money is Temporary. Money is a good thing. It is no secret that artists need patrons in the arts to make a living and to afford the sky rocketing prices for art supplies today. But we as artists need to have a grip on our finances now more than ever. It should never be the other way around, especially during this festive season. We can easily get caught up with impulse buying and excessive spending to save, particularly with on-line shopping. It can really take a toll on our wallets and bring an artist quickly to the place where we saved a lot, bought a lot and have no money left going into the new year to live a lot. Yes, We must avoid being stingy, but we also must be wise in how we manage our money and resources so that we can afford to bless others and even leave this year with money to spend in the new year. One of the worst depressions that an artist can get into in this season is to over spend or go into debt buying gifts to please family or friends. It creates sadness because it dismisses all the wonderful little things you can give or receive that is more of what this season is truly about. Resting in your clear purpose of who you are as an artist and living within your means will produce inner peace of mind and a wonderful sense of joy.

Years ago I learned a valuable lesson from a terrible Christmas I put my family through. I was so concerned about giving to fundraisers that I had very little money to afford even a minimal Christmas for my own family. These fundraising nonprofit organizations thrived and even boasted of how they more than met their goals while I struggled. I still give to nonprofits today, but now it is within my means and through my art. And I always make sure my family comes first and has what they need to have a wonderful Christmas. In many ways money has become a temporal tool for me to stewart my life. As artists we do have a different autonomy than most professions. But we must be good managers of our money and spend it wisely. We can't just hoard it and live in fear. Nor can we foolishly spend mortgaging our future. Money can no more be the reason for the season then why we pursue our art. A deep joy is felt when we manage our money and it doesn't have a hold on us. Ultimately, as a creative person, if you have a trusting relationship with your Creator, "the source of every good and perfect gift", than you have everything!

4) Enjoy What You Do Not Own. As artists, we get to experience our works first hand before anyone else does. There is a joy in tasting the fruit of our labor and being the creative person who births the work. But the greater satisfaction is that very encounter with other people who enjoy and need our work of art as much as we enjoyed and needed to make it. The artist finds the greatest joy not only in being the keeper of the artistic flow, but making art works available to those who would never be able to afford to buy our works at full price or at all. Not only does this bring tremendous joy to the artist but the recipient who also experiences a deep appreciation.

During this Christmas season my wife and I recently went to a patron's new house to deliver a watercolor figure painting and view many of the works I painted a few years ago. The home was beautifully designed, but what struck me the most was seeing again a small oil study in the kitchen that I painted on Monhegan Island in plein air. I remember commenting of how beautiful the work was and what a joy it was to see it again. The truth is this painting was given to the both of us to enjoy, even though I will never own it. The very revelation that you do not need to own your art to enjoy it is the highest joy an artist can experienced. So much of our downfall in humanity is wrapped up in owning more. In February I hope to paint in Baxter State Park with other patron friends of my wife's and I. We hope to create paintings en plein air that are exciting and capture the joy of painting, even through the harsh conditions. But what would we have to look forward to if Governor Percival Proctor Baxter, the 53rd Governor of the U.S. state of Maine, didn't gift this state park to the people of Maine? His greatest joy, I'm sure, was giving land and vision through a trust to the people of Maine that in the end he would never end up owning. None of us ever will in the same sense of owning the land our house is built on. But all of us enjoy Baxter State Park today. Perhaps the highest joy experienced in this Christmas season is the joy of knowing that the truest gift is a blessing that you get to enjoy, but one you will never in the end own.

May you be filled with and experience great Joy this Christmas and New Year!

Michael E. Vermette

30/ 30 Holiday Sale

My 30/30 Holiday Sale on eBay is raping up for the year. I have sold a lot of works and am very pleased at the comments I have received that inform me that all of you who have won a painting in auction are enjoying the work. The following is the final listing of paintings that are on eBay that will be coming off within the next four to six days. I will not resist them so act fast if you would like one of them. I am making all the paintings available for the "buy it now price" of $125.00. Thank you for your support and Elaine and I wish you the most joyous Christmas of all, right into the New Year!