"You can't erase the past, but you can create a beautiful future."                   ~Michal Madison

Wisdom from an 8 Year Old   I love Paije. She walked into my booth last Memorial Day weekend, when I was displaying my paintings at Art in the Park. Her mom and little bother were with her. I watched as she moved slowly from painting to painting, taking them all, as if she were memorizing each face, each brush stroke, deep inside her. She’s just eight, but the past two years have brought pain that is overwhelming. She doesn’t have a dad. She used to have a dad… but things changed. She's learned early that bad things happen and life goes on. Sometime we feel as if left us in the wake, trying to stay afloat.  Soon after we met, I started teaching her art lessons. She wanted to learn how to draw eyes and faces. (I couldn’t say “No” to that!”) She soak everything up like a dry thirsty sponge. Our plan is that she draws me one of the things that we are working on together at class,  and the rest of the week, she can draw whatever she wants, whatever her soul desires. This past week she brought this drawing to me titled “Tears of Time”. If you look closely you can see words, emotions, filling the iris. She’s also started writing something that goes with her art as well. She liked that I did that on my website and Facebook. (She’s one of my most avid fans via her mum’s account.)  Here are her words:      The tears of time keep falling and falling from looking in the past.      All of the sad memories that have found her heart and eyes and soul.      The tears will fall until she falls asleep.      Then she will forget for the night.      And the tears of time will come back and it won’t stop.      But she can stop it.      She knows with God and her family, she can get through this.                                                                          ~Paije, age 8, September 2014 Art heals. Art helps us deal with the chaos that is going on inside, the stuff that doesn't make sense. I love being part of that process in a child’s life. Paije’s favorite painting of mine is “Shadow’s of the Past” (at top). I understand why. She has a print to remind her that, while we can’t make the bad stuff that has happened to us disappear, we can focus on the good stuff, on the light, on what is going right in our lives today. That is where we find hope to carry on, hope to get through the pain, the loss, the heartache. Paije realizes the gift of being surrounded by people who truly love her. The strength that comes from having Creator in her life. Today, I hope you find the joy and beauty that are around you, the gifts that are in your life, the strength that carries you forward. Surrounding yourself with art helps. Here’s where you can purchase mine: www.MichalMadisonArt.com. Ten percent of every sale is donated to Childhelp so that children who have been through extremely hard times can find hope. Thank you for buying my art and being a part of making Hope Happen! Exquisite Blessings, ~Michal Madison

Knowing When to Stop

Knowing When to Stop

I just burned another pot of beans. The crazy thing is that they were finished cooking when I added the salt & a few other seasonings. But instead of turning the burner off & just letting the seasonings marry in the pot, I left the heat on thinking that I would help the process along.  It might have been ok, but I left the room & forgot I was cooking the beans. This isn’t the first time I’ve burned food. I need to stay focused on what I’m doing & know when to stop.
The same thing happened to a painting this week. Though it’s not completely ruined like the beans are, I wish I had stopped sooner. I feel that this painting has lost some of its crispness, its edge.
I think it’s an important lesson to learn in life. Knowing when to stop is just as important as knowing when to take a risk & charge forward. Sometimes we stay in a relationship that isn’t good for us, way too long, & we end up burned (been there). Or we stay in a job that no longer inspires us & we lose our edge (done that too). It’s good to reevaluate life occasionally & just check to see where you are. Are you still embracing each day with the reckless abandon & joy of a child or are you dreading waking up? If the latter is true, it’s time to stop & seek a new path. That doesn’t always mean cutting ties, but sometimes it does… sometimes it means looking at the situation with new eyes, or seeking counsel. Remember, whatever situation you are in, you are never stuck. Never.
It is important to surround yourself with things that inspire you to live with passion. A meaningful painting on your wall could change your perspective & give you the extra push you need to know when to stop & when to press on. My website is www.MichalMadisonArt.net/galleries.html. If you see something you love, let me know, we’ll work out the details of making it yours. If you imagine something you’d love to have, but don’t see, & think I can create it, let me know, send me a message. I do commissions as well.
Staying on top of your game, staying fresh, vibrant, full of life has a lot to do with knowing when to stop.
Wishing you a day filled with magic & miracles
~Michal Madison

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Painting for Peace

 I am continually amazed by the healing power of art! How it heals me, the artist. It heals those who see it and find inspiration. And now through it I am also able to give back and help abused children heal.

Painting for Peace

the healing power of art

My innocence was stolen before I could speak a word. I know that is one of the reasons art is so important to me. It doesn’t need a vocabulary to help me express hidden emotions and deep feelings.

Child abuse is impossible to wrap my mind around. I don’t understand it! It was even more inconceivable while it was happening.

How could these people, who said they loved me, do these appalling things to me? I separated the evil events from my “good” parents, dividing and hiding the darkness so deep that I almost convinced myself it never happened. I dissociated. And so, as an adult, I always felt there were pieces of my story I just “didn’t” know ~ or maybe didn’t want to know… But I did want to know. I wanted to understand why I was the way I was.

But how? How does one uncover a past they’ve buried so deep in their psyche? Art! Art allowed me to discover my history in safety and continues to help me process my journey gently. It gives me the freedom to move beyond the barriers that confined me, to live in the freedom I was created to enjoy! Art helps us express emotions that we can’t find words for. There are so many art forms to express those emotions. The possibilities are limitless!

As a child I was rescued by music. I remember the moment the piano arrived at our house. It was a huge old upright grand with a magnificent full sound. I sat there mesmerized. That piano would become a place I could express my feelings. Through music I developed an inner strength.  I felt alive, grounded, present. I lived at the piano, lost and found in the notes, using music to tell my story.

Later I started exploring visual art.  There would be several more years of abuse before I would be in a safe enough place to truly start my healing journey using this medium. And then, it was through watercolor and collage that the puzzle pieces of my life story started to fit together. I started to understand why I ended up in more than one abusive marriage. Marriages that looked so great on the outside but were filled with assault and pain (just like my family).

I love the saying “life is a great big canvas, so throw as much paint on it as you can!” Part of my healing has involved “throwing paint”. Yes, it gets everywhere, but the benefits far outweigh any cleanup that I may have to do (besides, beach towels make great drop cloths and look so much more artistic with paint splatters!) It’s cathartic to let the paint “fly”, just to enjoy the process without allowing the outcome to be a priority.

I’ve found when I become focused on the finished product, I lose, to a great extent, the healing power of the journey — the process. I have discovered so much about where I am today, about where I’ve been, from these “paintings without a plan”. It’s as if a window was opened and I was able to look into my inner world.

I created a collage book, as soon as I left my second abusive husband. I was unwavering, at that point, to get to the root cause of my issues and start to heal. I was determined to never allow anyone to abuse me ever again! So I started using art as part of my healing, much more seriously.

I collected pictures and words from magazines that resonated with my feelings and desires. I had a little box with glue sticks, scissors, cardstock and magazine pictures. Every day I’d create something that expressed what I was feeling that moment or what I wanted to be feeling — the life I wanted to be living. I kept them in plastic pages in a three-ring notebook. I still have this collection of collages, and still find healing in its pages.

The amazing freedom of art is that one doesn’t need to be an artist to use art to heal. Anyone can collage — just as anyone can “throw” paint on a canvas, or find a box of crayons and a pad of paper and just let the inner self express feelings. The medium we use isn’t as important as just doing it!

The one subject I love to paint more than anything else is eyes. We all know William Shakespeare’s famous quote “The eyes are the window to your soul”. I believe that’s really true.

As I see the eyes looking back at me, newly revealed from the brush strokes of my soul, I almost always see myself in those eyes: a tiny child, without words; longing searching eyes; an angry woman who’s been holding it all inside under the fragile veneer of happiness; a strong, but fragile girl who can’t stop the tears from overflowing a moment longer. These hidden layers surface to be faced, to be loved, to be healed.

A couple years ago, I started sharing my art on Facebook. With my art came my story. Almost overnight I discovered how un-alone I was on this journey.

I wasn’t the only one whose family had stopped talking to her when she told “the secret”. I wasn’t the only daughter of incest whose parents said “it never happened”. I wasn’t the only person who had been sexually abused by both of her parents! I wasn’t alone.

People were sharing their own stories of survival with me. When they told me how my art touches something deep inside their soul, giving them courage to face the past and start to truly live, I was inspired to continue sharing my journey.

 I am continually amazed by the healing power of art! How it heals me, the artist. It heals those who see it and find inspiration. And now through it I am also able to give back and help abused children heal.

 People were connecting emotionally with my art and wanting to buy originals and prints, or cards to share with others. Right away I knew I wanted to give back, to help make a difference in the lives of children who were in the midst of healing. Today 10% of every sale from my art is donated to Childhelp. Giving back is another layer of my healing.

Childhelp has a phenomenal art therapy program that is helping wounded children heal! Through art, the silence is being broken! Through art, children are able to express those emotions they just can’t put into words. Truly, how do you put into words the pain of abuse? To me, it’s indescribable, even as an adult, because it should never ever be! Join me in making a difference in the lives of children by supporting Childhelp.

 Michal’s art can be found at: www.michalmadisonart.com

To Learn more about Childhelp's Art Therapy programs, go to www.childhelp.org/maks.

original blog: http://www.childhelp.org/blog/entry/painting-for-peace/

being tiny

"There are moments in all of our lives when we forget our true greatness & allow others to make us feel small. when that happens, think of all the magical things you could do if you really were tiny. & soon you'll remember who you really are..." 

here's to your greatness!" 

Being Tiny 

I Feel Small… It’s definitely not a feeling I would choose, if I had my choice of feelings. But here it is. Seriously, how can feeling “small” feel so big? Small should just feel small and insignificant. But it doesn’t. Feeling Small and insignificant is usually huge and overwhelming! Have you ever felt really, really small? You know, someone said something or did something and in an instant you feel smaller than Tom Thumb inside! 

I’ve felt that way many times throughout my life. I’m trying something new. I’m trying to embrace whatever emotion I’m feeling. Emotions never stay forever, so I’m trying to make friends with whatever emotion happens to be in my life at the moment. So I ask myself, ‘is feeling small really all that bad?’ 

There are moments in all of our lives when we forget our true greatness and allow others to make us feel small. When that happens, I'm choosing to think of all the magical things we could do if we really were small. You know, discover the wonder of small. 

Think of all the small things that we just love! Like babies, kittens and puppies, well, little baby anything, tiny flowers, hummingbirds and butterflies, ladybugs and… the list can go on and on, because I love little things… dainty earrings, thin tiny paintbrushes for painting the details in eyes and small spoons to savor every little bite of ice cream! Yes! I like small spoons. What small things do you really like? 

So, I imagine myself magical, like a flower fairy, or Thumbelina. I'd really like to try out being tiny enough to hide under flowers, dance with bumblebees and fly on the back of a sparrow! Life would be totally different from that perspective. Wayne Dyer says, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” That is so true! 

Thinking about how fabulous and fantastic teeny tiny small is, we soon remember who we really are... we remember our greatness. 

I realize I'm changing the way I look at what happened and why I've been feeling small, I'm able to see from their point of view. These people are going through their own personal “stuff” probably feeling ‘small’ in a not-so-magical way. Their decisions are a reflection of their life, not about me. Regardless of how I feel, it isn’t personal. 

On top of that, my feeling small, really has nothing to do with this situation, it goes back to childhood wounds. I always felt seen for what I could do, but never seen for who I was. That simple fact made me feel very small and insignificant as a child... maybe invisible! So what happened in the present triggered that response from a long time ago. Now I can easily and completely forgive these people whose actions simply triggered a something from my past. They had no idea. It really is MY deal. Now that I understand, I can heal. 

Next time someone hurts your feelings or you find yourself misunderstood, or misunderstanding another person’s actions, try looking at your situation from a different perspective — maybe from under a flower or on the wings of a sparrow! You may be surprised at what you see from a new point of view! 

Elephant Inspirations

"Art can touch emotions in someone's life and reignite a dream, even a dream that has been through devastating circumstances. So look around. Be blessed by the amazing wonder, the artistic elegance of creation. Let your heart and soul be captured. Dream Big! Expect Miracles!" 

Elephant Inspiration 

I love elephants. But Lindsay love loves elephants. 

Well, let me start back at the beginning of this elephant story. I painted this elephant picture for my girlfriend (at the time, now my best friend who really loves elephants), so tons of love went into every brush stroke. We both decided, recently, that it would make great prints and cards. 
A couple of weeks ago I was showing at The Art Festival. I met a lot of really intriguing people, among them this interesting guy, Josh. He liked all of my art, all of it! I know, what’s not to like about him, right? But that’s not the reason... He bought one of my elephant cards, among other things. A few hours later, after lunch, he returned to buy another elephant card. 
Josh and I have kept in touch since the show and He shared an inspiring story with me. This is where Lindsay fits in. Josh went to lunch with his good friends Lindsay and Eric the day he bought the elephant card. Remember Lindsay really loves elephants! (Eric loves them also). When Lindsay opened the card, tears filled her eyes. They’ve been married for a while and were excited about starting a family. But several months ago they experienced a miscarriage. It shattered their world. Together they decided to stop trying to have a baby (for a while). While it’s hard to stop chasing your dream, sometimes it’s too painful to go on. The moment Lindsay saw the elephant card, a seed of hope was planted for them. Art can touch emotions in someone’s life and reignite a dream, even a dream that has been through devastating circumstances. 
Recently, Lindsay told Josh they are trying again. They are ready to embrace their baby and begin a magical journey! So, now I have a new dream! (When we follow our dreams, we inspire dreams in others.) I want to hold that baby! I want to look into that child’s eyes and know that s/he is here because hope is still alive in this world! I feel honored, humbled and so very blessed to have painted a picture that inspired hope and the expectation of new life! One of my mantras in life is: Dream Big! Expect Miracles! 
I knew you’d like this story, because some of you may have set your dream aside for a while. It’s my hope that a story, a piece of art or anything from Creator’s miraculous repertoire of unequaled beauty will inspire you to follow your dream once again. I also know that you will join me in asking Creator to exquisitely bless Lindsay and Eric with a beautiful healthy baby! I’m 100% behind parents who are going to love, adore, protect and cherish their children! So please send them all the happy thoughts, good energy and prayers in whatever way you ask your Creator and Higher Power to pour out goodness on others. They deserve a baby I will for sure let you know when this miraculous, inspirational baby is on the way and of course when innocence arrives to grace our world! 
Oh, and one more thing… if it’s a girl, they’re going to name her Michal!!! (How cool is that!)