Sheila Atchley 3/2/23 Sheila Atchley 3/2/23

Hey Knoxville, Come and See Me {Artxtravaganza Art Show}

Year after year, my disappointment grew. I would email my application to be juried into the Knoxville art show called “Artxtravaganza” and each year I would get a return email beginning something like,

“Dear Sheila Atchley, we regret to inform you…”

About last September or October, I saw the “Artxtravaganza” as “sender” in my list of emails for the day, and my heart beat faster. I steeled myself for the usual “…we’re sorry but” response - because the caliber of artists participating in this show is always very high.

Not this time. This time the email began something like, “We are delighted to tell you…”

…*yours truly, headed to the show installation today*…

Immediately following a rush of excitement, I promptly panicked. I have this really great problem right now, and it’s that I sell paintings almost as soon as I paint them, and my inventory was very low. As in…less than a half dozen paintings for a show that requires at least 30 medium to large size originals.

Of course, then came the holidays. And incredible, scary painter’s block. So, I prayed. As soon as our Christmas tree came down, I woke up one day and hit the studio - and basically did not come out until yesterday.

THEREFORE, my Knoxville friends, I invite you to zoom in on these photos and choose which painting you’d love to take home. My art truly shifts the spiritual atmosphere, because every victory I’ve won in heavenly realms is embedded in each paint stroke.

I paint in The Presence.

And my heart’s desire is to send that Presence straight into your home. I absolutely believe that is not only possible - it happens for me all the time. The Presence of the Lord is peaceful and lovely and life-giving.

Art is powerful, and let me tell you why: You live with A Thing in your home - A Thing that is artisan, handmade, and that draws you in. A Thing that incrementally changes the way you think. Every time you walk past it, your thoughts elevate. You think a different thought. The capacity for this one simple thing - a different thought - to change your whole life cannot be overestimated.

A good painting is a good influence, a powerful influence. Especially a painting that you bought yourself, for yourself…you never buy art to match the couch. You buy a piece that stirs your spirit in some way.

…*it was a sweaty job, not to be accomplished without The Preacher’s help*…

I’d love to meet you for the first time, or hug your neck if I’ve known you forever. Come on by and say hi, and see allllllll the beautiful art and designs to be found at 2023’s Knoxville Artxtravaganza.

Sheila Atchley 8/1/22 Sheila Atchley 8/1/22

My Next Online Art and Creativity Class Goes LIVE Soon!

I am pleased to gently remind you that my next online class, once again in collaboration with the Jeanne Oliver Creative Network is still open for registration, and will go live on August 19!

If you are on my mailing list, you’ve already received an email announcement. If you aren’t on my mailing list, just shoot me a quick email with your email address, and I will consider that as my permission to add you. I will be working hard in the months ahead to bring my email list the very best in soul-nourishing spiritual and creative encouragement - beyond even what you’ll find here on the blog. So thank you for signing up.

Here is a description of this upcoming class, titled “Middle Makers - A Blueprint For Late Bloomers”

"The Middle" is less an age-range, and more a state of being. The "middle" can feel like simply being scattered; you experience the pull, in all different directions, of this relatively new digital lifestyle. The middle can manifest as an unsettled feeling, a vague sense of dissatisfaction. There is often a degree of emotional pain, such as depression or anxiety. The result of these stresses common to midlife can be a whopping case of creative inertia.

The act of making physical things in the physical world is a powerful tool in your toolbox, for the care and maintenance of your midlife soul. After all, when your soul is well tended, you are better able to tend souls well. This world desperately needs women (and men!) in the middle, showing up in their full creative form, wielding their energy, sharing their wisdom, and revealing who they are and how they have been gifted.

We need you, as you, and with a flourishing soul!

Whatever your age, if you've encountered a little bit of "stuck-ness" in your middle, this course is for you. Through a series of spacious story-telling and doable art-making, Middle Makers will unfold a blueprint for blooming. This class is for the women who, for whatever the reason, may have put their creative lives on hold.

Until now.

Sheila Atchley is one who has known many of the deep challenges related to midlife. After a 20 year career in church ministry, home making, and education, she picked up a paintbrush for the very first time as a means of processing transition. The results have been breathtaking, in terms of the life and health that sprang up in her own soul. Her art is now found in every state in the United States, and most of the countries of the world! Teaching art has also carried her far and wide - as far away as Italy, and as wide as the coasts of the US.

She has had to overcome overwhelming inertia to be sharing her stories, and more than that, imparting a sense of luminous possibility to the other artists and creatives she encounters. Sheila is a firm believer in the fact that midlife women, after going through a seemingly isolated season of transition, can emerge as new, more creative than ever "Middle Makers"...

...and then we all somehow find one another.

So whether you are a stark beginner or a seasoned maker, this course, with its encouraging and informative writing, as well as the art techniques taught in it, can be a powerful blueprint for your blossoming as a creative "difference maker" in midlife.

One last time, here is the link:

https://jeanneoliver.com/middle-makers-with-sheila-atchley-registration-open/

I cannot wait to see YOU in class!