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My Dear Art Friends,

As you reflect on the past year and contemplate the one about to arrive, please enjoy the timeless, eminently applicable wisdom in this short essay by Max Erhmann!

DESIDERATA

GO PLACIDLY amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

By Max Ehrmann © 1927
Original text

CHRISTMAS GREETING

I salute you.

There is nothing I can give you which you have not.

But there is much which, while I cannot give, you can take.

No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today. Take Heaven.

No peace lies in the future that is not hidden in this present instance. Take Peace.

The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy. Take Joy.

And so at this Christmastime I greet you with the prayer that for you now and forever

the day breaks and the shadows flee away.

Fra Giovanni, 1513

ORDER YOUR UP NORTH CLASSICS DESK CALENDAR TODAY!

Time's been flying! I've been thinking it's the beginning of December but just realized it's NOT! In fact, I looked at my own Desk Calendar for 2021 and saw that I'd not turned over the pages since October. It's been that kind of a year! I vow to do things differently in 2022. 

Plein Air Classic Paintings. All of the images in the new Desk Calendar are of paintings I made on site in various spots around Benzie and Leelanau Counties. I consider these "classic" because they represent beloved places of timeless beauty. I don't paint plein air much these days, so the paintings also represent a classic period in my own development. However, you want to think about it is fine with me.

A Holiday Tradition. A woman I used to know in elementary school connected with me on Facebook a number of years ago. She began buying my Desk Calendars for herself and her daughter each year. She ordered the 2022 version and recently wrote to tell me, "It's our Christmas tradition."

Make it your tradition? You can! Click here to go my Merch page and order your Desk Calendar now! While you're there, you can check out other Stocking Stuffer items I have available, such as Art Coasters, Boxed Bird Cards, and the beautiful BIRDS FLY IN Exhibition Catalogue. And for those difficult to buy for, think about gifting one of my workshops or a painting. (I will create a artsy Gift Card in any amount.) Send me an email to purchase.

I hope we (me) can all take a deep breath and let the Spirit of the Season penetrate deeply!

All my love,

Ellie