Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rhonda C R Burton. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Rhonda C R, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
I am not exactly certain where my sense of optimism comes from, but I know I’ve always had it, it’s just the way I’m wired. Even as a child, I always seemed to feel that I would experience more good things in my life than bad. That’s not to say I haven’t had challenges in my life, I most certainly have. I just feel as if I have the ability to stop the negative thoughts that could so easily take hold.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Growing up in Los Angeles as a child in the early 1960’s, art was always something I knew I would pursue in my life. I have fond memories of being with my grandfather planting in his garden and of seeing my mother painting in the kitchen late at night. The combination of creating art and the garden seemed like the natural extension for me.
After college, I was meeting a friend at a local art school, the moment I walked in, I immediately knew I needed to be there. I took classes at night and soon was offered a position to teach watercolor painting there. I began to show and sell my work and was accepted in a number of art organizations. Several years later, after a divorce and as a single mother of two small children, I left my teaching and painting career for a job in the corporate world to be able to support my family.
It took me nearly 30 years to find my way back to creating art and doing something I truly loved. My art has evolved from realism to abstraction in watercolor to photography, mixed and printmaking and collage. My images have been used in everything from stationery, fabric, calendars and hand held fans. But my imagery has continued to be influenced by nature and the garden. Being in the garden has always been calming, peaceful and restorative to me. After dealing with and overcoming a life threading illness several years ago, spending time in the garden and out in nature create a sense of balance for me. It is the intersection of art and the garden where I feel the best.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I think there are several qualities or traits that have been the most impactful to me and in many ways they are tied together. I think curiosity has been crucial to my life. I have always been told I ask too many questions but being curious to me means to look at the world or situations a bit differently. I always say to myself, “what about doing it another way?” or “maybe I should try it this way”. This attitude served me well as a young single mother. My teaching and sales of my paintings were not enough to support my family. By asking a question of someone, that lead me to a career in the corporate world for nearly 30 years.
Flexibility is another skill or trait that I found to be essiential to my journey. Situations in life can come at you fast and furious and I often felt that if I was not flexible I could easily break.
And I feel the most important trait in my life, the characteristic that I most depend on is my optimism. Without the ability to see the situation or the world for that matter as seeing “the glass is half full” as opposed to half empty, I don’t believe I would have gotten though the struggles I’ve gone through. Raising my children on my own, I knew I would find someway to support them, and I did. But most importantly, I had to look at my life as 1/2 full to get through two surgeries and 6 months of treatment. It was and is the only way I can live my life.
My advice to anyone that would ask, is live a life of curiosity, flexiblity but most importantly….look at life’s situations as half full not half empty.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
When at any moment of the day or night there might be numerous people, requests, things. coming at you at the same time, it is hard not to feel overwhelmed. My go-to decompress is to go for a walk. To be out in nature, to be around plants, flowers, trees anything green and growing helps to calm me down.
There have been numerous reports of nature having restorative powers. Being outside helps to bring the blood pressure down, helps my focus and calms my overall being.
Contact Info:
- Website: RhondaBurtonart.com
- Instagram: @rhondaburtonart. and @kentwood524designs
Image Credits
Bob Burton
