A tiny post ...

Just a tiny wee post this time. I've just finished watching a program called "Face Painting" which features Australian cartoonist/artist Bill Leak, and shows the process of him painting a portrait of famous Australians who are no longer with us. He said one thing that resonated with me and I just had to put it here; he said that "art is either a matter of life or death, or it's of no consequence". That's how I feel about living the creative life, and from other creative people I've read about (or visited their blogs), they tend to feel the same way. It's great to see other people as passionate about the creative life as I am, it's inspiring.

OK, that's me stepping off my arty soapbox now! Have a wonderful day ...

On matters of spirit and soul ...

Realized I haven't got very far in my 100 doll challenge, so have taken a photo of some spirit dolls that are under construction. These are prototypes of new shapes I'm trying, pleased with most of them so far, although I haven't decided how to decorate them as yet. It's great watching them come to life.

I've started reading a book called "Eternal Echoes - Exploring our Hunger to Belong" by John O'Donohue. It was recommended by a friend who knows I'm reflecting on homesickness, longing and belonging for a painting which is forming itself in my head. I've only read the introduction, but it is so beautifully written. I think he wrote it so that it could speak to our souls, and it certainly did that, it felt a bit like coming home. You'll have to read it to see what I mean! I did some research on him as I wanted to find some more poetry of his, and found out that he died in his sleep back in January this year. I felt a great sense of sadness, that such a poet and gifted writer was no longer here, but what a legacy he has left. He wrote such beauty that will go on to inspire others for lifetimes to come; true creativity.

Here's a poem from the start of the book, it paints such a vivid picture in the mind, enjoy:

Matins
I.
Somewhere, out at the edges, the night
Is turning and the waves of darkness
Begin to brighten the shore of dawn

The heavy dark falls back to earth
And the freed air goes wild with light,
The heart fills with fresh, bright breath
And thoughts stir to give birth to colour

II.
I arise to day

In the name of silence
Womb of the Word,
In the name of Stillness
Home of Belonging,
In the name of the Solitude
of the Soul and the Earth

I arise today

Blessed by all things
wings of breath,
delight of eyes,
wonder of whisper,
intimacy of touch,
eternity of soul,
urgency of thought,
miracle of health,
embrace of God

May I live this day

Compassionate of heart,
Gentle in word,
Gracious in awareness,
Courageous in thought,
Generous in love

by John O'Donohue

Listening to your own advice & some meditation!

Why don't I take my own advice? A few days ago I was talking about keeping your eye on the ball and aiming for your dreams, not letting life distract you! Ooops! I've been feeling a bit sorry for myself today - I read a few items in the news that saddened me and I let them 'hook' me in; I got myself into a muddle in other areas of my life at present - and as a result have forgotten to do things and yes, I've taken my eye off the ball. Felt a bit annoyed with myself, but then that just takes you further along the downward spiral and is pointless really. So, earlier this evening I decided to practise my mindfulness techniques, and stay in the present moment. As I was taking the washing off the line I could feel the warm sun on my skin, which always makes me feel happier. Next door's cat had come round for a fuss and was friendly company, so I sat down on the flagstones which were warm from the day's sun, and just stroked the cat, and listened to a mad magpie in the distance imitating anything from a burglar alarm to a telephone, or at least that's how it sounded to me! Although noises of life were carrying on all around me, it was such a peaceful few moments, the feeling of 'aaaarghh!!' had left me. The reason I'm describing it in a creative journal is that we CREATE our own reality every day, and by being mindful I chose to enjoy the present moment rather than feel sorry for myself. I felt much better and am probably a much nicer person to be around as well!

Talking about sounds and taking time out brings me to my meditation beads above (or prayer beads). I got the idea for them from a lovely and inspiring book called 'Beading for the Soul' by Deborah Cannarella. The longer of the two pieces actually had one long bead as the centrepiece in the book, and just a tassel to finish. However, I liked the sound the purple shells made as they clinked against each other so I added them. The long string of beads reminds me of the 'worry beads' that I used to see Greek men counting as they prayed, when I was on holiday there many years ago. I've used a coin at the top to symbolize abundance (not particularly abundance of money). The tassel is made using some sari silk fibres and is attached to the beading cord with gold jewellery wire. One of my requirements for these pieces was that I had to use items from my stash and not buy anything new! Luckily for the shorter prayer bead piece I found a beautiful heart shaped glass bead. The glass beads are so lovely, colourful, sparkly (just love a bit of bling), and the knots are completed by having some more gold jewellery wire twisted round them (this is in the book too). I would definitely use these whilst meditating, but I think they would also make lovely charms for a bag or purse. I'm pretty pleased that they include the sensory perceptions of visual colour, touch and sound - they're not 'just' a string of beads, but rather they have meaning for me.

Right, off to design some Christmas cards, which I won't be showing here for a while-they're top secret!

Attitude of Gratitude

Had a relatively busy day today, my last job being to clean out the fish tank. Now the filter is working properly again and I can hear the bubbling in the background which I happen to like, and the fish are swimming round like it's their birthday. They're obviously happy to have their bubbles back too!

Well, I promised yesterday that I would tell all about my bush meditation walk. It was run by Linda from Creative Seeds, and a small group of us met at the studio and painted a background on a piece of MDF before driving out to a beautiful spot in the Kalamunda National Park (you can Google it and see just how gorgeous it is here). We stopped at a small stream whilst Linda explained that we would be reflecting on our 'lifestream' symbolized by the stream we were standing next too - basically a journey through our life and into our soul. We started with a short visualization and walked up the rocky path, stopping at intervals for Linda to guide us into meditating on the stages of our life - childhood, adolescence, transition to adulthood, where we are now. We imagined the struggles, the good times of each phase. It was really important to stay in the present moment, to go with the flow of life, and we did this by listening to our footsteps, the nature around us, and we weren't allowed to talk to each other, just give each other respect for our personal spaces.

For me personally it was quite a journey. I was expecting it to be a pleasant walk in the bush, with some likeminded company and some painting at the end. It was all of this and more, so I will just go into the highlights here. At the start I was entranced by the babbling of the stream as it crashed over the small rocks - it was lovely to listen to and I felt energized by it, it seemed to me to mark the flow of my journey through life. Linda also explained to us at one point as we stood on a huge bank of rock looking out over the city in the distance that as we get to adulthood we look at things from a bigger perspective. She also explained that no matter how hard we try to avoid things, our psyche will bring us back into line somehow and reconnect us with our lifestream, which we have probably lost track of through the distractions of life. I had a lightbulb moment as soon as she said it. I have suffered from depression and anxiety at different times of my life, and it seemed to me that this depression = reconnection for me. All of a sudden I could see depression as a means to reconnect with the flow of life, rather than as a weakness and that was so empowering!

Other highlights were an outcrop of rock Linda called a 'temenos' which is a sacred place. As I looked at it I could see a part of the rock that looked like the eye of an old man, and I immediately wanted to curl up and sleep on the rock it felt so safe and restful. As we walked back into civilization we walked through some lovely grass trees which had been burnt in a bushfire last year, Linda held up the grass on top of the plant to show what looked like a perfect pair of breasts!! This gorgeous plant looks like a woman dancing with her hair down, like life is to be celebrated, and is aptly named 'The Empress'. So I've included that image on the painting, and shown it in detail - I love the way these plants regenerate themselves, even after having been burnt they come back. Awesome. I've also painted a rock at the bottom of the board - the little curl is me asleep! Hope you enjoy the painting, I've called it 'attitude of gratitude' because after the walk I really felt like I'm thankful for everything that's happened in my life, even the dark times - just like the burning of the grass trees, they were an opportunity for growth.

Sunday night ...

Well, it's Sunday again already and I'm off to do those horrible chores - ironing, eeeek, I hate it! Anyway, it's been a lovely weekend of socializing with friends, discovery and community. We went along to the local primary school's Spring Fair today and had fun buying books we've been looking for since I don't know when, Christmas cards drawn by friends of ours and sitting in a real fire engine. It had a real sense of community and all ages were there right from babies through to grandparents. Plus the weather has picked up from winter cool last week, to us all walking about with cherry tomato red faces it was so warm today!

I started the day with a bush walk meditation and some art making which I will tell you about tomorrow. My mind is still working on it, it was a brilliant journey 'into the soul' and I need to think about what I want to write. I made a painting which was very refreshing as I haven't painted very much for a while and I miss it. I just love the sweep of the brush and the flow of the paint. Lots of ideas in my head - I just need to get them down on paper/canvas. Until tomorrow then ...

From little things, big things grow ...

Thought this picture was an apt choice considering my topic yesterday about following your dreams and taking the first step. A dream is a bit like a seed, the start of something big! My kiddies used to sing a song called, "from little things, big things grow ...", think they were talking about acorns and oak trees, but it could also refer to our visions for our future!

This particular seed is made from Cornish granite and resides in the core at the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK. It weighs over 75 tons, and is two stories high. It's amazing. I just loved touching the surface and feeling the texture and the energy coming from it. I'm sure it has a few blemishes, but to me it was just perfect, a beautiful work of art.

Late night thoughts

A short post tonight - have just finished my bookkeeping and my brain is feeling tired and hazy! Wanted to share another quote that is in line with how I've been thinking for a few days. I have a dream of being an artist and sharing my message that creativity is everyone's birthright, but sometimes I get a bit mixed up with other things that are going on in life and I get distracted by it. It's not that I forget my dream, I just take my eye off it for a second. And then it hits me - that feeling of having no direction, as if I'm wandering aimlessly and it feels very uncomfortable. A wise friend commented on this recently, saying that if I keep my focus on my dreams, everything else will fall into place around them. I've been mulling that over for most of the day and it really is very sensible! I'm now feeling as if I've found the path again and am heading in the right direction.

I think it's healthy for us all to have dreams, however large or small, and it's important to keep our eye on them, and head towards them one day at a time, which brings me to my quote:

"The distance is nothing, it's only the first step that is difficult." Marie de Vichy Charod, 1763.

So keep going, one step at a time!