Demeter and Persephone

Mothering and children leaving the nest has been quite big for me of late, my firstborn has not followed any preconceived ideas I had and its been a pretty rough period so when Natasha came around for a visit and to show me her Goddess journal I know I wanted to work somehow with the Demeter and Persephone theme.

Its been quite a stressful, dark and worrying time for me as it was for Demeter and of course Persephone was taken to the Underworld so I wanted to make a cave or a deep cavern to build my pages from and what a way to ground my pages! I also had to weave in the pomegranates,one thing about working with such rich myths is there are many symbols you can include. 

I had been thinking back to when my firstborn was little and I remembered this song chant we used to sing of Demeter and Persephone and I wanted to include those words so each of my Goddess's got her verse for her hair. 

These songs come from the Reclaiming tradition , Starhawk and Anne Hill.

They also released a gorgeous book on raising children in the Goddess Tradition called Circle Round

 

I have also been wanting to create interactive pages lately so this one needed to have some of that , I ended up creating 2 removable Goddess heads and I had to create little 'holders'to secure them into the cave

I began writing their story on the back of them but it was just too long so I made a mini book to tell the story and it had to be in a pomegranate of course, 

Here is my spread with the flap open showing Demeter, the pomegranate journal and Persephone, they all are easily removable and fit snugly in their spaces. 

Artist Trading Cards

ATCs or Artist Trading Cards are little mini art works and can be made for anything, to any theme and then swapped among fellow ATC artists.

I have been making and trading them for quite a few years now and it is always a thrill to see what arrives in your mail box :)

I have started a group to just trade art within

 Australia and we have been making ATCs,

 I am offering adult swaps and swaps for the little artists in our lives.

My son and I carved some stamps

 to use to make some bird themed ATC's recently.

These are our cards all ready and waiting for the mail out date.

If you would like to join in the fun and you reside within Australia

find us on facebook. Australian Art Swap Group 

and check your PMs once you apply.

ATCs can be made from any material,

the only rule is the size,

there is a fabulous PDF with so much information about ATCs 

you can look at online  it is called Art in your Pocket

I often recommend people new to ATCs to have a look at that guide.

Sometimes I like to create interactive ATC's

This one has a wrought iron garden gate,

I often make myself a card as well when I am doing a set for a swap,

and it is always good to clearly label your cards 

before you send them off. 

This amazing card comes from the incredibly talented Kalona

these cards were from an unusual shaped ATC swap.

This beautiful ATC was done by Mary Larner

And these pics are of my unusual shaped ATC 

I included my love of layers and intricate details 

Creating a Goddess Alter 

There is no end to what you can do with your ATCs

I regularly teach ATC workshops so keep an eye out if you are local.

Soul Food Loving

I am so loving Soul Food, 

I eagerly wait each new lesson.

This lesson has me doing some paper mache.

I actually used my table protector paper for my paper mache so it is not painted at all, I did add a couple of squirts of dylusions campo teal into my paper mache paste mix to bring it all together and I love the way it all looks in this stage before I added the other components. 

This is lesson 10 from Sarah Hand

I turned mine into a shrine to the ocean,

it was lovely to gather up some of my treasures and bring them all together in a home. 

The lesson was on shadow boxes and paper mache and this is my finished piece. I had lots of fun and this piece was nice to work on in stages as it had to dry and I had to collect all my bits and pieces. 

Facebook Page and Art Dolls

Lots of exciting things have been happening at River Girl Art

A gathering of Goddess Art Dolls 

have helped me celebrate the launch 

of my new Facebook Page

Please pop over and have a look.

I have started the River Girl Art page to try and reach a wider audience and have been busy posting lots of pictures over there of my work.

Someone said it was like a private art gallery.

I am hoping to increase the sales of my art so I am busy making lots of stock to do handmade markets and I am also selling my art online. This ia all a huge learning curve and a dream I have long held.

These Goddess Art Dolls are made from pure wool felt, vibrant cotton embroidery thread, silk dyes and various charms, glass and semi precious beads. They are all unique and have their own names and associations and come with a beautiful card to share their 'story' 

They are $45 Please look at the Goddess Art Doll album  to see which ones are still available and PM me over there if you would like to have one of your own.   

To celebrate 100 likes in the first week 

I did a little art doll give away

My boys and I printed all the names, cut them apart

 and put them into a hat

and my lovely assistants Mr13 holding the hat

and Mr9 picking the winner

selected the winner and Lavender the Goddess Art Doll

Congratulations Michelle.

It was so much fun we might have to do another give away at the next milestone. 

Today we walked to the post office and sent 

Lavender and Aqua to their new homes.

Goddess Journals

I have been making little journals

repurposing old book pages,

pamphlets, maps and

and all sorts of beautiful things to inspire others.

 They are all slightly different with a variety of techniques used

in beautiful colours.

I have  used inks, dyes, stamps,

stencils, gesso , inktense watercolor pencils and acrylic paints.

and my imagination

 leaving plenty of open space for journaling

including some of my original art

(these are from a day playing with a printing press)

 

because these little Goddess journals 

were made with love and intention

for some of my friends.

Art Journal Pages

I have been looking back 

through some of my ever growing collection of art journals

 and I thought I would share some images.

I often do a page when I come across a great QUOTE. 

Something to help me remember it.

I first found this quote when I was making a card for a friend, 

I made her the card and a lovely gift for her birthday 

and the very next day she ended our friendship. 

I wonder if she didn't like my quote.

I am very inspired by the GODDESS.

By all the archetypal stories and legends 

and often explore these themes in my journals.

I am a TREE lover.

Every few pages another tree tends to grow in my journals.

They are the garden of my imagination.

The FEMALE NUDE  is another favorite theme,

this one was in a particularly textured stage.

It's like instant rewind, 

looking back through my journals

 and I can see the stages I was in at that time.

This page was unusual for me as I don't tend to draw angels,

I was playing around with halo's on everything around this time

 and it may have been inspired by a class or a video I had seen at the time.

A scrappy collage all messy and shabby.

I love doing pages like this.

When I have a pile of scraps 

on my table that is when a page like this evolves.

EARTH

Another passion of mine, 

all things earthy and great big boulders stacked up.

Oh look another TREE

this one inspired by the masterful

Gustav Klimt.

BIRDS

 are another beautiful theme I like to explore.

and 

WINDOWS 

and 

DOORS

Just what is out there on the other side ? 

I think its the architectural shapes and the symmetry that I like here.