I bought Sharon's cute and quirky journal down to mama's and on a sunny afternoon we played out on her back deck in our travelling journals. Arting with a friend or loved one is even better than having a cuppa with one, but not by much.
As usual, I jumped in with no pre-planned idea and just went with it. I created a background of book pages, paper doilies, used tea bags and recycled tissue paper- if you have a keen eye you will see the same tissue paper on both my page and mama's page.
I then played with a brayer and some paint- white and ochre, once it dried I added journalling and the book paper circles I found in my stash and then sketched in a teapot and cup and saucer. Finished off with some doodling and more words-
Tania and Danie from Simmer Sistars invited me to join in with their fabulous Online Art Trail for Inspire your Heart with Art Day. I encourage you to follow the trail and see what all of the other fabulous creative women have made for the day.
My art piece is a page that has been created to travel in my Gaia art journal in round 7 of the Australian Art Journal Swap, I was going to go with a different theme but the extreme weather, heatwaves and bushfires and drought, has my heart aching for Gaia our beautiful Mother Earth.
What is the answer? It can only be love, she loves us and we love Her we have too. We are Her, all one giant organism really, we come from Her and we return to Her.
As I worked in my journal I intentionally added heart shaped leaves, every one of them is a prayer for the earth. For the oceans filled with plastic, for the whales and sharks starving in that sea of human trash, for the dammed rivers drying up and the poor dying and dead fish in the stagnant ponds, for the birds with stomachs full of rubbish, for the bushland and its creatures being ravaged by fire, for the precious earth being mined and fracked and poisoned, for the air we breathe that is filled with dust, for the people. My prayer for the people is that they reconnect with the heart of Gaia, they realise this amazing and beautiful planet we live on is home, we need to respect Her and open our hearts to protect Her and nourish Her as she does us.
I offer you this beautiful
Invocation to Gaia, by John Seed.
We ask for the presence of the spirit of Gaia and pray that the breath of life continue to caress this planet home.
May we grow into true understanding - a deep understanding that inspires us to protect the tree on which we bloom, and the water, soil, and atmosphere without which we have no existence.
May we turn inwards and stumble upon our true roots in the intertwining biology of this exquisite planet. May nourishment and power pulse through these roots, and fierce determination to continue the billion-year dance.
May love well up and burst forth from our hearts.
May there be a new dispensation of pure and powerful consciousness and the charter to witness and facilitate the healing of the tattered biosphere.
We ask for the presence of the spirit of Gaia to be with us here. To reveal to us all that we need to see, for our own highest good and for the highest good of all.
We call upon the spirit of evolution, the miraculous force that inspires rock and dust to weave themselves into biology. You have stood by us for millions and billions of years- do not forsake us now. Empower us and awaken in us pure and dazzling creativity. You that can turn scales into feathers, seawater to blood, caterpillars to butterflies, metamorphose our species, awaken in us the powers that we need to survive the present crisis and evolve into more aeons on our solar journey.
Awaken in us a sense of who we truly are: tiny ephemeral blossoms on the Tree of Life. Make the purposes and destiny of that tree our own purpose and destiny.
Fill each of us with love for our true Self, which includes all of the creatures and plants and landscapes of the world. Fill us with a powerful urge for the wellbeing and continual unfolding of this Self.
May we speak in all human councils on behalf of the animals and plants and landscapes of the Earth.
May we shine with a pure inner passion that will spread rapidly through these leaden times.
May we awaken to our true and only nature - none other than the nature of Gaia, this living planet.
We call upon the power which sustains the planets in their orbits, that wheels our Milky Way in its 200 million year spiral, to imbue our personalities and our relationships with harmony, endurance and joy. Fill us with a sense of immense time so that our brief, flickering lives may truly reflect the work of vast ages past and also the millions of years of evolution whose potential lies in our trembling hands.
O stars, lend us your burning passion.
O silence, give weight to our voice.
We ask for the presence of the spirit of Gaia.
John Seed in "Thinking like a Mountain: Towards a Council of All Beings"
May you find inspiration for your heart and soul from Gaia and from our fabulous art trail today. Please go and visit Gillian Castellino at Healing Scribbles or pop over to see the Shimmer Sistars and have a look at all of the offerings.
It is a beautiful mix of some of the most treasured things in my life -
gardening, recycling and magic-
I love how you can take a pile of rubbish - weeds and food scraps and grass cuttings and fallen leaves, gather them into an intentional space and combine nitrogen, carbon and water and create magical nourishing food for our gardens and our beloved planet - pure magic
In this page I took all of the rubbish that floats around inside my head and gathered it in an intentional way - free writing all over both pages and then I added the magical ingredients of self-acceptance and self-love, gesso and collage and grew a beautiful garden
Love these colours they are scrumptious! I am doing a 28 day cleanse right now, following Jason Vale's 28 day juice plan and it's going really well. I did this page on day 4 and filled it with my hopes and intentions on the left hand page and left the right hand side to journal when I am finished or very close to it.
I am writing this on day 13, so pretty well midway and I have only had juice, water and herbal tea for that time. I am sure my body is loving having a break from coffee and wine and salt and fat and meat and all the other things I normally pass through my digestive system.
I have dropped quite a few kg but I am really loving the other results- I am sleeping better than I have in years, the swelling on my legs and feet is gone, skin and hair are wonderful and I feel great.
As my summer journalling continues I am playing with various techniques and still digging in deep to my psyche, determined to change my life for the better in every aspect. Time is fleeting. I am only spending my time with people, activities and spaces that nourish me.
Whilst the journalling has slowed down now I am back at work and trying to live all of my intentions I still have a few to share and I am working on a special heart project for the Shimmer Sisters Online Art Trail for ‘Inspire Your Heart with Art Day’ I am no longer shimmering with Tanya and Danie but wish them all the very best and I love this art trail they are putting together.
Oh my goodness I have so much stuff! The responsibility of it all weighs me down to the point of squashing me. Sleepless nights trying to manage it all leave me overwhelmed and stressed.
In the last few years, I have had to amalgamate 3 houses into one, and much of that was after my husband died, so I have a double garage filled with things waiting for the public trustee to be finished with them and we sold our airbnb and now its ready to burst. Not to mention all the stuff 26 years of homeschooling amass and a working art studio and various other hobbies and interests- aghhhhh! In my favour number 1 son and his lovely lady are getting their first house early in 2019 and I can so easily fully furnish it - lol - hopefully they can fit their stuff in too.
I know I will feel so much better when it is all done but I need motivation, a goal and accountability to tackle this big a job. Art journal pages tend to be my to-do lists so I will quite probably do lots over the process simply to get my head around it all.
My motivation is to be downsized enough in 2 years or so- when number 2 son is ready to move out, to fit everything I need personally in my van. I am really ready to let go of houses and stuff and so need the freedom and lightness of van life. I will still have a house to be in at that stage and will continue to work but I will be unencumbered.
These are ongoing struggles I have, and ones I am addressing now to finally get on top of them.
( Are you familiar with using self-talk in present tense so you hear that what you want to manifest or change is more heard then the ' planning to ' or ' going to ' part of the thought)
So this page in my summer journalling is all about getting real with myself, owning up to all of my strengths and weaknesses and tuning in to what I am thinking and feeling right now. Accepting who I am- all of me and being honest about what is making me uniquely me, also knowing that I am as are all of you- works in progress- I am ( and you are ) worthy- of love, acceptance, respect, everything you need and desire - just as you are now.
Of course being works in progress we have a long way to go but we are fine just as we are.
I have had a bit of feedback about not showing the entire page in this summer journalling and that is because I am doing deep and personal work. I am happy to share a bit of the page and my thinking behind it but sometimes the words are for my journal only.
Oh, it's all about the energy of the sun for me right now-
the heat and flames of transformation!
So potent.
I am resetting my life and addressing every area I can think of, creating long-term plans and setting things out in a methodical way. It is time to shed and burn a whole lot of things that have held me back in my past. That chapter is over and I am so open to receiving the joy and health and freedom and love of my new life.
This is another summer journalling page and I seem to be drawn to the same colours over and over again- the colours of the sun. Working with Goddess energy as well to burn off what I am shedding in my life and to clear space for all I am welcoming.
Get Unencumbered!
Plans this year are to get rid of stuff- tonnes of stuff!
I am working towards minimalism over the next 2 years. I have so much stuff cluttering up my life and I don't need much of it at all anymore.
Get Healthy!
I am continuing with a fabulous remedial therapist I have found to heal my body and seriously considering a health coach at some point this year. I am also doing a juice cleanse to kick the year off.
Get Balanced!
I feel I have been bouncing from super stressful situation to super stressful situation for over 10 years- no more- I am going to be calm and centred and grounded. I let go of everything I have no control over and I release control for those who need to step up and take their own.
Get Stable!
I have had a late diagnosis of BPD and it is a mixed blessing, it explains a lot and is a something I would rather not have. However, I am working through a DBT workbook and have such great support and understanding from my love and I am determined to change it all now.
Get Happy!
I am creating my first ever bucket list :) It is in my art journal of course and has things I will keep doing, things I need to re-establish and new things! This year I am going to join a choir and a dance class and have started a meditation practice. If you have any good suggestions for my bucket list please leave them in the comments.
Get Excited!
Well, I already am really. I am going to buy a new van soon and deck it out as a stealth camper, long-term goal is to live in it so it has to have all I need to be safe and healthy and happy. Short term goal is to take off on lots of adventures with my love and maybe my sons if they would like but it will only seat 2 people.
Get Free!
I am no longer going to carry the weight of the world or even of my loved ones on my shoulders- a lot of my plans here are geared towards freedom. After being at home with a homeschooled single parent family for 20 years it is now my time. I am working in a wonderfully fulfilling job with a regular pay packet and saving for a future. I have plans and goals and purpose.
I really want to begin a meditation practice this year and that is the key word really - practice- so far I am not really sure if I am doing it 'right' but I have a feeling it might be like art, in that you can not do it wrong, its just sometimes it turns out better than other times.
I use an app for guided meditation it is called Insight Timer and is good, I must use it more but for now, I am focusing on my morning meditation - 5 to 15 minutes in the morning and I think if I am consistent and remember to practice every day I will start to gain the benefits.
This page came together in many layers and different media. I began by covering both sides of my journal with free writing in magenta ink- I created this page just before Solstice so my journaling was all about releasing the pain and struggles of 2018 and there was quite a bit to release I chose the magenta on a whim but it suited my passionate wording.
Next, I used some colour shine spray in sea foam, I love this soothing cooling colour and as I sprayed I was intentionally calming those emotions and used a couple of discrete but symbolic stencils. Green means water and growth and abundance and calm to me -
I am welcoming all of that into my new year.
As its all about the sun right now I also wanted to bring in that energy and burn off and release anything still hanging around so I covered the page with more colour shine sprays in the orange and yellow tones and added sun rays in white gesso across the entire spread.
Next, I turned to my collage bits and found some garden photo strip pics in suitable colours, I kept looking through the collage and found a photocopied sun so I did a transfer in the middle of my gessoed sunburst, once she had a face she needed a full and abundant body. I painted her with a little bit of gesso and using my paintbrush in the colour shine bottles.
Once she was dry I got out my trusty black pens- a posca and a signo and doodled and journalled another layer. The bird is symbolic of me and I am at a point where I am very much flying forward into my own life, burning off the ties of who I was before and embracing my new.
The three birds is a recurrent theme in my artwork, they have often appeared in my art journal and also in my paintings and my eldest son has requested I design him a tattoo for his 21st birthday that is based on a fig tree and the three birds, I have a year to come up with it and we will collaborate on the design together. My 15yo son has also expressed interest in having the same tattoo. Personally, I am not overly keen on tattoos but they are very popular with the younger generation.
I have been pondering the passing of time a lot as we navigated this past Solstice. It is the second Solstice since the passing of my boys' father and although we were separated and I really did raise the boys as a single mum most of the time he was still a very loved family member and his absence is always felt- particularly at this time of the year.
I feel this page that was created with intuition and spontaneity is symbolic of the privilege of watching them grow and sharing that part of their life journeys. In many ways that part is finished but they will always be my little chicks.
so I have had their lights and tent viewed from my window
and some folks from work also attended and enjoyed it.
However aside from my own very dramatic family circus
I have had the pleasure of playing in
Sharon Rogers's lovely Vintage Circus
travelling art journal from round 6 of
the Australian Art Journal Swap.
I have been super busy but had my vintage circus radar peculating in the back of my mind and nothing was grabbing me. I was in a shop though and there was a notice up from an old news paper story about a long ago flood that had a circus stranded in town and Samson the strongman was assisting in the rescue efforts and also put on a benefit show to support the town.
He must have loved our dear Grafton as he then stayed on and became a shop keeper or maybe it was a publican.
We almost had a strongman theme but unfortunately I didn't make the Vintage Circus connection at the time so went on my merry way and can not remember the shop or all the details beyond my curiosity in that moment and googling gave me no answers either, meanwhile time was ticking so I went back to good old google and started looking at Vintage Circus images for inspiration. While looking I didn't want to use any animals and I don't think animals in circuses are a good idea even though they could have been a great page and of course once I go going I just had fun and played and I think they fit the theme ok.
My first journal to play in, in Round 6 is our fabulous Lisa Jones's Music and Lyrics. Lisa is such a gorgeous artist and one of the things I admire is her incredible tea bag art! So I was always going to do something with tea bags in this journal.
I had to find a song that had tea in it and what could be more iconic than "A home among the gum trees".
I painted my page with tea and used some inktense for the green leaves, the plums and the dark browns. Tea bags are collaged onto the trees and the house.
I was quietly chuckling when I saw Joans dot to dot this month on AASG is all about tea bags!
Roz's lovely Art Nouveau journal arrived this month and it took me a while to come up with a theme. I was planning on drawing my girlfriend's lovely cottage but although it does have elements of art nouveau it is more federation. I am learning all the time :)
Further discussion with Kathy and she suggested the Paris metro and once I saw the gorgeous subway entrances I was entranced. Now I have another place I want to visit.
Please excuse my unedited photo's as I am still without a pc.
