Entries Tagged as: animals

Phoenix

November 26th, 2012, Comments (6)

Playing intuitively with paint today, I saw a phoenix in the shapes as I worked, so this one I'm dedicating to my lovely sister, Leslie or as Annabelle calls her, Lala.

Days 22 – 23: Inkblot bridesmaids and Sophia

November 23rd, 2012, Comments (10)

I hope everyone who celebrated had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends! With my extended family, we'll be continuing the celebrations tomorrow. Yesterday, I did some inkblot art in a small sketchbook, leading to this image of two blue-haired bridesmaids.

Perhaps they're the same blue-haired sisters that appeared in an inkblot last year! :-)

Today, I was doodling owls in my sketchbook and had the idea to do an owl perched on a woman's head. I'm calling it Sophia. In Greece, owls represent wisdom and seeing little owls in my head while breathing through labor is partly why I chose Sophia (meaning wisdom) as Annabelle's middle name. I wasn't thinking of my daughter with this image though, it was more of an outward representation of the brain.

Day 12: Whale Love

November 12th, 2012, Comments (15)

I'm not even sure where, but somewhere today, I saw an image of a whale and had the urge to paint one. Working with fluid acrylics on watercolor paper, I painted this whale, spouting some love.

Day 5: Heart Tree

November 5th, 2012, Comments (13)

It's a meditative practice, making little white circles on black paper!

Day 4: Winter Birds

November 4th, 2012, Comments (15)

A simple drawing today, Winter Birds. Daylight Savings Time and babies do not mix! I'm pooped. Off to bed!

Layers of Loss

February 23rd, 2012, Comments (29)

I'm still knee deep in grief here. But I've found some comfort in art, which is nice. I don't always feel like drawing and painting when I've experienced loss in the past, so I'm glad it can be a good way to let things out now.

The piece above was completely spontaneous and a lovely surprise. I had a pad of tracing paper in front of me on my art table, left out after making a playful Valentine's Day card for Andrew from Annabelle. I picked up some brush pens and started to draw on the top sheet. It felt a bit other-worldly. I then had the idea to turn to the next page to draw another layer, with a tree and roots. And then one last layer with a cat and roots.

Sometimes, when there are no words, thank goodness for art to be able to get out what's running through my mind.

Thank you to everyone who has left kind words for me after Sadie's passing. I really appreciate it!

Guest Post by Whitney Ferré

January 25th, 2012, Comments (9)

“The Creativity PORTAL”

By Whitney Ferré of Creatively Fit

What if the true intention behind your creative practice was to be a PORTAL for change on this planet? Would this be NEW to you?

For me, the most exciting part of my creative journey has been the corresponding emotional and spiritual journey. I have inspired “non-artists” to embrace their creative power since 1996, but I confess that I did not do so in order that they might create “quality” art or marketable product. What has always inspired excited energy within me and a passionate drive to share paints, colored pencils and watercolors with as many people as possible is my belief that it is our creative energy that is going to save the world—literally! As the world prepared for 2012 I was further inspired as some of my most respected spiritual philosophers and leaders started sharing their own beliefs surrounding our creative spirits. This following quote is from Andrew Cohen.

“In the way that I use the term, God is the energy and intelligence that created the universe and is driving the process forward in every moment. And that energy and intelligence cares desperately about change and innovation and the release of potentials that have not existed before. So it is constantly looking for portals through which it can enter into the world and consciously engage with creating its next step. As conscious human beings who have been blessed with self-awareness and free agency, we are those portals.” ~Andrew Cohen

Can you go there? Can you imagine the infinite universe scanning kitchen tables and art studios around the globe, searching for PORTALS through which to channel its infinite, creative energy? Why not? As human beings we created art before we created a monetary system OR a written language. We can look at tribal art and we know the sculptures, paintings, and symbols were created to access other dimensions and powers. We can still do that today.

The image below hangs above the door to my art studio. The “double croc” is an ancient symbol of protection. My painting it was a meditation on protecting the good, positive energy and my own “inner croc” that needed a boost to “own my power” and protect my own inner landscape. (Read more in my blog post here….)

This Creative Goddess is my most recent painting, still in process, and has already provided hours of colorful, sparkly meditations on all that is possible. As I layered and layered the colors, scratched through to bottom layers, and made her glow with my white & yellow painted fingers, I felt as though I was really accessing this goddess, encouraging me to think bigger, to expand my awareness about my own creative power and really let go!

I do believe it will be when more people proudly state, “I am creative!” rather than, “I can’t even draw a straight line…” that our global consciousness will shift and our world will step into a new time of greater peace, compassion and sustainability. YOU getting “Creative Everyday” is building that energy that our world needs. Here is what Ken Wilber has to say about creativity….

“Creativity: in some ways it seems so common, yet in other ways it is actually at the foundation of virtually every important activity and practice in human life—from relationships to play, from work to relaxation, from meditation to transformative practice, from parenting to teaching, from emotional expression to cognitive competence, from recreation to career choice. In many ways, creativity has been thought of as a rare, difficult, hard-to-come-by talent or gift, evidenced only by the few geniuses of each era. But according to the Integral view, creativity is actually a component of each and every moment of existence, and it can be learned and exercised with a few simple practices.” ~Ken Wilber

This is why there is such power in what Leah is doing here at Creative Every Day. Each day that you flex your creative muscles you are opening up as a portal to infinite creativity.

Here is a really fun & easy exercise to create and, should you choose, integrate into your spiritual life. I call them Story Cards.

Grab that stack of magazines and tear out ANY images that catch your attention. If anything, a color, a texture, an image, makes you go, “Oooooh!” tear it out. Don’t judge and don’t wonder what you are going to do with it. Just grab the pages that speak to you.

When you have a nice stack of images, divide them into 3 piles (you can make many sets of these, but each time make 3 piles). How do you divide them? Just let the images that you intuitively feel should be together join the same pile. You do not even have to label them yet, or understand the difference between the piles. One pile may have all bluer images, another pile nature images. The image above is a collage of three of my Story Cards. The far left card is about my spiritual life. When I look back on that card, with the fact that right now I am busy with our new SPIRIT Project 2012, I get the chills! The middle card was all about things I love. The far left card was inspired by nature.

When you are done, you will have exercised your “creative intuitive” muscle and have cards you can go to over and over for insight into the ART that is your LIFE!

I hope this NEW perspective on your daily creative activity inspires some new thoughts and energy into your practice. Namaste. Whitney

Whitney is the author of The Artist Within, A Guide to Becoming Creatively Fit and you can learn more about Whitney at www.CreativelyFit.com and join the SPIRIT Project for only $20.12 for the entire year!

Day 30: Bird in the Woods

November 30th, 2011, Comments (13)

Day 30! Woohoo! I'm proud of myself for getting through this month and I hope you all are feeling good about what you've accomplished.

I started to feel like my paintings were starting to tell a story recently. Perhaps if I put them all together, I'll be able to see what the narrative is.

Tomorrow I'll have a check-in for the Creative Every Day Challenge to carry us through til Monday, when I'll resume the regular weekly check-ins.

Congrats to all the Art Every Day Month participants. You all rock!

Day 28: Rabbit Moon Onesie

November 28th, 2011, Comments (13)

This is my favorite of the onesies I've done this month! It's another freezer paper stencil based on a drawing I did earlier this year. I can't wait to put Annabelle in it! :-) I'm glad AEDM pushed me to try this out. I'd like to do more!

Day 8 – Collecting Starfish

November 8th, 2011, Comments (20)

I started this piece early in the day, letting paint run together on a wet page. Then I let it sit out, looking at it occasionally while entertaining the baby during the day. After I put her to bed, I went into it with white pen, purple marker and a little more paint. The image that came surprised me, but I'm liking it. I think it was inspired by the miniature starfish in our fish tank that seem to multiply over night.