Entries Tagged as: dreams
Thought Ghost
November 7th, 2009, Comments (12)
This one's a little spooky! Reminds me of a Dementor (from Harry Potter.) Like yesterday, I worked intuitively on this one. The initial paint shapes took the form of a large hand on a woman's chest and a ghost-like figure. I brought them out more in paint and a bit of ink. I think this has to do with waking up with racing thoughts.
It was good to do my art first thing this morning. The hubster was even there for the beginning. He drew me his own version of a bear (a cartoon bear with a bowtie and a jar of honey.) Hehe.
We've got family visiting later today and I'm hosting a baby shower for my bff tomorrow, so I won't be online much, but I'll still be posting my art here and I wish you all a fabulously creative weekend!
Full Frost Moon
November 2nd, 2009, Comments (28)
Today, I worked on a full moon dreamboard, which I've been doing regularly with Jamie Ridler's online group. I enjoy making vision boards with magazine images, but for these full moon boards, I've been enjoying painting them. This month's moon has been called the Frost Moon and the Tree Moon, among other things, so I kept that in mind as I created this piece. When I had the tree painted, I drew circles hanging from the branches, each holding an image of something I want to bring into my life.
Again, I used a fun, new-to-me material: a masking fluid. I took some pictures of the work in progress as well. The first shot is above, where I'd put the masking fluid on the parts I wanted to say white. After I let it dry, I painted over it all with fluid acrylic paint in blues.
After the paint dried, I got to peel off the masking fluid. I wasn't sure how this was going to go, but oh, it was fun!
I thought about putting some glass bead gel, which I wrote about yesterday, on top of it all, but decided to leave it as is. Speaking of glass bead gel, a bunch of folks asked to see detail shots of yesterday's art, Pond Reflections, so they could better see the texture going on. I re-worked the clouds a bit to make them softer before taking these close-ups.
Cool texture, isn't it?
I'm having fun visiting everyone, trying to see as much as I can every day. So inspiring!!
Giveaway! Goddess Leonie’s Divine Dreaming Meditation Kit
October 20th, 2009, Comments (56)
Ooo goodie! I'm super excited to be offering some fun giveaways this week! First up, is the Divine Dreaming Meditation Kit from the gorgeous Goddess Leonie. Simply leave a comment on this post and I'll randomly choose a name on Friday, October 23rd to win their very own kit!
The Divine Dreaming Meditation Kit is a downloadable kit with two Divine Dreaming meditation mp3s and a Goddess Guide to Sweet Slumber e-book. The kit was created to help you get to sleep easier and have more amazing dreams... perfect if you don't always get the sweet slumber you need, or some inspiring, healing dreams!
I've had the pleasure of listening to the mp3s and I highly recommend the Divine Dreaming Meditation for those who have busy thoughts when they’re trying to wind down before sleep. It really helped me set the right tone for an evening of beautiful dreams. Leonie’s voice is magic! Listening to the meditation, I felt softly held and supported, as I slipped smoothly into the dreamtime. I loved the meditation and will be using it again and again.
Update: The winner has been announced here. Thanks for playing everyone!
Seeing Yourself in the Moon
July 7th, 2009, Comments (27)
If the Moon Came to Dinner
Tonight is the Full Buck Moon and I celebrated in my favorite way by painting the moon, one of my favorite subjects. I have a couple new moon related pieces up in my art shop, including the one above, If the Moon Came to Dinner.
During the day yesterday, I was thinking about the Full Buck Moon and the Full Moon Dreamboard group that the fabulous Jamie Ridler runs on her blog (p.s. Jamie is launching a new website tomorrow with give-aways!)
Jamie's group does the Dreamboards in a collage style, which I totally love. But I've also been enjoying doing painted versions of these dreamboards lately. Above is what I did for the Full Pink Moon last month. As I pondered the Full Buck Moon this month, I started to doodle in my sketchbook and drew a woman with antlers. From the circles hanging from her antler prongs I drew circles containing the things I wanted to bring forth.
I took the little sketch I made yesterday and made the mixed media piece above in my art journal. The hubster fell in love with it before I finished it with the words in the circles, so I'll be handing it over to him. To finish the process, I did a second one in my art journal (below), this time writing in the words of things I want to bring into my life, expand upon, create, and grow during this full moon cycle.
To play with this idea for the self theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge you could keep in mind what you want to bring into your life during this full moon cycle and then try one of these methods:
Do a collage version: Tear through magazines and pull out any image that catches your eye. Don't think about it, just go with your gut. After you've pulled a pile, look at your selections and place the images that really sing to you on a piece of paper. Arrange to your liking, glue down, and then hang your dreamboard somewhere you can see it daily.
Write it out: Sit quietly, breathe, and ponder what you'd like to bring into your life. Then pick up a pen and do 20 minutes of free writing. You could describe your ideal day as if all the things you're desiring are already in place or just write freely about all the things you're wanting to draw to you.
Mixed-media: If you do the collage version, you could take the collage you create and paint over it, letting some of it show through. You could paint additional images on top of your collaged dreamboard. You might add writing to the collage. You could collage your own painted, drawn, or hand written elements into the piece. You might simply put some writing in an envelope and attach it to your collage. Or you could create mini envelopes in the collage to place one word, such as "money", "health", or "inspiration."
Paint: With the ideas of what you want to draw to you held loosely in mind, allow yourself to paint intuitively. Let yourself go with whatever colors or images pop into your head without worry about what it means. Keep painting until you come to a natural stopping point, then step back, and see what has come up for you. Put your painted dreamboard somewhere where it can continue to inspire you throughout the month.
Make a book: Create a small book or keep a blank journal where you can paste, draw, and/or paint images of things you want to draw into your life. I keep something like this by my bed and enjoy tearing images from catalogues and magazines and pasting them in. It's very relaxing.
Make a box: Collage a box as your dreamboard with images and words. Use it to hold collage material or written bits to put in future dreamboards or art journal pages.
Have you ever used any of these ideas? What other ways can you play with the dreamboard idea?
What is that you want to bring into your life during this full moon cycle?
Interview with Bridgette Guerzon Mills
May 22nd, 2009, Comments (14)
innate
I'm so thrilled to be sharing an interview with artist, Bridgette Guerzon Mills. I absolutely love her creations! Her work fits so well with the Creative Every Day Challenge theme of nature this month. I know you'll be inspired by Bridgette's gorgeous art, the ways she connects with nature, and how that comes through in her work. Enjoy!
LPK: Please tell us a bit about yourself.
BGM: I am a self-taught mixed-media artist living in Chicago, Illinois with my husband, our 2-year-old son, and our dog. I incorporate a variety of materials into my artwork, including photographs, oil paint, acrylic paint, and encaustics (wax-based pigments). I have always been drawn to the beauty and spirit of the natural world. Through both imagery and medium, I create organic pieces that speak to the cycles of life, memory, and the passage of time. I layer paint and photo transfers, papers or fibers to create depth in both form and meaning.
LPK: How does nature inspire your artwork?
where memory resides
BGM: I think nature has a strong hold on my psyche. I grew up roaming around outside, climbing trees and playing in mud. The imagery in my paintings always include something of the natural world - a tree, a plant, a bird. The patterns and backgrounds that I create are attempts to mimic nature's effect on surfaces through the passage of time and the elements.
On a conscious level, I am always looking for and searching out the details of what is around me. I think of myself as a sponge, absorbing the colors, surfaces, and emotions of what is around me - even when I am not aware of it. For example, when I lived in the Pacific Northwest my palette was very moody with different tones of grays and blues, reflecting the clouds and the water around me. I have recently moved to Chicago and my palette has shifted to more earthy tones that include the rust and patina of the urban cityscape of my new environment.
LPK: I've noticed that like me, you seem to be drawn to trees and birds. Can you tell me what these elements mean to you?
origins
BGM: Ever since I was young, trees were my playmates, my sanctuary. If my mom couldn't find me in the house, she would send my sisters to look for me in the branches of an ancient Magnolia tree! As such, it is only natural that trees appear in my artwork. Trees symbolize growth, life, roots and strength.
It is interesting, though, that most of my trees are bare winter trees. I think that I am attracted to bare trees because a bare tree is the essence of a tree pared down. To me, a bare tree represents the idea of strength being found in the bare bones. Trees have the ability to withstand anything that life and nature throw at them. A tree often works metaphorically as a self-portrait in my work.
Birds are creatures of both earth and sky. Because of this, they often represent to me the go-between of the two realms. Crows in particular appear in my work when I am speaking of dreams and/or visions.
LPK: Do you have any special places you go to gather inspiration?
beneath the prairie
BGM: Anywhere! Inspiration is about keeping your heart and eyes open to the beauty and the messages that surround us. As a mother of a very active 2-year-old I am no longer in the studio full time as I used to be. It is challenging because I do believe that inspiration is not something that appears out of nowhere, but rather in coming to work at your table or easel everyday.
However, I have found that in the moments between, I am constantly gathering information, experiences, inspiration from my everyday life. I always try to have my camera with me at all times. When I do get concentrated studio time, it is like an eruption!
LPK: Are there any natural symbols that are especially powerful to you right now?
BGM: Right now I am working on a series about prairie life and plants. Working on this series has been instrumental in helping me adjust to my new home in the Midwest. My work with this series has helped with both accepting where I am and embracing what is around me.
LPK: You create gorgeous journals for sale at amanobooks. What role does journaling play in your creative process?
heartland
BGM: Journaling plays a huge role in my creative process. When I first began to paint, I dedicated myself to journaling about each painting that I created, as well as studio notes for myself so I wouldn't forget the painting lessons I was giving myself!
Little did I know when I started that process that I was essentially creating a dialogue with myself - putting words to what I was doing on canvas. This dialogue helped me figure out my symbols and what I was trying to say with my paintings. I believe that the process of journaling empowers my work and helps me hone in on my objectives.
LPK: Do you have a favorite quote you'd like to share?
BGM: I love quotes! Here are some favorites:
"Art is not living. It is a use of living. The artist has the ability to take that living and use it in a certain way, and produce art."
~Audre Lorde
"The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place; from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web." ~Pablo Picasso
"We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the Beautiful Stuff out." ~Ray Bradbury
Thank you, Bridgette, for all the inspiration! If you'd like to see more of Bridgette's work visit her at her blog, art website, or her art journal shop, amanobooks.
Painting a Full Pink Moon Dreamboard
April 9th, 2009, Comments (26)
I am quite fond of the moon and it turns up quite a bit in my art. When I heard that this full moon is called the Full Pink Moon, I thought how perfect that I'd just painted a big pink painting in my Intuitve Painting class on Monday!
The lovely Jamie Ridler leads a full moon dreamboard challenge on her blog and I wanted to participate in this one. All the dreamboards (or vision boards) I've created in the past have been with magazine images, but I thought it might be fun to paint a dreamboard using the big pink painting I'd created as the base. First, I drew a little sketch intuitively, focusing on what I wanted to see bloom in my life. I drew a girl soaring, a girl peacefully sitting in a flower, and a house. At the bottom I wrote blossom and bloom with two more lotus-like flowers. And then I brought that sketch to the big pink painting (it's 18"x24") and used it as the background for the scene that unfurled. The clouds sort of came as I went along. I can't tell if the soaring girl is hanging on the clouds or pushing them up into the air. I may work on this further, but I wanted to get it up tonight.
detail
What is it that you are wanting to blossom and bloom in your life? Could you use a colorful painting as the base for a dreamboard?
Free Dream Call! Thursday, April 2nd 8 pm EST
March 26th, 2009, Comments (11)
To celebrate wrapping up this month of dreams, I'm so excited to invite you to participate in this free call about dream interpretation with Lianne Raymond! Lianne is a Certified Martha Beck Life Coach and she has trained with Dr. Christopher Shelley in Adlerian Dream Interpretation.
On the call, we'll discuss:
*How you can begin to interpret your own dreams
*How to cultivate your creativity through dream analysis
*Lianne will do some one-on-one dream work (bring your dreams to the call if you're interested in sharing!)
*And we'll be giving away a special gift, a Martha Beck dream journal, to someone on the call!
Sign up for the call using the form below and I'll send you the call in information. The call will be recorded, but you need to sign up below to receive the recording.
I've always had vivid dreams, but never did much with analyzing them until I found the work of Robert Moss and Martha Beck. I truly love how Beck encourages you to see each part of your dream as a part of your wiser self that has something to teach you.
Here's what Lianne has to say about dream interpretation:
Many people treat dreams as some obscure secret with the thought that there is one correct interpretation and if only they can decipher them correctly, then all shall be revealed. I see this in my psychology students every year. When we start our dream unit it never fails that there is a flurry of questions along these lines:
"What does it mean when you dream about horses?"
"I always dream about falling - what does that mean?"
"If a cigar is not really a cigar in my dream, what is it?"
The Martha Beck approach (derived from the work of Carl Jung) treats the dream like a divination tool. Divination simply means an inspired (to be "in spirit") discovery of what is hidden. Many of us have done our own forms of divination - have you ever done the trick where you feel stuck in some way so you go open the dictionary to a random page and put down your finger? And the word you just happened to land on gives you a whole new perspective? Dream analysis is like that, but even more powerful as the new perspective is internally generated and custom made just for you from your imaginal world.
Martha Beck's method has the dreamer become each item in the dream and answer questions about it's purpose, intention and lesson for the dreamer. Sometimes this can be challenging to do alone without slipping back into cynical, rational left-brain land. That's when it can be helpful to have a friend, partner or coach to take you through the process. (Martha has a great breakdown of her dream analysis method in Chapter 5 of her book Steering by Starlight.)
I have used Martha's approach with numerous students in my psychology classes and also with many of my life coaching clients. I have noticed, though, that my students rarely state that they don't dream (in fact they have extremely vivid dreams) whereas the adults who come to me for coaching often have the "I don't dream" syndrome. Of course they do dream, it has just been relegated to the 'that's not important' part of their brain. Often along with their imagination. I believe dreaming is a vital sign for the creative life. Leah has demonstrated here how her dreams have become springboards for her artwork. That springboard can be come even more interesting after a dream analysis. This is a painting one of my students did that combines elements from her dream with insights she gained from the dream analysis.
If you feel like you don't dream it is just a matter of creating the space and intention to let your dreams become known to you again. A great way to do this is by keeping a dream journal beside your bed and making an intention every night that you will allow your subconscious to communicate with you through dreams. Or just simply request that you have a dream and remember it. Keep with the practice even if nothing seems to be happening at first - maintain the space and the intention and write down even the shimmeriest of dream memories whenever you have them. Over time you will find that your dreams with become more frequent and memorable.
The truth is all the answers are within you and they are not secret. What dream analysis does is take the left, rational brain out of the driver's seat for a time and allows the right brain to make itself known. It takes us to the deeper place of knowing that I call the arational. And of course the arational is also the spring of creativity. To cultivate dreams is to cultivate creativity and connection to our wisdom.
You will be amazed at the insights into your own life that you will uncover through dream analysis.
Sound interesting? Want to learn more? Come join us on the call on Thursday, April 2nd at 8 pm EST (find out what time this is in your time zone here). The call will be free, but long distance charges may apply. In the meantime, sweet dreams!
Dream Boxes and Finding the Light in Your Darkness
March 18th, 2009, Comments (13)
When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.
~Charles Austin Beard
A few years ago, during Art Every Day Month, I used dreams as the inspiration for a series of 3 boxes. I wanted to share them again since they fit so nicely with the dream theme this month for CED!
I made them to be a set of 3 nesting boxes. The sides and tops of the first two boxes are covered with images of vivid dreams I remembered, some recent, some from childhood. The smallest box is painted in black paint, covered with words of warning and closed with a latch. But inside it's all glittery and gold.
A lot of the dream images I collected were nightmares. They span from a recent dream of trying to hold all four kitties as I escape a burning house...
...to the first dream I can remember having, at about age 3. In that dream, I went to a friend's house and saw a large clay alligator on the couch. I sat on it and it came to life, chasing me out the door. As I ran down the street, more and more animals came out the woods chasing me. And then I crossed the finish line to a race and realized they hadn't been chasing me at all, they were just racing, but I won! I woke up scared anyways.
Other dreams on that box include being on a ship with insanely large spiders that could grab you through the wall and swim after you in the ocean. And another dream was about getting a cookie and thinking it was chocolate chip but on closer inspection it was oatmeal raisin...ok, that wasn't a scary dream, but it was funny cause the morning after I had that dream a friend offered me a granola bar that I thought was chocolate chip and turned out to be full of raisins. The dream helped me take a closer look and saved me a from a big bit of raisins! (I hate raisins if you hadn't gathered that.)
In the second box, the dreams get a little darker. There's a nightmare about my former boss asking me to cut open her dog to make dinner and then sew him up again, another dream about a wolf, and a particularly spooky dream of pulling a large slug from my body.
Then box 3 is very dark, enscribed with words of caution to stay away, and other words of hurt, sadness, loss, and so forth. But inside, if you peel back all the layers, if you take the time, pass through the distractions and don't listen to the negativity, inside all of that is something golden, something hopeful.
I think the general essence of the golden interior is true for so many things in our lives. Inside our darkness, is often our brightest light. If we can open up to the possiblity of this and not be so quick to push away, avoid, and stuff our seemingly scary, dark visions out of sight, perhaps we can gently invite them to open and see what glitters beneath the layers?
Have you had the experience of finding your light tucked inside your darkness?
Dreaming of Bears
March 11th, 2009, Comments (7)
The retreat was great. A wonderful combination of relaxing and inspiring. I got there the day before the retreat began to do a little unwinding and getting centered. I'm glad I did because all the travel exhausted me. I stayed the cutest little loft room (that I had to climb a sort of ladder to get into.) Fortunately I'm super short, so I could just stand up in it. It felt like I was tucked in a treehouse and I loved that.
I spotted Animal Speak on a bookshelf in the hall and took it up to the loft with me to look at. I'd just been talking about the book with my coach, so it was funny to see it there. And I'd been wanting to read over the part about spiders after I had that spider dream recently. I rested in bed, reading and journaling, and drifted off into a lovely nap.
I dreamed that the hubster showed up at the retreat and I had to tell him that it was an all-women retreat, so he couldn't go inside. We pitched a tent together outside the house and we were sitting in it, when I looked down the road and saw a huge bear coming down the road towards us. There was an old man under a tree near us. I turned to him and asked if we should be running into the house. But he said not to worry, that we didn't have any food, so the bear wouldn't bother us. Then a drunk man came out of the woods and started harrassing the bear. The bear was pushing him away, trying to ignore him, but the man kept coming after the bear and eventually punched the bear in the face. The bear then lost its temper and bit the man. It was a very vivid dream and I woke up remembering it fully.
Later that night, I turned to Animal Speak to read about what bears symbolize. I learned that the bear has ties to the subconscious and unconscious mind. It is associated with Diana, goddess of the moon. It teaches you to use your inner resources to find your answers within. It teaches you to make choices from a position of power. Bears are often associated with trees, an ancient symbol that is like an antenna connecting heaven and earth. Trees remind us bring what we awaken into the world and to make our marks with it.
The things I read about the bear, it's connection with trees and the moon, and the bits about what it has to teach, were so relevant to me. I did some writing about the dream, which I think I'll share later on. It's interesting how focusing on dreams this month for the Creative Every Day Challenge, has brought such powerful dreams! It just goes to show you that what you focus on expands.
The next day, I had an amazing massage in a cute little boathouse (above) with an incredibly talented, nurturing therapist. While my face was down and looking through the head-rest, I opened my eyes and laughed to myself because within the rug pattern below, the shapes looked like a bear standing in a river with a crescent moon and birds flying by. That's where the image I painted above came from. After the massage, I drew a little sketch of what I saw and knew that I wanted to paint the bear in this way. I painted it today in acrylic and ink on watercolor paper.
I have more to share on the weekend later, but in the meantime, some fun links to check out:
- Spark, art from writing: writing from art is now online sharing the paired up artists and writers and what they created in response to eachother's work. Mine is here!
- Rainn Wilson (Dwight on The Office) has a new website called SoulPancake that is all about creativity and spirituality. Very cool!
- Need a pat on the back? A boost? A job well done? Check out my pal Jim Doran's new website, Hey Good Job. Love it.
Dream Board
March 10th, 2009, Comments (18)
Hello, lovely, creative readers. I've just returned from a refreshing and inspiring retreat with Christine Kane. I'm still processing a bit and trying to re-ground myself after the shuffling process that happens when I travel, but I'm sure I'll share more about the retreat soon.
One of the things we did during the weekend was to create a Vision Board. I create Vision Boards every so often, so the process wasn't new to me, but each time I create one, I get a little more insight into what it is that I want in my life. And for all you visual people out there, this is a great way to see your visions brought to life. Christine has a great ebook on Vision Boards which you can get for free (see her sidebar for the info) by signing up for her newsletter.
It's funny that in this month of the dream theme for the Creative Every Day Challenge, I've already created 3 different Dream Boards (I call them dream or vision boards interchangeably.)
There are lots of different ways to approach the process of creating a Dream Board. I've created some with a particular theme, but usually I just tear through magazines, letting my intuition guide me to rip out images that are calling to me in the moment. When I've got a pile of images to work with, I lay them all out on a big piece of paper or posterboard, re-arrange the imagery til the board is filled with images that resonate strongly with me, and then glue them down.
Jennifer Lee, has a wonderfully creative and unique way of creating a vision board that I tried out recently. She calls it the Unfolding Your Life Vision Kit, which you can learn more about and order here. The kit comes with a visualization on cd, the materials needed to create a portable vision board, and an instruction manual. You can see the folded up version of the one I created above. And the open version in all it's origami-type-coolness is below. I love how you can pop this vision board in your purse and pull it out whenever you need a hit of inspiration.
Today is the Full Worm Moon and on each full moon, the lovely, Jamie hosts a dreamboard challenge. What a lovely process to renew your Vision Board with each full moon!
Have you created a Vision Board before? Many people who do them experience the imagery they include on their Vision Boards coming true with great speed. And even if that seems a bit woo-woo or farfetched to you, it's still a fun process to explore and get creative with.
