Michaelmas Sunday

Starting with a blank canvas, a dialogue begins.  It's so interesting to see where it all goes when there is no determined outcome.   I think I will try that on this week in my dialogues with others....no determined outcome....just see how the conversation unfolds.  I love how art can bring this possibility into my consciousness for the upcoming week.

Anchor dreams

Work in progress complete.

In Process

Here is today's playground canvas.  Moving from one structure to another, trying it out, seeing what I like, what works, and what doesn't feel right.  Let's see where I land with it tomorrow.

What's In My Art Box...

Although I didn't post yesterday, I still tried a on a new piece.  It came from Laura Summer's 52 Weeks which illustrates an artistic expression of Rudolf Steiner's meditation verses in his Calendar of the Soul.    I have often enjoyed the meditation verses and I seem to be discovering new depths of understanding with Laura Summer's exercises as an additional practice.

Today, I randomly picked a graphic from the internet to practice from and I am left somewhat disappointed.  I did learn that the ink in my art box is water soluble!  It gave the watercolor a kind of smoky, cloudy look.  I'm ready to move on and start a new piece:)

Autumn Pumpkin

Today's class was entitled Fabulously Formed or Fearlessly Formless.  The method was wet into wet...allowing the paint to flow with the water.  We dried our first layer with a blow dryer and came in a second time to strengthen the color.

Creative Forces

Good Enough

I made a commitment to myself last week that I would post something that I have painted, pasted or crafted every day for 40 days just as a practice... It's a  practice that will challenge me to do something regardless of the lack of time, all the errors or mistakes and imperfections I perceive and, to accept what I can get done in a day as 'good enough.'  Well today was kind of chaotic, lots of driving, an away football game, food shopping for the week, picking up and dropping off....and oh, Mom, I still have a little bit of homework tonight.... (it's Sunday night!)  The painting was rushed today...so was living the day artfully.  They go hand in hand.  I'm glad to call it a night!

September's Awakening

September is such an amazing month.  A subtle shift in nature is taking place before my very eyes... one leaf changes color, then another....by October it will be so apparent....I will be standing in a yard of leaves that needs raking....it will be so obvious then.  But not now.  That awareness, that noticing of something subtly transforming before my eyes creates powerful stirrings within me. It is an inner awakening.  What is being awakened?

Starting my business Artful Expressions six months ago and then wanting to hide....creating a blog and not wanting anyone to really read it,.....putting my art work out there but hoping not to be seen was like being a pilot taking off on a journey.  My name tag would read Teresa the Courageous and my copilot's name tag would read, Fear and Self Doubt.  I think this deeper awakening is recognizing that I never get to my destination with Fear and Self Doubt as my copilot.    Dr. Brene Brown has this great YouTube video entitled Why Your Critics Aren't the Ones Who Count where she describes that these critics, either our internal voices or real people not giving supportive feedback, have to be given a seat in the arena no matter what.  If they don't get invited, they'll just grow bigger, badder, and uglier.  So give them a seat, bring them along for the ride...they're going to show up anyway. Great, grab a seat....just not in the cockpit!

This awakening is about subtle transformation and recognizing that I am a part of it...in nature as well as changes taking place within.  I think they are whisperings that are calling me...pulling at my soul...telling me it's time to make that connection, pick up that paintbrush, write down those words, live every day artfully.  One step at a time.

The Sacred Cow

Feeling grateful for those who still milk their own cows to keep it fresh and raw.  It is a rare art in the modern world.

Apples Poem

Laurie Lee's poem entitled 'Apples' is such a perfect description...check it out:)

September's Harvest Moon

The September Harvest Moon has since passed but this was so much fun to do.  It took some trial and error but now I see the possibilities are endless.  I could do this as my full time job.  I don't even realize how the day flies by when I am in the color mix:)

Summer's warmth held in a leaf

Today I plucked  the first of the fall leaves still clinging to the tree.  These multi-colored autumn leaves with golden highlights hold a memory of summer's warmth.  They fall from the tree as a gift for me to remember that warmth and to carry it into the cooler months ahead.

New Beginnings

New beginnings....exciting and yes, trepidation as well.  I love the idea of sharing what I know with both children and adults and of course, the old self-doubt creeps up to see if it is invited to the party too.  Well, come along self-doubt but you won't be handed the karaoke microphone this time around!

Thoughtfulness and the Dragon of Intolerance and Indifference

"What shall I draw, Mom?" my thirteen year old asked as we waited for our food to arrive at the table.  I heard him earlier that morning humming a tune in preparation for our Michaelmas festival.  "Draw a dragon," I suggested. Without hesitation he doodled up dragon.

Ah, yes, the Dragon! September brings to our family this wonderful imagination of St. Michael victorious over the Dragon.  It's a picture that reminds me to tame the lower nature in myself that rears its ugly head with the light and strength of St. Michael.  Today I revisited David Newbatt's beautifully illustrated book, Twelve Aspects of Michael.  I did a watercolor study of his September picture with the sun in Leo.  The positive aspect is the radiant light of Archangel Michael contrasted by the lower human nature's negative qualities of indifference and intolerance.

Thoughtfulness lives in that radiant light.  After a couple of really extremely difficult days, I was the lucky recipient of thoughtfulness.  It shifted everything.  As I stood in the act of another person's kindness, I became more relaxed and aware of myself in relation to the problem I was facing.   As a result, the dragon was quieted, tamed and, I think, grateful to go back to sleep.  Thank you thoughtfulness.

Daring to Live Life Creatively

Living life artfully, creatively, simply...in a seemingly complicated world...

The heart of this blog is in a quote by Rudolf Steiner who says, "The task of the arts is to carry the spiritual divine life into the earthly, and to fashion the earthly life so that its forms, colors, words and tones act as a revelation of the world beyond."

I do not know about the world beyond but through my daily journey of work and play, marriage and parenting, nature and the arts.  I catch glimpses and feel nuances of things far greater than I.  In the midst of the challenges that pop up on this journey, I stand on the platform of gratitude for this amazing life!