Featured Artist - Musings

My friend Brook invited me to be her Featured Artist at Walnut City WineWorks for November & December! (& on facebook)

Yarrow Rose - May 2014

In the midst of classes (another Muse painting adventure, an e-workshop with Jassy Watson on 'Painting Gaia' & Livestreams with Shiloh) I prepared for the show. 

The Gallery space includes several walls & the windows between the Tasting Room & the wine press room, so I wanted those paintings to harmonize ....  I chose a couple of canvases the same size, & opened to whom would arrive ...

Ether &  She of the Grateful Heart

She of the Grateful Heart 10-14

I chose Zephyr & Ether for the spaces on the left, & so the first new Lady is She of the Grateful Heart. She has lovely orbs done in interference paint, & a winged eye for insight.

One friend lives on a popular cul-de-sac, & always has several HUNDRED kids for trick-or treating, so we always have a little gathering, to help answer the door. After I returned home, I painted late into the night, a gateway lady, (and a bit the next day) She who Stands Between the Worlds.

She Stands Between the Worlds - Hallows 2014

 Last spring, I began Wind Horse honoring this year of the Horse, during an open studio day at my friend Elisabeth's. Inspired by Ree Altavilla's lovely horses, I finished Wind Horse during the summer ....note the Red thread on her rider's wrist ...

Wind Horse - Spring 2014

 Ladies on the left, with Mary of Magdalla (from Shiloh's Easter gifting of access to one of her courses at no charge! Thank you, Shiloh Sophia!)

Zephyr, Ether & Mary of Magdalla

Sekhmet was my summer lady, my second painting in Flora Aube's Art of Allowing online workshop. Finished on Summer Solstice, I love her fiery halo of hair & gold!  We needed permission to add a couple of nails to the wall behind the Wine Bar, so Sekhmet nestled behind the award winning bottles for a bit. She is the largest painting, 24 x 36".

Sekhmet - Summer Solstice 2014

My daughter Mary offered the loan of the painting I did in June for her & her husband Matt ... her middle daughter Kayleen suggested that the flowers represent the kids - 4 girls & one boy!

Love's Alchemy - for Mary & Matt - June 2014

Here's the line-up of Zypher, Ether, Mary of Magdalla, Grateful Heart, & She stands between the Veils! 

The Ladies

It was an exciting challenge to prepare for the show - who should I bring? How would we display them? I took a trip to the Merri Artist for picture wire & hangers (we only needed one set of those for the picture behind the Wine Bar) ... a book on nurturing our creativity suggests that one way to get inspired is to enter a juried show, or get ready for an exhibit! So true!


I'm happy with the show, and it was so sweet of Brooke to invite me to be her 'featured artist' for the winter! She has been asked more than once if she was my model for the paintings, especially when she dressed in autumn colours! 
You can peek at more of my art on my FB page Nadya's Atelier 

Happy Paint Party Friday!

October Musings and another show!

October is one of my favorite months, with its Bright Blue skies much of the time (turned rainy & overcast just this last week!) I'm not as fond of the days turning shorter, but give me a cup of tea & a good book .... It's also time for the Art Harvist Studio Tour, where artists around Yamhill County open their homes & studios over two weekends. It always fascinates me to see where other artists create, & (when available) how they decorate THEIR homes!

Sekhmet - Love is our Soul Purpose

 At the beginning of the month, my friend Brooke invited me to be her featured artist for Nov & Dec at Walnut City WineWorks, where she manages the tasting room! So I visited the tasting room (& sampled some wonderful white wines!) to get a sense of what pieces to bring/ create.

The current show, watercolours, hangs in windows between the tasting & press room, with several wall spaces. I can picture Sekhmet on the wall behind the tasting bar, & Ether & Zypher in two of the windows. Visit their FB page

The windows are tall & narrow, five in one bank, a door, & two more windows. Ether is 14 x 14", Zypher 16 x 20", so I visited Merri Artist for matching canvases, & have several ideas ... time to get out the magic paintbrush!! The weekend after Thanksgiving they will host an event, so I may take my harp & play a bit, surrounded by some of my ladies!

You can visit my art adventures on my FB artist page, Nadya's Atelier 

Posting to Paint Party Friday - what's on your easel or drawing pad this week?

Sisterhood of the Red Thread & a Blessed Transition

Last weekend I participated in another art show - an Art for Peace exhibit for our Interfaith Community 10th annual Peace Fair. 

 Two Hearts, 1 Red Thread - Shiloh McCloud

For International Woman's day in the Spring, artist Shiloh Sophia McCloud Lewis invited the Red Thread community to paint women (at least two) & donate the painting to a women's shelter or other community place. My piece 'Dancers' came from that challenge, & it now hangs at our Ballet Studio.

Late this summer, I thought of doing another piece, with women from several ethnic backgrounds, & began 'Sisterhood of the Red Thread.' When Shiloh began teaching, & was asked to teach a group of Native American women, she began wondering how to bridge cultures, & the Red Thread Tradition was begun. 

Sisterhood of the Red Thread - Nadya

The Chinese myth says that people who are destined to meet are tied together with an invisible red thread. Through the desire to connect with like minded women, we create community through power of intentional creativity.

 “How our stories live inside of us is how we live our lives. We have found it, as a people, increasingly difficult -in any culture- to change the story that we are telling ourselves…it becomes a loop: what happened, how it feels, whats going on, we find it difficult to even get out of ourselves enough to be a part of recreating what our story might be … When we put it into story, whether its audio, video, written, image, when we bring the concept into form, it changes how the story lives inside of the human being… and from that shift we are able to clear up some space in our mind and our heart to consider another possibility…” Shiloh - 2013

Red Thread Heart - Nadya

During this time of painting, dreaming, & drifting into fall, our Sisterhood has been keeping vigil with Shiloh's mentor & our Art FairyArtMother, Sue Hoya Sellars. A couple of weeks ago, after a painting intensive with Shiloh, Sue went in for open Heart surgery, .... & never woke up! Sue LOVED the cosmos, & our sense was she got fascinated in that out of body dance! 

Shiloh & her community brought Sue home to her beloved Terra Sophia, where she spent her last days lovingly tended, sung to, soothed & gentled as she prepared to drop her human suit. 10 AM Monday September 29th, she did just so, & is now dancing among the  stars!  Here is a lovely interview (2005) with Sue & the neighbor from a nearby hill, author Alice Walker. 

Sue's Cosmos - Nadya

Shiloh and Cosmic Cowgirls have begun an Indigogo fundraiser, to gather resources to fund a dream of Sue's & keep her riverside sanctuary & make it place to keep 'committing art!' 

The Red Thread Community is also honoring Sue by 'committing art' daily in a 30 day vigil .... whether it be drawing in your art journal, snapping a photo, beginning or continuing an art project, won't you join us?

Linking to Paint Party Friday & posting on Facebook
Like my FB page: Nadya's Atlier
Shiloh: Artist Shiloh Sophia

Street of Dreams

Each year, our local co-op art Gallery, Currents, hosts several juried shows, & invites submissions from area artists. 

Cityscapes show - 3 paintings on  L by Kathleen Buck

In early August, I stopped by the Merri Artist for some Golden paint (ON SALE!), then went down the street to browse the Gallery, & chatted with the Artist on duty. She brought out a canvas (8 x 16") & the submission form, & before I knew it, I was out the door with both, & on my way to paint a 'cityscape' ....

Earlier in the summer, our town was voted one of the top two Main Streets in the whole US, in the Parade Magazine contest! If you peek at the photos, Currents Gallery is just beside R Stuart Wine Bar (just beside the photographer) & we have a very sweet main street ... 
I thought of people on park benches (Kathleen Buck did a pair of those, plus a painting of the front of the gallery, which will be used in future promotions), mmm, perhaps a skyline ... & I took pictures as I walked downtown, but nothing quite gelled .... then I thought of painting little 'hobbity houses,' little round cob houses, & Street of Dreams was born! 

Street of Dreams

Mid September, I filled out the paperwork & dropped off my picture, then waited to hear if it had juried into the show... yes!! 

The opening was last Saturday, during our monthly 'Art & Wine Walk' and ... it had already sold!! See the red sticker? (a few days later, a musician friend let me know she bought it 'the first piece of real art I've purchased!'

Nadya & Street of Dreams

After our book group, several friends & I went downtown to the opening, & Ingrid snapped this picture of me with my little Street of Dreams. We decided we both wanted to live in the house with the Red Door (Ingrid actually lives in a lovely round wooden yurt, & just painted her door purple!  

I love the piece on the top left behind me - a mosaic of buttons, & little LED fairy lights on the trees! The lights go on just after Thanksgiving, & brighten up our winter streets! 

I'm posting to Paint Party Friday - happy painting!

Art for the Soul Curriculum

Several of my creative friends & I have been pondering the merits, & the drawbacks, to studying Art in schools, possibly for certification in Art Therapy or to teach; and the less defined path, following the "Soul's Curriculum." 

This is where the door is opening, will you peek through? 

"The most regretful people on Earth are those who felt the call of creative work, who felt their own creative power restive & uprising, & gave it neither power nor time." Mary Oliver

My friend Brenda posted this quote, & went on to write "Sums up my feelings after lots of soul searching earlier this year & the realization that my one regret is that I never went to art school. I looked at schools & prices, and none of it really resonated in my soul. Then I started looking at teachers I admire, classes that inspire, souls I love. ... I realized the classes I love the most are the ones that are intuitive, access the soul, invite inner listening, etc." 

My friend Jeanette writes "We are all Creative Beings. This is our birthright, regardless of our circumstances, talents or beliefs. The invitation is to discover how your creative gifts will be used to create a reality that is worthy of your Soul's incarnation." 

My co-worker Jackie Hausman is another who has pondered enrolling an official Art Therapy program, or simply continuing her own Journey of the Soul with fabulous intuitive painting, & Soul studies.
 
Over the last several months, I've been painting with several wonderful and inspirational Art teachers, after my own hiatius from doing much visual art. Taking a class with my friend Elisabeth last February opened the door, she in turn has studied with a number of artists both in person & on-line, including Shiloh Sophia McCloud & Flora Bowley. I met Brenda & Jeanette in the Art of Allowing course I took this summer with Flora Aube.

I like the concept of following our 'Soul's Curriculum,' as we open the door to our own creative path; will you step through the portal? 

Art of Allowing: Painting 2

Her face in the wash

Back in May I began Flora Aube's online 'Art of Allowing' course, where we were invited to "cultivate the wisdom of relationship with the Great Mystery and serving as a midwife to the birth of Beauty in our lives and on our planet. This is the high art of embodying the Priestess within, empowered with full access to our divine gifts of Creativity."
Registration is open for Flora's fall course, which begins in early September. 

I wrote about my process with the first painting, Spirit Dancer, here,& here

In June, we began working on our second painting, with the question 'What is asking to be born? Something beyond paint, something you are to bring forth ....' The colours that came during the meditation were gold & fire tones - "Fire, Vesta, hearth, spark .... fiery depth, Sekhmet, bringing heat for radiant life, birthing from orange & yellow, shimmer of wings, .... "

And the phrase: Love is our Soul Purpose ... Heart fire, sacred flame, blessings of the lady! 

WIP - June 12

I later realized that in a card reading at the beginning of the course, one of the cards pulled (Rainbow Earth Tarot) was Strength, with Sekhmet on one side of the priestess. I began the wash in early June, & finished Her by summer solstice.  

 After finding Her face in the wash, I began bringing out the features, & added her fiery hair. 

Like several recent paintings, (including Spirit Dancer, Zephyr & Ether) she began developing a central feathery 'crown.' I loved playing with her fiery hair, Egyptian eye adornment, & skin tones. I played with translucence by mixing Acrylic Glazing medium with Titan Buff paint (equal parts) over parts of her hair.

Sekhmet, June 14

As she is a 'lion headed Neteru,' I found an online tutorial for painting lion ears. I thought of a collar - but clearly heard "DON'T collar me!"

Sekhmet is often painted with a solar disk - I decided to use verigated 'gold' leaf around her, & found several great tutorials, beginning with Terese Nielsen (love this!) & had one of Nancy Reyner's books on using intereference paint and other fun Golden Goodies from the library.

Lucky me, I could go bug my friends at Merri Artist & find the leaf & glue I wanted, plus some yummy interference paint which I used in her hair
 .... green seemed right for the outer area, around her solar disk,  ....& I was 'allowed' to use some gold leaf 'points' on the sides of her neck (NOT a collar!!) You can see flecks of the gold in her 'crown' & in that outer green area.
And there's a great group of supportive artists on a private FB page, who offered mutual support & blessings as we each journeyed with our Ladies!

After painting her, I looked up more about her. 
Sekhmet, lion headed Neteret of Egypt is the goddess of transformation, of solar feminine fire. Her name means 'The Power, the Mighty one' - Egyptologist Nicky Scully writes: "she helps you set your course in the right direction, so you can grow & transform the seeds of your SOUL PURPOSE (!)... write what you see/feel growing & blooming in your heart." 

She was finished June 20, just in time for Summer Solstice - what a wonderful process!

Sekhmet - Love is our Soul Purpose!

 SôLsTïCè greetings!
Sekhmet: the power, the nighty one; lion GøddésS, feminine face of the sun, she brings the fire that fuels transformation.
Sekhmet helps us shape shift into our future selves, and incites us to open our hearts and receive the sees of our Soul Purpose!
Love is our Soul Purpose!
Bright BLéSSïNgS of the Lady on this Summer morn!

 Linking to Paint Party Friday. 
You can find more of my art throughout this blog & on my FB page Nadya's Atelier 
Happy PPF! 

Ether

Last week I posted a photo of a little 'green lady' on my easel ...

Ether - WIP

As I worked on Her, the colour scheme shifted to lavenders & blues, with an airy veil ....

Elemental: Ether (8.1)

By the end of the day, She was almost complete!

Ether, "I come to you from beyond the veils, to remind you of our Spirit connections.... we are always Home!
Never forget WHO you ARE, and what you came to BE. 
I come to remind you, in the beginning! In the end! 
Now is ALL, ALL is Love. 
ALL IS. 
ALL is within and all around.
I AM Ether!"

Zephyr - WIP

She is the third in the 'Elemental' series, joining windy, winged Zypher & sunny Sekhmet.  

With each of these ladies, I began with a wash, then looked within the movement of the paint for the being .... 
I am intrigued with their 'crowns' .... each a bit different, but similar. 
For the translucence, I used white (Buff Titanium) mixed with Medium and painted over the hair, veils, crown .... 
I love interference paint, which shimmers in different angles ... Ether has lavender eyes & lips .... done with interference violet 

Zephyr - 7.1

When I stopped by Merri Artist this week, I found they're having their August sale on Golden Paint (!) so I picked up larger sizes of some of my most used paint, & helped Merri assist a customer from california trying to remember the names of the paint she wanted - "Ah! That would be Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold ..."

And across the street, at Currents Gallery (our local artist's co-op) I picked up an entry form & 8 x 16" canvas for the September juried show: Cityscape!  
"A cityscape is an artistic representation, such as a painting, drawing, print or photograph of physical aspects of a city or urban area."
If you're an artist in Oregon, you might wish to enter!! The price of entry includes the canvas (which may be embellished) & jury fee .... all entries must be for sale.

Happy Paint Party Friday! 

Around the World Artsy Blog Hop

A couple of weeks ago, Denise in Australia invited participation in an 'Around the World Artsy Blog Hop,' about our creativity ... & I decided to play along .... then was off at the coast on a camping trip, and .... and ... time to write!! 

These are the 4 questions:
1. How does my creative process work?
2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?
3. What am I working on now?
4. Why do I create what I do?

1. How does my creative process work? 

"Presence" Mama Lois & She Who Watches

I've always thought of myself as 'Artsy-crafty' .... my mom Lois knit, crocheted, & took craft classes including basket weaving. She always had a great eye for colour, & I followed her lead, taking 4-H sewing, & drafting some of my own patterns, learning various arts & She also mentions  and creativity are ... I took art in HS, and a live drawing class in college, and 'always' sketched & did crafts in fits & spurts. I garden & keep garden note books, ... 
I made dolls & paper dolls, I took up spinning ....
I dance (from Ballet to Square Dance!) &  sketched kids at the ballet studio during my daughter's class, now sketch my grandkids ...Jewelry making, pine needle baskets, I tend to accumulate supplies, which tend to be beautiful all on their own! Over the last decade, I've taken classes from local artists - beeswax collage, slab pottery, & played with Soul Collage...

My mother-in law Dorothy Fender (now 98!) loved having a full collection of various art materials, & in the 70s & 80s, would often 'share' with me - when we were 'into' embroidery, she bought us EACH a full set of DMC embroidery cotton (!) later, Prismacolor coloured pencils.... she has some lovely pastel paintings she did in her earlier years, at this point, she no longer creates, but still appreciates what I bring over to show her!  

In February, I took a 'Muse Encounter' workshop with my friend artist Elisabeth Friese-Mick, who has been studying "Intentional Creativity"with Shiloh Sophia McCloud, so painting has taken the forefont!  Chocolate is an important part of the process, keeping the Muse happy while we paint! In later Spring & Summer, I've taken on-line & virtual courses with Shiloh & with another of her students, artist Flora Aube.
When I go to an art fair, or into a gallery, I often think "I could do that!"  So my creative process is stimulated by other artists, by nature, by imagination.

I'm lucky (or unlucky!) to have an Art Supply right in town, so when I want to try new materials, they're very handy! If I'm inspired, I may begin painting in the evening, with a candle lit & some music on, & paint into the wee hours! I often have a couple of pieces going .... & revisit older canvases, as the muse whispers. 
I'm a Virgo, so love tiny things - have done water-colors on 1 1/2" squares of paper!! & have made wee rugs for doll houses, so it's been a bit of a surprise to find myself working on canvases that are 2' x 3'!!

Yarrow Rose, Healer

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?
I love reality & fantasy .... my faces tend to be 'sweet' & people seem to find my paintings uplifting (which I strive for!) .... 
I find myself loving being part of the Intentional Creativity movement, putting intention into the canvas, writing words, saying a little prayer, before applying paint .... As a Reiki Master, I have had a number of artists study with me over the years, who also seek to infuse their art with healing & inspiration.   
Flames, eyes that speak volumes, loving kindness  spirals, art as healing icons .... 
Several of my pieces seem to 'ask' to be part of a story , that may be next! 

 3. What am I working on now? 

Zander helping Journal

I just began a little canvas (square: 13") and an art journal that has words, collage, drawing/painting. Last weekend my daughter's family & I joined a number of folks from our church for a camp out at the coast, & my youngest grandkids (3 & 3 1/2) LOVED helping paste & draw Grammie's art journal (& mom & dad were grateful for keeping them happily occupied for awhile!)
 

Green lady

4. Why do I create what I do?
Gosh! Doesn't everyone who is creative 'have to' create in some fashion or another?!! I think it's the nature of the beast ... As Denise says "When I’m creating I’m in a different world where time does not exist." YES!! She also mentions art as a good way for processing emotions beyond words ... I find that true as well. Art, any art, is therapeutic! 

If others enjoy my offerings as well, all the better!!

Blessings to all who visit & find inspiration in these words!

I'm linking to Paint Party Friday, & to that Artsy Blog Hop!!

Summer of Color - week 6

This week when I was going through some of the other Paint Party Friday posts, I noticed several referred to another blog roll: Summer of Color!

So I journied over to 'Twinkle Twinkle Like a Star,' Kristen Van Valkenburg's blog to check it out!  Denthe was one of the participants, & since this is the last week of the challenge, showed the pieces she's done each of the last three years! She chose one style for each set, which is a great idea!

Kristen writes: "We have one week left to share our color creations with one another and I for one hope that this is our busiest week yet. If you've yet to join us, make this your time. After all, I've saved one of the best palettes for last. You could even say that I found inspiration from Summer itself. . . ." 

Raspberry & Tangerine

The pallet is yummy: Raspberry, Tangerine, & a "Smudge, Splash or Pop" of Lemon!
 
The last several weeks, I've been noticing clothes that are that lovely Raspberry pink (love the colour, haven't found the 'just right' piece yet!) & browsing through my coloured pencils, though I have one marked Raspberry, it seemed to dark, so 'had to' take another trip to Merri Artist (darn!! Tee hee) to find just the right colours! 


So here's my Raspberry and Tangerine lady - hope you enjoy her!! 

Check out the Facebook page for more entries 

Butterfly Dreams!

When I lived in community (Breitenbush Hot Springs), one of my favorite 'good night' blessings was 'Butterfly Dreams!' 

Wash & blocking

A couple of weeks ago, someone mentioned loving the colour Violet Oxide, & I decided to use that in my next wash .... My friend Leonard picked up a couple of canvases (22 x 28") when they were on sale at his campus bookstore, so I used one of those.  

When I was playing with paint on canvas, I found I had swirled butterfly wings ... what next?
A butterfly lady, of course! I played with lavender for her face, & for 'hair,' little spiky streeks ... antenae, and of course the wings

Fender's Blue female

As I was admiring some other lovely Ladies, I began thinking about her, that brownish violet in the wash, and realized she was a Blue - & 'not just any blue, but Fender Blue!' (Icaricia icaricaroides fenderi) As a kid, I always loved seeing a cloud of little blue butterflies fluttering above a puddle. 

 The Fender blue is specific to the Willamette Valley, was named for my father-in law in 1931, by his friend & fellow 'buterfly collector' Ralph Macy. By the end of that decade, it was thought to be extinct. Then, few years after his passing, it was rediscovered! (1989) Now a number of little 'sanctuaries' have been set up - scotch broom & blackberries mowed, & their host plant, the Kincaid lupin & favorite nectar mallows encouraged ... & the blues have returned to the valley & coast! 

Icaricia, Butterfly Queen

The males are Lôvélÿ soft blue, females tan...
So I added fringe on the edges of Her wings, (and marveled I'd already used that for "hair"!), stripes of pearl paint on her antenna, and a bit more adornment, ... a few orbs....




Icaricia, Butterfly Queen invites us to STOP and enjoy the flowers!

Their fragrances, their bright joyful colours!
Enjoy them ALL! 

Icaricia

Have favorites! 
Cut back invasive species & Plant those native to your area - see who comes to enjoy them!!
It's up to you to enjoy & nurture the garden of life!


Happy Paint Party Friday!

Painting up a storm!

This is my 50th post!! I love this little Creation Station, & hope it inspires your own creativity ....
 
Since beginning painting again last February, when I took Elisabeth's Muse encounter workshop, I have been painting up a storm!! Fifteen finished, or nearly so!  

On Summer Solstice, after finishing the second of my Art of Allowing ladies, Sekhmet, I had a 'council' meeting with 11 of the 12 of paintings I'd done, & my "star lady" wall hanging in the background ... 
The smallest paintings were done onmatt board & on a practice canvas. With 'Green Girl' I was experimenting with sea weed for hair ....

Spirit Council

Gabriella, Mary, Daffy-Down-Dilly

Gabriella - my Muse of Creativity - I've refined her face, & added ribbons to her dress ... her hair has some interference paint 'sparkle'

Mary of Magdalla - painted with inspiration from Shiloh Sophia McCloud
 & little Daffy-Down-Dilly (March)

Dancers, Wind Horse

Then "Dancers" which I began in March, on International Women's day, & gifted to my ballet teacher Emma Seth to hang in the studio July 8th. I used Flora Aube's 'scrubby technique on the Snow Queen's hair, crown & shoulders, and interference paint on the free form dancer.

"Wind Horse" is a favorite! Began this one in March (the canvas seemed big to me!) during my first 'open studio' day, painting with my friend Elisabeth. It's another I completed during the Art of Allowing course. For the horse's features, I was inspired by my friend in the course Ree Altavilla.

"Presence" was done honoring my Mom (I blogged about her here & here) & there's a little 'blue woman' on card beside her.

Yarrow Rose, Healer

 I painted "Yarrow Rose" to grace my healing room, using Shiloh's Mary Magdalene videos for inspiration & guidance. The flowers in her mantle are all healing herbs, & gases at her signature Yarrow. I finished her at the end of June, adding the purple background & Tree of Life.
(she was in my treatment room during the 'council' meeting)

Several more have 'come through' the creative pathway since this council, I'll tell you more about them later, & about Sekhmet, my fiery Solstice lady!

Happy painting!

Art of Allowing Spirit Dancer

Spirit Dancer - detail

    Spirit Dancer

The Drumbeat calls me forth
  To dance the Spirit Song
From Age to Age revealed
  in glory, in beauty, in peace.
Stars and moon, they dance through me! 
  Sea and shore, I hear their call
Mountain and River sing me home
* I dance *
Eagle & dove
  wing through my prayers
Child and maiden
  Life giver, crone
I AM ageless and timeless
  Beyond all, within all
Salmon swims and deer grazes
  Owl calls names
And still I dance

Spirit Dancer

I dance the Unborn, the departed
  The disenfranchized, the whole
I dance the captain and the king
  the minstrel and the drummer
  the courtisan and the Lady
I dance within, without
  Beyond & forever
I Dance
   I Dance
      I Dance!!
        I Dance your Spirit Home!!

Art of Allowing Painting 1

The invitation to Flora Aube's Art of Allowing was simple - "WE are on the journey of becoming, and the most graceful way through is to learn the art of Allowing; deeply listening for when to move and when to be still, when to charge against the edges and when to sit in our breath. It is cultivating the wisdom of relationship with the Great Mystery and serving as a midwife to the birth of Beauty in our lives and on our planet. This is the high art of embodying the Priestess within, empowered with full access to our divine gifts of Creativity."

Plein Aire studio

The time was right, I had just finished Mary of Magdalla, & was ready for more. The price was affordable, I said 'yes!' We spent a couple of weeks getting our studios ready (spring cleaning, painting one wall!) & sketching faces ....

We are about halfway through the course at this time - having painted one image, & just beginning a second (the class goes through June, and we'll have access to the videos throughout the summer).

"Painting happens INSIDE us, it's our job to give it birth!" 

We were invited to stay open to the mystery, tap our intuition & inner knowing as we moved into the creative - or Cre-ACT-ive process!
"This is a priactice, an unbelievable gift! Her love knows no limits!" 

Wash: Green Gold & Yellow ochre

Thursday May 15 it was a lovely sunny day, and I set up outside, taking a hazel pruning from last fall, that I'd cut low, & then noticed it would make a great bean (or other) support. A bit of time with some string & a couple of small oak branches, & I had a plein aire easel! (which I subsequently brought inside! 

Flora invited us to take a couple of hours with the wash - dilute paint & water, which we spread over the canvas ....

After the canvas dried, we could transfer a sketch from the faces we'd been drawing, or something seen in the canvas, & then begin blocking in with colour. I'd decided to go with dark skin tones, for the first time, so did a bit of research to choose colours!  

"When you invoke Her from this deep place of Soul, She is the Goddess revealed. She is birthed from the seed within you. She is a gift with a clear message!" Flora Aube.

Blocked

I used my friend Margaret Duperly's 'Rainbow Earth Tarot' to do a reading before beginning. A couple of the cards bespoke heartbeat/drum, so I brought my small drum outside, & as I applied the wash, at times I'd drum on the canvas! I spied a little dancer, & a face similar to the one I'd sketched in my wash! A fun part of having this makeshift easel, the twin sticks for supporting the canvas have a space in the middle, perfect for holding a corner of the canvas when I was tipping it to let the wash run! 

We were invited to spend a couple of days each week 'tending to our souls,' & I wrote "I intend to tend my soul with dance and art. I dedicate my creative energy to healing, wholing, & radiating Light! I was born to share my gifts & live with radical abundance! I am a dancer, a healer, a mystic & a mystery. I stand in my power & empower/inspire others to stand in theirs." ...

Lights & darks

I have been to weekly ballet class, got flowers for my office, & an African Violet for my art space. I have music on while I'm painting, & a candle lit. Sometimes incense ...

I used Yellow ochre (3 parts), Indian Yellow (3 parts),  burnt Umber (1 part), Quinacridone violet (1 part), & some of the Glazing Liquid for her base skin tone. 

One of my classmates wrote: "allowing is much softer than 'letting go' or 'giving up control,' Allowing - that asks for trust! What a beautiful process..."

Flora Asked us "What do you Love?" (about Her) 

I love Her energy, Her wisdom

I love Her emergence, coming out of a cocoon of an idea, a seed of a drawing, taking form, dimension

I love Her PATIENCE with the process, Her Willingness to allow my flow, my process, as I allow her guidance on what's next. 

I love the co-creation. 

I love listening for & discovering different elements as they emerge - Oh! She wants ...

What does she hold in her hand? A globe? A flame? it will become clear ...

Lights, Darks, details, FEATHERS!

Dance - I sketched dancers, tribal dancers, costumes...

The second week we began working with the skin tones, lights & darks on the face, 'cut yourself some slack' (My friend Candy Gordon used to tell me that!) What is she wearing? What colours does she want? 

For my first dark, I used Jenkin's Green, & light: 3 Yellow Ochre, 3 Indian Yellow, 2 Buff Titanium, 5 burnt umber, plus glazing medium ...

And rather than hair - Feathers!! Ooo, what fun, those feathers!

I'm posting to Paint Party Friday!