Fire Keeper

 Lo'oet, Fire keeper is my Alchemist or Soul Fire painting, from my Color of Woman 2015 training.  

I've  always loved the NW tell of Lo'oet, the only one left with fire in her lodge. So after awhile, great spirit asked her to take up residence on the old land bridge over what we call the Columbia River, the Bridge of the Gods ...

Lo'oet - Firekeeper

I encountered her in a visioning to 'meet your inner healer,' retold her story in a creative writing class, and wrote a song about her, Firekeeper's Lay.

On this auspicious day, 2-22-2022, we bring her message:

From Lo'oet, Fire Keeper

Long have I known you

  loved you

    guided you

Little one, little SiStar, Talis Tenas

      Beloved little one

I sit on the bridge, tending the Sacred Fire

  for the people

     for the old and the young

      the sound of heart & spirit,

     for the weak and lonely ones.

       for the free, 

       for those ensnared.

Medial Woman Am I

   On the Bridge between the Worlds

     Tending the Sacred Flame

       Carrying the stories, bringing change & renewal

I hold the Chalice of Pure Water

  During this time of fires, of drought

    This time of Smoke and danger,

      I remind you to guard your flame carefully

   I hold the fire, yet my colours

     Are watery blues and purples

The Chalice brings life, brings renewal,

 Come, share the water of life!

Owl Woman, Woman between the worlds

  Wisdom woman, Keeper of the Sacred flame

    One with Clear vision, who calls sacred the homeland of the people, 

 Who calls us to remember -

Who are you?

   What would you?

      When will you?

    Who do you Ally with?

       What calls your Heart & Soul?

          How will you live from your vision?

Way shower, holder of blessings

  Who are you, in the great world?

     What do you bring

        In your Medicine Basket?

Medial woman, Owl woman

   holding place in the Middle

     Holding Soul Fire stories,

       Which warm the heart & enflame the spirit!

    Watching over the land & the people.

Fire Keeper am I, story keeper, wisdom keeper

    Keeper of the Sacred Flame

      Ever renewing, ever renewed

        Come! Drink from the sacred well!

      Come! Come home to your soul! Come share your sacred medicine!

Glazing and Repurposing

When I took that first Muse class in 2014, I was having a good time with ceremony, visioning, painting and journaling, ...

Then Elisabeth told us we were going to paint over our canvas with a Risky Glaze - ¿paint over? ¿glaze? Yikes!! 

She demonstrated, choosing translucent paint, and some water,  spritzing the canvas, then applying with a big brush, then rubbing it with a square of old T-shirt, to burnish ...well, that wasn't so bad! And it did integrate the different colours. Now, it's one of my favorite processes!

Recently,  new painters in our Red Thread Creatives group have asked about preparing new raw canvas, and about repurposing our own or thrift store canvases. 

For a new raw canvas, you'll need to apply several layers of gesso, give plenty of drying time, and sand between layers. You can also prepare wood panels.

When I'm reclaiming or repurposing, I generally use a glaze rather than gesso! 

Good Medicine - 2019

Glaze to reclaim a canvas: 

• If you're revisiting a canvas after a time, a lite glaze is a good way to reclaim it.
• When you're called to continue, pull out your journal notes about your painting
• Light a candle and pour a cup of tea
• Sit back about 6' and return to the initial visioning and inquiry.
• Ask yourself What attracted you to this subject  or class in the first place? What's shifted since you last painted? What insight is arising?
• Are you drawn to continue, or start something new? 
• Spend some time with your intention,  and write it on your canvas/in your journal. 
• Get fresh water, and perhaps reset your altar

• Glazing can be scary, and is so potent!! It is a great way to integrate what has gone before, and is a key component of our process with Intentional Creativity. It is also a simple way to add Mothercolour 
• Use a transparent color - Golden's Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold or Transparent Red Iron Oxide are some favorites! 
• What's gone before and each new layer adds depth.
• Want to gesso? Consider choosing a transparent color, watering it down a bit, use a big brush and cover the canvas with a layer of glaze! How does that feel?  Write about your process!
• Translucent Golden Fluids work great for glazing - you can lay it flat to glaze and dry, and perhaps use a piece of T-shirt, to rub and "burnish" the canvas. ... 
• Then, you guessed it! 
• Sit back with your journal, and write about what's being integrated! 

Glaze options:

• Partial glaze, use one color on half the canvas, and another on the other half. Smudge the line between the two, burnish if you wish.
• 4 directions: choose 4 transparent colors. Spritz the canvas with water, then use the first color along the top, spritz again and let it drip ...rotate the canvas, spritz and use the next color ... Spray, paint, play with the drips. Turn the canvas again ... 
• White!! If you REALLY want to gesso the whole thing, try spritzing the canvas, choose a direction, paint white along the "top", spray again and let it drip! Or use white on the area you "don't like" and spray it, let it drip ...
• Gold! Our inner Critics are easily distracted by shiny objects! Spray the canvas, and use splashes of gold or another metallic in a few areas!

                              Thrift store pansy

Repurposing a canvas

• I love finding a large canvas at the thrift store, and reclaiming it! 
• When I get it home, I spritz it with water (often with flower essences) and wipe it down, and use Palo Santa or cedar to smudge it. 
• A bit of salt in a bowl of water, and damp washcloth are another option for cleansing and clearing.
• If there's a lot of texture, I might lightly sand that area, and dust off with a dry cloth.

• When you're ready to glaze, consider the colors already there, and your approach. 
• Bless the canvas, and pull out your journal, to write and sketch
• Write your intention on the Canvas (I use Neocolor 2)

Some examples:

• A painting of a spaniel was white and gold, with very dark eyes, I painted white over the eyes, and perhaps glazed the whole piece with Quinacridone nickel Azo Gold. There was a lot of light texture, which added interest to my painting!. 
• On the big pansy - mostly dark purple, I added more purple around it, and to the white triangle in the center. 
• I might do partial glasses, or a 4 directions glaze on a more random piece

  Pansy - after several layers

This became "Good Medicine"

Do you have favorite ways to repurpose canvases? 

Happy Paint Party Friday!

Catching Dreams

It's always fun to experiment with the creative process, and see what emerges. This week there's a thread of unrest, so I find painting prayer dots a soothing balance. With that in mind, I was curious when I saw my friend Gisela's tutorial video on painting a dream catcher in a journal! 

My grandkids had out the box of craft paint, as they had been decorating their trash baskets lids, and I had one of my composition book journals with me. These are great places for creative play, it doesn't have to be perfect! It was a lovely ready to sit at their picnic table in the sun and paint! 
I stared with several glides for the background, and splattered stars - seeding my dreams. One role of a dream catcher is to capture the bad dreams so they don't trouble us - so happy to do that right now! 

Night sky with stars

The next step is to paint the hoop, either free hand, or using a container as a template, and then begin to fill in the pattern - 

Dream Catcher - basic lines

As we begin to fill in the web, we are invited to consider what we are grateful for - dreams that have already manifest - family, basics: food and shelter, health ... 

Dreams and prayer dots

After filling in the web of lines, and adding some color while reflecting in gratitude, we painted feathers for the dreams we wish to bring in - continued well being, time/resources for creativity, safety, ... While engaged in the creative process, our whole brain lights up, and insights flow - this is a good time to lightly play attention, and jot down ideas! 

In our community, we often "Pray in dots," and I had three friends in mind as I painted dots around the hoop and feathers, I had three friends in mind with needs for healing and comfort. 
After I came home (across town) I pulled out a board book juju journal I began with Cat Caracelo and her 12 Days of Solstice group last December. I joined two matching books with black art paper as a hinge - this center spread was the foundation for the dream catcher page.

Hopes and Dreams

I followed the same process with dark paint, this time my Golden Fluid acrylics, then slayer stars, hip, web and adornments. The comet of new wisdom, Neowise, is seeding new directions, the feather brings insights, and the goddess stone helps ground and center. I used my water pitcher as a template for the hoop, and painted prayer dots around the edges. 
This version echos the web pattern of the dream catchers I've made with supple sticks and linen imitation sinue. 

One of the Dream Seeds is to do a series of these mini classes with a theme of Good Medicine - we've offered several in our bimonthly Red Thread Circles - What's in your Basket? Medicine Wheel - revisiting the color wheel and Medicine Black via the lens of the four direction wheel - and Prayer Flags.

Medicine Wheel

Happy Paint Party Friday!