CODEX - Crystal HeArt Song

Crystal HeArt Song

Whispers from harp strings
Cross the bridge of veils
Between the worlds, written, unwritten
Named, unnamed
Language shimmers and shifts 
On pages in the Akashic library
Sun crystals hold the records
In our very hearts. 

We sip nectar from
The chalice of remembering,
Remember, remember!
Flowers bless the air with their subtle perfume
And the liquid with the memory of summer
Bringing healing and wholing 
To the people
To the SiStars and mothers
To the children
To the fathers and brothers

Access through creativity is coded in our very DNA
Our hands read the Braille
Of our memories and old knowing
As we sift through the treasure trove
For hidden gold.
Practices which bring joy
Hold the key

Will you hear and be heard
As we strstrike the ringing strings
Feel the shift in your bones
Come, come
It is time
Let the heart Crystal ignite
And reverberate its song to the stars

Crystal HeArt Song© Nadya 2019

As we compete this 13 moon journey, and prepare for the next adventure (Anthropas) I dedicate this painting to several beloved teachers and friends.

• Marion Coe, my piano teacher - who would love that I play the harp! Wise and kind,I thank you.
• Lynn Marchant, with whom I began studying ballet as an adult, who infused Grace into my life, thank you.
• My friend Given Bliss, who passed last year on my birthday - too soon gone dancing on her Cosmic body!

Tea Camellia

A few days ago, my tea Camellia flowers caught my eye, and I decided to make a flower essence (here's how I create an essence) - and one landed in the painting yesterday!

Molly Sheehan of Green Hope Farm essences offers a lovely definition for Tea Camellia, "I AM the Ancient One, rooted in timeless beginnings. I bring Stillness, connection to one's True Self, and provide a mirror for self reflection.

Camellia flower essence

Wishing the Color of Woman class of 2019 many blessings on their graduation this weekend and next week - well done!! 
And happy Paint Party Friday to my blog rolling friends, and 100 Days of Creative Bliss bodies!

Cross pollination

As I spend time in my little Atelier, I'm embodying how each painting informs others in I'm working on! The reverse stencil technique and landscape background from Treesister came into play as I was brewing remedies in the apothecary yesterday. 

Apothecary - Good Medicine

As I looked at my journal notes from last year's Apothecary, In the Still Room, I realized several symbols had showed up in my CODEX painting as it evolves, the Hamsa hand, the 7 Pointed fairy star, and of course the harps in Apothecary and CODEX! 

Vision Plan Book

Part of our CODEX journey, and intentional Creativity, is to attend to these common elements and symbols, as we engage our intuition and inner knowing. 

CODEX - in process

What common elements do you find in your work? 
Happy Paint Party Friday!

Harvest Queen and Treesisters

Because of a scheduling *error,* I needed to choose another day for my monthly circle, and decided to offer a little "paint party with a Red Thread Twist." It was my first local class in awhile, ten gals came, and we had so much fun! More classes are in the works, and we're talking about offering little Sip and Paint parties in my friend Holli's MECA gallery.

Harvest Queen in Process

 Two gals who have painted with Shiloh in person and online came from a town about 3 hours away! For many of the others, it was their first face on canvas, and they did so well.

Harvest Queens 

I am on the online support team for the Treewoman class Australian artist Jassy Watson offered a coupe of weeks ago in Sonoma. It's been awesome to see the variety and the wonderful connections with nature women around the globe are making. We began by sketching patterns and shapes from the natural world and human made, and making marks on our canvasses. (I used a square wood panel) Scraps of collage came next, often from pour own writing.

Treewoman - marks collage and sketch

We were invited to begin noticing shapes and forms of trees in our surroundings, plus the season and colors, and even what "season" is prevalent in our lives. I like the process of inquiry and observation in our painting practice!

Tree woman in a Newberg park

Leaves are turning colors here in the Pacific NW, and the rains beginning to come, but it's alternatly sunny, October's Bright Blue Weather! Last weekend's full moon danced into Her branches.

Pearly full moon in Aries

I'm tending in the classroom over the weekend, as some near completion, and others join the journey. I'm thinking of using a tall canvas and having another go ...

Dance of the Treewomen© 2019

What's on your easel or in your journal??
Happy Paint Party Friday!

Treesisters

How can it be Fall?!! Time is zipping by so fast!

Last weekend Maestra Shiloh invited our Red Thread community to pull out a WIP out two, and Git-er done! I made good progress with CODEX (a 13 moon journey - I am about half-way through! ... We began last year - fortunately there's no "behind" - right? ... But I need to Git-er done if I want the certificate!) 

CODEX - WIP (Work in Process)

This weekend, Jassy Watson and Gisela are up from Australia, and will be offering Treewoman and Soulscape at the Musea studio in Sonoma. When I began my Intentional Creativity journey in 14, I painted mama Gaia in an online offering with Jassy, and love her easy supportive style! 

Mama Gaia - 2014

I painted similar dancing tree women when I was living in the words in the early 90s, and am looking forward to this offering. I'll be offering online support with my IC Guild SiStars Mary Ann, Rosie Mac and Jo Laurie. it is always a joy to witness and support our sisters in their proceeds of self discovery through painting and journaling. We'll continue work support over the next couple of weeks. You'll find information on and registration for the class here.

I'll be preparing a birch panel - seems appropriate for #Treesister!! 

Happy PPF! 

Codes and Codecies

 I've been in the Atelier this week, which also marked my birthday! This time last week, I was in the mountains with my daughter's family and our friend Monika with her younger kids - a wonderful end of summer camping trip before the kids headed back to school. Then we made a visit to the ocean for sun on the beach, and several yummy BD meals ...

The Apothecary journey was again powerful, and it was an honor to hold space in the virtual classroom with several SiStars, as we watched the work unfold. My vessels are bubbling away... More to come! My friend Sherry and I intend to offer an in person event within the next few months.

Apothecary Medicine Painting

Last fall our intentional creativity community began a 13 Moon painting journey called CODEX, which began with journal prompts and a big canvas. After "awhile" away, I brought mine back to the easel yesterday, brought in more symbols and energy codes. 

Do you get distracted, and wonder where the time went? Guilty! But "there's no behind," ... Just different process! 
I've been shepherding a group of SiStars on the Color of Woman journey In years past, who are in "Muse Time" as they compete their quests, and am so pleased that several have competed their initiate books, and graduated from the training! 

CODEX - in process

I've begun doing more coaching, and a few weeks ago I had an individual painting session with a nearby SiStar. We were both pleased with our inspiring time together. I love this process of each doing our own work, and bring forth our own symbols and images! Our session was only 4 hours, and I've spent more time with mine since.

My Demo 

Muse of Creativity

My friend Margot and I are planning our fall workshop in her studio, set for the second weekend in November. I'd love and SiStars in Oregon to join us! 

What's in your cup, and on your easel? 
Happy Paint Party Friday!

Apothecary 2019

Our painting community is embarking on another journey into the alchemical plan of the Apothecarian, with around 100 from around the globe using the process of inquiry, journaling and paint to transform tragedies into remedies. 

This will be the 5th time Shiloh and Jonathan teach Apothecary, and is the second online version. (You can read about last year's journey here)  Our art journal prompts come from the wonderful Jenafer Joy, and are awesome as usual. The process itself has been put in the crucible, and is being distilled for IC teachers to offer our own versions of Apothecary to local students.

I am one of the gals witnessing and offering support in our online classroom, and am working

Altar holding space

this morning to get my space ready. For more than a year, I've been "in process" with moving my studio from my dinning nook to part of my living room, about time I finished that project, don't you think??!! (Where does the time go?)

Yesterday we opened the Apothecary class with a Zoom session - this is such a great way to connect with community! 
Shiloh invited us to do a couple of "pen and paper" exercises, identifying one old story that was coming up - draw a representation of it, then find and draw an antidote. 

These processes are so accessible, and are one of the tools I use in my coaching practice. Mine was around feeling I need to do it all myself - the antidote is the triple spiral of connection/ interdependence! 

Journal process

Time to get back to the clearing and shifting of the Atelier! 

Happy Paint Party Friday! 

Rose Beads and Red Thread

June roses are so magical and I love those with old fashioned fragrance! 

Since my teen years, I've been making rose beads, you can read about my adventures here, and here. 

For yesterday's Red Thread Circle I led a group of 6 SiStars through the process, and everyone went home with at least a dozen beads in an egg carton! 

One SiStar shared a necklace she made when her son was young, strung with beads she'd made wrapping the petals around a toothpick, saying a prayer/wish for him as she wrapped each one. 

I have 5 fragrant roses: an old Moss from a pioneer cemetery, my family dark pink rose, a

Fragrant fresh rose petals

variegated   Rosa Mundi, with pink stripes on white, and two David Austin roses (Gertrude Jekell and Jude the Obscure) 

With the abundance of fresh petals, I gather petals daily, simply pulling loose petals off the centers, leaving the hips to develop. 

I filled my crockpot nearly to the brim, and added a splash of rose tea. I kept the spices simple, Garam Masala and some extra cinnamon, and began simmering three days before our gathering.

Rose tea : rose petals, rose geranium leaves, lemon verbena, yarrow and lavender, steeped in my little French press.

I'd turn the crock pot on, stir a bit, and leave it at the lowest setting for an hour. I did that a couple of times the first two days, adding a splash of liquid as needed. Late the second day, I ran then through my food processor, and returned the mash to the crockpot, heating and cooling again. Since many of the petals were pale, and the crock pot ceramic, the mash stayed pale. Using darker petals and exposure to iron makes darker mask and beads.

Rose petal mash after grinding

We had a delightful circle, with 4 of the 6 gals traveling 20 - 45 minutes to join us! One wore a necklace she'd made with beads filled with prayers and wishes for her son (now a teen!) She'd simple rolled petals around a toothpick! We each passed our necklace around the circle before beginning to craft the beads.

I brought fresh raspberries and strawberries (both in the rose family!) And two sun teas - one raspberry leaf with yarrow and lemon verbena from my yard, the other a ginger mango white tea. The chocolate was a delicious Honey Mamma bar, with rose petals and lavender! 

I brought shallow cups for our handful of mash (squeezing the juice back into the crockpot). We filled our cups, chatted while rolling our beads, and had plates for the finished beads. They will shrink as they dry, so make them about twice as big as you'd like them. (More details on the process here)

When we finished, we each had 1-2 dozen beads, and took then home in an egg carton or

A carton of Rose Beads

two!  Give the egg carton a shake to keep the beads from sticking, and pierce holes the next day. After our circle,  several of us went to a favorite restaurant, and then on to a drumming circle! What a lovely way to compete the day! 

When I got home, there was about 1/2 C of liquid with bits of mash in my crockpot, so I gathered a last round of fresh petals, and added them to the pot. Then got out a couple of jars of dried roses and petals, and separated petals from the stems and other pieces. 

Grinding dry petals: I fill the hopper of my seed mill, add a sprinkle of powdered Garam Masala and cinnamon, and whizz several times, then dump the powder into the top, and refill the hopper with whole petals, tip in the powder and grind again. I do that a couple of times, which makes for a finer grind! (I'm always learning!) 

- This was added to the pot, plus some more liquid, and heated (I may have left the crockpot on the warm setting all night, oops!! Could smell them in the morning - mmm!) So sometime today/this weekend I'll  grind them, then roll more beads!! I can think of worse things to do! 

Lastly, here's a sweet video Jodi shared with us - I love the way this Harper/ fairy women sings while rolling the beads! I'm a Harper as well, and the pale yellowish rose at the beginning looks like my Jude the Obscure (one of the Austin roses) 
If you are inspired to try it now - here is a tutorial on making 4-5 beads using a couple of dried roses! (Neither of these gals simmer their petals!) 

Jude the Obscure

Do you have a favorite memory/ use of summer roses?

Happy paint party Friday!!