Mystical Mermaids

One of the goals of entering the Intentional Creativity Quest is to share these teachings with others in Red Thread Circles & Workshops. I am so fortunate to live close to three graduates of this training, & to have experienced workshops with each of them. 

In early summer, IC teacher & coach Lora Rinke invited me to be one of the co-organizers in a MeetUp group for Intentional Creativity. She felt it would be good to coordinate with other CoW teachers &  students in our area, & I agreed!

Lora listed a workshop on 'The Mystical Mermaid, a Woman's Creativity Workshop,' for Saturday, June 13. When I asked if I could audit, Lora suggested I assist her! We met for lunch the day before the workshop (which would be in her town, about 20 miles away) to do a bit of planning.
In the invitation, Lora wrote, "She is a symbol of letting our hearts and passion overrule the analytical mind.  Perk your ears.  Let the mermaid woo you into churning seas of dreams."

Students engaged with their Mermaids

Lora, two students & I and met in a lovely, bright room in the Sherwood Senior Center.  Both students had painted before, and were quite comfortable with the process. I brought my small therapy harp Bella Luna along, & after our Red Thread Circle, I played while Lora read the journey/visualization! I have envisioned playing for one of these, & Lora was quite receptive to the idea, & the students loved it.

Lora & I each brought a 20 x 24" canvas, & painted on easels, the students had 16 x 20" canvases, and were set up on the covered tables. Lora suggested they bring journals, & provided extras.

Altar with my story cards & painting

Our altar on the counter close to the sink had a salt candle holder, roses, some shells, my Soulful Story cards & a painting I had done in another local class, my Awakened Healer ('She heals with Light & Compassion') who has sea horse earrings, a starfish & other sea elements.

Lora brought along large painting of a mermaid, & one done on watercolor paper in Hawaii with Shiloh, & we set those up in the front of the room.

Nadya at the easel

Since our subjects were painting mermaids, there wasn't as much instruction on the faces (which were smaller), & each of the students seemed to have a clear idea of where her lady was taking her!

I was intrigued that we were able to do so much in a 4 hour class (WITH a snack/lunch break, which we took on the picnic table outside the classroom!!)

Lora brought about a dozen Golden Acrylic paints, and the limited palette seemed quite adequate for our work, & cut down on time spent 'choosing' colours. We used rose petals to write our intention on the canvas, which was delightful!

It was a fun relaxed day, & a great experience.
Happy Paint Party Friday!

Lora (L) & Nadya (2nd from Rt) Beautiful mermaids

Alter & Atelier Reset

Last year when we began our Art of Allowing course, we were invited to set up our studios, & production assistant Ann Manatt offered a sweet little video for inspiration. I'd already been amassing art supplies, & was figuring out where the best spot for painting in my home (950 sq feet) was. I settled on my 'dining nook' & began shifting things around.

Magic Paintbrush

As we finished the third painting in our Color of Woman Quest, Shiloh issued an invitation:  "I would love for you to finish your painting if you haven’t, and then to clean your studio. Reset your altars. Make new room for the sprouts to come up through the ashes. You need space and time to see what’s coming up and what wants to be shared and prepared for Visionary in October."

I finished my Alchemist painting, Fire Keeper last week, & have been in a good cleaning whirl around the house, now it's time to focus on the Studio!

So I watched a few videos - Maria Munar on setting up a studio (starting from scratch!)

Ann Manat: Setting up your studio & supplies (for acrylic painting) 
Ann also has a series of videos on setting up face book pages & other helpful tips!  

And .... let's begin .... 

Fire Keeper

Lo'oet, Owl Woman

Owl Woman - Fire Keeper

Wind at my back, fanning the coals, sun rises in the East

Fire keeper Am I, Keeper of the Sacred Flame

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

And 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

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!

********* ********* ********* ********* ********** ********** **********

Tenas Talis, Little Beloved one!

 We bring you Wings & the gifts of the old Knowing! We light the fires of the hearts and souls, as you fill the cups, & share the abundance that comes to you naturally and sweetly! You draw from the well of old stories, weaving the NEW renewed and renewing You reweave the dreams, shining light on the strands, untangling, smoothing, awakening understanding. Quantum blessings await all who come to the bridge between the ways and worlds. 

You are so blessed, share the blessings! As you dance into who you came to be, the people come to the bridge - they come, they come! Are you ready? Fan the flames, pour the cup, tend the hearth, set the table, Welcome those who come to be renewed & ever renewing! All is well, all manner of being is well.

Aho - it is good!

** In the late 70s, I followed a meditation to 'meet your internal healer,' & Lo'oet came forward. Lo'oet is the old name for Mt St Helens, & in the NW tradition, she was the only one along the Columbia River who still had fire ... so Great Spirit (or coyote!) commissioned her to sit on the Bridge of the Gods, (then a land bridge) sharing her fire with those from both sides of the river. The children sent to receive fire from her mock her, so she asks Great Spirit to renew her youth and beauty, which Great Spirit agrees to, reluctantly! and then ....

In the late 80s, I retold her story, weaving in an Owl companion, & shared it in my Creative Writing class. A few years later, I wrote a song for my new harp, 'Fire Keeper's Lay,' which begins with the line "Wind at my back, fanning the coals, sun rises in the East" ... In a workshop on healing I took around that time, Rosalyn Bruyere commented that people ally around the goddess of the land, Isis in Egypt, in the NW, it was Owl Woman.

My grandmother's middle name was Vestella, 'little fire/hearth goddess' ... in both the NW and Greek stories, Lo'oet & Vesta have trouble choosing between two loves ... Apollo (sun/fire) & Poisiden (water!) .... here we have the chalice & the sacred flame ...

Owl Woman, Fire Keeper is the third painting for my Color of Woman teacher training, within the theme Soul Fire or Alchemist. Within the crucible, base metal becomes fine gold.
During 'Adornment, I used interference paint (just a dot!!), some mixed with Quinacridone Magenta or with Pthalo Turquoise. You'll notice these places where highlights reflect different colour!

What lights your soul fire, and keeps it burning? 
linking to Paint Party Friday (one of my delights!!)

Quantum Creativity

"Painting for me is a devotional act, a spiritual practice, a prayer and a way to share my love. My creations are the bountiful harvest from a life lived in service to Beauty and the Divine. I feel like a tree whose branches offer fruits and flowers to the sky – that must be -because they do not belong to me. My creations are both my offering and my overflow...
"My paintings seek to image a moment in time when all is well. A place where beauty exists and no harm exists. A moment when we feel as we wish we could more often, at peace with ourselves and the world, in love with one another and creation, and experiencing the miracle of life."
~ Shiloh Sophia McCloud

I have drawn, painted, and played with art all my life, from drawing the ponies next

* Sue's Cosmos *

door, painting Camels for a Christmas mural in Grade School, to HS and College art classes, & later the occasional Calligraphy or watercolor class. 
So in February of 2014, when my friend Elisabeth offered a workshop to 'paint your Muse of Creativity,' I signed up.I signed up, & the creative floodgates opened! Over the next year, I took classes both on-line & in person, and painted on my own, most within the 'Intentional Creativity,' this Quantum Creativity movement. 

A year later, I said 'yes' to studying more deeply with Shiloh, in her Color of Woman school of Intentional Creativity, to learn to share this method with my Beloveds! It is a wonderful, intense, supportive journey!

"For most of us, creative motivation requires a crisis - either externally, like a threat to our physical survival, or an internal crisis of intense suffering." Physicist Amit Goswani, Quantum Creativity, think Quantum, be Creative. According to quantum physics, reality occurs on two levels: possibility and actuality. .... by bringing our 'old stories,' the stories which have been running our lives, into consciousness, and engaging our intuitive, creative self, we change how we relate to the stories. And by recognizing the shift we've made, we can bring it into reality, and perhaps have the breakthrough without a breakdown.

Sisterhood of the Red Thread

An ancient Chinese legend tells that we are connected before birth to those whom we are destined to meet by a Red Thread ... this thread may stretch, it may tangle, but it will never break! We each have our 'own piece' of this thread, and are responsible only for that piece, yet we can Tug on the thread when we need a bit of help!
Amrit Goswani: "Non-Locality: We are all interconnected - even without signals, and experimental evidence is proving our inherent unity."
 
Into this quantum field, I bring the contents of my Medicine basket: compassion, flower essences, harp music, movement, creativity, and a desire to help YOU manifest quantum change. Paintings generally feature the divine feminine, and are done on canvas or Watercolour paper, with Acrylic paint (often Golden Fluid acrylics) There may be glitter!      

“So let’s walk our talk and make brain circuits of positive emotions. We just do it. We practice. Let some of us be good, do good. Be with God some of the time, be in the ego some of the time, and let the dance generate creative acts of transformation.”
~ Amit Goswani 
                    
I invite you to come paint with me, dance with me, explore your own connection with creative consciousness, with Quantum Creativity, with quantum change!!

Flower Fairies - Daffy-Down-Dilly

Daffy-Down Dilly - acrylic on canvas

One of my visitors from Paint Party Friday, Sirkka from Finland, has such a lovely blog!! ... & I couldn't resist the 'Try it on Tuesday' challenge to 'Send You Flowers.'

Flower Fairies have been a favorite of mine for many years - when my kids were young, I drew several F F Paper Dolls (& sold some of them in local shops.) Last weekend a couple of local shops sponsored their annual Flower Fairy Festival, with a tea party, flower fairy gardens, a parade, bubbles, glitter, wands & wings .... 

I send you my little Fairy 'Daffy-Down-Dilly' & the poem by Nathanial Hawthorne

Daffy-Down-Dilly & sketch

 
Daffy-down-Dilly
Has come to town
With a yellow petticoat
And a pretty green gown
Daffy-down-Dilly.
Nathaniel Hawthorne

                                                                                     

Wisdom from the Council

Last summer (2014) Jeanette I met in an on-line painting course and wrote notes back & forth as we painted & processed. In early summer, she set all her paintings around, got out her drum & 'called a council' for insights & information. I loved that, & on Summer Solstice, called my own 'council of ladies.'

Times that I wrestle with 'what's next,' Jeanette will gently quire 'have you asked your ladies?' ... um ... not yet ....

So just before my phone interview with Shiloh, determining my entry into the Color of Woman Teacher Training, I 'called council' with the paintings at home, including my (then) 'In

Shande'nea & Dragon

Process' Legend, Shande'nea, & this was the message they gave:

"How can you doubt your Soul Purpose
You were born for this!
You hold a gift, a treasure, a King's ransom that is such a (blessing/gift/treasure) for your community!

Arise & shine!
Do not worry, consider the lilies of the field - you are blessed beyond measure!
It is up to you to SHARE those blessings -
the time you spend in circle (hones/ blesses/ prepares) you and those with whom you journey for the Next Steps!

Will you step through the gateway? the Dragons know the way & hold the keys!
Open your eyes - ears - Heart
Breathe the New Breath
as you dance through the doorway
Yes! Yes! YES!!

**** We held the interview, both Shiloh & I said "YES!!" and in April the training commenced. ****
Recently, one of the Art Doctors commented on this post, "I am very interested in this idea of 'Calling a Council with The Ladies'. How wonderful to consider this as a way to journey as a group into inquiry for insight and information."

It is, indeed, a great way to tap our own insight & inspiration, and information!
Happy Paint Party Friday!

Art Walk and Artist Statement

I was pleased to be invited to hang my art for the First Friday Art Walk in nearby Newberg, in a newly opened branch of a waterbirth center, Andaluz! Several of my grand-darlings were born with the assistance of our wonderful midwives, and I've done massage for new moms, so this is a treat!

Love's Alchemy - 2014

We hung 2 of my paintings in the front windows, & 6 on the walls. 

& then I realized I really need an Artist Statement, to accompany the beauties ... so here goes 

Art is a way for me to connect with the Divine Feminine, both on canas & within myself.  For many years, feminine images have been 'sacred' or secular,' and often idealized.  
How do we bridge the two? How do we connect with the strong, wild, sacred AND secular feminine within? Art is a way to explore these connections.
I often begin with an intention written on the canvas - what do I wish to explore? A brief visioning brings colours, form and symbols. Three colours are chosen like an oracle for simple strokes which become base wash, (sometimes for past, present and future)  Symbols I often use include: 
flaming heart - inner flame
Winged Eye - intuitive vision
Chalice - possibilities, abundance, the fountain of life
Dove - peace
Roses / Rohan (mountain ash) earth,
Red Thread - connection to the beloveds, the community

I love the shimmer of mica infused medium (or interference paint), the sparkle of glitter! These may sneak in, late in the painting during adornment. 
Each painting becomes a journey, a process, an opportunity for seeing old patterns, for recognizing the stories that have been running our lives, & for breaking free of those which no longer serve. A painting may also be a blessing, a gift, for those with similar stories, as they break away from their old patterns! 
My work is based in "Intentional Creativity as taught by Sue Hoya Sellers & Shiloh Sophia McCloud Lewis.  I am currently enrolled in Shiloh Sophia's 'Color of Woman' Teacher training, & will graduate this fall. 
May my paintings be blessings for all who see them!
O Sada; it is good!