NEW heART

Oh how the months are flying by. Paintings anew have been unfolding in the studio and I've done further layers on some paintings that have been leaning up against the walls for some months. Re-inspired recently by nature or watching a moving video of a black leopard communicating with an animal whisperer, or a dream or vision - sleeping or awake. Renaming these resurrected canvases seemed appropriate - Wolf Medicine, Seahorses, Hidden Leopard and one still to come - undecided. It intrigues me that as I change and shift internally it seems like the painting has been waiting for me to catch up and already has the elements of my newness of being there on the canvas, or maybe I was just unable to see that, in my before state. It's like forward engineering - I lay the first few layers down and then when I come back to it and start painting again it's like I'm ready to see what was already there but seemed hidden. Always a delightful suprise, whatever turns up and then I'm a bit like a kid in a candy shop - I want all the colours and shapes and textures and stay awake till all hours as a result. LOL! I've also met some absolutely lovely people over the last few months and attended another wonderful Dawn Meader workshop - The Art of Happiness, as well as being invited to sell my art at a one day art sale and exhibition by Artinvesta.com owners, Deana and Mauro. I think the biggest change for me has been an awareness of my thoughts and how much time I spend pulling in and following thoughts that no longer serve me but have been habitual. Retuning the radio waves, so to speak has been an interesting adventure - up hill and down dale and through some mud and potholes and then turning the mud into warm, natural, hot pools of ideas and the potholes into creative cooking vessels (where I get to choose the ingredients that I want to throw in) Never a dull moment and mostly a LOT of fun!! What a delicious life. I love this new heART existence, experience : )

Studio and Balance Space

It's the middle of July - WOW! faster than the speed of light and all that. So much juicy stuff has happened since my last blog. I journeyed to Melbourne town for the first two modules of a Healing Touch Clinical Aromatherapy course ( powerfully humbling ) a mind, body and soul pot pourri of theory and hands on learning and experiential training that left me, simply, in awe of the beauty, goodness and healing available to us on this human journey. All this and more, as I took a leap of faith into the unknown and had wonderful adventures staying with a Dutch Couchsurfer ( who turned out to be a Dr Who fan, a Foodie - specialising in cheese connoisseurship and a fellow traveller). I then moved on to stay with a lovely woman in the quirky suburb of Brunswick ( where my course was situated) - turns out she has the voice of an angel, sings Irish ballads ( operatic trained ) and is a masseuse and Feldenkrais practitioner by day. We cooked yummy food and wrote a song together while roasting slices of Camembert cheese on freshly picked rosemary skewers, over an open fire. One of my contributing lines was " muscat woman with the flowing hair, playing her basouki in the peacock chair". ( New to me - a Basouki is a roundish looking guitar-like instrument of possibly Greek origin). Needless to say a lot of fun was had by all. No time for painting but everyday the street art and multicultural diversity fed my creative appetite from a visual smorgasbord of colour, architecture, people and nature. I then came home to find my ever loving and supportive husband had transformed my son's old bedroom into a studio/balance space for me, as well as re-plastering and painting our hallway and adding 9 glass blocks into a wall in the smallest room in the house, bringing in a wavy, watery light that brings me immense pleasure every time I look at it." Thank you" seemed like such an inadequate way to express my gratitude and joy - especially when I now walk in to these love filled spaces in our home, so I painted the cupboard in the hallway - an expression of the love I feel amongst this gift I've been given ( and it just happens to be outside the bedroom door, so it is one of the first things my husband sees in the morning when he gets up). Pottering and nesting into this new space has been a delight - using some old wooden drawers, I measured and fitted some of my older paintings, like drawer liners, to be framed by the wood and we mounted them on the walls and I lovingly placed my oils onto the shelves they created (recycling fun). An old set of comfy chairs, a pot plant in the corner, a borrowed screen from my daughter and voilà! the space it is ready : ) So so much to be grateful for - the studio has a peaceful, tranquil feel to it and overlooks our garden and pond. Mango the cat loves to sit in a sunspot at the window looking out. I am now off to bed and dreamland. The heArt centre of our home

Studio space to create and Balance

It's the middle of July - WOW - faster than the speed of light and all that. Sooooooooooooooooooooooo much juicy stuff has happened since I blogged last. I followed my heart to Melbourne town for the first 2 modules of a Clinical Aromatherapy course. I decided to take a leap of faith and instead of booking into a motel, I put out to friends and friends to be and ended up staying with a Dutch Couchsurfer (who it turns out is a Dr Who fan, as well as a foodie, specialising in cheese connoisseurship) for the first two nights.(Gotta lurve Couchsurfing) Then I moved on to a lovely house in the quirky suburb of Brunswick ( where my course was situated) to stay with a lovely woman ( who it turns out is a beautiful singer, who doubles as a masseuse and feldenkreis - Spelling?? practitioner by day). I had lots of wonderful adventures among the backdrop of street art, multicultural, Sunny!!!! Melbourne. The course was a mind, heart and soul pot pourri of theory and hands on learning and experiential training ( intensive and powerfully humbling) which left me, simply, in awe of the beauty, goodness and healing made available to us on this human journey. No time to paint but the art everywhere in Melbourne, both on the buildings and in nature was as balm to my creative passion and fed me daily, like a delicious smorgasbord. I then arrived home to find my forever loving and supportive husband, had transformed our son's old bedroom into a studio/balance room for me, re-plastered and painted the hallway and added a row of glass blocks to a wall in our toilet ( bathroom for USers), bringing in a wavey, watery light to brighten every bathroom visit LOL. I was so full of admiration and love for the enormous amount of work he managed to get done in ten short days - truly a labour of love. 'Thank you' just doesn't seem adequate enough to express my gratitude and joy. The studio has a peaceful tranquillity about it that draws me in, where I can look out onto our garden and pond.

Internal transformation is a wild ride

This painting, called Transformation, is a reflection of the internal changes going on at such a speed right now, within myself. A beautiful, wild ride of wonder and action and simultaneously a point of stillness and place of rest that is present also.

For anyone who would like to order one of my paintings as a print, card or canvas print, You can now go to my Fine Art America gallery and order and pay online. Alternatively you can purchase original paintings and Prayer Flags from me through this Blog page or my Facebook page. Copy and paste facebook.com/ShonaHutchings into your browser's URL line.

City of Light

City of Light is a painting which I started early last year. I left it sitting in the corner for several months and recently brought it out again and added more detail to the buildings and painted the little girl and the pigeons in the piazza.
It feels like a celebration to me and the little girl releasing the balloons almost looks poised to fly off herself.