Joy Constellation. The day after I finished this painting, I turned on the TV and there was a documentary on about the planets and this team of people who sent up a little robot that took some amazingly beautiful pictures of Saturn and it's rings and it's 60 something moons - I just sat mesmerised by the beauty of it all and in awe of the technology that allows them to do that. They had close up photos of Triton, which has rivers and lakes of liquid methane that flow over it like water and cause similar patterns in the surface of the planet, like we have on Earth. I'm so happy that I can travel there in my imagination and the thought that who I am holds all of that and more just blows my mind out of the water.

My new Joy and Love Journal was a pleasure to make out of scrap material and wool and ribbon. I will be recording things I love to do and journaling about How I want to feel  - when I wake up, when I look at my bank account, when I talk about my work. You get the picture! This is all part of another e-course I'm doing called Do What You Love. Just honing my ability to focus on what I want to do every day that lights me up and makes Joy a daily reality.

A little nonsense poem which just had to come out!! 

Lime green Lush Devines

Shining furls of Lush Devine, rubbing up and down my spine

sqiggles dancing through the maze and hopping grandly, smiles ablaze

One who enters here will find jumping doodles, skipping chimes,squelchy layers of bubble slime - green and gorgeous, soft and lime, pulsing globules, all in time. Add a little rose vermouth and watch it spread and grow from Truth, dancing bluebells singing songs, tiny fluff birds in their throngs.

Now a little word of warning - once ingested, burps start forming, big and gaseous, fragrant too and when they burst out from your mouth, they'll make you laugh and turn to goo!

Have a great day Shona <3 <3 

The paintings Connection and Listen to My Heart Song are two of my latest works. Sometimes we feel disconnected from each other and ourselves and I find in my own experience that it just takes one little thing to reconnect us to ourselves and each other - one moment in time and everything can be and is being transformed. Listen to my heart song was a canvas that had many layers and was alot of fun to start with. At some point I came to a standstill and so I put it aside for a time and came back to it recently and it just came together really quickly. Again, it's two people and this time I felt to write words on the canvas too.

Unravelling

Wow it's been a huge week for me. Haven't had much time for posting. Painting Yes, and I have been trying to figure out how to find a sustainable way to do that. I seem to go into an absolute zone when I paint and am up till the wee hours of the morn, then I crash and need to recover. I was having a chat with my husband about it and we both agreed that during the day I feel I need to attend to my 'responsibilities' and so night time feels like the only time I can paint without distractions around my other roles. He suggested I address that by putting a message on my phone saying I'm painting ( and that I equate that with working) and take my painting more seriously ( mindset rather than attitude). Then I could sleep when I need it . I like this idea and have decided to try it and see how I go. I just posted a new canvas that I  finished titled Reaching for the Light. It has been through many phases and layers, bit like me, and then morphed into it's present composition. I kinda love that her bottom looks like another fruit. She was a leaf a few days ago. Change is inevitable and keeps life interesting and juicey - I was suprised and then I thought 'oh well why not!'

Latest canvas hot off the easel

After a couple of weeks of a very emotional journey on canvas, I have just finished a painting, simply titled Sunflower. It has morphed from a quite sterile looking sunflower on plainish background to layers of colour that then became muddy and rather ugly to look at. Much stifled energy and shoulds and shouldn't later, I finally had a breakthrough this morning, after a Network spinal appointment last night freed me up. After alot of laughing at myself and a great yoga session in the cool breeze of my back yard, I painted all morning and feel finally sated. This course with Flora is amazing and I can highly recommend it to everyone looking to reconnect with themselves and their creativity.

E- course causes explosion

The title sounds like a news headline and so it might be!! Just a week into an e-course online with Portland artist, Flora Bowley and I am exploding with creative energy. Not getting much sleep and thoroughly enjoying myself. Not sure if this is legal - having sooooo much fun!

Australia Day Fun

It was 42 degrees on Australia Day and so I thought there was no better way of spending it than painting in air conditioned comfort. I must have been influenced by the Chinese New Year as I painted 4 small canvases, three of which were cherry blossom themed and one with golden yellow weeping trees.

Cherry Blossom Muse is one of my favourites and the blossom trees were a combination of day and night perspectives. I had alot of fun with using objects and sponges as well as my fingers and paint brushes to create these 4 paintings.

Tree Spirit woman painting

I went for a ride down near the Lake and as I was riding I caught glimpses of a peacock feather cape hanging down from a tree. I came home and painted Tree Spirit Woman.

Artspace

While I was painting Mountain Moon Rising, I started off in a very different direction than where I ended up. It is so enjoyable when a painting takes me on it's own journey and leaves me rested, rejuvenated and with a quiet, happy feeling inside. I sometimes start off with a low level anxiety inside and some anxiousness about what I will create. As the process progresses there is a release that happens and I go into a more intuitive and relaxed place where the painting happens and I just go on the journey. So much more enjoyable than I first anticipate, that I am always mildly suprised.

Sidetracked

Well it's October already and it's hard to believe I haven't blogged since June.

I was a bit sidetracked supporting my daughter in her move to Italy and also our son, through a stressful time completing his Year 12 Independent Research Project. I also took on the task of producing the Class 12 Yearbook. All in all a very busy few months.

I have only painted sporadically and in moments of desperation for some respite. I took myself off to a nearby lake and was exceedingly happy when a black swan came and stood in front of me and leisurely cleaned it's feathers while I quickly sketched it.

Life brings moments of tranquility and I found a day to myself, painting, was enough to recharge the old batteries  and give me renewed energy to keep going.

After completing a 'Clear day ' recently, whereby I enjoyed 3 Network spinal entrainments and two breathwork sessions, I was feeling particularly relaxed and in tune with the world.

I woke up at 2.30 am and although I tried to get back to sleep, I couldn't. Eventually I got up and painted an abstract, swirling piece which I am very happy with. The silence of those early hours, when everyone in the house is asleep and I can lose myself in the process has to be some of the most satisfying and peaceful times I experience. I painted this while listening to Alleluia by Robert Glass ( on repeat) ha ha ha .

Prior to this busy period, I had painted a young girl I know and also completed another abstract. All of these are posted today.

White snake Mandala

About 6 years ago I had a dream about a white snake that moved up my body and wrapped itself around my arm. At first I was frightened but then the snake made it known to me that it was a friend. A week later a member of my family also talked about a white snake. I decided to draw one as part of a mandala and chose coloured pencils as the medium. The snake biting itself is known as the Ouroboros and was said to be the first living thing in the Universe. It has many representations - the cyclic nature of birth and death, immortality, renewal, self sufficiency, cycle of rebirth and karma. Jung called it the mandala of Alchemy. I like that!

Dancing Fly with the Red Boots on

An image of two hands with the thumb and forefinger together came into my minds eye one night last week and so I decided to paint it. I had thought of painting a mouse in the space between the hands. Instead I decided to do a meditation and asked what animal, plant or mineral would like to go in the middle. To my suprise, a little fly appeared. I wasn't so enamored with the idea but asked if it was sure and the answer was  a resounding Yes. After I had finished painting and stood back looking at it for a while, it seemed to look like it was dancing and so I painted the little red boots on her to finish it off : )

Hildegard of Bingen

I keep hearing about Hildegard of Bingen ( 1100's) and so researched her a little and was interested to read that she had visions and translated those into music compositions, poetry, mandala's, writing and healing. At one stage when she refused to document these visions and move locations, shown to her in these visions, she became very ill. During these periods she said she learnt a lot about herself and honouring what was essentially given to her through her relationship to God. In the time she lived (1098 - 1179), she influenced many powerful figures in history and still to this day her works are published and performed. To me she is a great female role model even if I don't necessarily share some of her Christian beliefs.

Zen doodleing

I've been reading more on the healing powers of creating mandala's. The process of drawing and painting mandala's, as with all art forms, can have a therapeutic effect on ones body, or not as the case may be. While I was drawing the zen doodle ,I was noticing subtle changes taking place. At some points I felt a little nauseous and at others I felt calm and a sense of well being. Usually I am not so conscious of my body while I am creating as that awareness drops away as I move into the flow, however I decided to experiment with this particular picture and see what I observed. I must say I prefer to lose a sense of my physical being while painting, although it was interesting to check out the physical response to what I was creating. As has been written about by many people, art can heal on many levels and emotionally, mentally and spiritually, I have definitely felt the benefits.

The zen doodling was an intentional drawing in as much as I decided to try this style of creating a focus for the mandala. I think if I had been in a doodling space then it may have flowed more for me but I wasn't and it didn't. I was happy with the result although the process was not as enjoyable. Using visualisations, meditation or dancing before I start to create and then listening to music while painting seems to bring about a holistic experience that leaves me feeling joyous and spent,sated in some way that the zen doodling did not.

On Reflection

It's been several weeks since I've been back from Bali and in reflection I can see that this wasn't just a trip to do an art retreat. Having never been there before and other travelers I spoke to not mentioning it, I had not thought about the people and the land being so connected, quietly and sometimes not so quietly sacred and powerful. Bali is a walking ritual - from the time I awoke in the early morning till the time I fell in to bed late at night, I witnessed so many examples of thoughtful placement, beauty, order and sweet offerings. At the same time I experienced a very real sense of how tenuous life is, that I needed to be ever present with all I was doing, seeing or experiencing. Stepping out of a Holy Temple onto a road full of chaotic traffic and heckling stall holders, residing among multiple types of insects, barking ghecko's and other unidentified critters, walking on narrow,slippery, mountainous paths with a drop into a valley on one side of me or learning salsa dance steps in a Balinese Jazz club with a group of people I had just met, all seemed to require an equal amount of attentiveness. I can now see that in the last 10-12 years I had lost a lot of confidence from being in a body that was quite often ill or immobile. Facing so many fears and daily challenges in Bali and at the same time enjoying myself immensely, I was able to build a new understanding of my inner resources. Celebrating life in all it's many guises ( including some time each day devoted to exploring painting , colour, creativity and our inner journey ) was a nurturing and joyous thing to do for myself. This was facilitated by Dawn Meader and the planning and flexibility that went into the activities of the art retreat was visible daily. Being in Bali I could feel my heart opening to new awareness and possibilities. It is taking some time to integrate all that took place and I am glad that I had time either side of the actual workshop to acclimatise and adjust to both entering that space and leaving it. It added to the richness of my experience and allowed me some breathing time. I feel so grateful on so many levels.

Ubud Bali

Poem 20-4-2011

What a sweet cacophony  

Exotic mix of sounds

all melding intricately 

every sense alive

and tense with expectation

the earth awake and thriving

the land a heated mass of writhing

juicy people, working, walking,

talking, offering, laughing,skypeing

birds are bathing, dogs are sleeping,

butterflies playing and gecko's are dreaming

rain drops splashing ,colour jumping

Life so rich my heart is thumping

Bali

I arrived last night into this magical, lush rabbit warren called Santra Putra just 10 minutes walk from Ubud village.I'm getting acclimatised and finding my way through the maze of walkways, meeting new people and enjoying the wild, natural environment co existing with a very busy and at the same time laid back Balinese life. More later and photo's as well but for now I am going to get some rest.

Autumn Light

Autumn, in the Southern hemisphere, has finally arrived and the garden is breathing a sigh of relief and blossoms are popping up everywhere. Colour and light are changing, softening and somehow intensifying. Theres a cacophony of birdsong in the morning that would wake the dead. After the long, hot, dry summer the sweet smell of the earth and these first rains is a beautiful, heady elixir and pulls me outside to paint or draw.

Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity | Video on TED.com

Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity | Video on TED.com