Bunny Love

Bunny Love……ahhhh, spring is in the air…..and with the thoughts of the impending season come rebirth, crisp, colorful flowers, Easter, and bunnies in dresses! I created the bulk of this ode to spring in upholstery weight chenille. The front pocket and flap are a collage of tapestry and brocades. Textured sage green and buttery soft chocolate brown leathers add accent and reinforcement in all the right places. Wear this shoulder bag dangling from your shoulder or cross-wise on the body.

Art Therapy

Life throws us curveballs. That’s a given.... none of us are immune.

And we all have our own special ways of dealing with life’s challenges. I am grateful everyday for my love of the creative process and pouring emotion into artistic endeavors.

I started this collage right before tragedy struck our family. I had a vision, much different than this outcome, but intuitively, I allowed this piece to be my venting outlet for the topsy-turvy unfolding of the really bad Lifetime TV movie I felt like I was trapped in!

For six months I dabbled when the spirit moved me, hand in hand in disbelief and grief, some days flipping the canvas over and viewing it upside down, changing it yet again. Other days, all I could do was white out my previous work, totally wishing I could white out my family’s new reality and reverse a moment in time. But when it’s all said and done, at some point we have to come to grips with what is real and inch forward embracing LIFE!

This collage represents my personal journey through the grieving process. I made a point to finish it for the full moon in Capricorn on January 19, 2011. To me it portrays tapping into my inner strength, regaining my footing, and pressing on.

Full Moon In Scorpio Awaken The Divine Feminine e-Course

Acceptance is a powerful state of mind! And a peaceful and welcome transformation within me!

As I painted and repainted the background of this collage, I began to realize the toll breaking my ankle has had on my frustration level. Each day I added layers of intense color to this canvas and promptly covered most of it up with white paint. I started to think about the parallel between this “painting tantrum” that was dragging on for 5 days and my newly changed-up daily life. I was dwelling on all that I couldn’t do instead of the platter of opportunities that opened up for me!

Change…… I allowed this word to permeate my being, bounced it around my head, and then let it fade and melt away. I thought of the ocean: the power, the constant motion and erosion, fluctuating undercurrents, the calming lull of blue-green breaking waves, and the magnitude of its global girth.

Not only does this collage represents the change in direction that can happen in a split second of normal life, but it is also a personal reminder to once and for all affect a change in my career. Accepting this physical challenge has bolstered my spirit, amped up my grit, and calmed my mental state. As I head straight on into parts unknown, I will embrace change and feel at peace with Mother Moon and my Spirit Guides by my side!

Dark Moon Collage Awaken the Divine Feminine e-course

Hummingbird
I had a close encounter with a hummingbird the other day. I was on a walk, letting my dogs linger to sniff, when a hummingbird landed and sat in a small tree not three feet from me. We shared a fleeting moment together, and when I got back home I decided to “Google” this magnificent little creature and was delighted by what I read about hummingbirds as totem animals! Below I have respectfully excerpted from the article I was most struck by.
“Sometimes an animal or a bird will mysteriously come into our life and begin to haunt our consciousness. The image of that animal becomes associated with our sense of who we are and where our values come from.
The hummingbird is a common totem animal. Many people develop a mysterious bond with this tiny creature. In many traditional cultures of the western world the hummingbird has powerful religious and spiritual significance. In the high Andes of South America, for example, the hummingbird is taken to be a symbol of resurrection. This is because each hummer becomes lifeless and seems to die on cold nights, but it comes back to life again when the miraculous sunrise brings warmth.
In MEDICINE CARDS: THE DISCOVERY OF POWER THROUGH THE WAYS OF ANIMALS, Jamie Sams and David Carson say that, for many people, the hummingbird is the creature that opens the heart. When we assume hummingbird consciousness, our life becomes a wonderland of sensuous delights. We live for beauty, delighting in flowers, aromas, fine mist, and delicate tastes. When it becomes our totem, the hummingbird teaches us to laugh and enjoy the creation, to appreciate the magic of being alive, and the truth of beauty. Hummingbirds awaken us to the beauty of the present moment. As they dance the four quarters of embodied existence, they bring us medicine to solve the riddle of duality. They also awaken us to the medicinal properties of plants. In ANIMAL SPEAK, Ted Andrews says hummingbirds teach us how to draw the life essence from flowers. "They can teach us how to use flowers to heal and win hearts in love." Hummingbirds teach us fierce independence. They teach us to fight in a way where no one really gets hurt. They teach us simple courage. Andrews says the twittering, vibrating sounds of the hummingbirds bring us an internal massage that restores health and balance. Hummingbirds also inspire us to protect the environment and to preserve old traditions that are in danger of being lost. When Native American ways were being destroyed by the expanding Euro-American culture, the Ghost-Shirt religion was established to try to bring back the animals and old ways through dancing. The leader of the dance was a hummingbird. Certainly hummingbird magic is available to all who live in the New World. There is something inside the soul of all of us that wants to soar through sunbeams, dance midair in a delicate mist, and then take a simple bath on a leaf. There is something in our souls that wants to hover at beautiful moments in our lives, making them freeze in time. There is something in us that wants to fly backwards and savor once more the beautiful past.”
This spoke volumes to me as I had been so unfocused with my waning moon collage. I zeroed in on this powerful little bird, and thought about how my own fears keep me shackled. Deep breathing and visualization are powers within me to recognize and filter out this negativity and draw in love for the sweet nectar of life

FULL MOON COLLAGE Awaken the Divine Feminine E-Course

This week’s full moon brought forth some wild and crazy energy within me despite the fact that, due to cloud cover, I never actually saw the moon at all! I was particularly scattered the day of, and just threw my hands up and gave in to what was so out of my control.
It really shaped up to be an extremely productive week, however. The vision for my collage began to take form when I painted the background. I had woken up the day after the moon was full with indigo and purple on my mind. With it being such a breezy week here in southern California, I began to think of deep breaths, which infiltrate every nook and cranny of our beings. As I swirled in pastels of light, I gave thanks to mother moon for her supporting me in awakening that spirit deep within me, a spirit which has been covered with life’s layers for too many years to say out loud! I envisioned embers, and thought of how breathing on embers causes sparks to fly. I also envisioned the “glow” growing, spreading, and igniting whatever it touches.
I wrote this Haiku poem to sum it all up:
Awakened within
Breath on smoldering embers
Ignites the passion.

AWAKEN THE DIVINE FEMININE New Moon Collage

I'm thrilled and exhilarated to be taking an e-course with soul reader, Kathy Crabbe and a group of like-minded women!

After almost two weeks of soul searching, journaling, and beginning the process to tune in and reset my rhythm to the lunar cycle, I've completed my first of three collages.

This collage pays homage to the new moon and my seeds of intention. As a part-time handbag artisan, I aspire to one day soon, create and sell my pieces for a fulltime living. To create a solid base for my business, be flexible, and have a noticable growth spurt each and every spring, is the path of the dream life I'm imagining myself on!

Meatloaf, Baked Potatoes,Yvonnes Farm

Oh childhood......It never ceases to amaze me as I age, the different prompts that transport me back in time to those carefree days of youth. Often it's a song that jogs the exact who, what, where, when, why memory. Sometimes it's a photo, a walk on the beach, laughter of children, or the taste of ice cream.

Today it's the aroma of meatloaf and baked potatoes, sizzling and crackling in the oven, our impending dinner. As this mouthwatering scent permeates the house, I'm mentally 3000 miles and too-many-years-to-say-out-loud away from here! It's a Sunday afternoon and my family and I are doing what we did so often back then. We're spending the afternoon/evening working and playing on Yvonne's farm.

Yvonne was a distant relative, a great aunt in a round about way, a character in her own right, one of my favorite all-time people. She had been widowed young, owned a local small-town gift shop, and had a tucked away, home and acreage that was a delight to our family. It was the idyllic New England property: funky Cape Cod style home teeming with fire places and creaky, wide plank floors, an unheated upstairs, babbling brooks, overgrown apple orchards, stone walls. It didn't matter what season it was, we were there, we never lacked for things to do, and we always had a memorable meal together.

Flashing forward to 2010, I'm grateful for the dinner I've prepared today that I'll soon share with my kids. I'm equally grateful for today's wonderful sidetrip to my past and to paying homage to a wonderful woman who lived simply and passionately. My heart is teeming with love for Yvonne, our family cohesiveness, meatloaf and baked potatoes!