in the garden

first touch of orange in the garden


and all the Aloes getting ready 
to follow shortly




and the purples


our autumn colors ;) 

it's all going to be ok

  yes i am a huge Elizabeth Gilbert's fan...
and once again her Ted Talk is incredibly inspiring! 


            

morning view

i've been feeling flat the last few days, 
i'm down with a cold and feeling very sorry for myself ;) 

learning to be gentle and patient and rest...
REST is a weapon remember!


this is my view while resting... so lucky! 




and this is my resting companion...


ok i know i'm completely biased
but how totally ADORABLE
is this little creature!?!

be gentle


one more gift



i'm loving making these little mixed media paintings... 

in the garden

morning bath


 we do have a bigger bird bath 
but these weaver birds insisted in doing their morning rituals 
in Pax's water bowl.



i don't think everyone had a turn before the water ran out...


gifts

i've been playing in the studio... 
remember these backgrounds


 they have become little gifts for special people









and i can't wait to give them!

experimenting

for one of the last assignments in Full Circle 
Misty was inspired by the mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar
and 
got us to do a paper mosaic, here is my take on it: 

first i made my "paper tiles"

 then i sketched my plan


 and got going with the "mosaic"

until it was all covered


as a final touch i outlined some areas 
and added some ink here and there
to bring out the details



et voila! 


the quiet voice



chicken wishes


mes amis, 
my Mr. Chicken and i would like to wish you 
a wonderful Easter weekend! 

walking




can you spot Pax ?

april afternoon on the beach...
ooooh the light!



onward



thankfully my creative drought doesn't seem to have lasted too long ;)
this is what helped me get through it:

- beautiful walks on the beach,
- some deep, deep breaths
and mostly
i did some "random art journaling"

it was a post on Full Circle i had skipped for lack of time
and as i went back to it last week.
to my surprise, it triggered a flow
of playfulness and inspiration i had not expected.

so what i intend to do for now,
while i make sense of all the ideas floating in my head
is to do as much "random art journaling" as i can.
it feels like a fantastic way for me to show up,
to loosen up,  to not get precious about the outcome,
and to let the creative juice flow.





some of my pages


a simple thank you

            

how powerful these simple words can be, "thank you" 
by Dr. Laura Trice

thank you dear readers!
i am so grateful you stop by ;)  

do a lot of work

                 
inspired by Ira Glass, a good reminder right now ;) 
    
                              

now what?

Misty Mawn's Full Circle workshop 
ends this week.
and that's probably why i've fallen into a creative rut...


surrealist collage on watercolor paper


it has been 12 weeks of phenomenal tuition.
i've been pushed, challenged and encouraged,  
i've learnt SO much, i've expanded...

it has been a big journey, it is coming to an end
and i'm asking myself:
now what? 
where to from here? 
 how do i keep up this incredible creative practice? 
(by the way Lisa Sonora Beam talks about 'why have a creative practice' here)

previously i would have jumped straight back into another 
course but that doesn't feel right at this point. 

this feels more like a new beginning, 
a different chapter in my creative practice.

so for now i'm going to take a breather, 
go for long walks on the beach, 
read a good novel 
and figure out what my next step is. 

see you soon
xxx