playing with ideas,
trying some things out
and taking some extreme measures...
work in progress!
June...
can you believe it's the end of June already...
but it does mean that i have been painting one face a day for the
past 181 days... for the past 6 months!!!
and i have to admit, it makes me ridiculously happy ;)
June, full of strange little faces...
now to the next 6 months!!!
thank you for being here on this journey with me!
some more faces
happy Solstice sunshine face and Dombeya from the garden
and then a little "costume" theme started developing
:)
happy weekend beautiful people!
on my easel
some bigger work,
bigger than my daily faces,
in progress...
oil on canvas 40 by 40cm
this guy has been a side project to use left over paint,
not finished yet
acrylic on watercolor paper
the clowns are on their ways somewhere in the world for my first art exchange!
oil on canvas 1m by 50cm
the girls got themselves some pompons...
seasons
we live in a humid subtropical climate
bordering on tropical wet and dry climate
which means that our summers are hot and humid
and our winters warm and dry.
it is an amazing climate but sometimes i do miss more radical season changes.
being immersed in Ixopo's autumnal beauty made it even more special.
i love autumn... the changes, the colours, the letting go...
silence
last week i went to the Buddhist Retreat Center in Ixopo
for a 4 day silent retreat.
i'm not Buddhist but i deeply resonate with their philosophy,
their way of life and the message they share with the world.
- i probably have photographed this Stupa a 100 time
over the years. it is so beautiful in all the different lights. -
at the beginning of the year when the BRC announced their retreat program
i followed my intuition and booked those 4 silent days guided by Sue Cooper
and i am so glad i did!
firstly the BRC is a little piece of heaven on Earth,
the autumn colors made it even more exquisite.
the food, the care and all the little touches make it a place of gentle nurturing.
secondly Sue's wisdom and guidance was mind blowing
and thirdly the silence was unbelievably soothing.
don't get me wrong, it wasn't all smooth sailing.
i hit some very bumpy patches on day two and three...
my body and my mind became terribly restless during meditation,
and while i tried very hard to fight my way through the discomfort
it became obvious that the only way out was to surrender;
to be gentle with myself, to be patient and to settle into the present moment one breath at a time...
a huge life lesson for me.
still here...
i'm still here!
i must admit i haven't really felt like landing into "normal" daily life
after my 4 day retreat.
i've got silence and peace withdrawals... but more about that next week,
for now the latest faces for #1faceaday.
below are the 4 i did while away.
i loved the morning light in my little room,
kept them simple and they very much reflect my daily moods.
and back home
happy weekend beautiful people!
exploring
this week's bunch...
above you have Marguerite, ready to go out, hair teased and all.
the girl below, as gentle as she looks gave me a hard time,
she is the result of many,
many layers scraped, redone, wiped, scratched and scraped some more,
i love where she ended though...
are they getting weirder as i go?
i'm not sure but i'll keep on exploring!
PS: today i'm off to this beautiful place for 4 days of a silent retreat.
i have never done it before and i'm very intrigued.
i will probably have to wrestle my over active mind a lot
but i am curious to what will bubble up in the spaces in between.
have a fabulous weekend beautiful people ;)
think tank
i've been doing a lot of thinking, processing and brainstorming
on this board lately...
and i'm not done yet.
i will probably use it as a background for one of my painting
and all those layers will be there,
informing and influencing the image painted on top.
and even though most of it might be hidden,
i hope the intention, emotions and energy will still be felt through the layers
i hope you have a beautiful, smiley day!
The Radiant Child
i watch this documentary the other day
i was a huge Jean-Michel Basquiat fan before
and now i am even more...
well worth watching.