When Trees Walked The Earth

Last night I had the strangest dream!

I dreamed that I was watching trees walk out of the ocean onto land. They walked in small groups, communicating with each other by waving their branches back and forth. The sky was orange with red and gold light playing across he landscape. The dream was very magical and I felt so happy and free. It was at that moment I realized I was a tree too.

After writing my dream down I got up and grabbed a cup of coffee. Then I decided to make a painting of my dream.

Even as a child I have always had unusual dreams, which include a great deal of detail, and I always dream in full technicolor, with all five senses engaged.

For more info on dreams and dream cards go here.

When Trees Walked the Earth – Acrylic Art – Mixed Media Collage – 9 x 12 inches on paper.

Monday

I finished this abstract painting over the weekend and now it is packaged and ready to be mailed out. It is an acrylic art -mixed media collage on watercolor paper with deckled edges.

Deep In The Woods – Acrylic Art-Mixed Media Collage – 5 x 7 inches on paper.

Detail of  “Deep in the Woods”.

Here it rained all weekend and is still raining. According to the Celtic calendar, March is the second month of Spring, and for us it seems it has started out as a wet blustery month.

The wind was blowing strong last night and this morning we found that there were dead branches and leaves strewn all over our yard. It was as if  Mother Nature decided to sweep and clean out the old to make way for the new.

I love Spring with all the daffodils bursting from the soil,  with their vibrant yellow heads stretching towards the sun and the cherry tree blossoms floating through the air. For me, this time of the year is like a living breathing poem.

” An optimist is the human personification of spring.” – Susan Bissonette

The Cracked Pot

Cracked Water Pot – Mixed Media – 10 x 10 inches

The Cracked Pot

Once upon a time there was a man whose job was to bring water from the stream to his Master’s house. The man carried the water from the stream in two clay pots. He hung the pots on each end of a pole, which he carried across his shoulders, to and from the stream many times a day.

One of the clay pots was perfect in every way for its purpose. The other pot was exactly like the first one, but it had a crack in it and it leaked. When the water bearer reached his Master’s house, the perfect pot was always full, and the cracked pot was always half full.

The perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, and it boasted loudly. It criticized the cracked pot for its failures, and reminded it that despite his efforts, the water bearer could only deliver half a pot of water due to his cracks. The poor cracked pot was ashamed of its imperfections, and was miserable that it could only accomplish half of what it was supposed to do.

One day the cracked pot spoke to the water bearer. “I want to apologize to you. Because of my cracked side I’ve only been able to deliver half of the water to your Master’s home, and you don’t get the full value from your efforts.”

The water bearer smiled on the cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, “As we return to the Master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.”

Indeed as they climbed the path from the river to the Master’s mansion the cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful flowers along one side of the path, and it felt somewhat brighter. But when they reached their destination and the water in the half-empty pot was poured out, his sadness returned. “Thank you for trying to cheer me up with the beautiful flowers, water bearer,” The pot spoke. ” But I still must apologize for my failure.”

The water bearer said, “Dear pot, you haven’t understood what I was trying to show you. Did you notice that the flowers only grew on your side of the path? That’s because of your crack. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and everyday as we walked from the stream the water that leaks from your pot has watered them. I could have got a new pot, but I preferred to gather the flowers, and with them to bless many tables.”

– Author Unknown

Work In Progress

Visions – Mixed Media/Collage – 10 x 12 inches

I spent most of the day working on the collage/painting above, and I will post my progress in the coming weeks.

The woman represents the visionary, the healer, the medicine woman, the shaman…

She is the one who interacts directly with helping spirits to address the spiritual aspects of illness, perform soul retrievals, help the spirits of the deceased cross over and performs a variety of ceremonies for her community.

Jack Rabbit Moon

Last night I dreamed of a Jack Rabbit sitting in a freshly plowed field.

In the east, a full moon hung over the countryside, and I could see the dark silhouette of trees in the distance as coyotes howled at the moon. The dream was oddly comforting because it reminded me of my childhood in Texas.

I did a few preliminary drawings to attempt to capture the essence of the rabbit and I finally settled on the one below. Now,  I definitely need to work some more on the rabbit and the background. I’ve got miles to go …  But…it’s a start.

Jack Rabbit Moon –  Mixed Media – 11 x 14 inches

“The dream is the small hidden door in the deepest and most intimate sanctum of the soul, which opens to that primeval cosmic night that was soul long before there was conscious ego and will be soul far beyond what a conscious ego could ever reach.”
– CARL JUNG, The Meaning of Psychology for Modern Man

Pressed Paper Pulp Canvas

This video shows how to make a canvas of pressed paper pulp which is a great way to recycle junk mail and old shredded paper.

Carla van den Berg –  How to Make a Very Special Canvas

Swan Maiden

The Swan Maiden painting is almost finished, but I have a few more details I want to add to it. I have been working on this painting off and on since February of this year and promised myself it would be finished by January 2009.

This painting was loosely inspired by the Irish legend of the beautiful Swan Maiden “Caer Ibormeith”. She was the daughter Of Prince Ethal Anbuail of Sid Uamuin in Connacht.

Legend has it that every other Samhain she would change into a swan and would remain in this form for a year before becoming human again the following Samhain. Visit the post on June 17th for more info.

The Swan Maiden – Mixed Media – 16 x 20

Caer Ibormeith

I wandered down to the waters
And walked by the riverside,
I wandered down to the waters
Some solace there to find.

I sat with a heart of sorrow
Beside a silent pool
I sat with a heart of sorrow
And wept for the lonely world.

When over the silent waters
A creature to me came
When over the silent waters
A swan with a golden chain.

She sang out her song so sweetly
Her wavering melody
She sang out her song so sweetly
That it put my heart at peace.

Sing on, fair swan, I cried to her,
Sing on, to bring the day
Sing on, fair swan, I cried to her,
But she had swum away.

– Jamie Alexandre.

Another Journal

I spent most of the day finishing yesterdays journal and then started a new one. I was having so much fun that before I knew it, the sun was setting.

Now, I have just enough time to take a nice warm bath, slip into my pajamas and watch a movie with my husband. Sounds like a perfect ending for a busy Friday.

Minoan Journal – Work in Progress – Collage,  Acrylic, watercolor, Mixed Media

I also baked a Chocolate Truffle dessert for later. Yum!

Chocolate Truffle Brownies

“There are four basic food groups: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles.” –
Anonymous

Lady Of The Sacred Spirals

This afternoon I worked on a mixed media piece which has been hanging around for awhile waiting for me to finish it. The inspiration for this work came to me while listening to a CD by Sophia. I was listening to her sing ‘Gaia Shekhinah Nama Om’ at the time.

I kept playing the CD over and over again and as the music flowed over and through me, I created this painting. I sculpted the mask  and the feathers out of paper mache,  plaster and heavy acrylic medium.

Lady of the Sacred Spirals – Mixed Media – 22 X 28 inches on canvas

In Judaism, Chokhmah appears alongside the Shekhinah, ‘the glory of God’, a figure who plays a key role in the cosmology of the Kabbalists as an expression of the feminine aspect of God.

A Reverence for Trees

I’ve been working on a mixed media piece for a while and have played around with different versions of the original work which is still in progress. Here is a watercolor version.

I was inspired to create this painting after a trip to Mendocino located in Northern California. On the way there we drove through Montgomery Woods, a coastal redwood grove, and decided to take a break from driving and check out the area.

It was so beautiful as we stood there in silent communion beneath the ancient redwood trees, drinking in the splendor of Mother Natures living cathedral.

I felt enlivened and peaceful in the presence of these old trees, feeling reconnected with my deep ancestral roots in the forest.  They are the elders on this planet and for centuries were considered sacred, alive, and ensouled.

In the painting below the woman represents a ban-drui, ( a female druid).  She is a healer, priestess, storyteller and teacher who listens and learns from trees. She records and preserves their teachings which are passed down from one generation to the next. She teaches “balance in all things”.

A Reverence for Trees – Watercolor – 4 X 4 inches

“They are beautiful in their peace, they are wise in their silence. They will stand after we are dust. They teach us, and we tend them. – G. MacDunelmor