Mixed Media Paintings & Collage

 

Although my art is not pre-planned, I do set an intention to allow my work to be created for the greater good and guided by benevolent forces to:

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• delight and inspire

• revive our capacity for joy

• provide some food for thought

• restore our belief in the magic of life

• remind us of our divine nature and unlimited potential

 

 

 

WAKE UP YOUR WITCH

When we tune into our True Nature, harmonize with Mother Nature, and sing our own soul song we become magicians & alchemists, transmuting life into 'gold'.

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Remembering Mom

 

Today would have been Mom's 78th birthday.  She's been gone almost a year, and life seems to have taken on a different texture and colour without her.  As I reminisce about her I am reminded of roses, pink things, her famous butter tarts, pretty scarves, uncomfortable shoes and how she loathed snakes!  She was very creative, and after Dad would complete one of his many renovations on our old farmhouse, Mom would set to decorating, making it cozy and pretty and of course always keeping it spotless.  Her creativity took on many forms.  She gardened, grew roses, cooked, baked, sewed, crocheted, decorated, and tried her hand at various crafts.  Maybe the creative pursuit she is best known for is her crocheted afghans - well over 100 - and baby clothes.  Although I don't have any photos of the many baby outfits she made, I do have my own cherished collection of her afghans, pictured below.  (picture of mom's afghans)

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Remembering Dad

My Dad would have turned 81 today.  His birthday was so close to Father's Day that I would usually combine the occasions and just send him one card.  I wonder if he ever felt that he got a "special day" rip-off?   Anyhow....I thought about him today and how if he were still around he'd likely be putting in hay now, swinging bales around like men half his age.  I thought about him eating peanuts, removing slivers, planting trees and birdwatching.  And I remembered, with great fondness, him carving little baskets out of walnuts.  Here's a picture of my Dad's handiwork. (picture of little walnut basket )

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"United We Stand"

A few weeks ago my friend Janice and I were talking about trees and she mentioned how the redwoods join their roots and basically "hold hands" to improve their support system.  That conversation inspired my latest mixed media painting, "United We Stand".  I didn't realize how many meanings that title had until tonight when my friend Kate posted the video below on Facebook, and I started thinking about it.  The tree roots are united to form a stronger support for each other; we need to be united in our efforts to protect the forests for a more sustainable future; we also need to remember that our symbiotic relationship with the trees makes us automatically united with them for our very survival; and the United Nations has declared 2011 as Year of the Forest.

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If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen.

 ~ Henry David Thoreau

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The Real Dirt on Farmer John

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If you've read my "About" page you will recognize John as being one of those people who exemplifies the line:  OUR FASCINATIONS LEAD US TO OUR BRILLIANCE.  One of the things that really struck me was his description of the "mysterious sensation, an irresistible beckoning...my legs take me to the work" because I have experienced a similar sensation.  In my case it happens when I'm being called to do a piece of art.  In fact it sounds like the sensation that first led me, almost trance-like, to grab my first canvas and start painting.  

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Happy Spring Equinox!

 

The other day I was in the dollar store browsing around and my eye caught sight of something that brought a lump to my throat. There on the bottom shelf was a red, white and blue rubber ball, the kind that I used to beg Mom for every Spring when I was a kid. I remember how I'd ask her for one of those and a pair of brand new white knee socks. Wonderful memories of my childhood came flooding back, and the nostalgia for those days was stronger than usual I suppose because of Mom's recent passing. I picked up the ball, and squeezed it, then smelled it, then cleared off a shelf and took a picture of it. I caught one of the salesclerks eyeing me strangely, but I didn't care. After the initial sadness passed, I was seized with a feeling of gratitude that Spring was just around the corner again, a time of renewal and rebirth. That rubber ball was a symbol of happier, more innocent times, but it was also a reminder to play more NOW, be more childlike whenever possible, and find joy in some of the simpler things in life. So I bought the ball, and placed it on my windowsill next to a picture of my late Mom and Dad. I haven't actually played with it yet, but maybe there's someone out there who wants to join me in a game of catch?

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About

"Certain things are everlasting.  Magic is one of them.  
Magic belongs to no one culture, society, or tribe - it is part of the universal wisdom...
To me the word Witch is a delicious word, filled with the most ancient memories that go back to our earliest ancestors, who lived close to natural cycles and understood and appreciated the power and energy that we share with the cosmos..."
~Laurie Cabot with Tom Cowan, Power Of The Witch
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This blog is not about any particular group, religion or practice. 
 

It's about waking up to our inner cauldron of power and realizing
the magic we can conjure when we remember who we are -
Expressions of Source, Divine Beings, Limitless Creators.

 

 

One morning I awoke with this thought
running through my head:
 

 

OUR FASCINATIONS LEAD US TO OUR BRILLIANCE



My desire is to inspire
YOU
to follow your fancies, your passions, 
your bliss. 
Make time for the things that call to you and give you joy.  
When you lose track of time and feel that you have no limits, 
follow that flow. 
Our fascinations point us to the gifts we were given to share.
The energy we exude when we love what we're doing
raises the vibration for all!


In recent years I have felt compelled to paint, 
write poetry and photograph 'nature spirits'. 
The materializing of this creative expression
has been surprising, joyful and very good medicine for me.


The faces of nature, as seen through my camera lens, 
delight and enchant me; and this personification of nature
has helped me to be more mindful of Gaia.

  In a similar way, I am fascinated with
the faces and images that appear on my canvas. 
When I trust and allow the intuitive painting process to unfold
I am rewarded with insights, answers, and messages to share;
and the thrilling mystery of connecting with the Unseen is priceless.


I hope this site will offer you some inspiration
and food for thought.  
When you think about what brings you peace, 
excites or energizes you, 
or gives you a sense of purpose...  

FOLLOW THAT

& 
I PROMISE YOU

THE FORCE WILL BE WITH YOU!

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Eclectic Employment Experience:

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retail manager - natural health industry; natural health advisor; personal support worker; inside/outside sales;

administrative & secretarial positions in education, construction, transportation, health, grocery, banking;

new residential and commercial cleaning; machine shop employee; wood shop machine operator; factory worker; farm hand

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Education:

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Secondary School Graduation Diploma - Dunnville ON

General Business Program - Mohawk College, Hamilton ON