Haiku My Heart–Earth Gift

bees wax, glass, cotton

eucalyptus, lavender,

silk. Mother Earth’s gifts rock.

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I cannot express how inspired I am by what I learned and experienced with e.b.

I have been dreaming about earthy bundles and pots simmering with eucalyptus scents.

I get up in the morning and fall in love with members of my rock families. They call out to me from their bowls, “Choose me to wrap, choose me !”

And I listen.

I have so much more exploring and experimenting to do and I now have gathered all that I need to do just that.

But…

some other loves are calling me too.

I am heading out this weekend to spend some time with some of my favorite kids on the planet,

Thomas and Katie in La Conception, Quebec.

We will have some arty time, some giggling time and hopefully a lot of outside enjoying nature by the Lac Vezeau time.

(Maybe gathering some more goodies for later experiments too! They have nice rocks in Quebec too. )

I am so excited to see them! It has been too long !

And on my way up north, there may just be a tiny bit of a detour to the shore of Lake Champlain,

to share some time with my new girlfriend and keep the inspiration flowing too ! Hee !

Yes! I know how very blessed I am !

Happy, Happy Friday, Beautiful Ones !

Catch you on the rebound !

Share the Joy Thursday – It’s all Around You

An Early Morning Conversation at The Yellow House on Orange Street

“Where are you going ?” he says,

puzzled by why she is headed out the door before her morning cup of coffee is done.

“It is Share the Joy Thursday. I am going to find joy.” she says.

Morning light on a steamy June morning.

79 degrees at 7:00am.

Light dancing with the clematis.

I see a happy face. Do you ?

Joining in the light and shadow play.

With one of my first blooms of sweet, sweet lavender.

Orange sandals on the grass.

I have these in red too.

Yes, I am a shoe whore.

But they bring me such joy !

She re-enters the house.

“Did you find joy ?” he asks.

“Oh, yes”, she replies, “She is so very easy to find around here.”

Indoors and out !

Meet Uta, David’s tiny piggy bank,

from the Goodwill store that had to come home the other day with us for $1.99.

Where does she get her name ?

The fact that my man is still able to be child-like in his joy

is one of the many things I adore about him.

The fact that he has the muscle to install these and

keep me from whining about the heat is an added bonus !

May the joy be abundant in your neck of the woods as well today !

Big Love, Beautiful Ones !

 

More Joy at Meri’s Musings every Thursday.

Monochrome and Marigolds

white rocks wrapped with black linen thread and beads.

Reach Out - Journal Page in black & white, 06/19/12

Marigolds are known as the "Herb of the Sun" and are symbolic of passion and creativity. The Welsh believed that if marigolds were not open early in the morning, then a storm was on the way. Marigolds have been used as love charms and incorporated into wedding garlands. Water made from marigolds was thought to induce psychic visions of fairies if rubbed on the eyelids. In some cultures, marigold flowers have been added to pillows to encourage prophetic or psychic dreams.  Livingarts Originals

I hope your day has some creativity and passion in it.

Big Love, Beautiful Ones.

Sunday Morning Grace with Purpose

“Purpose” – 6X6” canvas collage

I hope your Sunday has beautiful moments of grace in it.

Big Love, Beautiful Ones.

Haiku My Heart – Obstacles be gone

A Rock Offering to Ganesha

Orange Elephant God,

Help me lay the foundation.

Obstacles be gone.

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This beautiful little statue of the Hindu God, Lord Ganesha: the lord of beginnings and wisdom, sits on the windowsill at Elizabeth’s lake house. One evening, we were rock wrapping by the windows as the rain poured down outside. This rock with its orange wax linen thread and the tiny orange bead felt like it belonged in front of Ganesha. I left it there, on its bed of eucalyptus dyed silk.

Ganesha is thought to be the remover of obstacles. Perhaps my simple offering of orange, rock and love is the reason that my creative path seems to have opened up so wide right now ?

I don’t know for sure but I will take that gift very willingly !

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Yesterday morning, I set up a spray play time outside on the back deck.

Stencils, spray inks, papers of many different kinds,

and a clothesline to hang the results.

An hour and a half passed so quickly

and

left me with another cool stash of papers to play with in my collages.

The walnut spray ink was the earthy darkness that I was most pleased with.

 

I have ordered my bees wax and found an electric skillet at the Goodwill store

but until my order arrives,

good old gel medium will work to adhere my goodies.

This 6X6'” canvas piece includes a color copy of the green angel that originated in my journal a year ago.

New larger wings and a glorious earthy background

using bits of my recently sprayed papers

formed

this new angel creation that I am loving a lot !

So much so that the palette inspired three little rock wrappings to go with it.

I am thinking of listing them all together as a package deal in the Etsy shop

so that someone else can enjoy them up close too.

That is if I can part with them !

May the obstacles in your path today be few

and easy to circumvent, Beautiful Ones !

Happy Friday !

 

For more Haiku Love, visit the Beautiful Rebecca at recuerda mi corazon.

Share the Joy Thursday–Ask for the Magic

So how does one end up spending 4 days in a house like this :

with an amazing arty hostess like this :

with beautiful views of Lake Champlain like this :

and get totally immersed in the creative process so as to produce smiles like these ?

Well,  you Ask !

My brave and beautiful friend Colleen proposed such a gathering to artist Elizabeth Bunsen  just at a time when Elizabeth was working on fulfilling her own dreams of hosting small groups of artists for intimate “e.b. immersion workshops” at her family’s lake house in Charlotte, VT.

Don’t you love it when things just come together so well ?!!!

So Colleen and I headed 3 hours north of home and had a dream play time with an amazingly talented and extremely generous teacher in a beautiful and inspiring setting.

We learned about dyeing natural protein fibers like silk and wool in bundles of eucalyptus and other treats :

that resulted in beautiful fabric bits to die for !

We learned that rusted pieces of metal of all kinds

can create treasured pieces of fabric

and paper to fill your stashes.

And so can ordinary bleach, with some simple tools at hand, and some imagination.

We gathered stripy rocks on the lakeshore

(You know how much the Rock Fairy adored this !!!)

and brought them home to give them some special treatment.

And then for the grand finale,

we gathered all the sweet bits and bobs we had created,

and with some beeswax and loving guidance from the teacher of my heart, Elizabeth,

we created

our own little masterpieces!

Meet

 “Home of  Eucalyptus and Rust ” ,

my little pamphlet bound journal.

The front cover of  fabric, leaves and rusted pieces sealed in bees wax

and inner pages of painted papers and rusty results,

were all inspired by the wrapped rock posing in the center.

The back cover is sealed in wax as well, with bits of fabric, chinese lantern pods and a rusted coffee filter.

The lovely piece of eucalyptus dyed silk on the right will serve as the journal’s covering.

I am so inspired by the process, the materials and the results of my time with e.b., that I have already purchased eucalyptus, bees wax and an electric skillet,

as well as started making rock wrapping a new part of my Rock Fairy love !

And believe it or not, the art and creative time was only part of the magic that our threesome shared.

The safe and inspiring environment, along with Elizabeth’s generous and open heart and mind, allowed for some wonderful sharing of our life experiences and a great bond of trust to develop. Our time together was so very good for the mind, body and soul.

So perhaps you find yourself in need of this kind of amazingly creative and spiritually uplifting art adventure ? Maybe the beautiful nature and shores of the Lake Champlain,Vermont are calling you ?

I wholehearted suggest you get in contact with the beautiful Elizabeth and  ASK.

There may just be a magical  room with a view waiting for you too.

 

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I love you, Colleen. Thank you for helping me to say yes to this once in a life time adventure.

I love you, Elizabeth, as a master teacher and most of all, as a kindred Heart.

 

For more of this week’s joy, visit Meri’s Musings