Tuesday

This morning I took a few minutes to sit in the garden with a hot cup of Irish tea as I listened to the wind in the bamboo and watched autumn leaves falling upon the dew soaked grass beneath my feet.

It’s hard to believe October is already upon us and that means the holidays are lurking just around the corner. Where did the year go?

These days it seems our lives move at the speed of light and most of us can barely keep up. I often wonder where we are hurrying to? Why are we rushing around trying to cram in as much as we can into one day .. one week .. one year?

What’s the hurry? It seems we have become a society that wants to live our lives in quick, rapid sound bytes. Are we in danger of missing the whole point of living?

Of course the other side of this equation is the tremendous guilt we feel when we slow down, and do nothing because many of us feel it’s wrong to just be still and stop doing.

Could it be that by being so rushed, distracted and preoccupied with the hustle and bustle of everyday life,  we may be inadvertently settling for a mediocre version of what our lives could be.

If you get the chance to see the movie “Koyaanisqatsi“, I highly recommend you do so. The name of the movie comes from a Hopi Indian term which means life out of balance. It’s a beautiful but sad commentary on how we are no longer connected to the natural world, and how we have built a world that now exists to support the artificial one in which we live.

Wednesday

This was a very busy day in the studio, yet I did manage to work on the other I Ching collage today. I  added more layers and collage elements.

Later I tried taking a photo of what I’ve done so far but this was the only one that was in focus. For some reason the face and hair area is washed out and the contrast isn’t that great.

I’m just too tired to try again! Tomorrow I will be working on the Tui hexagram area and adding more layers of color.

I Ching Hexagram- Tui -  Mixed Media – 8 X 10 inches on wrapped canvas

I Ching Collage

The I Ching collage is finished. I had fun experimenting with attaching watercolor paper to the canvas and finally figured out that hard molding paste was the best choice for me.

I painted the Kuan Yin portrait and the sun on Fabriano  Watercolor paper. The I Ching hexagram Tai was created on rice paper. For more info see post on September 3rd.

I Ching – Collage/Mixed Media – 8 X 10 inches on canvas

I Ching – Before

Happy Equinox

Today is the Autumnal equinox. It’s officially Fall. Equinox literally means “equal night”, and from here on out the nights will grow longer as we head towards winter.

September is a month of changes, we’ve had our summer fun, the night’s grow cooler and it’s almost time to bid farewell to the warm weather.

It’s also the time of year where I often find myself reflecting over what I have gathered and seeded over the past months. I take stock of what the seasons have yielded so far, the hopes and dreams which were sown in the beginning of the year.

What have I harvested?

What wisdom have I garnered so far this year?

I also ask myself what lies fallow, uncultivated? However, I recognize that sometimes dreams need a period of  incubation in order to come to fruition, and remind myself that all fields must lie fallow for a season or they become infertile, a wasteland.

Today I am thankful for all the blessings in my life, including family and friends.

Autumn Leaves

I Love a Rainy Day!

The pregnant dark clouds rolling in, the soft sound of rain hitting my studio window and our dog lying next to me create feelings of warmth and gratitude for just being alive.

I believe it is so important to wake up, stop doing whatever we are doing, just step back and take a deep breath.  Life is a gift!

It’s Friday, the end of another work week and we are both looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend.

My husband’s idea of a perfect rainy day is a white chocolate mocha with a mini chocolate cake. These cakes are so tiny and so delicious. Yum!

Mini Cake for One

He decided to eat only half and save the rest for later.

Mini Cake Filling

“Let the rain kiss you.  Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.  Let the rain sing you a lullaby.”  -Langston Hughes

“Rain showers my spirit
and waters my soul.”
-Emily Logan Decens

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