Wordful Wodensday

Poetree

"All that is Gold does not Glitter,
Not all those who Wander are Lost,
The Old that is Strong does not Wither,
Deep Roots are not Reached by the Frost."
- JRR Tolkien -

(artwork (c) Ladynorth 2014)

Blessings to all those who plant trees. Thank you.

1/18 Documented Life Project: Secret Message or..

The Quill is Mightier than the Sword!
This week's DLP Challenge was 'secret message'.
Write it down, then cover it up except for one word.
Frankly, I was not prepared for the cathartic effect of doing something which on the outset seemed so childishly simple.
Since my hands seem to cramp up in the mornings when I am at my most 'artive', I chose to type out my thoughts and wow!
Two events came to mind immediately and the words flowed from my fingers as I wrote in what would probably be called a 'white heat'!

Once the words were down in black and white, it was a joy to rip it up into pieces and gesso it to my water colour paper. I carefully saved the word 'decision' from the forest of words and using my newly bought Derwent Inktense Pencils (hooray) and a bit of collage, cobbled something together.
Two miraculous things happened on the day I was doing this:
1 - the gesso I used to glue down my pieces did a wonderful thing 'on it's own'  - it created a perfect rendition of a quill (complete with feather!)  - which I carefully dried to in order to keep it's shape then outlined it with a black fine tip sharpie.
2 - On our way to town, a cloud formation over top of a local mountain was a perfect 'quill' shape!
There was no way I could have planned this if I had tried.
3 - Then in my mailbox: a wonderful quote from Rumi which perfectly capsulated my thoughts regarding that secret message I had written!.
 * If you are seeking, seek us with joy
    For we live in the kingdom of joy.
    Do not give your heart to anything else
    But to the love of those who are clear joy,
    Do not stray into the neighborhood of despair.
    For there are hopes: they are real, they exist -
    Do not go in the direction of darkness -
    I tell you: suns exist.
    - Jalal-ud-Din Rumi
    (Translated by Andrew Harvey from A Year of Rumi)
 I put the poem into the collage mix and taped my two photos from the day: Divine Quill, and Sundog (which I think goes splendidly with the last phrase: ' I tell you: suns exist.')
Blessings to all those who find solace in doing a spate of arting in the morning 'Before Anything Else'

Does my Life Really Need to be DocuMental'd?

Dear Perusers:
Not sure would be my response at this juncture. Who would actually care to read about My Year 2014? The Road I am being led down, by my Muse (that dancing twirling pencil poking She), has taken me to this site - The Documented Life Project.
Sounds grand doesn't it?
And here I was hoping for a more quiet artful year, one in which I did not get gleefully butterfly distracted by every bright and colourful e course that came waltzing by! (insert sigh here)
So far I have managed to mangle- smunch 3 Courses in to One Planner - the BOD 2014 Session 1, the Documented Life Planner (DLP) and an occasional 'flip through' of my ebook: No Excuses Art Journaling!
From my last post, you will note that I wanted to 'art' first thing 'pon awakening' even Before Bean and Verticality - (ie coffee and being upright) and so far, I have managed that. Today for example, I zentangled my name and being the evil body that I am, I pointed another friend to the Tangle Patterns site so that she too could become addicted. (I deemed it only fair that another artful being share the joy). 
So here are the Progress Pix from the Challenges that BOD and DLP have given me: (note-BOD started a week later than DLP)

DLP Week 1: - Your Front Door

DLP Week 2: - Self Portrait ::  BOD Week 1: Your Word for the Year (for me it is EMERGE)
My 'selfie' will 'peek' through the window in the 'eiffel tower' envelope

DLP Week 3 - Junk Mail Envelope ::  BOD Week 2 : Poem: Colour is to Winter what Music is to Silence (Effy Wild)   - I could probably use my DLP envelope as my answer to that challenge. I may do something more, undecided at this point, though my crayons are calling me LOUDLY.. <g>
Blessings to all those frustrated E course addicts out there (like me) who have signed up for things  and found out that there are NOT 36 hours in a day! darnitallanyway!

A New Year- A New Moon- A New Artful Adventure!

Dear Perusers:
Effy Wild  in her BOD 2014 class, posted a poem by John Donahue titled  'For A New Beginning'  - how apt to start off this post of 2014 with its wisdom:

For A New Beginning
By John O’Donahue

In out of the way places of the heart
Where your thoughts never think to wander
This beginning has been quietly forming
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.
For a long time it has watched your desire
Feeling the emptiness grow inside you
Noticing how you willed yourself on
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.
It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the grey promises that sameness whispered
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent
Wondered would you always live like this.
Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream
A path of plenitude opening before you.
Though your destination is not clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is one with your life’s desire.
Awaken your spirit to adventure
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

*

Part of my Inner Work this year is to pay attention more often to the Muse (even if she does poke me in the side with her sharp pencil at 2am!). One of the things I did to keep her quiet (or mumbling less) was to download the ebook: No Excuses Art Journaling  by Gina Armfield, from which a very intelligent bit of wisdom was gleaned - take just five minutes at least before anything else in the day happens to do your art in your dayplanner. This means, no email, no f/b, no twitter. Nope, that tablet is only tuned to an internet radio station that plays lovely Gregorian chant or Chorale.And of course, this means (as one guest writer wrote) DOING IT IN BED! Yahoo! My art supplies now occupy a soft sided carryon case,which by reaching down, can be grabbed and plunked up beside me, as I lie there and contemplate the Day. It was part of this exercise, that led me to making my Book Of Days (Effy Wild's 12 week course) in a Dayplanner, and using up all those pesky brown envelopes (which we seem to get a ton of at this time of the year) as holders for my weekly 5x8 artpiece.

I have just finished doing Week 1: Your Word for the Year and when I read these words from Mr Donahue's poem, the word EMERGE leaped out at me. That was IT! My Word.

 This beginning has been quietly forming 

Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

Along with that poem, another one came to mind and I wondered if they would be close enough in feeling so that I could essentially make one poem using their first four lines.

Here is the other poem: The Restlessness of Being a Seed by John Soos 

To be of the Earth is to know

the restlessness of being a seed

the darkness of being planted 

the struggle toward the light 

*

My artpiece now displays a new way of looking at the poems  -
*

In out of the way places of the heart

- To be of the Earth is to Know- 
 the Restlessness of being a Seed

Where your thoughts never think to wander

-- the Darkness of being Planted
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

This beginning has been quietly forming

-the Struggle toward the Light 

*

And O Dear, I am obsessed with collecting washi tape of all kinds and descriptions - I think I may have to 'go to a meeting', the kind where you bring your washi tape and leave it at the door in an unmarked box and walk away. I haven't yet plucked up the courage to do that.:)

Blessings to all those BODacious babes out there (you know who you are) who are trying to follow along with Effy on this 12 Week Wild Ride of hers!