Inner Dwelling

adding some essence to the work...flower and gem essence to the water in the water pen I used to spread the glitter gel pens.. love it :-). This mandala doesn't have it, just outlined with the gel pen but they, the gel pens and water essence make it all that more magical... I titled this "inner dwelling" and that may be the title of the show...more to come about that :-)

Bird Magic

Since moving here, birds have played a more dominant role in our lives. We wake to them and listen more intently during the day.. Crow seems to call out more often and the sighting of woodpecker is more frequent. Cardinal as well.
Add to that hummingbird.
I used to see hummingbird as my totem, but he slipped my memory until just recently. He came to visit while on vacation and his message rings true. find joy. lighten up.
I can lean towards taking things a little too seriously. There is that perfectionist part of me and will work until I see it as perfect or as close to it as I can get (especially if there is a time limit).
We have feathers all around us here at home.. hawk, turkey, condor, macaw, white peacock and crow. Many were gifted.. some found.
They are reminders to me.. ideas, dreams.. flight.
Yesterday, I had this feeling come over me of "not good enough".. not interesting enough.. too boring... John got a good laugh from this when I brought it up.. and that's when I thought of hummingbird and her message to lighten up.. it's ok to just relax (not work) and stop comparing. It brought me to the art room because that is the place where I go for myself.. to listen to where that message may have come from.. and create.
Mandala usually brings me back to balance. I used a newish journal with rag pages and took out the H2O's along with the markers and the glittering gel pens (those alone make me feel good)
Being that it's scanned, it doesn't show the glitteriness very well.
Messages are all around us if we pay attention and open our eyes and heart.. what is it telling you, what is it mirroring back at you?

I'd like a blue jay feather.

Just 5 days

Unplugged for 5 days. I'm thinking I should do this at least once a week... or at least twice a month! Quiet. Listening to the sound of birds. This vacation was focused on birds. Watching streaks of red fly by or standing out among all this GREEN!

Enjoying the peace and quiet.. still enough, that I can listen to that voice within me. Reading, creating mandalas, journaling.. and of course exploring and shopping for new treasures.

John finally found his bird totem in Avalon Moon in Delhi.. a beautiful store filled with lots of good energy and so many treasures!!!! Found a beautiful bag for my yoga supplies that I've been looking for.

Wake up call! Yes, woodpecker was my alarm clock. His drumming continued through out the day. I'd run back to capture him with the camera.. Mostly I was unsuccessful as he was so fast, but I did manage to get a few shots. It was like living inside a drum.

The other bird I did not manage to photograph was the humming bird. A quick visit to validate a thought... I bought a book for John on the healing messages of birds. Reading on humming bird, I reflected on how I was so into this bird and thought it was definitely one of my totems.. I closed the book and there she was. Humming bird is about connecting with the joy in life.. and yes, sometimes I need to lighten up!

Vincent told us this was a baby and they grow to be pretty big.. can't imagine THAT sound :-)

Woodpecker is about keeping in rhythm with nature... (I thought about getting a drum)