Poetry Thursday - River

River

Hawkesbury reaches flow between grey-green bushy banks. Oyster leases cross-hatch wide water. Tiny, shaggy islands sit, flecked with birds, feathers ruffled by the breeze. The solitude of a blue painted shack with a red tin roof beckons. Tinnys buzz across choppy water making haste to the other side. Holiday houseboats linger in sandy coves. A silver train crosses a century old bridge beside the muddy mangroves. Startled mullet jump, tails flicking, plopping back heavily into the depths. River mist hangs quietly in ghostly clouds across the morning stillness.

Growth and the Future Self

Do you ever have that feeling that you have grown? My birds nest fern looks just how I feel!

Fresh new leaves unfurling/Fresh new ideas forming

Bright green and shiny/Healthy and energised

Old leaves breaking down and decaying/The old me dying off and fading.

Always looking for the sunlight/Seeking the positive in everything

Via kate iredale I have found this wonderful "1 + 1+ 1 challenge". It is very similar to the "notes to self" I blogged a while back, in that you write a letter to yourself in the future tense, creating your life just as you want it to be, seeing yourself as who you want to become. You decorate and embellish your letter in any way you desire, then put it away in a decorated envelope, to be opened 1 year, 1 month and 1 day away. I have done this and it is a great challenge.

If you would like to create your future too, take a look at the May 18 post at [i] love life

Back to the Blog

I have been truly busy of late, which is why I haven't been posting much. With so much going on it has been hard to gather my thoughts on what I want to blog, with everything racing around in my head.

I'm back to creating though, and this is my latest offering - Banksia Pod and Gumnuts. I have been happily stocking up on quality art materials and the difference is amazing - like wearing a ballgown made of silk compared to daggy track pants. I'm focusing on water colour and ink on one front and painting with acrylics on the other. I must say I kinda like switching between the two, like changing from high heels into loafers, it gives you a break and keeps you fresh.

Thanks for your good vibes for my dodgy hip. It has been gradually improving, which equates to sleep for me and a clearer, less jet-lagged head. Focused Yoga breathing has been helping a lot. I do believe that we are capable of healing ourselves from within if we use the right energy.

Last week I arranged for my mother to move from a Dementia Hostel to a Nursing Home, as she has deteriorated in the past few months. It is heartbreaking to witness another persons decline, especially when it's your mother, but it is uplifting to see the level of care that is provided to people who can no longer care for themselves. They do a tough job. The home is five minutes away from my place, so I can visit regularly. At present, Mum still recognizes me, even though she doesn't remember my name, so for the time I am there, she has a temporary kind of peace.

Having been through a low patch with my hip I decided it was time to do something nice for me. So I bought myself a string of blue-green and silver beads with matching earrings and a lime green jumper (not my usual choice of colour). Well, everyone has been commenting, saying how lovely the colour is and how amazing the beads are. It really has given me the boost I needed. Colour therapy for everyone!

Reunion Week

This has been a week of reunions - a picnic by the bay with Aunts, Uncles and Cousins - every one of us going down memory lane, sharing photos, videos and anecdotes. A very happy day. Then a couple of days and evenings spent with my three sisters and brother, catching up, sharing stories, eating good food and drinking some excellent wine - lots of laughter. It is so centering and grounding to be together with family again. A happy week, in fact!

However, I am quite exhausted having suffered a wrench to my hip while lifting my mothers wheelchair into the back of my car. I now have new respect and compassion for carers of the disabled. After going through many painkillers and struggling through a week without sleep, I have decided to take myself off to the osteopath for some tender loving care. Yoga is on hold, but luckily I am able to walk without problems and have been out enjoying the gorgeous mild weather we are having.

During this time I sold my first painting (Yay!!) the proceeds of which have become my 'kitty' for art supplies - don't you just love tubes of paint? I am now sooo motivated to get back in the studio creating. I am lucky to have had so many 'believing mirrors' who have carried me along to this point. Thank you all.

Poetry Thursday - The Randomizer

The following words I obtained from the “Randomizer” on Poetry Thursday:

etch, stasis, echo, atomic explosion, fault line, thud, celadon, zero gravity

Cruel and Final

Cruel and final, your words ignite an atomic explosion in my world, disturbing the fault line of my fragile emotions, causing stasis in my veins. You stare with celadon eyes that once rocketed me giddy into the atmosphere. Buoyed by love I would float in zero gravity, yet already, the painful echo of yesterdays bliss haunts me. I have no wish to etch this day on my mind. My happiness falls with a thud.

By Lamplight

This sketch of a corner of my lounge room, I created a couple of years ago. It was done in the evening, by lamplight. So there are sharp contrasts between the dark shadows and light. I don't usually make art at night because my eyesight is not so good in the evenings (esp not in lamplight), but the mood took me and I quite liked the result.

On the homefront there has been lots of work happening in the garden - weeding, mulching, potting and pruning. The weather has been sensational (up until todays rain) and it has been a pleasure being out in the sunshine, stretching and breathing in the smells of the earth and plants.

I am looking forward to my weekend when I will get to catch up with my ENTIRE family. We are all attending a reunion organised by my Aunts and Uncles. It will be the first time in ages that my sisters and brother and I have all been together in the same place at the same time. Amazing.

Not much art happening lately as I have been giving time to the garden and other domestic chores. But my painting course is going well and I have recently purchased some artist quality paints, moving away from 'playing' with student quality. This is part of my plan to evolve into a serious artist. Seriously.

What have I learned so far?

It is week one of my painting course and I have been researching colour and the origin of pigments on the internet, as well as doing some practical work with the colour wheel.

What have I learned so far?

Mars Black is a hip hop artist from Nebraska (!)

Orange or "naranj" is the Arabic word for orange and is derived from the Sanskrit word meaning "fruit approved by elephants". How cool that oranges are approved by elephants, what better recommendation!

Sitting in front of the computer for hours means Yoga is delicious afterwards.

Simply painting stripes of colour on oil sketch paper makes me happy.

And for those of you with an eagle eye - spot the pussy-cat paint paw print (top centre) in the photo above.