Energy = Art

I love the art of Rebecca Cool and was interested to see these two sentences on her artist statement - "Rebecca is happiest when she is creating. She can't work when she is sad or tired."

How true is this for you? I know it is for me and recently, sadness and tiredness have been hanging around me like the two annoying characters, 'depression' and 'loneliness' in 'Eat, Pray, Love', who shadow Elizabeth Gilbert while she's in Italy!

Yoga has been difficult to kick-start, despite wanting and knowing how good it is for me. What to do? This week, with the help of warm & sunny weather, I have begun walking again twice a day. Getting outside with Jess the border-collie in the sunshine and passing the time of day with other walkers, seems to be just what I need right now.

Happily, the urge to create rides on the back of all that new energy. This pic is a journal page currently under-construction.

I hope your day is a creative, happy and energy-filled!

One Sentence

When I first ventured into the blogosphere, the happiness project was one of my first finds - a wonderful blog belonging to Gretchen Rubin, who has written a book tracking her very own happiness project.

I was hooked right from the start, I mean who doesn't want their own happiness project? Gretchen always gives plenty of food for thought, links that inspire and I love the discussions that emerge from her posts. A recent post on the subject of drift invited comments that were so touching. The pursuit of happiness hits a nerve in all of us.

One of the tips that I have taken on board from the happiness project is a 'one sentence journal'. There is not always time to sit down and journal everything that goes on in our day, but one sentence is absolutely do-able and as we have found, all that you really need to bring back a happy memory.

I found an old, empty journal and have left it open on our kitchen counter. It is mostly my daughter and I who write in it, the occasional visitor or sometimes a family friend. Anyone is welcome to contribute. It is a fantastic way of tracking what goes on in our lives.

My Daughters entry: 14-03-09 - "There were dolphins at the beach this morning, diving among the waves, while we trained on the sand"

My entry: 22-07-09 - "Went into the city today to do the NSW Art Gallery with my sisters & niece/nephew - a great day! (Hottest July day in 19 years)"

It is such a simple & effective idea and we love it at our place! Go visit Gretchen, she's a gem!

Completion

This is a triptych I began painting ages ago, then put aside, then finally pulled out once more to finish. Tropical fish again - an opportunity to use lots of colour, pattern and line. It does not show up very well in the photo, unfortunately. Double clicking on the image may be required.

Now I have pulled out another unfinished painting. This is a glimpse of one-ninth of the unfinished canvas. It is my largest painting yet, so I guess I do have an excuse for taking my time on this one. I got to a certain point with it, where I just kept on getting stuck, so putting it aside seemed to be the best thing to do. It is naive in style and I am really enjoying creating this one, however long it takes me!

Sundays, Sleep & Scrumptious!

We wake at 4.30am most mornings at our place and to be honest, I am not one of those people who cope very well without a decent, uninterrupted chunk of sleep. Thank heavens for Sunday mornings!

We treated ourselves, turned off the alarm & deliberately slept in till 10am - it was bliss! I dreamed deeply of a large, dark-brown brick house, almost Tudor in style. It was not my house and was surrounded by a dense forest of beautiful trees. I can still smell the damp, earthy smells of layers of fallen leaves. It was so real, magical & peaceful all at the same time.

Well slept, I was in the mood for cooking the afternoon away. I made a chicken & tomato casserole for dinner and a flourless/gluten-free/dairy-free, Moist Orange & Poppy-Seed cake, which should come with a warning - it's scrumptious! The trick is to cook it till it's done (pulling away from the sides of the tin), yet remains moist.

You will need;

2 x Oranges - tops removed & scored with a cross (3cm or 1" deep)
6 x large (600g) eggs
250g caster sugar (conversion here)
250g almond meal (conversion here)
3 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
2 teaspoons poppy-seeds

Place prepared oranges in boiling water & simmer for 50 mins. Remove and puree the entire orange (peel included) until smooth, in a food processor.

Pre heat oven to 160deg C (farenheit here)

In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs & sugar until light & fluffy. Add the almond meal & baking powder. Mix until combined.

Stir in the orange puree & poppy-seeds, then pour the mixture into a 22cm (8") cake tin, lined with baking paper.

Bake in oven for 40 mins, or until firm (may need to cook for up to 50 mins, depending on oven)

Leave to cool in the tin, then turn on to a wire rack.

(cake is suitable for freezing)

Enjoy!

Healing

Thank you for you words of support, it has been tough for me lately and absolutely everything is appreciated.

It is clear that I need meditation & yoga in my life once more - the best psychotherapy to be found, and it's free! I have been trying to get back there for some time now, but for some reason it has been difficult. Yoga is such a godsend and it seems we're inseparable. So I meditate now sometimes three times a day and I can feel the healing happening, slowly...

Nothing creative to show this post, next time maybe.