Tuesday's Flower

Okay, so it's now Wednesday. I've been busy this week, so here is Tuesday's flower a day late. The house smells of frittata cooking, salads are on the table, candles lit and water glasses filled. We have a peaceful home tonight.


I spent most of the day finishing a painting of fruit & vegetables on a glass platter, laid on a decorative shawl. An open window in the background , a lush garden with a magpie perched on the sill, eyeing the platter greedily. The painting has its good points, though I rushed the composition. Ah well, you learn something new each time you complete a canvas. I've since added flowers to the garden, but here's a peek at the progress...





Happy, Tuesday or Wednesday to you too!

'Coastie' Visits the Big City

Being a coastal dweller, north of Sydney, I don't always get the chance to visit the big city and all it has to offer. My sister recently moved there and so now I have a reason to go down more regularly, a central point where my other sister and brother also coverge, so more family time for us all.

This visit we walked ourselves silly, visiting various art galleries, sometimes with my brother at the lead, other times my sister, stopping to re-fuel every now and then. I never tire of the Sydney Opera House or Sydney Harbour and its bridge, they mean home to me.

A couple of days there was a break from my familiar four walls. I'm back feeling oh so refreshed (she says as she lets out a deep sigh!)

These sketches I did while sitting on the top floor balcony of my sister's house at 5.30am, when the city was just beginning to stir and hum - people on their way to work, jogging, walking dogs down to the bay. The sun was just coming up and the sky was a soft pink, the last of the jacaranda blooms lit up in the tree-tops.

Life's Blueprint

As we grow inside the womb, we read the cards we have been dealt, the rough blueprint for our lives.

We see the road ahead so that we can recognise it when we come to it.

We learn about love, while our mothers nurture us.

We are watched over by the one who observes us.

Then we go out into the world....

Mandala Healing

I recently looked back at an old post where I made lots of wellness mandala's. It got me in the mood to make one today. A meditative thing to do.

This painting I posted a while back in its half-way done state. This is still not finished, but nearly there... I am actually taking things away from it, it turned out to be such a busy painting. I wanted it to be rich, opulent and exotic, then got a little carried away. I like it still though!
(apologies for the flash glare).

Lesson Learned

We are taught in the Yoga room that it is wise not to get too attached to anything.

One asana practice/meditation will be smooth and expansive, the next one restless and hard to stay with. I am in recovery from illness and yesterday I really felt like I was making progress throughout the day, my mind just a little restless, mostly smooth and quiet, then I lost the strong thread again.

Lesson learned - it's one step forward, two steps back. Patience and persistence are required. And maybe a little more sleep and TLC.....

How To Say Thanks

Sometimes it's easy to say thank you, yet sometimes when gratitude is overwhelming, it can be difficult to find the words to match the deed.

I stumbled upon a link while reading one of my favourite blogs, The Happiness Project . Thank you Gretchen! Leah shows us by beautiful example just how to practice being grateful for every. little. thing. by writing thank you notes.

When I stop to think about all the little notes I would need to write to thank people in this life of mine, well, it will take me right into my next life, I am sure!

So just in case you miss out on getting a note from me, I'll thank YOU now!

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I've been doing lots of creative cooking lately, trying to get out of a cooking rut, choosing the healthier options, yet I still keep falling back on the potato, a favourite of the boys in the family. The potato gets a lot of criticism, however it's is actually quite nutritious and is great for people feeling under stress. Who knew?

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The journal page is an 'oil flower'.

Here Be Dragons

I posted this poetry by John Squadra from 'This Ecstasy' once before and it came into my head again this evening, while I was meditating. I thought I would share it with you again.

The journal page is a map and we're headed north, to the love shaped island :) for the second time.

Enjoy the poetry!

'Forget Everything'

If someone says,
“To be enlightened you must fast and pray all night,”
Have dinner and go to bed.
If you see a sign, “This way to salvation,”
run the other way.
If someone says, “This book is the truth, you can buy it from me,”
Take your money and buy grapes and roses.
If someone says, “He’s talking tonight, thousands will be saved.”
Go for a walk…listen to the birds and watch the clouds,
and leave your backpack, your Bible and your Buddha under a tree
and hope they will be gone when you return.
Where we are going you can’t carry anything, not even your name.
If there is logic in the above, be afraid, it’s a lie.
But if you feel something in your chest as beautiful as the grass beneath your feet,
be grateful…open your arms
and forget everything you ever thought you knew.

Hidden on the Page

I've been distracting myself from all kinds of oily worries by making paint effects, then studying the page to see what is hiding. A bit like looking up at fluffy, white clouds and seeing a monkey riding a bicycle up there! Not possible to lie in the grass and look up at the sky today - it's raining and the sky is a pale, steely grey, puddles everywhere!

This page was hiding fish and once I found one, others kept swimming out of the page. The art journal is a bit like that too. When you look back at what you have created, you begin to see things that are an expression of your sub-conscious. Not all that helpful in retrospect, but interesting just the same. It's nice to know that there is one less thing cluttering up your mind, even if you weren't aware of it slipping out.

This next page prompted me to pull out some old children's verse that I wrote years ago.

Snake

Between two blades of grass
I spied your ankles and your toes.
I slithered out all slippery
So quiet, you wouldn’t know.

You saw me there right at your feet
And released a little gasp.
Your eyes grew wide, you tried to scream,
But your voice came out a rasp.

I decided not to bite you
I let you back away.
Then slithered off all slippery
To your absolute dismay.

by Patti Bourne

Slow Processing

This is a sketch I did recently of a large tree, maybe a fig, beside what is known as 'the Brisbane Water'. Someone has put wooden steps all the way up to the middle of the tree and a few platforms to look out from.
It reminds me of the Enid Blyton books of my childhood called 'The Faraway Tree', where the children in the story climbed up the tree and into a magical world in the clouds, full of magical characters. It's a little patch of paradise to me and I wonder if the locals realise what they have?

I have had lots to process lately, not all of it making sense to me right now. Journaling always comes to the rescue, taking care of the overflow. Sleep has been elusive for so long, for many reasons, and even more difficult throughout the extremely tropical summer we have just had. Lately I have managed to finally get some, so this has been an ongoing theme in the journal for a while now.

Sleep, sleep and more sleep! On this journal page I did a paintbrush effect that left what looked like lots of little eyelashes, so I turned them into sleeping faces, with dream bubbles puttering over their heads.