Sacred Life Saturday: Just buzzing!!

i've seen adverts for this dvd magazine in regular-paper mixed media mags, and decided to give it a go... i ordered it from karen's landey's etsy shop, but you can visit the indie art website as well! i just think it's a wonderful concept - to see interviews with artists rather than reading them!

i chose this issue for the interview with nick bantock - i LOVE this man's work!! i read the griffin and sabine saga (all 6 volumes) a couple of years ago, and was instantly transported to a magical world - not of children's fairytales - but of grown-up mystery and love... and it's just too wonderfully voyeuristic to read their 'actual' letters and cards, all tucked in envelopes inside the books...

watching this interview and 'meeting' the funny, articulate, gifted artist himself, i had to pull his artful dodger off my bookshelf and reread it :o)

there is also an interview with judy wise - another favourite of mine!! the sheer range of her artistic skill with so many media is mind-blowing! she is a living testimony to the human endeavour to learn as much as possible in this lifetime!!

i'm always so inspired to see/hear/read artists discussing their work - it just gets the juices flowing... if only i had a private studio with all my materials laid out ready *sigh*

the muse tends to slip away as i struggle to get stuff laid out on the dining table... ho, hum!!

A Belated Wellness Wednesday: Wonderful Worlds

i'm discovering the wonderful world of tarot!!

i've just joined TABI - the Tarot Association of the British Isles - and i'm proudly displaying their badge on my sidebar (you can click on the hyperlink underneath the logo - i've yet to find a widget to link the logo directly to the site!). they're a wonderful online group and i'm hoping to take their beginners' course next month - i'm on the waiting list!!

this is a celtic cross spread i did for myself a couple of weeks ago. the cards are an awesome deck i bought from etsy - some of my favourite collage artists made cards for the deck, and in the accompanying book you can read of what inspired each artist as well as a very perceptive meaning for each card.

i'm not planning to pitch up at the seaside wearing hoop earrings and a headscarf anytime soon, but i am finding the tarot to be a wonderful self-discovery tool. the link between carl jung's collective consciousness and the archetypal images of the main tarot cards is something i'm learning about.
i read this book cover to cover the other week and i've got several more lined up :o)

i'm convinced the soul 'sees' in images, and i'm finding a way to combine my love of art and my deep interest in people :o) friends, and even strangers, are responding to a favourite image and telling me of what it 'reminds' them... already, i've had some incredible conversations prompted by the cards...

i feel this is the next step on my inner journey... who knows - and even cares - where it will lead!! it's a fool's journey full of adventure and deep learning, and i'm sooo excited to be on it :o)

PS you may notice the newly sparkling glitter sisters badge on my sidebar! it will now link to the blog of beloved violette - the creator of GPS - the Glitter Power Sisters :o)

** update **

my boy's safely home, tucked up in bed :o)
so thank you for all the comments and good thoughts keeping him safe on his adventure!
i haven't heard any news about it yet - he's still asleep - awwww!

Sacred Life Sunday: Being a brave mama

my gorgeous boy left on friday evening for a school trip to germany - he'll be gone five days...
it's his first trip aboard without us, so i'm trying to be a brave mama...
i had a horrible dream on friday night and woke at 3am - one of those dreams where your worst fears play out in front of you - i was afraid to go back to sleep - so i didn't!!
i'm sure he's having an awesome time - and that's what i so want for him - but it's soooo hard to let go... it's his first day at nursery all over again...
as he grows up, it should be easier, but it isn't - the fears just get bigger in proportion...
this is the sacred life of motherhood - feeling the fear, but letting your kids experience life anyway!! now i know how my mum felt when i announced i was going to live in kenya for a year, knowing no one and no written confirmation of my teaching post... it was a great adventure for me aged 22 - it must have been the worst nightmare ever for her!!!
so i say a prayer for brave mamas everywhere and promise your kids will eventually, maybe years later, understand all you went through...

Those who are willing to be vulnerable move among mysteries.

Theodore Roethke

Proud to receive...

... this award!

olivia nominated me the other day. here's what i have to do to accept it:

Here are the rules of accepting the award (Please note: you can copy and paste these rules from my blog to yours). Also,if you don't want to accept the award (no time, no energy), just know that I thought of you and that you have a Brilliante Weblog!!

1) Put the logo on your blog.

2) Add a link to the person who awarded you.

3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4) Add links to those blogs on yours.

5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

i knew i'd have a hard time nominating 7 people who haven't already received this award - they all have such brilliant blogs!! so i'm selecting the seven blogs i read the most regularly :o)

carla - for her inspiration and raw honesty

christine - for her beautiful, thought-filled posts - the words, the pics... (she's on a blog break right now)

fran - for her amazing artistic versality

hedgewitch - for her beautiful, informative blog

misty - i just love this lady's art!! and the poetry of her soul...

violette - for forming the glitter sisters and for being such an inspiration

zorana - for her inspiration (i'm so glad she's back from her blog break!!) and her beautiful artwork - some of which adorns my home

thank you all for making blogland such a beautiful, inspiring place :o)

Sacred Life Sunday: Thank you for the music!

The sound of ABBA is the soundtrack of my youth, rediscovered in mid-life as the sound guaranteed to get friends on the dance floor at parties brandishing hairbrushes and wooden spoons! so when i saw a movie was coming out, i assumed me and 'the girls' would see it en masse as we did with the SATC (Sex and the City) movie a few weeks ago....

what i didn't expect was my 10-year-old daughter wanting to see it - thankfully it's a PG! - with her ageing mama!! so that's what we did yesterday afternoon - me and my poppet standing in line with all the other ladies of a certain age....

what made this such a sacred experience were all the emotions i felt throughout the 1.5 hours... nostalgia, fun, laughter, respect for all the actors, not known for their singing and dancing (esp. meryl streep - did you know this awesome woman has just turned 59!!!!), the whole gamut of emotions watching a mother and daughter prepare for the girl's 'big day' as i sat beside my own beautiful, beautiful daughter.... sadness at my lack of mobility - will i ever dance exuberantly again?, disbelief at where the years have gone - the way the opening bars of every song can collapse the passage of time and suddenly i'm a teenager again with all the time in the world to live my life, just to glance to my right and see my own pre-teen daughter with all her hopes and dreams...

isn't it amazing what we can experience sitting in a chair watching a big screen...????

PS
this was today's FBL quote in my emailbox which i checked having written this post:

When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched,

you begin to discover that it's bottomless,

that it doesn't have any resolution,

that this heart is huge, vast, and limitless.

You begin to discover how much warmth and gentleness is there,

as well as how much space.

Pema Chodron (b. 1936); Buddhist nun

you can add a widget in your sidebar if you want - just scroll down to find it near my previous post :o)