I went outside in the misty grey dawn to see if I could view the eclipse. It is much too cloudy, we have had storms all week. I startled a Barred Owl right at the edge of the woods. They didn’t fly too far, I could see them perched on the silver maple tree. We have a lot of wildlife out here but it is a rare treat to see them so close. Lately I have seen more vultures than I can count, followed a red tailed hawk through the woods and left shiny buttons blessings for a dead crow. So many bird signs, this is a time of change, a time of growth. I am moving from Nauthiz to Isa, I am walking the spiral.
I had a realization today. I wanted to be available energy wise, for the passing of my friend’s dog in the Spirit Realm but I also had an errand to run. I did my ritual to enter the Spirit realm while I was heading out. I only ever do that ritual when I am home and settled in. I set an intention to be half in the Spirit realm and half in this realm until I could get to the park and settle in. I have heard from spiritual people over the years that we should always close the connection with the Spirit realm when we are done connecting for meditation, trance, tarot, etc. or we would be drained and it would pull on our spirits. But it was actually very comfortable. In fact, it was wholly familiar. This state of being is peaceful and it feels similar to when rain is on the way and the wind is blowing and the sky is dark but you know it is only rain and everything is safe. It feels like magic in the air. Turns out, I am in this state many times a day and I didn’t even realize what it was. I am starting to believe that we are often one foot in the Spirit realm and one foot out. I have always been comfortable with border areas, the hedge, the in between but I didn’t realize just how much.
I am blessed to have a friend who has been a shining light in my life since I was young. Her mother passed away, leaving earth too early. I offered to spirit walk with her and ask for any messages she might have for her daughter, my beloved friend.
I connected with her Mother today in the spirit world. She is a ribbon of colorful energy. She helped me to remember her messages from before and she showed me how beautiful she is now, how happy.
In my first visit with her mother, we flowed together in a stream of energy, it was compassionate, all loving, embracing and she told me that her main reason for being was to bring her daughter into the world. She was so incredibly grateful to have been able to do this and to have been able to be a part of her life. She was grateful to experience this kind of love. When we parted ways, I saw her clearly as a young rebellious, happy teenager walking down a quiet road lined with pine trees. I think she was wearing cutoff jean shorts. She turned around, smiling and shot us a bird then continued jauntily down her path.
Now she is waves and waves of pure color energy, ecstatic in the energy of the Universe.
She is a ribbon of colorful energy, she is like the wind, she is changing colors, the feeling you get when you lean out of the car window and the wind rushes against your face, watching the world go by, content and ecstatic at the same time. She can be tiny, I saw her from far away, spirally upwards in a tall peak and she can be larger than the universe, energy flowing and she is always the colors. She is happy in this form, this is her natural form, this is her. She let me know that she may not be human again for a long time. It was hard to be a human and she is so beautiful, so creative now that she is back in her true form.
Her daughter’s prayers and words to her are like the colorwaves and the wind that she rides, that she is. She hears them, feels them, understands that they are words, but to her they are like colors on the wind, they join in with her energy and fly around with her in ecstasy.
She came into her human form to accomplish one thing and that was to bring her daughter into the world. She sees her daughter now and she feels proud. She sees that her daughter has stepped into her true self and is living a life that is meaningful and authentic. She sees how much her daughter has grown and how much she has brightened the world and she feels that it was all worth it.
She has strong Angel energy. I think she was drawn to Angels while she lived and I remember an Angel showing up for her in the first vision I had. I played Angel music while visiting with her then remembered this about her later.
This art by MystikAngel on Deviant Art is similar to the colors I saw but her energy was arranged in more of a solid wave pattern.
There is this little tree down by the hammocks in the woods that has the sweetest pink leaves in the autumn. They fall down all around the tree, making a little pink blanket leaves fit for a princess to nap on.
I just can’t get enough of different shades of brown together. Dark browns, light browns, orangy browns…I love them all. And this piece with its rich brown burlap and dreamy colors really evokes that sort of mystery that I love when I think about life in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.
One of our favorite places to go is the river at McIntosh Reserve…sometimes we’ll keep it simple and just go for a walk at the riverside, but other times we’ll all go, toting fried chicken and potato salad. Mark will bring his banjo and it is magic.
This little piece is of course one of my beloved Titmouse photos but it is sealed down to all cd and framed in a nice circle.
My newest assemblage…acorns, pine scales, gourd seeds, coquina shells and mesquite beans all sealed down to an old scratched record with mod podge and red georgia clay. Framed with various woods that have been washed with a soft blue patina. I’m hooked. Can’t wait to do another one.
From what I’ve learned every artist must design their art fair booth to accomodate their own specific needs. I use reed screens to hang my pieces and a table to demonstrate and set out the smaller frames but I want to spruce it up a bit so that it is prettier and easier to use. I knew that I wanted a natural style to go with my art but I had two important considerations…
1. a strict budget 2. lightweight walls
So, this is what I did (Using the pronoun “I” loosely here since Mark and Riona have helped a bunch):
1. Purchase a reed screen from Home Depot for $25 and cut it in half. 2. Purchase fabric from Online Fabric Store for super low prices particularly if you have a coupon code for flat rate shipping. I got 8 yards of 60″ natural burlap for 4 panels sized 60″ x 72″. It cost under $20 total….would have been over $32 at the craft store. 3. Purchase garlands at the craft store for half off. 4. Attach a bamboo pole (Mark brought some home from a job) to the top with ropes and jute string then fasten garland on to the top as well. 5. Hang the screen from somewhere in the house and beat the cats off of it every two minutes. 6. Attach the burlap with embroidery string at the top. I did both sides (I want the back to covered in burlap too) but only at the top. 7. Run jute string across and tie at intervals through the entire thing so that you have loops to hang the art from and to attach the burlap to the screen on both sides. Redo this at least twenty times until you have it just right. 8. Redo it again. 9. Hang another garland going down the side. 10. Beat the cats off of it.
I am hanging my frames with clothespins and organizing them sort of haphazardly. It always surprises me how much work and effort goes into a relaxed, sort of natural look…sometimes I think it is a harder style to achieve than all anal and ordered and symmetrical. It’s like natural makeup…an oxymoron. I had the idea to just write each individual frame’s price on its clothespin…this just seems too easy and efficient…am I missing a flaw here? Hopefully not.
I didn’t really bother to straighten up the frames for this last photo…I was too worn out from keeping the cats from climbing the dang thing, picking up dropped clothespins and moving it so the child or the dogs could run through. It was chaos, this whole project was inspired chaos and guess what? I need to do it all again for the other wall. woo hoo.
In September, Mama and I set up our booth at Roopville then at the McIntosh Fall Festival and PowWow. Both were great experiences and we learned a lot. I got a lot of love from the people coming through…some were outright admiring while others were more like…”hmmm…well, that is interesting.” Between the two festivals I broke even and made a little bit of profit which went directly to funnel cakes and bbq and ice cream homemade by these delightful folks at Cavender Creek.
I have so many questions though…where do I fit in with my frames? Arts…Crafts…Folk Art? Who are my people? Do I go to juried arts shows and festivals or more crafty type community festivals?
One thing I have learned and this came directly from a new friend of mine Ron Free of the Big Duluth Creative Studio…find something that you love doing, stick with it and get really good at it…well, something like that but you know, it resonated and I do believe these twiggy twigs are the thing for me.
The next step…make more frames! Painted frames, framed collages, blank frames, custom frames…..anything that can be sealed down is getting framed! And in between that…keep looking for my people.
The McIntosh Fall Festival is coming up…September 24th and 25th 2011. This is a fun fall festival with PowWow activities…Native American dancing, music, teepees set up, all kinds of cool stuff along with kid’s activities, church bbq and arts and crafts vendors. Also, it runs right along the river…can you tell I love this festival? Well, it is my favorite park after all. And most exciting (to me) is that I will be camping and vending my frames there this year! Mama, Suzanne and I have teamed up as the Crow’s Nest Collective…offering an eclectic mix of handcrafted goodies. Annette Hartman presents her beautifully designed jewelry and gorgeous cards…
Suzanne Hartman presents her mossy creations and flower adornments, Woodland Shimmer
Also, more info to come on Steve’s blacksmithing! So excited to be there this year!
Here’s some more festival info: “Arts & craft festival featuring Native American craftsman, dancers, musicians, foods, Confederate encampment. Trading blanket Saturday evening. Park offers horse trails, hiking trails, play & splash, primitive camping (no hookups) free to vendors. Beautiful wooded park with wild life, riverside picnic area within minutes of Carrollton, Newnan, and Douglasville. Only handmade arts & crafts!”
My post on this festival from a few years back with more photos is here.
Wildwood Hollow Studio 
