The Artist's Creed

I just recently came across this wonderful testimonial to creativity by Jan Phillips, so here to inspire you is the Artist's Creed..   Enjoy!

The Artist’s Creed by Jan Phillips

I believe I am worth the time it takes to create   whatever I feel called to create.

I believe that my work is worthy of its own space,  which is worthy of the name Sacred.

I believe that, when I enter this space, I have the right to work in silence, uninterrupted, for as  long as I choose.

I believe that the moment I open myself to the gifts of the Muse, I open myself to the Source of All Creation and become One with the Mother of Life Itself.

I believe that my work is joyful, useful, and constantly changing, flowing through me like a river with no beginning and no end.

I believe that what it is I am called to do will make itself known when I have made myself ready.

I believe that the time I spend creating my art is as precious as the time I spend giving to others.

I believe that what truly matters in the making of art is not what the final piece looks like or sounds like, not what it is worth or not worth, but what newness gets added to the universe in the process of the piece itself becoming.

I believe that I am not alone in my attempts to create,and that once I begin the work, settle into the strangeness, the words will take shape, the form find life, and the spirit take flight.

I believe that as the Muse gives to me,so does she deserve from me: faith, mindfulness, and enduring commitment.                

Another Mandala - show and tell

I just recently finished this mandala, it is one  that I started at our recent mandala workshop, 

 that we taught  a few weeks ago, at the Journey Center.

The colors just make me happy, 

feel expansive

 and like my heart is stretching its wings, in new and colorful ways.

At this point in my life, I seem to only create mandala's when I facilitate a workshop, which is one of the reasons, why I love to facilitate these workshops.  I have so many creative pulls in my life right now, so I don't often have the deep satisfying pleasure of stopping the world, 

and diving into the slow and soothing process of drawing  a mandala, 

and watching it unfold and work its healing, calming magic on me. 

 So, this one will have to do for now.   Until next time.

Journey Center Mandala workshop-

Patricia and I facilitated half day, introduction to the mandala process workshop,

 at the Journey Center, in Santa Rosa  yesterday. 

 The Journey Center is a place to come for spiritual renewal, and 

we were very impressed with its beauty, energy and sense of spirit filled possibility.

 Here are the photos of the amazingly beautiful mandalas that were created in that short amount of time.

                                                Although most of them are still in  process,

                                    the experience  of creating them was  calming,

                                                                     focusing

                                                                       mindful

and filled with insight.

Hopefully, some of the women who attended will send photos of their completed mandalas.  Nevertheless, I love to share the powerful images that are created, each  mandala unique and stunning. whether complete or in process.  

This hopefully will be the beginning of doing more mandala classes at this beautiful, healing spiritual center.

Intention Sticks...or Prayer Sticks..

Last week in my Medicine ARt Group, we made Intention sticks, which are in some ways like talking sticks, but the focus is on making a three dimesnional talisman, that is a visual reminder, or fetish piece to bind to you, and the intention that you set,  for your life or your future.  

                                                               Take Time For Me

I have always been drawn to creating tangible vision pieces and the summer felt like a good time to create these organic sculptural pieces.    So here are some photos, of the ones we  made last Friday.

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All over the world, people make objects to hold and send their prayers. There are special ceremonies found in ancient cultures and practiced today, that involve the construction of ‘holders and senders’ of prayers from natural materials.Prayer carriers have many names such as Bahos (Hopi), Lung ta (Tibet), Prayer Flags, Ikupasuy or Prayer Sticks, Prayer Bundles, Prayer Trees and so on.

 There really is something very satisfying about this process, holding the stick in ones hands, and wrapping, is soothing, meditative and in a way fulfilling.

Prayer Sticks are considered a vehicle through which we can communicate to the gods. Its artful and creative manufacture was a major concern; hours of thought and energy went into making a Prayer Stick.

Prayer Sticks with feathers attached as offerings to the spirits, were largely used by the Pueblo Indians. Pueblo Prayer Sticks are usually made of cottonwood about seven inches long, and vary in shape, colour, and the feather attached, according to the nature of the petitions, and the person praying.

The prayer energy is offered into the creation of our Prayer Sticks by thinking good thoughts, or healing thoughts, or thoughts of forgiveness, or whatever our reason for offering the prayers may be. All must be done with the very best intentions.

Here is Marcella  in the studio, with her Intention Stick.

• 
• Our Process 
• we gathered sticks, wrote or painted intentions on them,  or on strips of raffia or paper and glued or wrapped those onto the sticks binding them through the our movements to the sticks..
•  Next we added paint..
• We then, wrapped fibers, yarn, copper wire, string and or raffia around the intentions,
• After that, we added beads, feathers, charms and any number of interesting adornments to the sticks..

At on one of the next times that  we meet, we will begin making pocket shrines and see where that takes us.  I love to watch what emerges for everyone in this group and also I love connecting with the women in the group, and doing art with them.  What a blessing.
Until next time.

Color Wheel Mandala - Flowering Colors

So, along with backing my newest SoulCollage® cards, framing for this Friday's Sacred Circle Mandala show, and life, I have slowly but surely working on my newest mandala.


I began this one at our last mandala workshop.   Something about working on a color wheel mandala is soothing and invigorating at the same time.  I love have a repetitive pattern to work within.  Making patterns gives me feelings of safety and comfort, without worrying or considering where or what to do next.  And blending colors, softly letting the pencil circle around and around, watching new and vibrant shades emerge, fills me with energy.

So during a busy time, I still was able to carve bits of time in my late afternoons and early evenings brining to life another mandala.  I love how this process fits so well into my life, and shifts how I feel.  It's meditative quality stops the world and lets me dive into the moment.

My  newest mandala.  Enjoy.