The World Offers Itself

"This turning deeply towards what you love, saves you."  Rumi

Wild Geese

"You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes, 

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, 

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting  

over and over announcing your place 

in the family of things."

from Dream Work by Mary Oliver 

published by Atlantic Monthly Press

© Mary Oliver

Playing around with mixed Media.....makes me happy

This is what I have been just recently up to. ....and the process makes me happy. Art making is life enhancing and its like second nature to me.

One thing always leads to another.... and that is how it is with these little collage's I make

 I love to play around with this and that.  A little bit of image, a splattering of paint, outlines and accents, papers and words.

I start with watercolor paper, and very very, loose and wet watercolors.


I love to flick and splatter and watch what happens spontaneously to the pain as it is randomly flicked across the page.

After the paint dry's, I add washes, and rubber

stamps, and a world begins to emerge,

images suggest themselves...and I articulate them.

 Then come the words, sometimes I write them in cursive, or print them,  but lately I love the look of stamped letters on the paper.  I give myself permission with these words.

 Permission to Enjoy Life and Believe in Myself.  Trust in this process of random expression, and witnessing what it becomes.

 

The words that come are ones that give me permission,


remind me of what is important

make my inner child happy


and take me to other lands...




Allowing me to imagine the worlds that the pictures form and make up stories to fill the worlds, and then try to make sense of these myths in my daily
real life.

Then I begin to wonder what to do with all of these pages, sell them, would anyone want them??? hold onto them, hide them away.

I have recently been going through all of the art of my dear friend Patricia, who recently passed away. It is an honor and an over whleming task, and there is so much of it, an amazing and beautiful legacy to who she was and how she experienced the world.  


Ahhh, so this is what  this rambling post has lead to.  Like I said, this is what I have been up to.
Until next time, to who so ever reads this.  Ciao...




PLEASE FORGIVE THE WIERD SPACING IN THIS POST. ....they changed the format to this blogspot site and it is confusing...scusi.

Fun with Matchbook Shrines

This past week I went to my good friend Lizette's house, with another  friend Yolanda.  

We had a wonderful morning in which Lizette taught us how to make Matchbook Shrines.  Lizette, who is a clown and has a circus with her husband Todd, Jest In Time Circus, has been making these magical small shrines for quite a while now. 

 Her enthusiasm and wonderful little altars were an inspiration to both of us.   

So here is the first step, taking apart a small matchbox, and reconfiguring it on a template we cut out of card stock.

Putting a photo or an image in the center of the glued together altar that sets the intention for the shrine.

I decided through synchronicity, ( ie: this was the first image I came across in my collage scrap box that interested me) to do a shrine to Frida Kahlo and here is the beginning of my shrine.

                                                       My Shrine to Frida in process......

                                  And the completed little shrine!  Isn't this adorable.  I love it.

Here is Yolanda's shrine to her dog Serena, who lives on in her memory and heart, loving and sweet.

                              The rest of these shrines are Lizette's, this is her personal inner child.

               Each one so unique and dedicated to someone or a part of her inner self.

This one is very close to my heart. It is the one she completed the day we met, it is dedicated to Jason Brownlie, Lizette's son, who passed away over 6 years ago.  He loved trains, everything about them including riding in  them.   He was an amazing spirit filled being and is deeply missed.

            And another one of Lizette's Matchbook shrines.  They are  little vignettes.

This one is in honor of her clown self, and the role of clowning in her life.

                                           This shrine is in honor of Lizettes's mother.

This process is so simple, yet can be so sophisticated, magical and such a healing process.  I can't wait to do more, and I am playing with the idea of offering a class to people in my SoulCollage® groups, a day of taking one of their Companion (personal guides)  or  Council (archetypes activated in their lives) cards and using a photocopy of it as the base for a shrine.  It is a great idea.  If it happens I will post the process here.  Until next time. Ciao..Caterina

Some New SoulCollage® Cards

As usual, it has been quite a while since I have posted here.  I have to make more of an effort, because I want this blog to be current and relevant.  My problem, I feel I need to say something significant here.  So that holds me back as I wait for inspiration. So my new plan is just to post what I have been working on, whether or not I have inspiring words to go along with the posts.  Shorter, sweeter, and consistent posting.  

In that light, here are a series of SoulCollage® cards that I have made in the past month or so, in my ongoing SoulCollage® Inner Muse groups.  

 I am the one who is grounded, happy and balanced in my life. I am open to the blessings of the universe streaming down upon me.  I love my life and am at peace in my body.

I am the one who is comfortable in my body as it is.  I am safe, relaxed and transforming in my attitude to how I feel in my body, how I see myself and imagine others to see me. I am relaxed and visible.  

I am the one who finds time to slow down, take care of myself, and stretch into health. I am the one who finds sacred space, when I commit to doing good things for myself.  I open to healing with commitment to health.

Water- Element Series

I am the one who dives into the unconscious, who journeys with others as they explore the realm of myth, image and imagination.  I am the voyeur, the participant and the guide in the realm of the unconscious. 

          Fire - Element Series

I am the container for the Sacred Fire of Spirit and Light.  I am the space within, where spirit resides.

I need tending and care so as not to be out of control.  I live within and reside within all life.

I am the one who lives in joy, in accord with my instincts.  I find happiness all around me. I am open to the messages that come from nature and birds are my spirit guide. 

So for today, that is all, I hope to post more soon. Enjoy the images.  Ciao...