Back in the Blogging World once again

After much more then several years, 2 knee replacements,  treatment for lymphoma...all of which occurred over 2 years ago, and now a major urban wildfire in my beloved Sonoma County, I am now coming  back to this blog.  

After the recent wildfire and being evacuated at 3:30 in the a.m, with flames shooting up into the sky in the hills behind my house, I got a horrible flu/ like cold.  I woke up one morning, vowing to start up this blog again.  So here I am.   

 My original focus when I started this  blog, was sharing the work and classes I did as an art therapist, instructor, creativity facilitator.  However, as I stopped this blog and time has passed, I have decided, even though I still teach and facilitate groups, to focus on my work as and artists here.

This year I turned 70, OMG, and realize if not now, when?  I am an artist and love making art.  I am obsessive about it do it all the time and what to make my living, or a good portion of it from my art, so it is time to come out of the teacher closet, and share it with others.  So that is what I am doing, here.  

All of these image are done with alcohol ink on tile and on glass.  I have fallen in love with the vibrancy of this media, its quick satisfaction and its expressive intense qualities.  

I have been doing this for about a year now, so I am sharing a few pieces as my  entry into the blog world once again.  

I am narrative in my work with alcohol ink and am always intrigued with the story that emerges out of my art.  My need to express myself quickly, loosely and playfully, while allowing what wants to emerge is greatly satisfied when doing these small pieces.  Also I am able to make a lot quickly, to sell at reasonable prices at shops and fairs for the holidays.  So here are some of what the ones I have been creating in the last month.  More to come, more to say.  Hello to whoever reads this and finds it of interest.  Stay safe, one never knows what comes next.  Caterina

Making Multiples - On a roll - or rather a Circle - Oh My

Shiny clear glass domes

Well, I am back at it again, making more and more of the pendants from my mandalas, Patricia's mandalas as well as the buddha/bottisatvas.   I decided to post my process here.  I have been uploading these on occasion to my facebook page and a friend asked if I was going to do a workshop.  Hmmm, who knows, but right now I am making them to sell, hoping to find stores and people who fall in love with these charming little amulets.

 Here are some of the domes with images glazed on, I love how they look all together.

All lined up and drying  in my studio, waiting for chains, or ribbons or whatever, lots of mandalas hoping for new homes and lovely ladies hearts to grace.

I think I have said this before, but there is something so comforting about creating multiples of things, lots of little circles of wholeness, waiting for someone's imagination to project on it.

 The one problem is organizing and sorting through all of these pendants....here they are in a jewelry display holder

This one is my full moon Spring Tree of Live Mandala, in a copper setting.  I am in love with the copper right now.  Although the photo I took of this amulet isn't the greatest, this is one of my favorite images.

 Butterfly Transformation Amulet.  I created this mandala when recovering from surgery.

Here are some of my new Buddha pendants in circle pendant trays rather than oval.  I am trying to simplify things by just working in the circle now.

Ta Da.... a close of up of one of the buddhas.  I love this one...
So that is what I have been up to and rather obsessed by lately.  Now to market them.  I have posted some in my etsy store, but am looking for real live people to buy them from me.

Want one?  

Or know of any stores that would like to carry this line of Amulets.

 Let me know.

 Ciao Caterina

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.                

Once again getting excited...about SoulCollage® Training in June.

 Last weekend I led a introduction to SoulCollage®, for a group of my old colleague's, that I  worked with at Santa Rosa Junior College, for over 25 years.  We are now meeting monthly, to keep the connection we developed going.  Some of us, have been laid off from the college, (myself), others continue working there, and others are now retired.  We all enjoy the memories of the incredibly rich, humanistic program that  we worked in and developed together, with others.  It heartens us in these challenging times to reflect on it , and saddens us to know that what we worked for has been decimated by the California budget crisis.  Ahhh, but thats a whole other story. The arts by the way, were the first to go.

I loved sharing this process with my old friends, and everyone who came, really dove into the process and loved it.  Here is Tana, cutting away as she creates one of her SoulCollage® cards.  I only wish I had photographed everyones cards, but I was having too much fun doing my own to stop and take photos.

So, I am getting excited about doing the training in June.  The last time I was about to go, in March,  I had a freak accident the night before and had to cancel.  I am hoping that nothing unusual will befall me before this next training. (Actually that is a belief that I need to release.

I am also excited because I am starting a SoulCollage® Inner Muse, monthly open studio at my studio in July, and people are already interested.  This will be a wonderful art process, to add to those that I already offer through my studio art practice.  If you live in the area, and are interested, please do get in touch!

So in the light of show and tell, which is really what I love about this blog, I am sharing the three cards that I created that day.

"Mirrors are used to see our face, but art to see our soul..."

~ George Bernard Shaw

Bird Medicine repeats itself again and again in all my art.

And lastly, this card, which I shared in my last blog post, it is  the card that really speaks to me right now.  The limitless blessings spilling over from source, again and again, never ending.  But it is opening to the awareness of its presence that is the work to be done.

Blessings to all.

A wish for us All

Oh please do watch this sweet and short video by Lynn Whipple posted on Lanie Garriety's 14 Secrets for a Happy Artists Life.

14 Secrets for a Happy Artist's Life: A sweet video from Lynn Whipple

Yes!
and now go make something,
do it for you, do it for me, create it for the whole wide world. Amen.

New Soul Collage Cards

I have been making Soul Collage cards, in preparation for taking a Soul Collage Facilitator training next month.  Here are some images, without words...for your viewing pleasure..
Do any of these call out to you, and if so what do they say?

More to come, until then... ciao.

Why do we do what we do?

I was just reading a post on Lanie Garrity's wonderful blog 14 Secrets to a Happy Artists life,  and one of her posts focused on this question.  It really got me thinking about my life now,  as an artist and as an art therapist.

I was born with a congenital heart condition, and as an only child growing up in Chicago, I spent alot of time alone, often in the hospital, and when not, missing school often, rarely playing outside with other children.

I was pretty lonely, and art became my best friend, my ally, and my constant companion.

I self soothed, created imaginary friends and worlds, and lost myself for hours in lovely fantasy.

This rich inner world, stayed with me my whole life, and after having open heart surgery on my 13th birthday, I threw myself into life and activity.

But artmaking stayed with me, throughout my life and shaped my life into the one it is today.

As a child, I remember often looking down from our third floor window watching the kids in the alley and courtyard, riding bikes, playing with hoola hoops and on the swings.  I felt like an outsider and wanted to belong.


And even though making art made me happy I wanted to do it with others...  Whenever I was sick, my parents would give me another paint by numbers set, or kit for weaving pot holders.  I loved to make different things, use my hands, and build little people out of mushed up toilet paper, making up stories and traveling across the united states in our long hallway with my handmade paper doll friends....

As I fast forward to my life now, I see that I live a life now that allows me to do art with others, share all the different art processes I have learned, and offer   others the opportunity to explore the healing realms of their imagination.

This is a bit more personal that I have been before on this blog, but it seemed to fit for today, so Thank you Lanie  for your wonderful prompt.

Why do you do what you do?     Ciao

Fall Mandala- Process of a Drawing....

About two weeks ago, myself and my working partner, Patricia Water's, led an Illuminated Mandala workshop, focusing on the change of the seasons, from Summer to Fall.  

We are both facilitators of the late Judith Cornell's Mandala Process.  The workshop was a wonderful day and I have shared the groups process in my last post.  I have finally finished my mandala and am sharing the process of the drawing here.  

This is my original drawing, using white prismacolor pencils on the black paper.

In this second image you can see how I add the scale of light (reversed shading) to the images on my mandala, illuminating the shapes with light.

  

 In this drawing I have begun to add color, in some cases going over the white and in other areas, leaving the white light uncolored.

 Each step of the way is primarily unplanned, and whenever I do something I don't particularly like, I go with it, letting it take me where the drawing wants to go.  Allowing it to change and evolve organically.

Here is the final pieces, a lot more subdued than the last image, but still illuminated.  The intention of this piece was release as well as trusting the process of life and change to guide me, as we move into the winter, the dark, the unknown of the cycle of life.

This mandala, along with many of my other mandala's will be available as a matted print on my etsy store, for purchase.  Patricia and I take these workshops on the road, so if you are interested please get in touch, here.  Our next scheduled Illuminated Mandala Seasonal workshop will be a New Years Intention Mandala Day in January of 2010. Please check our website at the Creative Arts Studio for updates on the details.

Inspiration Monday - A Reminder : Why We Create- Take the Time to Make Art!

Today is a good day for a little inspiration, a reminder of how important it is for us to take the time to create, not for product but for how the experience of art making transforms us in unknown and known ways.  
So I am sharing this wonderful video  that reminds us why it is so important and powerful to create.

I tried to embed it here but, somehow that didn't work so here it the link.  Take the time to watch it, or rather make the time to watch it.  

Even if you already know why creativity heals and is powerful, this wonderful U-Tube video says it so eloquently and clearly.  It is a reminder for Monday!..Enjoy!


Click on the green link below, (that says why we make art!)  

Why We Make ART!

Imagination is the true Magic Carpet....

As we open to the energy of spring, it is important to remember to use its energy to open to the imaginal realm as we create our visions for our lives.   We create it whether we want to or not, know it or not, believe it on not, so why not create consciously.  This is a thought that comes to me again and again as I step into the greening of the spring.

As I travel through my day, I have found myself imagining the green of the earth, the grasses that are sprouting all around my house and my life, growing up into my body and invigorating me with their life force.  Health, vitality, new growth streaming into my body, teaching me how to be in my life with newness and a sense of possibility.

Pay attention to what is right in front of you, take the time, even if its 30 seconds, to cherish the moments of your day, simple, complex, frustrating, and the  challenging as well as the sweet and tangible ones.
These are my spring thoughts, my prayers for balance and a renewed physical engagement with life.

Build a structure of belief whether you believe it or not, let consistency be the ritual that transforms the day and the world into one that fits my dreams.   Send these thoughts on wings of dreamy reverie, put the postage stamp of approval on them, open, hope, suspend judgement.

Honor the imagination.  As Einstein said "Imagination is more important than knowledge"

Because our imagination is like a magic carpet that can take us away, and fill us with hope, and reframe the present so unlike a bitter pill, life is much easier to swallow.

So as the landscape of this season unfolds in my creativity and my dreams and my fantasies, I offer these images and thoughts for bringing spring into your life .

                                               Happy Spring Dream Time to all...