Teaching the therapy journal course
Oh my gosh guys I had the best day!I taught some incredible women today how to make their own found words/therapy journal so they could journal their way thru their own various stages of wonky cell therapy.
I love these times where I can share my own therapy journal and help people, even people who claim they can't paint a stick man, make some beautiful, satisfying art, which speaks volumes to them.
There's so much available to us in art these days which makes making marks, drawing, painting, so easy. Not just pencils and erasers, but all sorts of felt pens, bits of torn ephemera and mat medium, stamps and a rainbow of ink pads...and tracing paper. Tracing paper is fantastic. Everyone had to start somewhere, and tracing is one of the best ways to learn how to draw an image.
And to help us in that I brought my beautiful deck of Druid animal oracle cards. They are such powerful images. I just love them.Also, these days there are so many free adult colouring pages on line. Some of those images, bits of the pages, are perfect for tracing and transferring into our journals.
I brought my stamps and ink pads, and some papers to rip up for collage, and mat medium, old postage stamps, Japanese magazines, an old atlas, music sheets, my watercolour pencils and some of those great brushes with the water reservoir in the handle.
So off we went.It really only is just a matter of learning a trick or two and you're making art!
We had a couple lovely hours drinking tea, making a mess, making sense out of nonsense, and having so much artistic fun.
And we had fun!Boy did we have fun.
And we were laughing!And we were sharing.And we were making some seriously beautiful art journal pages.
I'm looking forward to next month's workshop already.If you'd like to see my process and make your own journal, here's a tutorial form my archives.
Announcing a new drawing challenge: Leap, and the aftermath of a party!
Hi everyone,I get to host this week's drawing challenge and the theme will be Leap. Obviously, since it's a leap year, but also because of mad March hares and unconstrained spring joy and starting March with a daily drawing habit...oh yes!
The trouble is that after last night's Oscar party and junk food, we felt like Morgan this morning.Ugh.Also, you know what? Junk food costs a lot of money! Honestly! Sixty two dollars for hot wings, chips, pop (not Coke or Pepsi...I do have my standards!) dips and candy!Eating healthy, locally grown foods and cooking them from scratch is a whole lot more economical. Just saying.
Anyway, the trouble this morning was that we are used to feeling like this!
So we went down to the Buddha-Full juice bar...
And treated ourselves to a couple organic booster drinks.
I chose an almond milk chai, with antioxidants like cardamon, cinnamon and ginger. and Clove got the Buddha-Licious fruit smoothy.
So we sat in the weak sunshine sipping our drinks...
...and we started to feel a bit better. A bit fresher.
Whew! No more junk foods...at least till next year's Oscars...or Superbowl or something. :D
So Drawing Challenge: Leap.Please join me. You have all week to think of something and I will post a post this Friday, March 4th, you pop by and link up to someplace linkable with your answer to this prompt and we will all go visit each other over the weekend. :D
Hello from Sunday night. The Oscars with my girls edition.
Here we are at home watching the Oscars.My girls and I.The Oscars have their red carpet, but we have our red light. And the ladies at the Oscars have some stiff dress competition with our gown and bling.And we, super healthy we, are having not so healthy chicken wings, twice baked potatoes and some candy for desert.It's lovely having a home party evening once in a while. The Oscars are our tradition and I'm so glad both my girls are here with me to watch it.
Drawing challenge: Metamorphosis
I was so excited when Ariane called this drawing challenge: metamorphosis for this weekend, because this month I feel like I've been going thru a personal metamorphosis.
Do you know that saying how it takes 30 days to break an old habit and start a new one?Well, this month, every morning, I've been drawing and painting in a little sketch book. I've been taking part in my local art supply store's daily drawing challenge.
And I've been loving every minute of it.Every morning I make a cup of tea and look up the challenge theme and paint for an hour, then post it on Instagram.I have to say that now, at the end of the month, I love my new habit and love how far my art has progressed. I even scanned some of my favourite little paintings and printed them on art paper as prints for my Etsy shop.(Yes I know, I'm working on it :D)
Yesterday I decided to paint that metamorphosis in my large Reflections journal, and this is what it turned into:
It's funny now that I reflect back at it. Franz Kafka's book Metamorphosis has always been an influence in my life, hence the beetle in the painting. But the absurdity of it all brought in an element of Dali, whose exhibit I last saw in Prague...Kafka...me...Prague...get it? Then, that butterfly. I literally saw her yesterday. As I opened the front door, she flew past me above the front garden flower bed. So here's my metamorphosis. Shedding the confines of the old bug skin, shedding the inability to find time to paint each day, and, even if a little blindly, slipping the surly bonds of the ground and knowing that she's getting ready to soar.Thank you so much Rosie girl. It's been a wonderful experience painting metamorphosis.Pop by Ariane's for more fantastic transformations. :D
Spring garden clean up. The harsh and not so pretty truth.
It's so pretty and clean inside, isn't it?
Not so much outside in the back garden.
So, while the sun is out, I put both of the cats and my citrus tree outside, (Morgan went quietly, but Milo was hauled out unceremoniously from under Chloe's quilt), and spent three-plus hours spring cleaning the garden.
Oh yes! Raking and pruning resulted in two green bins full to the brim, ready for next Monday's pick up.
Morgan helped me take stock of the general state of the plants after a non-existent winter.
The roses are all doing extremely well and greening up like crazy. It was high time for a prune and that's exactly what I did. The Julia Child rose is outgrowing all the others so I had to trim that Dame down to size.
Both the rosemary bushes are vibrant with blossoms. You wouldn't think it in a northern climate, but it's true! I saved both of the plants from construction sites and they are rewarding me with abundant and luxurious growth. (Note to self: find more rosemary recipes)
Morgan, who is my gardening companion, took a sudden interest in the boughs of the ancient apple tree.
Ah, so that's it. I've been trowing the Christmas nuts out to the squirrels and they've been around me in the garden every day.
Under the apple tree there are tons and tons of violets.I love violets so much. Isn't it unfair that, once you smell their sweet scent, you have to go smell coffee or wait for several minutes to smell it again?I think it's high time to candy some again for the year.
And here are the June bearing raspberries. Last year was the most incredible season for them. I hope this year is a repeat.
Morgan is judging my rose pruning.
My very small collection of garden statuary is still fine. The little pig and the cherub are ready to adorn the garden beds again this year. One hangs out under the raspberries and the other under the climbing hydrangea. My granddaughters love them.
The clumps of mini daffodils are my Old Faithfuls. They were those kinds one buys in pots in grocery stores, and once they bloomed out, I planted the whole bunch of bulbs straight into the garden, where they naturalise, multiply and bloom each year. I've done that very successfully with grocery store bought crocuses, irises and hyacinths as well, and, although the hyacinths don't come back as full as the original store bought ones, they're taller and just as fragrant, so actually better for the vase.
One little disaster from last summer's drought is that a giant and old hedging cedar tree died, and I decided to remove it plus the two cedars beside it to the South because they were just too wide and closing off my path to the shade garden. Unfortunately, I lost a bit of privacy from my neighbour, but I like my neighbour very much, and plan to extend a small pergola which supports an enormous clematis Armandii.
So that's my garden clean up for today. The most wonderful thing is that now I have a cleaner garden and this beautiful little bouquet of violets beside my bed tonight.
I hope your garden is springing up where you are...or winding down with tons of flowers and produce if you're down under like my friend Julie. Gardening is so rewarding. Don't you think so? I'm really looking forward to this spring season. I hope it's a good one.
Lunch at the river on a sunny day
Oh lucky us. What a fabulous weekend it's been. After a solid week of rain, the sun was so welcome.We headed down to the old fishing village of Steveston for a walk and some lunch. Our favourite seafood restaurant there had the patio open and we got to eat our lunch alfresco for the very first time this year. We lingered over lunch. It was surprisingly warm in the sunshine and we weren't the only ones who thought so.
Patrice's drawing challenge: cocoon
Our dear Patrice called this week's perfect drawing challenge: cocoon. That's exactly how I've been feeling; all wrapped up in my home cocoon.Wanting to cocoon and actually being able to are two separate things. I've had a lot of running all over town this week that is, so cocooning has only happened in little precious bits.
One way I've been cocooning is painting in my Opus Art daily challenge sketchbook for an hour sometime between 6 and 8am, in bed, with copious cups of tea. (Evidence of creativity on my Instagram. Follow me, I'll follow you back :D ) It's so wonderful, and I'm so going to miss this challenge when it comes to a close at the end of February.
That's why I love drawing challenges so much. I love when someone instigates an idea and then everyone takes it on board and runs with it. Also, I think my craftsmanship has improved in just these last 19 days of daily painting.
Another way I've been cocooning is making home a bit better, fresher, spring-like. Yesterday I took some of my beautiful ironstone and depression glass down from where I have it displayed on the open kitchen shelves and washed all the greasy feeling off. I love seeing my collections out in the open, but boy do the pieces ever collect the grime...especially in the shelves above the stove.
But wait, this is a drawing challenge, so on with the actually realisation of cocoon.I have a lot of nature books, field guides, beautiful vintage books, and a packed library...which needs spring cleaning.In my library, somewhere behind the old Beverly Nichols and Evelyn Waughs, I'm sure there was an ancient book on cocoons. So this morning, I had it in mind to dig that book out and have a good read for some inspiration.But when I moved the books aside, I discovered something peculiar. The cocoon has hatched into a moth!!!Oh my goodness! Let's put it under the magnifying glass.
I do believe it's a Vade Macum Vivia Fictionaria! Very rare indeed.
How lucky are we to see this version of the very rare species of fiction moth? Very lucky indeed.
Pop by Patrice's this weekend to see more wonderful and rare examples of cocoons.Art: A very broken cover from a 1857 novel by E. D. E. N. Southworth named Vivia, or the Secret of Power, a little bit of vintage silk sari, some silver thread.
Rainy days are perfect for baking banana bread
It's raining and I get the day at home today. I decided on some spring cleaning instead of working.And rainy days, when one decided on spring cleaning, are perfect for baking banana bread.This is the situation at my place: Some days all the bananas are gone and we don't realise till someone goes to make a smoothie, and other days, there are three and a half dead bananas hanging around.
My most favourite banana bread recipe comes from my friend Claire, a brilliant pastry chef, and is an olive oil version, (so much healthier than butter). I've linked to Claire's original chocolate chip and pecan banana bread, but I usually twist it a little.I'm not a fan of chocolate chips, tend not to use sugar, and prefer walnuts to pecans, so here's my version:
Best banana bread2 cups Flour, (I usually use something good for me like sprouted spelt flour)3/4 cup Brown Sugar, (I tend to use Stevia instead of sugar, and only about 1/4 cup because I find Stevia is sweeter)3/4 tsp Baking Soda1/2 tsp Salt1 cup Toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil2 large Eggs3 mashed very ripe bananas (plus that 1/2 which C left in the fridge)1/3 cup Yogourt, (I don't use a lot of dairy so usually substitute coconut milk yogourt, but if you use cow's milk yogourt, be kind to yourself and get pasture raised organic yogourt)1 tbsp Vanilla Extract.Preheat the oven to 350FSpay some non-stick olive oil based spray into a baking pan, I use my grandmother's bunt pan because why not? It's a shame to have it in the drawer and use loaf pans all the time.In a large bowl mix together the oil and sugar. In my case, that bowl is the bowl of the Kitchen Aid!Stir in the eggs one at a time until they are totally incorporated.Add in the bananas, vanilla, and yogourt.Blend in the flour, salt, baking powder, when it is nearly combined add in the nuts. Stir to combine being careful not to over stir.Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a wooden skewer comes out clean, about 40-45 minutes.Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before eating.
Go on, sprinkle it with a little icing sugar. It looks so pretty.
Ten minutes of waiting...Time enough to make a cup of tea and load the dishwasher.Cut a warm slice and enjoy. :D
The best granola and love poems for Valentine's Day
Happy Valentine's Day guys. :D I hope you have the best day.I've had several of you ask about my super healthy granola recipe and so here it is, mixed up with three of my most favourite love poems, because, Valentines!Poem 1 is very personal and just for you to keep in your pocket.Lorna Crozier from her book Sex Lives of VegetablesOnionsThe onion loves the onion.It hugs its many layers,saying, O, O, o,each vowel smallerthan the last.Some say it has no heart.It doesn't need one.It surrounds itself,feels whole. Primordial.First among vegetables.If Eve had bitten itinstead of the apple,how differentParadise.
The best crunchy gluten-free granola as adapted from the original recipe from my wellness centre-4 cups rolled oats-1 cup quinoa flakes, I use plain quinoa and not the flakes because I like the crunch.I usually mix the black and the sprouted. (If you're avoiding oats, feel free to use all quinoa flakes, millet flakes, or buckwheat flakes)-1 cup sunflower seeds-1 cup chopped almonds-1 cup chopped walnuts-1/2 cup sesame seeds-3/4 cup melted coconut oil-1/2 cup maple syrup (or honey when you’re on a gut bacteria cleanse) I always use raw honey.TO ADD AFTER IT'S BAKED:-1 cup pumpkin seeds (they explode if they're baked in the granola. Seriously! Actually, it's kind of fun and silly to have exploded pumpkin seeds :D )-1/2 cup - 1 cup flax seeds-1/2 cup - 1 cup Raisins, dates, goji berries or other dried fruit. I use dates and goji berries.-Shredded CoconutActually, there have been batches where I forgot and added all the ingredients together at the beginning, and nothing happened, (except the goji berries become crunchy and the pumpkin seeds explode...lol). Actually, it was just as fantastic.
DirectionsPreheat oven to 325 degrees, but some days I need the oven at 350 degrees because the granola isn't toasting. No idea what that's all about.Combine the oats, seeds, and nuts in a large bowl. In a small bowl, melt the oil in the microwave, stir in the honey and add to the dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly.Spread on the baking sheet and bake for 30 -35 minutes. You can let it go for about 15 minutes safely, but then you MUST watch it and stir every 5 minutes to prevent from burning. Seriously! The edges like to brown fast so make sure you mix them into the middle.Then I mix in the last three ingredients and put it into the hot oven and let it warm up for another five minutes.
Poem number 2 for all of us who understand love is so much more complicated than red roses and chocolate.Valentine by Carol Ann Duffy from her book Love PoemsNot a red rose or a satin heart.I give you an onion.It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.It promises lightlike the careful undressing of love.Here.It will blind you with tearslike a lover.It will make your reflectiona wobbling photo of grief.I am trying to be truthful.Not a cute card or a kissogram.I give you an onion.Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,possessive and faithfulas we are,for as long as we are.Take it.Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding-ring,if you like.Lethal.Its scent will cling to your fingers,cling to your knife.
I know! So true! Wipe that tear away and go reread that poem, I'll wait.
The third poem I have is a love poem to YOU, and is from one of the most amazing poets in my world.I know you probably read it a million times, but I know you will want to read it again.It's Mary Oliver's Wild Geese because you CERTAINLY ARE good enough for the world. I know! I know! You're welcome for the reminder.You do not have to be good.You do not have to walk on your kneesfor a hundred miles through the desert repenting.You only have to let the soft animal of your bodylove 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 rainare 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 placein the family of things.
Oops, look, one more. For the true love. For your true love. For my true love. For Robbie. A very personal love. Pablo Neruda:“Of everything I have seen,it's you I want to go on seeing:of everything I've touched,it's your flesh I want to go on touching.I love your orange laughter.I am moved by the sight of you sleeping.What am I to do, love, loved one?I don't know how others loveor how people loved in the past.I live, watching you, loving you.Being in love is my nature.”
Happy day my loved ones. :D
Melodye's Drawing Challenge: LOVE
I LOVE that Melodye called this drawing challenge: love for this Valentine's Day weekend.How wonderful and welcome that is.I really had no idea what to do for this and, coming just after (what I called) a disaster of a sketch this morning, I decided to just get my big journal, which I've been using for my Jeanne Oliver Reflections course, and let something happen organically.I found the word on the page that I was looking for and stuck a piece of tape over it so it would stay unpainted, and sketched out a big heart.
Then I just slathered acrylic paint all over the two pages.While a batch of granola was cooking was the best time to sit down and sketch some flowers.
Then I asked Chloe to come up to the studio and collaborate on this piece with me.
At first we didn't know what to paint, but then the pages took on a life of their own and, after an hour or so, layers and layers of images, collage, stamps, and paint began to come together in a beautiful painting.
Soon it was time to take the tape off and reveal the saved message.
And here's our collaboration. Do you like it?
We love it.To me, there's nothing better in the world than being able to collaborate on a piece of art with someone you love.
You'll also love stopping my Melodye's beautiful site and feeling the love from everyone. :D