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Whimsical Wednesdays ~ The Artist’s Corner: Cosmic Bear Messengers of Merging
This is my latest custom original portal painting I just completed on Saturday 12/19/2020 – the day Jupiter went into Aquarius. It’s titled Autumn Light and features momma bear and her cubs enjoying the precious moments of life in their beautiful forest home, as the seasons shift. No matter how natural I’m creating something, I always love to infuse a touch of ethereal quality and a connection to the life force and consciousness within all creation. (I only have one basswood plaque custom portal left at The Magick Rabbit Etsy Shop)
It was a very hard one to capture on camera in terms of reflecting the nature of blended colors and details accurately. Yet, what I love about art is that in every light, at each angle, and to the individual heart of the observer, it will always convey something different and perfect to experience.
And what I’ve been loving about my art recently is how my process of creation has completely changed so much so that it’s nearly getting to that place I dreamed of where I might be able to just project a vision and feeling onto canvas with little effort – something similar to telepathic transference. For me, colors are my favorite thing to play with, alongside infusing energy, feeling, stories, and light codes into each piece. My painting used to be much more labored and more of a process, where as now I no longer sketch ideas or map the whole thing out. It simply comes together in the moment and quite quickly. I also discovered my resonance is to paint on the natural and not canvases – wood portals are my favorite and wooden chests as well are so fun! Smaller pieces speak to me than the larger ones I used to create as well.
And all of this reflects the shifts my life has gone through and how things are so much more efficient, accessible, integrated, and about merging parts, rather than separating them. As life has become a walking meditation, so too has painting become an extension of breathing. Essence is streaming through much more clearly and for that I’m grateful.
I’ve mentioned in previous posts how bear has been showing up for me so repetitively that it’s easily become the key theme to dreamscapes all year and likely the most abundant theme in general. They also show up quite a bit in person (black and grizzly bears alike), especially since our time in the Magick Bus, but we’ve had many sightings here in Tahoe over the last couple of years – several of these taking place right in our backyard forest. One of these included momma and her single, sweet little cub.
Because of the profound presence of this messenger in my life, I thoroughly enjoyed creating this piece and deepening into the relationship with bear.
While bears hold their own symbolic medicine, I’ve come to know their repetitive presence to be Cosmically connected for me. In fact, the increase in animal sightings and intimate experiences and connections I have both in person and through dream time have spoken to me much more of the stars and my origins.
What I’ve uncovered is that extraterrestrial experiences and star connections are showing up a lot more through animals, rather than the literal way they used to. I still have straight Cosmic experiences, but the majority of ways this has been translating is through Nature.
These animals are the messengers for them and manifestations of them and this speaks to how as a collective we’re needing to come back to Earth and bring the Cosmic here. That experience of spirit in body, grounding, integrating, and basically embodying the totality of our essence here and now.
These experiences used to be more separate and the way we focused was more toward what’s “out there,” rather than bringing that through “here.” Psychic and intuitive abilities were thought to be only for the perceived gifted and physicality was devalued. Meditations to leave the body, spirituality as a thing to ascend to, and maybe even for some using other kinds of mind-expanding inducements to accelerate and separate from the body’s own miraculous nature, all took prominence.
And now we are being asked to drop back into body, ground our awareness, and merge our parts so that we can be cocreative manifestors of the new realities unfolding on Earth with the surge of energy pouring through to support this.
We are learning balance within and without and this is part of the harmonic frequencies I feel coming through.
All that to say, that bear has been a way shower for me in these times and a messenger of Cosmic origins helping to activate light codes.
Whether one believes in these kinds of things or not, at the very basic nature of it all, bears, animals, plants, trees, and Nature at large, are all reminders to us of the natural cycles and how we can align more consciously in ways that will support, rather than destroy this planet we call home.
But I’ll go a step further, even if just to seed possibility.
Arcturus has been quite prominent in communications over the years and so it isn’t surprising that bear shows up so much at this shift-point for humanity. My understanding has been that Arcturians are strong guardians and supporters of Earth and her inhabitants. A bridge for that Golden Age of transformation people speak of, or the future selves we can access to bring through that fuller embodiment of spirit and body merged.
Arcturus has Ancient Greek roots, coming from the name Arktouros and carries several meanings to include “guardian of the bear,” “keeper of the bear,” “bear follower,” “the bear watcher,” and others.
Mythology speaks to the story of Arcas nearly shooting and killing his mother Callisto who Zeus transformed into a bear. Zeus prevented this tragedy by transforming the boy into the Boötes constellation called Arctophylax “bear guardian” by the Greeks (Arcturus is a red giant star and the brightest star of this constellation) and turned his mother into Ursa Major (Greek: Arctos “the bear” and in Latin the name means “greater she-bear”).
So, again, at the least….it’s an interesting connection linking bears to the stars and prompts the expansion potentials that curiosity can have – including the awakening of latent parts of ourselves.
May all possibilities be open to you.
Whimsical Wednesdays ~ The Artist’s Corner: The Art of Living
From the red rocks of Sedona to the white wonderland of Tahoe, I sit here surrounded by winter blankets of snow swathing the Forest Portal of our home.
We arrived back Monday evening, still vibrating in the energy of the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse – also a Super Blood Wolf Moon – and I’m just now fully integrating back in time for today’s Whimsical Wednesdays share from the Artist’s Corner.
We were away between Friday 1/11 and Monday 1/21, enjoying quite a full vacation and igniting of the new for 2019. Since we were driving, we decided on a stop-over in Las Vegas the first night to break up the drive – only exploring out for delicious comfort vegan food at The Modern Vegan for both dinner and early brunch, but the rest of our time was spent in the magick of Sedona’s high vibes.
We spent several days on our own anchoring in the energies, as Sedona welcomed us back, and then the rest of the time was with dear friends who all journeyed there from both the Grand Canyon and Tahoe to reunite.
I also had the chance to connect with two sweet friends that live in the area, we set intentions and sent out prayers from the Peace Garden two separate mornings, and of course we sampled all the great vegan eats and some new finds!
Every day was filled with tons of outdoor fun and exercise that tallied up to 60+ trail miles we ventured on foot and bike in 8 days – although I only went mountain biking once and Dave went three times making his mileage come to 74.
We thought it would be fun to see just how much adventure our feet take us on. 🙂
Unlike past blogs, I won’t be recounting our entire trip, but instead will be focusing on how Sedona was actually the birthing of my art and the “art of living” for me.
If you’d like to see a full photo journaling of the adventure, you can find all the beauty and adventure at my Instagram page here, even if you’re not on Instagram:
TaniaMarieArtist – (If you see two overlapping white squares in the right hand corner of a photo it means there are several photos to each post. You can click on them and then click the arrows to venture through)
It was interesting that our friends asked me about my time in Sedona, having me recount the evolution of my experiences with her energy since the beginning.
Although I now experience flow, joy, and tons of nature immersion, it wasn’t that way at start. Her powerful vortexes asked of me to dig deep, purge, cleanse, heal, and strip away everything I knew how to on a daily intensive that lasted for nearly two years. My journeys then were journeys into the inner sanctum of my heart and I only ventured out on small occasion to walk or drive somewhere where I could meditate, anchor in the work I’d done, set intentions, and receive insight for what was next. Other than that, I had no contact with anyone and in fact, had made a clean break from the life I had before.
I can share more another time, but it was very intense and hard work.
It also opened the door to my artistic journey I’m on now.
Although I drew nearly all of my life up until that moment, for joy and only once for actual pay, it wasn’t until I started uncovering layers within myself that I decided to purchase some oil paints, canvas, and start truly painting for the very first time in my life while on this inner journey living in Sedona.
It didn’t happen right away, but the more I released and healed, the more I felt the call to express myself on canvas.
The first painting I created was for my parents – it was an oil painting of Venice they have in their living room today – an image I replicated from their travels there. I just jumped right in, as if I’d been painting all of my life, but in actuality I was simply moving the energy that I had released from within that echoed of my lives on this earth and the artist within me that had always been there.
Upon completion of this painting, I then created some symbolic paintings that seemed to echo not only the healing and insights I’d received, but the messages of empowerment and transformation that were taking place.
I also created a few charcoal pencil portraits of my grandparents and others.
In essence I was tapping into the well of creative energy as a form of communicating what was within me and channeling through me, while also adding layers of healing that aided the work I was doing – giving myself therapy on every level imaginable and with every tool available that I knew of and was learning along the way.
My art became a form of self expression, much as this Super Full Moon in Leo has beckoned forth from us all – to shine like the light that you are and to birth new creative things from the power within that you embody innately.
It was in Sedona when this creative birthing took place, that I knew art or creative expression was an important part of who I am and what I needed as the breath of life to bring through.
And since, I’ve continued to channel creativity, as it flows through me in its many forms of expression that shift as I do.
It is also then that I realized life could be lived as a form of art and how the “art of living” started to manifest as my way of life – everything seen as a way to create beauty and inspiration, as well as to paint my way through experiences and weave the story I wanted to tell with different strokes of colors and feelings that reflected my essence.
From then on, even though I would still have more layers to journey through, I lived much more presently and with intention.
Sedona helped bring me back to the core of who I am and it was up to me how I wanted to paint the rest of my journey from the heart.
So while my first encounter with Sedona was intense, there has always been a love affair with her energies, knowing she supported exactly what I needed. Since that time, every trip thereafter has been softer and more joyous, flowing, and activating, igniting major shifts and leaps at just the precisely aligned moments.
I was always a willing partner to her dance, but I’m no longer struggling to keep up.
Creativity continues to ooze from each encounter with her and greater inspiration comes forth, providing me choices and new possibilities.
This trip was no exception, as I found myself not only receiving inspiration on the new, fun images I’ll be creating next, but also found myself dancing with yet another potential timeline I hadn’t entertained before.
I didn’t know until the trip was approaching that we’d be there for this powerful Full Moon Eclipse.
Perhaps many of you also felt its potency and like something has shifted and/or released. It seems as though things are moving forward and receiving a green light, after a thoughtful pause for a bit.
I shared this with a dear friend about my experience with it:
The eclipse was a powerful experience, although gentle too. We actually had opportunity to watch half of it with an astronomer and telescope, which was very cool to see it so clear and close. It was very clear in the evening and then a thin veil of clouds emerged, which made it symbolic, to me. It did not affect viewing, but I could tell there was still a very thin veil – so as if those layers are very close to full reveal collectively soon. The astronomer had about 4 telescopes set up and we could see star clusters as well, like the Pleiades. We left to go back to our Airbnb home because we had to pack and leave very early the next day for the long drive home, so I watched the second half there. The house was perfectly situated with the moon right in front of the main sliding door and windows and patio, so I watched the whole thing. It was very moving because at the same time I got word that a favorite bunny of mine (that I’ve followed on Instagram for a while) had passed right as the eclipse was darkening. I saw that he’d become ill earlier that day and I had a feeling something might happen. It was very potent to say the least, and being that he reminds me of my male bunny, Cosmo, because they had the same exact special needs and the same unconditionally loving demeanor and expressions, it hit me hard. It was quite something that this bunny, Flynn, had chosen such a powerful portal just like my bunnies Cosmo and Joy had, to depart – one on Samhain and the other on Summer Solstice Full Moon. It wasn’t random and it just clicked in a bunch of things, as well as felt like a big shift. Very heart opening and moving. So, it did ignite some memories, but also a seed of new. A lot through the bunnies, but deeper levels. I’m not sure as of yet what the new entails, but that it is a seedling awaiting choices that can ignite new timelines.
Something very profound hit me while watching the eclipse, which I haven’t felt in the past with other ones. It was special and sacred to come through rabbits, whom I hold most dear and reflective for me and my life. They, too, symbolize creative abundance and fertile impetus for the new. The Moon, of course, has a large rabbit on it. 😉
I received a big hit to my heart and core of what is a must for me to do right now.
The rest is a story yet to unfold, but will do so as I support this creative expression to live as the art of me – my creative contribution to the new beauty we’re weaving together as a collective.
New Etsy Shop Update:
Originally there was intention to start a Giveaway this past Monday 1/21, but with travels and such things shifted and Astrid has chosen this Friday 1/25 to begin the Giveaway instead. This will take place on Instagram.
There’s potential of things shifting with the shop launch date, which is set for Friday 2/1, but for now it’s still that date. I will be checking in with Astrid and my other star bunnies, as the days unfold here. I have a lot to prepare for the launch, and two items have been delayed until the 8th or sooner due to an office move my printer is undergoing.
I always trust my rabbit familiars with their impeccable and keen navigation, so I’ll defer to them if they want us to go ahead and launch on 2/1 with most of the items, adding the two later that first week of February. (Laura mentioned that the Lunar New Year is not until the 5th and the 8th the Moon enters Aries, so who knows what the bunnies have up their thumpers!)
Or, if we’ll just launch everything together when I know they will all be ready.
Either way, it’s coming up very soon and I have lots to prepare. So I’m off!
It was a wonderful trip away and I’m also happy to be back. I hope you all had a great week and that the energy of this Full Moon Eclipse has ignited a creative transformation within you too.
Whimsical Wednesdays ~ The Artist’s Corner: My Artistic Journey Creating from the Heart
Today I thought I’d answer one of the questions I get asked a lot about my artistic journey. When did you start painting and what kind of training did you have?
It seems to me that we’re programmed to think that in order to be able to do something we must have gone through a certain kind of rigorous training and so we automatically ask these kinds of questions, as we relate seeing gifts in someone to a curriculum of schooling.
While this may be some peoples’ journeys, it isn’t everyone’s.
There are many people whose training has come “built-in” from their soul history.
There are some people who aren’t born with a filter and so they just “go for it” with expressing themselves and the creative energy that moves through them.
There are people who cultivate a passion they feel.
And there are people who are drawn to training more studiously because that feels right to them, they want to advance their techniques and expand with their breadth of work, and maybe even on some level feel it’s a way to establish value for their work, as society places such high worth on things like degrees, training, and names of schools we attend and get accepted into.
There’s no one way, or one right way. We each go on the journey that feels to provide exactly what we need.
For me, it was a strong aversion to training, classes, and schooling of any kind. So much so that I even turned down working at an art school to teach others to draw because it felt boxed-in, and since I didn’t feel right about it for myself, I just couldn’t see advocating that through my work to others. It was more about consistency for me. I had to go through that process though and interviewing, in order to confirm to me what I felt.
So what has my journey been like with art?
I have been drawing all of my life.
It was my favorite pastime.
My fondest memories are of summers sitting at the dining table with my French grandfather drawing after play time outside.
I received a lot of recognition for my drawing in elementary, middle, and high school, but never had any formal training. I naturally took to it without art class teachers’ help. In fact, most of what they said didn’t make much sense to me.
I was very good at reproducing things that I saw like a photocopy. That was my left brain, detail-oriented, perfectionist that could sit for hours working on two square inches of a piece to get every pencil or paint brush stroke exact.
It’s no surprise I was also extremely good at staying “inside” the lines of coloring books – another enjoyment I loved – along with things like creating Spirograph drawings (do you remember these?!).
Detail work is something I carry in me over lifetimes, but I’ve come to find is not my joy.
It’s a soul-ingrained pattern I’ve spent years undoing in this life.
Ironically, my childhood drawings I started doing on my own before this patterning circled back through is what I’ve returned to now. A reclaiming of my “essence,” but channeled through a fresh me.
As a child I was very good at creating simple images of what I saw in my mind’s eye of things I loved in nature all around me.
My favorite and best thing I could draw was, and remains to this day, animals.
I never felt drawn to taking classes outside of the ones we either had to, or had as electives, through high school.
For some reason I felt inclined to keep this part of my life raw in its nature and didn’t want to feel controlled by rights and wrongs. I wanted simply to bring forth my visions without boundaries. Having everything else in life feeling so controlled, this let me have one little sacred piece to myself where anything goes.
Interestingly, while I could draw people if I wanted, I just don’t really want to and it’s more effort.
What flows for me is nature, animals, magickal beings, and enchanting or cosmic visions.
While my work could easily be judged by art critics who have their own idea of what makes art “good,” for me I love the raw expression of what moves through someone’s heart.
That’s not to say I don’t appreciate the beauty of fine works of art. I am in awe of the masterpieces hanging in galleries and marvel at how incredibly they’re executed.
But I do love purity and innocence too, which is what my presence here on Earth is about. And I equally see the beauty within this type of creative expression and see them as fine works of art in their own right because, to me, art is something that not only captures a visual gift come to life, but truly moves you with emotion to experience something deep or even triggers the opening of your own heart with the images acting like keys.
Creative energy is unlimited and therefore there are many ways to bring forth artistic expression.
I say, if it feels joyful to your heart to create, then that’s art.
So, while I’ve cultivated my own form of artistic expression by listening to what moves me and implementing what I’ve integrated and worked on throughout my life, I believe we each have our own journey with this.
But I encourage anyone who feels the desire to draw, paint, or create in some way, to just do it!
There is value in expressing what you feel and if you feel it, I guarantee there is someone out there who needs just what you have to share.
What do you feel your artistic journey has been?
Sometimes we start out one way, but move into a different arena later.
Don’t be afraid to try something.
The value of art is not based on whether it hangs in a gallery or gets critical acclaim.
The value of art is in the expression.
Creativity yearns to be shared.
Whimsical Wednesdays ~ The Artist’s Corner: The Magick Rabbit Storybook Art
As promised, today’s Whimsical Wednesdays brings to you a peek into my “Artist’s Corner” with the first look at some new little whimsical paintings Astrid and I have been working on in our free time. Astrid was right that 12/12 would be the reveal and so without further ado, I’d like to show you what the two of us have been up to lately in Wonderland here.
If you’ve been following along for a while, you likely recall the evolutionary journey my paintings and drawings have gone through over time, but this fresh flow of creativity has truly been the most enjoyable for me, as they come straight from my inner child and blend together my imagination with what Astrid sends me.
Moonlight Whispers by Tania Marie & Astrid
We call this collection “The Magick Rabbit ~ Storybook Tales of Wonder and Whimsy Come to Life.”
The images you see here are straight off the press, as they say – just quick snaps from my cell phone for now in order to share them with you.
They’re also Astrid approved, as you can see. 😉
I love how she embraces them and even recognizes herself in The Empress, which I created as a whimsical version of her as a Tarot Card, and gives it a straight-on kiss!
And in Bedtime Stories, she goes straight for the little dark bunny that looks like her! Too cute!
I intend to get them professionally photographed/scanned here shortly, which will capture the detail and color much better than I can in most cases, and will then be able to make more fun stuff available to you.
The Journey by Tania Marie & Astrid
I want to stick to small sizes, as these are meant to be fun for me, easy and quick to execute so that they mimic childhood memories of when I used to sit down at the kitchen table as a little girl with my French Grandpa drawing throughout the Summer on my grandparent’s long visits with us.
They’re pure joy and imagination flowing through what I love most – rabbits!
Bedtime Stories by Tania Marie & Astrid
And in keeping them this way, I can also make artwork like this, accessible for many.
While I keep a creative channel of energy flowing in balance to the other things in my life I need to focus more left-brained on.
The Empress by Tania Marie & Astrid
These original 8″ x 10″ paintings on canvas boards will be available, alongside prints and other fun items like greeting cards, journals, etc. with these images on them.
In this way I can offer affordable storybook windows that rekindle the wondrous heart of your inner child – portals to harness sweet magick into your everyday life.
I’m not sure that I’ll have the other items available before Christmas, but these originals might be up in my new Etsy shop soon.
Eventually, I’ll create more of these 8″ x 10″‘s (and perhaps some other fun smaller canvas board sizes) in my spare creative time, but the next collection will be a little bit different – I’ll share what I mean when they’re ready! I see them in my/Astrid’s minds’ eyes, but I never know what is going to come out until it does!
What I love is that there’s no thought involved. The magick just happens in surrendering to the inspiration.
Cosmic Voyage by Tania Marie & Astrid
I can’t tell you how wonderful and fulfilling it’s been to channel these first five rabbit-inspired, magickal pieces of art from the Faery Tales of my mind and the shared visions between Astrid and me.
They are little whispers of enchantment to infuse your life with a little magick and inspire your own inner child or a beloved child in your life.
While simple, like anything I create, it’s always infused with much more. And you can discover that meaning for yourself, each time you peer into these Faery Tale Windows.
There’s a storybook tale within each to reflect your journey, as the adventure it is – all shared through the heart of one Magick Rabbit and one Rabbit Faery.
For now, this is just a little introduction, as Astrid and I have been so excited about sharing these.
We’ll announce when my Etsy shop is ready, as I’m in process of rebirthing it after it being empty for years.
If you’re on Instagram, you may want to follow along, as I’ll be making shop update announcements there, as to when things will be available. In terms of originals, these will be first-come-first-served, so keeping your bunny ears tuned in will be key for those. I’ll also have giveaways and other fun things only available via Instagram.
We hope you enjoy this little peek into the world we’ve been walking in lately.
Let us know what you think.
Whimsical Wednesdays ~ The Artist’s Corner: Custom Commissions Versus Creative Freedom
As artists we are challenged to find a way to get our work out to others while still enjoying the process and not compromising ourselves. While everyone has a different journey with this and relationship to their work, their self-value as an artist, and the timing of their releases, not all artists find it easy to make a living at what they do right off the bat and not all artists may hit it big in having their work discovered or desired by every gallery or person. So, artists are left with wanting to be able to do what they love, not compromise their integrity, remain authentic to the style they enjoy, but also still be able to enjoy that connection that happens when someone purchases and takes home a piece of their work.
In many cases, this is why some artists may opt for offering commissions and take on custom work, as it allows them to still be an artist, while helping to support their ability to keep creating.
Some artists simply prefer doing custom work because they truly love that one-on-one connection and intimate relationship they create with the person they’re creating for and it allows them to challenge themselves with continued new subjects and ways to create.
They love the interactive quality of the work and having something new to work on every day.
For some, it’s more consistent work than trying to sell original pieces.
Then there are artists who purely love creative freedom and not having to create something someone else tells them to, not have to be concerned if it’s exactly what that person wanted, and simply love to work from that impetus of creative energy that moves through them when inspired and not on a timeline or schedule.
And then there are the artists that like a balance of both and find they compliment the process of being able to do what they love and tempers the right balance of compromise and variety, while helping them live and work as the artist they see themselves to be.
Where do I fall into all of this?
Well, having done all three levels, I find myself back in the place of truly feeling the call of full creative freedom at the doorway of my heart.
That’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed the process of commissions in the past, as I’ve met some dear souls through that work, was able to challenge myself in many ways, and did enjoy that intuitively intimate connection and relationship channel during the process of creating – this was both with paintings and sacred tattoo designs.
However, I much preferred total creative freedom and found that when, in some cases, I was being dictated by every little part of the process and was at the mercy of someone else’s feelings around something I may have spent hours working on, it really could be a very stressful process and put a damper on creativity.
I adored the times when I was handed creative license with commissions and found that those pieces came out the best.
Custom work can, in essence, have the potential to be an interruption to an artist’s flow of their own planned work, unless it truly is an artist’s joy and perhaps first love, to create commissioned pieces.
I can even remember when I created my first mural for an investment firm I worked for and several large commissioned paintings I was hired for in the beginning that I had to work at convincing the very left-brained people who hired me with proposals and long explanations of what I envisioned, supplies needed, logistics, and how long and how much it would cost, as well as having to provide a sample sketch even when I knew that the magick happened during the process of creating. I then felt like I had to stick to that plan and wouldn’t have any room for inspirational flow in the unfolding of its creation. It became too much of a business and my need to make someone understand a right brain process with left brained explanations.
The connection can potentially get lost in the translation of this.
Luckily, those paintings went really well, although were stressful and tied me up in things I ended up rather not be involved with, but the mural wasn’t as much embraced even though they agreed to my sketch.
While they liked it, they didn’t love it. I found out that it lasted only several months before they painted it over. Not a surprise, as my heart saw a potential for them that the financial people there just didn’t quite understand. They were stuck in the old ways and this new vision was a bit too uncomfortable.
I was grateful to all of them for my very first opportunities to get my business going, which ironically allowed me to quit that investment firm job in the first place, and was still proud of myself for being able to acquire some really huge projects without any resume behind me.
These experiences may not have been my perfect fit, but at the time were my perfect reflection for what I needed to learn and what I called up for growth.
Then there were the many wonderful fits where harmony and synergy were in flow.
I think this is key if you do choose the custom work.
It really depends on the individual and what feels right. It’s important to align yourself, as well as put out intentions of the type of clients you want to work with, be willing to say “no” when something doesn’t sit right, and not take something on just for the money if at all possible.
The theme of this post actually was inspired by my continuing to get requests for custom sacred tattoo design commissions and people finding me online and even sharing my work with others, which happened twice already today. Even though I’ve removed my website and these offerings, there’s no way to remove the world-wide web of your past work altogether and those phantom pages that float in the ethers, so I take it as opportunity to feel grounded in my choices and able to say, “no” with gratitude.
I think these are key things for any kind of work we do and not just as an artist.
There isn’t one right or wrong way with this, but there are things to weigh and options to look at to see what feels right and where you’re willing to compromise or not. Or in fact, what doesn’t feel to be a compromise, but maybe just a shift in perspective that can open you to more possibilities.
You may even move in and out of these choices over the course of your artistic journey.
My professional artist life began as all commissions, then turned into a mix of custom and originals, and now is solely original-based creations.
This has all moved me into the new creations I’ve been inspired to paint solely from my inner child’s joy, imagination, and love.
I had hoped today I’d be sharing the first of these little paintings with you, but Spirit has something else in mind, as this past week has been very full and so I won’t have the last two of this first group done until next week.
Astrid feels next Wednesday is the day to reveal them, so stay tuned for Whimsical Wednesdays on 12/12 – no surprise there that alignments have it falling on this day.
Until then, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
If you’re an artist of any genre, where do you find the greatest joy?
Is it in creating custom pieces, your own originals, or a mix?
Is there something you could tweak that would make your current path more enjoyable?
How do you hope things to evolve and what steps do you plan to take to make that happen?
In love and creative magick, I wish you the most heartfelt journey with your art.
Whimsical Wednesdays ~ The Artist’s Corner: Having Fun is Serious Business
Do you take yourself too seriously? Have you forgotten how to have fun, let go, and be silly? Chances are if you feel stuck, uninspired, blocked, up against a wall, or like everything is just hard work and routine, you might have forgotten the spark of passion and joy you once had and the reason you started creating in the first place. Whether you’re a painter, writer, musician, sculptor, architect, chef, or even a stay-at-home mom or dad, entrepreneur, business exec, student, or in the service industry, you may experience those moments or long periods of drain and monotony because you somehow lost that spark.
How can you get it back?
By allowing yourself to be ridiculous sometimes.
Why is it that we’ve embraced the idea that masterpieces and success are born of suffering and torment alone?
It’s true that these emotional journeys take us to the darkest depths that create a rich overlay to our work by reaching into the shadows and bringing them to light.
But it’s overlooked how key having fun is to our process and that by inviting more uninhibited behaviors into our life, we will not only enjoy it more, but find our work igniting a new layer of imagination and possibility that will spark the same in others we touch through our work and interactions.
AND, we’ll look forward to it more each day, enjoy the journey, and find inspiration comes far easier to us.
Somewhere along the lines you were taught to believe that if you didn’t take everything seriously – including yourself – then you were wasting your time.
This begins to make everything, including the things you love, become a chore, you might have a hard time starting, and you find yourself pushing things off as much as you can.
What you love, you begin to avoid.
But what if you decided that you were going to be serious about having fun?
Meaning, fun was mandatory and needs to be woven into your day and process.
The less you worry and tighten your thoughts and feelings around how to create the perfect thing or be the perfect person at what you do, the more the perfect expression unfolds.
And we can invite this in more by engaging fun!
Whether you skip on your walk, sing in the shower, laugh at yourself, make up stories, entertain the ridiculous, allow yourself to be goofy, giggle at the little things, dance when the music moves you, throw some paint on a blank canvas you designate the “free zone,” play, take a day off, make up a story while you go through your process, and reconnect with why you started creating in the first place – what it means to you and how it makes you feel, you will find yourself opening up more to flow again, rediscovering your passion, and experiencing more sparkle in your life and work.
Going through the motions isn’t going to be sustainable and definitely is NOT why you were born here.
It may eventually, even, cut you off from doing the very thing you love because you lose the connection with your heart’s joy and trusting it.
Having fun is serious business.
It’s what creativity is all about and how you’ll discover infinite layers of imagination that will enrich all aspects of your life and work.
Balance is the key to life and while there is a time to be serious, there’s also a time for serious fun.
I’ve seen this shift my own experience with things. I mentioned this before, but I’ll expand a bit as it demonstrates the journey.
For example, my art has gone through a huge metamorphosis because of my “letting go.”
I used to create very VERY detailed, tight paintings and drawings that felt more like a soul pattern I was unconsciously falling under a spell with. They took me months sometimes to create and while it triggered remembrance of work I used to do in other lifetimes that felt good on one level, it also felt so grueling and was more like becoming numb to the idea of suffering through the process.
It took me a while to break the spell and wake up to the joy of painting again and having fun with it.
That I could actually paint what I wanted to and not what someone else told me to or that I thought I “should.”
That I could evoke feeling by pure expression, rather than meticulously thought-out and researched weaving of symbolism.
That I could simply paint what I saw in my heart and visions and not worry about being scrutinized for my technique.
In fact, I haven’t painted for several years, except for the Magick Stones I created on our Magick Bus RV adventure – yes Nature brought me back to the nature within.
And the creatures of the forest here keep reiterating this message to me daily, as I watch the squirrels and chipmunks – especially – outside my office door reflecting that perfect balance of work and play to create serious fun!
Little by little, my work evolved and will continue I’m sure.
And I find myself truly enjoying painting in all ways now, for the very first time.
Why?
Because I’ve allowed myself to have fun.
Pure, uninhibited fun with it.
And to paint what I love, alone, without any plan or mission.
I can’t tell you how quickly the ideas and implementation of bringing them about is going.
All because I remembered my “why” and surrendered to dancing in the fun of what it means to me to create – to be a child of the universe experiencing everything with wonder and sharing that wonder with you.
Whimsical Wednesdays ~ The Artist’s Corner: The Creative Evolution
Reinvention is a way of life for me and, in general, I feel that as innately creative spirits there is a constant propulsion to continually evolve. Creative energy is just that, it’s energy that has a momentum of finding ever-new ways to express itself. And as we do so, this is the natural evolution of creative love unfolding.
If you are an artist – be it of painting, illustration, music, wood work, jewelry, writing, gardening, flower arranging, building, dreaming….this would be the artist’s journey. However, as I’m known to say, this is also a way of life….life as art.
There’s no end to creativity and even if you revisit some of your older ways of doing things, you revisit it with a new perspective and infuse a spark of growth and understanding to it that will take your work and expressions to another level.
Creativity is a process without an end result. Every moment is mad genius and something to savor.
And this constant reinvention is a necessary part of life and being. It is the alchemy of transformation. Nature reflects this so powerfully to us and shares how creativity is both necessary and beautiful in every phase of the process.
The boundless quality of creative energy mirrors the eternal spirit and so it is through creativity that we learn about the mysteries of the Cosmos and the journey becomes a wondrous adventure of both personal evolution and collective unfolding.
For me, painting is a way I enjoy this exploration of deeper inner journeying as a way to know both myself more and the world around me.
I never felt drawn to taking classes outside of the ones we either had to, or had as electives, through elementary, middle, and high school. For some reason I felt inclined to keep this part of my life raw in its nature and didn’t want to feel controlled by rights and wrongs. I wanted simply to bring forth my visions without boundaries. Having everything else in life feeling so controlled, this let me have one little sacred piece to myself where anything goes.
A way for me to creatively evolve as a natural process and feel where the energy was guiding me to travel as an artist and as a pilgrim of the Cosmos.
At times that may be to bring forth feelings and experiences I’m going through, convey messages of the heart, bring through visions from other worlds I dip into, capture a frequency that acts as a key for unlocking something within the viewer, or simply is a reflection of the beauty I both see around me and imagine.
My own artistic evolution has gone through more than one metamorphosis over the course of my life.
When I was a child I would simply draw the things I loved, which was mostly animals and nature and there wasn’t any technique about it except to bring forth that love. This was a reflection of me feeling free and most naturally myself.
Then I was all about the detail and it would take me hours to work on just a few inches of canvas at a time. Interestingly, this was during the deepest work I was doing, research, and dissection of myself, and trying to define or understand things.
I then found joy in a looser and more flowing way of painting and bringing forth energy like an aurora borealis exploding in blended harmony. This came as I let go more and more and was relaxing into being.
My art evolved into expressing a very ethereal and surreal quality.
And although the love of painting animals, nature, and Otherworldly mysticism still remain my favorite, I currently am drawn to fantasy and a whimsical, Faery tale way of telling a story or imparting an energetic imprint in your heart through my latest work.
There’s a return to my origins – that child within – taking place with the evolution of my painting and creative journey.
A spiral effect that infuses something new to something remembered.
My style of painting and even personal style of clothing, as well as my life and the work I feel drawn to, keeps evolving and I imagine will continue, as I change.
Creativity asks of us to leap into the unknown and explore and experiment with variety.
It’s like a musical composition you get to compose from the improvisation of your heart.
With every vulnerable stretch you discover a little more of the Great Mystery within and without.
And you’ll experience the vitality of its force that never stands still.
It’s through creative evolution that we forge new realities and create more of the experiences we dream of.
How has your creative journey evolved? Be it, through the expression of your artistry or your life as art?
Do you notice any tie-ins between things you’ve gone through with personal growth and how your artistic expression and life reflect this?
Soul Expressive Art ~ Letting Your Inner Child Through
During last weekend’s private immersive retreat we spent a morning engaged in soul expressive painting outdoors with Faery music to guide and support us.
This was a time for us to channel the express inner child and just feel into how things wanted to come through without any focus on rights and wrongs, or how things “should” look.
It was all about feeling and it was so fun, as we sounded and sang along with the music and let the energy move through us.
In doing so we created personal windows or mandalas from the uninhibited, raw place within to symbolize and help us move into the next leg of our journeys, while also connecting our essence for what we want to create from here forth.
These paintings would become our activation windows to meditate and gaze upon, helping us to integrate the new, and remind us of who we are and what we are creating from here forth in our lives.
I helped Kathleen to receive her symbols through guided meditations and then she went within and saw how that wanted to be when tied in together. For her it created a window into this magickal realm, each piece expressing a message, and together telling a story.
I went within while listening to the music and received my symbols. For me, it was a personal mandala where my symbols came alive as I painted and saw the images reveal themselves to me. Some I knew from the get-go while listening in, and others I had to “see” in my paint strokes, so that came without forcing, but continuing to put the rest together and allow what wanted through to show up when it was ready.
And so we played.
We kept feeling into the colors and allowed the brushes and imagery to create themselves.
I encourage everyone to try this form of expression, which will evolve over time when you start listening to yourself more and get more comfortable with trying different things.
Just sit down or stand up and dance, while you put on some music, and then let it happen….let the energy move through you.
Your inner child will reveal the rest ❤ And you’ll feel freer and lighter….and more you.
Tania Marie 