It took over 30 days to arrive, but it made it....my creation for the global heArt exchange. So much fun to create and already looking forward to the next one! I've always been fascinated with old doors & their ornamentation. This door, I found in the Oriental Garden in Retiro Park, Madrid. The key that inspired me  was found at the flea market, & the textures added were bits of fishing net found on the beach.

Inspiration
This year I joined the 365 project, a drawing group & an art group. I didn't get too far with my good intentions, but I did get inspired, bit by bit.  But then Louise Gale came up with the Global heArt project & I loved it. Do an exchange with a total stranger...yes!  I completed my piece 10 days ago & I'm excited to report that I received my exchange in the post yesterday. All the way from Australia by artist Liza Zeni Baker, I received this lovely illustration from the heart. Now, I hope she receives mine soon, and I really did put my heart into it, an altered photo.

Passion

pas·sion [pash-uhn] –noun

Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. ~Attributed to Howard Thurman
In the last two days I felt a change building up inside....this morning I recognised it, tonight I taught a class on it, and finally yes, my passion is re-ignited. I don't know where it will take me, it doesn't matter - it just feels good to have it back inside me!

the excitement builds, the nervousness, along with a sense of adventure. one month to go...

gratitude, day 1

Here we are again, but this year with a difference...this is the 3rd mothers day this year. Today is the American, last week it was the Spanish, last March, the British. I think about my mother and how far I've come in 5 years, at peace now, mostly. After being apart from my own children for just one year, it was hard to breathe and I flew back to see them. Yet, more often than not, 2 - 3 yrs would go by without her seeing me. that must have been so hard for her. All we can do is learn & hopefully improve our bad habits. Still, there's a feeling that I'm not complete yet, soul still calling out but unable to hear the voice clearly. Earlier, no coincidence I'm sure, a site came my way...365gratitude project. Writing here today is my first step in joining them, and I am so grateful today for having reached this peace within and for remembering this big loss with no tears, but just a smile. I am so grateful for having chosen my parents and having received their love & teaching. For all the friends & strangers that helped me along this journey. I carry it on & hopefully pass it on to my own.

Bits & Pieces

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was around 20 years ago. Simply put - when things aren't working out in life, always go back to the basics. This advice has served me numerous times, even in business. Usually, it's something really small that I'm forgetting to apply.
So today I walked the beach, rather than question the last few days of things not going so well. Pocketing a few shells along the way, it was good to clear the mind. On arriving home I spotted a previous find, a nice piece of driftwood, so I just sat with some glue and worked mindlessly to bring the pieces together, remembering fondly how I got started in art as a child. Our local hairdresser and awesome artist, Mrs Dark, would let us play in her flat. Soon, she had me walking and finding shells and other found stuff and I started creating pictures on cardboard. It didn't take long to spot the freshly cut curls on the floor, and adding those in too. I will always be grateful to Mrs Dark and her influence over me. And today, while I didn't create a masterpiece, it felt so good to let the mind rest and go back to the basics. For I just needed to remember how rooted I am in my art. I may not be able to earn my money by doing it, but I still have the need to do it, if only for myself. It is after all, how I express my truth.

In Remembrance

It was three years yesterday that you died. I found a small spiritualist church and did my best to sing with joy.
The minister said she had a message for me, that the fog would soon lift and all would be clear. But what I really wanted to hear was that you were still near.
I asked the angels to send me a sign. I asked for a hawk, for I don't see them much any more.
I sat in the sun and waited. I sat so still and meditated.
I heard the woodpecker knock, I heard the birds sing. But no sign of you and still no hawk.
It was time to move on, I got in the car and started my way back up the winding road.
That's when I saw it, then another, then one more. Swooping and gliding in the sky, three hawks so beautiful, I had to cry.
So I guess you are still with me after all, there when I 'm falling apart and there to break my fall. I know I must do better and I really do try.
It's just that I miss you so terribly and have found it hard to move on.
But this year will be different, I promise you that, for I am stronger now and ready to follow my heart.
And the next time I start missing you and getting down, I will do my best instead of tears, to honour you with a joyous song.