Offering HeART and SoulCollage® workshops to inspire your creative spirit |
|
In Times of Terror, Wage Beauty |
|
Greetings!
The art piece above is my version of the Pedernal Mountain near Taos, New Mexico. The Pedernal is the mountain that moved and inspired one of favorite painters, Georgia O'Keeffe, as she studied and painted it from her studio at Ghost Ranch. After her death, her ashes were scattered there as a testament to the bond she felt with the mountain. I love this quote from Ms. O'Keeffe, “It’s my private mountain. It belongs to me. God told me if I painted it enough, I could have it."
Sometimes I feel like the Great Spirit is telling me if I just create enough art, and make space for others to do the same, we can mend all the suffering and horrors of this world. Sounds a bit like being in la-la land as I write it here. But if nothing else, at least my creative time in the studio gives me a reprieve from all the pressure, stress and chaos of war, famine, and diaspora. My body relaxes, my heart opens, my brain expands, and things start to make sense in my soul. But here's the part I still struggle with: I am living a life of privilege while other human, and more-than-human, beings are suffering. I don't believe that by suffering more myself I could ease other's pain, but I also don't want to ignore the realities of what's happening on our planet.
Thich Nhat Hahn wrote: "The way to suffer well and be happy is to stay in touch with what is actually going on; in doing so, you will gain liberating insights into the true nature of suffering and of joy." This quote helps me understand the difference between escaping to la-la land and accepting that others are suffering. I let myself feel grief, then I turn my broken heart into right action. And for me right action is creativity: painting, collage, gardening, sometimes singing and dancing alone in my kitchen -- anything that moves the energy and emotion out of my body.
That's the story behind my painting, "The Pedernal." On a day when my heart ached, I went to the studio and waged beauty. I found solace in the magical realism of a snaky mountain, and took the advice that Mark Gonzales offers in his book, " In Times of Terror, Wage Beauty!" So, my dears, I am encouraging you to take up arms -- a paintbrush, a pen, a cooking spoon, a piano -- head to the front lines, and find your own ways to wage beauty in this beautiful and broken world. |
|
Go to the Limits of Your Longing
Listen
God speaks to each of us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.
These are the words we dimly hear:
You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.
Flare up like a flame
and make big shadows I can move in.
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don’t let yourself lose me.
Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.
Give me your hand.
|
|
Come join me for an upcoming Art and SoulCollage® gathering |
|
Friday SoulCollage® Gatherings are back at the Down to Earth Studio
April 15 (FULL), May 27 (1 space open), June 21 (wide open!)
1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. In-person at GG's Down to Earth Studio
Sliding scale $20 - $35. Come join us for the rekindling of the SoulCollage community fires. I've missed having your creative hearts in the studio and am enjoying to be in soulful community with you again -- creating, sharing, surprising yourselves with your brilliance!
Those new to SoulCollage® can come early for an overview. Newcomer Fee of $65 includes 1 hour overview and 3 hour session.
Join me for these upcoming Friday SoulCollage® themes:
April 15 - Spring! Waking up to Re-Creation
May 27 - "May we..." Creating Prayer and Blessings with SoulCollage®
June 21st - FREE! Summer Solstice SoulCollage® Gathering on GG's Patio 3-6 pm
|
|
Window Collage and Painting Workshop
Saturday, May 14, 2022
10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
GG's Down to Earth Studio, Salem, OR
In-person workshop
$85.00 (includes all materials)
In this fun and light workshop we will explore true mixed media. Combining paint, papers, stenciling, and Posca pens, we will create pieces ranging from whimsical to serene, from birds to bouquets. Come engage in this critic-free environment that encourages relaxed playful expression. All levels welcome. No drawing or collage experience needed. Contact GG to register.
|
|
Kintsugi Breaking and Mending Retreat
at Breitenbush Hot Springs
Friday evening May 20 through Sunday afternoon May 22, 2022. RETREAT IS FULL. Contact GG to get on the waiting list.
Breitenbush is back! Come join us as we engage in the ceremonial art of Kintsugi to explore the brokenness that lives in ourselves and in our Mother Earth, and find the beauty and gratitude that resides there.
Many of us are living with broken hearts. We accumulate grief and carry it with us, often unseen and unexpressed. But grief can be a storehouse of power, a way to reconnect with what and how we love, and honor what came before. Grief can help us find the beauty in our brokenness, while opening us to loving more and being of greater service to the world.
|
|
|
|
"When Women Were Birds"
I am so pleased to announce that my artwork will be featured at the Elsinore Gallery, 444 Ferry St. SE, Salem, OR, May through July 2022.
I call this show "When Women Were Birds," borrowed from the title of a lovely book by one of my favorite authors, Terry Tempest Williams.
Please join me at the first-Friday artist's reception on Friday, May 6th at 5:30 pm. I hope you will stop by and see the show!
|
|
 |
"Being Held in Deep Grief and Unbearable Beauty" art print for sale.
|
|
|
|
"Beyond the Veil" art print for sale.
|
|
|
|
|
Gift Certificates for GG's Down to Earth Studio for products, classes, or art doula services. Contact GG.
|
from my creative heart to yours ~ |
|
|
|
The Art Doula is here for You!
Come and explore, discover, and birth your unique creativity.
Are you a tentative artist, or maybe a wanna-be? Do you feel the call to create something but don't know where to start? Have you heard yourself say the words “I’m not a creative person?” Or, maybe you think of yourself as only a painter, or only a crafter...
Let’s debunk those myths! I am an Art Doula, here to help you explore, discover, and birth more of your unique creativity. I'd so love to work with you in 2022 to help your creative life blossom. Zoom or in-person doula services available. Contact me for a free 30-minute preliminary consult. More information on my website here.
|
|
|
|
P.S....Current Resources
These are places and people I'm working with these days for growth and learning:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
