BEAUTY FROM THE BROKEN PLACES....

Yes..it really has been 4 months since my last entry on my blog!.....things have been pretty much at a standstill through the Summer and up until this last week, re my purpose/journey with my Art....I am ok with that. I am very much following my intuition these days, and allowing myself..TIME.... not forging ahead blindly in panic.....I have dropped the need to be 'doing for the sake of doing'....I am listening to my Heart and following its lead...which of course, always encourages me to Create anyway....it is just a matter of what?....and when.
So...back to the Summer....I was fortunate enough this year to be invited by a good friend to share some play time with her and her Husband, in her Native Newfoundland...a place I have always wanted to visit ...I just knew I would resonate with this beautiful place, and its people.....very like Scotland...and especially The Hebrides(My Native soil through my Grandfather).
What I did not expect was the sheer joy and contentment of the whole week spent with my friend....beach combing, playing, discovering, painting, sight seeing and meeting and sharing time with her Family(including a wonderful evening 'jamming' with her Brother...me on Harmonica, him on guitar trying to find songs to play together...so much fun!)......and the wonderful energy I found there.
So what do the two mixed media paintings above have to do with my trip to Newfoundland?.....ah...I did those there...in my little journal(these pieces are just 5x7 inches on paper)....it was very freeing just 'sketching' small pieces and writing, poetry and even songs as they just drifted into my Creative 'space' in my Heart....doodling and playing with pastels, pencils and washi tape...
And...the Sun shone...all week, as we explored, gathered the contents of the beaches daily offering, ate wild berries, and walked around the exquisite fishing villages in this stunningly beautiful Province.
I made a vow to myself that I would go back...and next time with my Husband....it's good to share!

On my return....I was filled with the beauty and power of our Ancestry.....the simplicity and joy we crave but often overlook....the many lives, woven through time and love....hidden beneath the layers within homes now abandoned in favour of "Progress"....newer, bigger, better....but still held in time,
the walls of these homes, capture the essence of these Families and their trials and tribulations, dreams and joys.. in layers of time-worn wallpaper.....and cherished mementos...now suspended and forgotten.
This painting was my intuitive response to these very deep feelings that stayed with me.....it is a special painting for me that serves to remind me not to rush through life....to embrace each day....to slow down....and to be grateful for all in my life.
Taking time to myself now every day.....and feeling better for it.....slow things down...we have time....