Red Thread Circles

  I love painting on wood!  When I was in my Color of Woman teacher training in 2015, we painted 5 large pieces, two on wood panels! I found our "Art Doc's"   tutorial on buying and mounting a hardwood panel super helpful. (But dang - those pieces are heavy!)  Intentional Creativity is a process of self reflection and discovery,  preparing the container is a wonderful way to begin! During Color of Woman, I painted both Taliswoman, " Songs of Light ," and Alchemist, "Firekeeper," on wood panels which my son-in love helped me prepare. I bought the plywood panels and 1x1" supports at Lowe's, then took them to Matt, who has the tools, workspace, and is handy. (And loves my art!) Hummingbird - Songs of Light He suggested using a little sanding block with fine sandpaper - and I watched a  tutorial  which recommended applying a couple of coats of GAC-100 (polymer, the binder for acrylic paint) before the gesso.  The suggested drying time for the poly...

 Around this time last year, Linda Allen and I began talking about teaching an Apothecary class, a process pioneered by Jonathan and Shiloh for ' turning tragedies into remedies,' using life experiences as fodder for creative process. In addition to teaching Intentional Creativity, we are both licensed to teach our own classes based on Apothecary.   Linda thought of offering our class based on the idea of being 'healed enough' to observe those old traumas - not not needing to dig to deeply, rather, building on them as compost in which to plant our seeds of the future.  " After dealing with past traumas and designing remedies, after recognizing what your triggers are and finding your strengths, after digging deep and deeper to find your authentic self, now what? There are only so many times you can go over these things. When you find yourself healed enough to go out and enter the world, what do you need in your medicine basket? How do you navigate and continue to m...

 The invitation to our circle read, "Does this happen at your house? You have a great idea, jot copious notes...then, months later, discover them tucked away in one of your many files or journals! If they're not visible, they often just drop off the radar! "Viola - make pockets to hold sets of cards with those ideas, and string them up on a line!" This was a great springboard for our Circle! SiStars attended from the UK, Australia, and even India (4:30 AM!) as well as USA! And what fun to see ideas cross pollinate as we inspired each other! You'll find my first board and earlier post about these boards  here . I pulled out the demo canvas from a Medicine Basket Paint With Pals party (16×20") to use for my backing. I used garden twine for my lines, and taped the knotted ends to the stretcherbars. Several pockets are repurposed envelopes (Christmas cards!) and others from cardstock and a scrap of fingerpaint. Paint with Pals - Medicine Basket Old supplies fro...

Often times when we are creating, and blithely engaged in our dialogue with the Muse, the critic sneaks up on us!  Ack ! The critic is likely to appear, wearing her current favorite hat!  "I'm not artistic" - the Tyranny of Talent!  Comparison Queen -  your painting looks better! "I just  don't like  my painting!"  And on ... She's too pale, now she's too dark, ... Circle Altar When the critic appears in a class, I often thank the student, and mention that they are likely speaking for others in the group as well. It's long been her job to keep us safe for a long time, and may get uncomfortable when we try something new/different.  I give some options, she can count rocks in the parking lot, or shall we set her up with a drink by the pool? She can hold the map and help navigate, but we won't let her drive!  As we listen to her, we may identify her voice - who along the way is she parroting?  What if there was nothing we could get wr...