Love & Glitter

Survived To Thrive

I survived the plague of 2012 ~ worse flu I've had since 2004! And I wasn't the only one sick. The manfingy got taken down as well. Thankfully, we are both on the mend, and I am really looking forward to streaming this coming Sunday! 

I didn't skip any of the usual content for BOD despite being sick, but I didn't have the energy to stream at all, and I really missed it. 

***

I bought an easel and this is what I've done with it so far:

She was painted with Open Acrylics and photographed while the paint was still wet. Well, I've learned something about Open Acrylics. They darken when they dry. A lot. It is going to take a lot of work to bring her back from the mess that she became as the paint dried. 

In case her mantle didn't give it away, this is a painting of Our Lady of Lourdes. Though I'm not using the method of painting taught by Shiloh in The Red Madonna (because I'm too chickenshit just yet), she is still very much inspired by all the imagery and inspiration found in that most gorgeous of programs. 

Hopefully I can rescue her, but even if I can't, I learned so much! 1) I love working at an easel. 2) I love working large. 3) I am growing so much. 

*Insert Happy Dance Here*

***

We're almost done working with Life Is A Verb by Patti Digh in the BOD programme. I'm planning a whole new book club with my premium girls starting April 4th. We'll be reading and working through Soulistry by June Mack Maffin. I'm really excited. :) I'm also delivering the promised seasonal lessons in Elements: Self-Guided this year beginning with Spring Equinox on March 21 (or 22 depending on how recording goes), and of course, teaching in Life Book later this year!

Busy girl is busy, but oh so happy. 

Thanks for the part you play in helping me thrive. 

Love & Glitter,

Effy

Happiness Is...

...a week during which I was totally in the flow.

...only six spreads left to fill in my first Book of Days.

...a ginormous new Book of Days ready to be smushed full of my life.

...meaningful work.

...the beautiful Sisterhood LaRue. 

...less Facebook.

...more time out of the house.

...live art streams. (Seriously. I *love* live streaming so much that I've added a second show on Thursdays!)

...*Happy Mail!

...the new website for Book of Days

...being too busy living to blog.

...chicken salad with raisins on toasted French bread.

...good coffee.

...finding fellow mystics.

Mmmm hmmm.

Here's the latest recorded Wild Soul Art Stream. 

Wild Soul Art Stream #3 ~ February 19th, 2012

Live video for mobile from Ustream

You Don't Have To Be An Expert To Begin

I started mucking about in late 2009 with some Mod Podge and scrap paper and a box of chalk pastels. In Spring of 2010, I went ga-ga over art journaling, and my life blossomed in ways I would never have expected, but the fact remains:

I am an art newb. 

I am still in that phase where there is a huge gap between my taste and what I actually create. I am *still* surprised when I create something that really pleases me aesthetically. I mean, I'm always pleased to be creating, but the end product often leaves something to be desired. I have confidence that I'm improving, and I know I work at it, but I have no illusions about becoming a 'great artist' any time soon. I still don't feel I've found my 'voice'. I still struggle with basic applications of various mediums. I suck at collage and I often struggle with composition. But none of this matters. 

I just love journal art. 

I have a passion and an enthusiasm that is infectious. What I lack in skill, I make up for in sheer willingness to try. 

I am well aware that I'm surrounded by people who are *way* more skilled than I am. I only have to skim the threads in my Book of Days Facebook group to see that. I have little to teach by way of technique that any one of these gorgeous women couldn't teach themselves. They are *awesome* and I find myself having to pick my jaw up off the floor on a regular basis because the stuff they're posting? Leagues ahead of me.

It makes me laugh.
And I admit, it causes the occasional bout of extreme self-doubt. What the hell am I doing faciliating this amazing group? Who the hell am I to think I have anything to offer these amazingly talented people?

But, when I start thinking that way, I stop myself. Because you don't have to be an expert to begin. You don't have to be DaVinci to sit across from someone and risk trying something new. You don't have to be an adept to fling glitter and encourage people. 

What I have to offer is my love for this practice. What I have to offer is my optimism and my enthusiasm. What I have to offer is a lot of knowledge around developing self-awareness and intuition. What I have to offer has more to do with the spirituality of the practice and less about the end product.

What I have to offer is a sense of PLAY. 

That's as valuable as a lesson in cross-hatching or gel transfers. That's as valuable as color theory or human anatomy for artists. That's as valuable as expertise. 

Know how I know? 

My sisters tell me so. 

Love and Glitter,

Effy

Wednesday Dispatch #4 ~ Intention, Ritual & Art As Spiritual Practice

Hello lovely. :)

It's Wednesday, and that means Dispatch Day! I have decided to crosspost all the dispatches I write for Book of Days to my blog for fear that nothing else will get written, I'm that busy! If you want the videos and other goodies, go here to sign up. It's free!

Today, I want to talk to you a little bit about setting intentions, creating rituals, and art as spiritual practice.

My spiritual practice and my art practice are integral to one another. 

This may not be the case for all of you, and I totally get that, so feel free to roll your eyes at me when I talk about the woo woo. :) What I want to express to you, though is how journal keeping (either written or art) can be a red phone to the Source. 

When I sit down to art, I generally set an intention. This is something I learned in shamanic training ~ you don't do a shamanic journey without setting an intention. It's a little like setting out in a forest without a map, compass or box of matches. When I sit down to art, I make a statement, be that out loud, in writing, or just a mental note, about what I intend to explore. I might say "I intend to explore complimentary colour" or "I want to explore why my feelings are hurt." Sometimes, the intention is playful (I wanna play with bubble wrap) and sometimes it's very serious (I need to heal this long open wound). Whatever it is, stating it before hand is a little like dialing in to Source. It gives your subconscious instructions about what symbols, colours, or images to access during your arting session.  

If you are not a spiritual person and there is no such thing as "God" or "Source" or "Divine" in your vocabulary, you can think of this practice in purely psychological terms. When you set the intention, you are communicating to your superego what your ego needs. As you art, your younger self or subconscious goes to work on representing that on the page. 

Woo woo, right? But really darned powerful.  

A lot of us have abandoned the spiritual teachings our our childhoods. While I'm all for leaving oppressive teachings behind, I think that if you *are* a spiritual person by nature but you lack a spiritual practice, you can feel really cut adrift. Creating your own rituals around arting can fill the void your abandoned spiritual path has left behind. 

Some things you can do to imbue your art practice with spirit are: 

*Set an intention for your session. 
Have a way to open the session and then close the session. Example: Light a candle when you begin and extinguish when you finish. Say a prayer to be an open channel and then say a prayer to close the channel down. Get quiet for a minute before beginning, and get quiet for a moment as you finish up. These are all 'triggers' that will put in the arting frame of mind whenever you enact them. This creates a container for your creativity and allows you to access it more readily on demand.  

*Create rituals around the seasons of the year (solar) or phases of the moon (lunar) that are really meaningful to you. 

For example, I wrote about my New Moon practice in Facebook recently. When the moon is dark, (commonly known as "new moon"), I take an hour to reflect in my journal about the moon cycle that's just passed. When I know the moon is a crescent (about 2% waxing), I make what I fondly call my New Moon Vow. This is a promise to myself to do something during the next moon cycle. I might vow to take better care of my teeth, get a manicure, start a sketching practice, or walk. Whatever it is, it is made lightheartedly with full knowledge that I might struggle with it. There is no dire consequence for failing to follow through. But to better ensure that I do follow through, I art about it in my journal, taking the vow from words to something more tangible. Again, you can see this as woo woo or you can see this as a really effective psychological tool. I see it as both.  

Love & Glitter,
 

Effy

Getting The Hang Of Things

When I started BOD I had no idea that it would become a full time job, but that's what's happened and I couldn't be more thrilled. 1010 souls have joined me on this year long adventure in journal art and self-awareness. That's one thousand and ten! And January isn't even over yet! *Gobsmacked!*

My week looks like this: 

Monday, I scramble to get the full spread done, recorded, edited and uploaded, shots of the journal photographed and uploaded, and then the newsletter written and sent out. Then I build the archive page over here, and add the video embed to the the 'videos only' archive. 

Then I wait for the half dozen or so emails requesting the password (that is right in the newsletter, but I get it! Excitement has often led me to skimming and totally missing pertinent information!), answer those, and THEN I commune with my sisters in our Facebook group as images of their Monday spreads come in. By eight p.m., I collapse in a heap of Idunwannadoanything and relax for the evening. 

Tuesday, I take it a little easier. I sit down and record part I of my 'multi-day spread' and set that that to transfer from the camera to the computer, take photographs of what I did that day, and then, I putter, commune in the Facebook group, answer emails, and do whatever else my little heart desires (for example, work on The Red Madonna, classes I'm teaching or taking this year, sketch, watch crap on Netflix, etc. etc.)

Wednesday, I record part II of the multi-day spread, set that to transfer, photograph what I did that day, and write the Wednesday Dispatch, send that off, create the page for it in the archive, answer emails about passwords, and work on other projects for the rest of the day.

Thursday, I record part III, set that to transfer, photograph it, and FORGET THE ENTIRE WORLD for a while. 

Friday, I record part IV, set it to transfer, photograph the entire spread, edit the video and add music and captions  (two - three hours), save and optimize (another hour), upload (a half hour), upload the photographs, write the newsletter, prepare the archive, prepare the video archive, answer emails about passwords, and COLLAPSE.

Saturday, I work on other things, spend time with the family, and maybe do a little laundry. (My house is not happy with this BOD thing. It is feeling sorely neglected!)

Sunday, I stream live from 1 p.m. EST 'till anwhere between 3 and 4 p.m. EST, and then do little else until I get up on Monday to do it all over again. 

Most days of the week, I check in with the Facebook group ~ oh ~ two hundred times? Because I LOVE IT! And I'm a little bit crazy. 

I need a housekeeper and a personal assistant. Who can work for free. 

Thankfully, my husbandly person has been picking up a lot of slack!

We're in week four, and this has become as firmly ingrained as any routine I've ever had. It feels like a kind of 'bondage that sets you free'. I know exactly what I'm doing on any given day and as a result, I manage my time better, get way more done, and feel incredibly accomplished *each and every day*.

I'm getting the hang of it. :)

xo

Effy

Book of Days

Without really even intending to, I've developed an art practice. Between the couch art and the book of days (inspired by 30 Days In Your Journal), I am arting every single day whether I feel like it or not. I didn't plan to make any kind of commitment. It just happened, and the ritual that's developed out of it is awesome. It bring me into alignment with my values every single day because every day, I sit down and think about what I want to communicate ~ especially in the book of days. Today's entry is a perfect example of what happens when I don't feel like arting, but I do it anyway. What happens? Art happens. Here I am, headachey, throat on fire, mis.er.a.ble, yet art happened all the same. This makes me happy. *** I check my stats relatively regularly just so I can get a sense of what y'all want to read here, and the stats show that you guys go for my excavation type posts where I'm plumbing the depths. I'm really grateful for that, because that's my favourite kind of writing. Thanks for being gentle eyes on my life. xo Effy