ORIGINAL BLISS

Making It Real. Making It Happen.

Jeez.... where have I been??? I feel all pent up from not blogging for several days.

Funny. I didn't realize how much of an outlet it had become until I couldn't get to it this week.

There has been so much energy and activity around. I am a little spun!

The "Wishes, Rants and Stillness" workshop happens on Sunday! So I have been fingerpainting and collaging pages ahead of time, creating examples to share with the artists. I am really excited.

I found out I will be a featured artist in an upcoming Somerset Studio Art Journaling magazine. How thrilling, right?

But... that means writing an article that sounds intelligent and inspires.

The blank page is always intimidating.... so many ideas fogging my brain! Art is my ministry. Passing on the passion - a quest! How do I convey all that passion and inspiration into a concise 700 words! Fingerpainting it would be soooooo much easier!

But the Muse will come.

She will whisper the seed that I need that everything can grow from.

She is very reliable that way.

Namaste,

C H E Z

The Hush Before the Symphony

I am so used to always being a go go,

forcing a jig,

staccato rhythms and rock and roll.

But there has come a stillness -

a full rest.

An interval of silence in the composition of my life.

In this pause, the once familiar song is unraveling.

I am no longer in tune with the discord.

Resonating instead in the harmony of my breath,

in the hush before the symphony.

I cannot explain it. No amount of meditation, wine, or bubble baths has ever been able to produce the quality of stillness that has come over me this past week.

The ease in which I can find center. The lack of engagement I have in drama. Things that once seemed so important... so necessary... do not. 

If I had felt this way before it was associated with apathy or depression. Something was wrong and needed to be fixed.

This does not feel like that. There is relief and joy and peace.

I have trolled around my usual blog haunts and have noticed something similar with others. A pause taking place. You are re-centering, re-focusing, re-arranging, re-evaluating and shifting, as well.

And that makes me happy.

Namaste,

C H E Z

Tossing Pennies to the Ground

When I find myself bombarded and swirling in a sea of apparent chaos - having a hard time getting a grip or a good read on my next step - I grab 3 pennies, throw them to the ground and consult "The Book of Changes." Its wisdom and guidance is always straight forward and clear.

THE THROW -

Hexagram 54 - KUEI MEI - THE MARRYING MAIDEN.
Undertakings bring misfortune.
Nothing that would further.

A girl who is taken into the family, but not as the chief wife, must behave with special caution and reserve. She must not take it upon herself to supplant the mistress of the house, for that would mean disorder. 

Do not attempt to excel at your work, attempts to get ahead will be disastrous. Trying to attain desires now leads to compromising your self.

Use your energy to strengthen your inner vision. Hold on to what is enduring. Cling to the ideal.

CHANGING TO:

Hexagram 34 - TA CHUAN - THE POWER OF THE GREAT.

A time when inner worth mounts with great force and comes to power. But its strength has passed beyond the median line, so there is danger that one may rely entirely on one’s own power and forget to ask what is right. There is also danger that, being intent on movement, we may not wait for the right time.

This is a truly great power that does not degenerate into mere force but remains inwardly united with the  principles of right and of justice.

When we understand that greatness and justice must be indissolubly united – we understand the true meaning of all that happens in heaven and on earth.

Through contemplation you have opened higher doors for yourself. Proceed with wisdom, hand in hand, mind in mind, soul in soul with Source.

My 2 favorite versions The I Ching - A Guide to Life's Turning Points and I Ching Workbook

Namaste,

C H E Z

There is Happy in Unhappy

I live in Modesto, California. Born and raised. 

It is nestled in acres of peaches, almonds, walnuts, vineyards, corn and alfalfa, in the heart of the world's bread basket.

And its people are as rooted in its earth at its agriculture is.

If you are lucky enough to escape, you have to keep a watchful eye that it's vortex doesn't suck you back in.

It wasn't always this way.

It once had some homey, Americana charms about it. But those have faded.

Modesto became dazzled with the idea of being a "big city". And it sacrificed its small town charms, spreading its legs to development to become the epitome of urban sprawl.

This has been validated by several "lists"

Highest Rate of Car Thefts

One of the Highest Unemployment Rates

#3 in Negative Equity

Second most Unhappiest City In America

So how do you stay happy in the midst of all the unhappy?

There is a weird thing that happens when everything is "all wrong and bad".

The happy shines like a bright beacon.

Just down the street from my house is a little tulip farm.

I drove by yesterday and was blessed with the vision of sunny daffodils dancing in the breeze along the roadside.

Simple.

Sweet.

Today, the sky is a clear, robin's egg blue, adorned with huge, puffy clouds. The orchards are dressed in pink and white blossoms. The heat of the sun is thawing the winter damp. Fifty, country finches are visiting my Mulberry tree and bird bath...

and HAPPY is everywhere.

Namaste,

C H E Z

Wherever There Is

 

Waves of positive and negative energy flow.

We do - in fact - live in a bi-polar world.

Riding, bouyant, upon the crests

then lying, flattened, in the ebbs.

Someone has to channel all the sorrow

while we wait for Divinity to open the doors

so we can evaporate into wholeness.

Is there any doubt that we are on the cusp of something great and unknown?

Everybody on the verge...

inner tremblings...

panic...

gripping grief...

blinding rage...

then moments of bright, still knowingness -

everything is perfect.

I know.

I see you.

All we can do is find the rhythm of the tide. 

It hums there in our bones.

Hear it?

Sometimes we will flow with grace. Sometimes we'll be wiped out and flounder.

But we'll get there.

Wherever there is.

 

Namaste,

C H E Z 

When Rumi Met Mucha

 

Alphonse Maria Mucha (1860-1939) and Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (1207 - 1273) are very well acquainted, and meet together often... in my head.

I have always been drawn to the paintings, posters and advertisements of Mucha. The radiant women in flowing robes, the floral halos crowning their heads, every exquisite detail. 

There is a scene in Mary Poppins, where they go to the park and jump into a sidewalk painting into another colorful reality. If I could jump into art... I would jump into Mucha and swim in the seas of his tea and moss greens.

He became famous for his commercial art - which was a source of frustration for him because he believed art only existed to communicate a spiritual message. 

I can understand that. 

When I worked in advertising and marketing, I felt like all my creativity was tapped into and drained to be used only for the client and a bottom line. Creativity is so connected to the Divine, that it, indeed, felt as though I was selling my soul.

Rumi dances in my head christening my brain with poetry.

"You are the fountain of the sun's light"

"We always see the qualities that are living within us. Purify your eyes and see a pure world. Your life will be filled with radiant forms."

"See beyond phenomena."

"I have no more words. Let the soul speak."

Celedon words dripped from his finger tips so long ago and sooth my agitations today.

So I introduced Mucha to Rumi. Their words and images together create a little retreat for me to escape to - especially when I feel like I am selling my soul for a penny.

 Namaste,

C H E Z

Favorite Thing #13

When I discover something I really love and am really excited about - I have to share it.

Really, I would rather take you by the hand, lead you to it, and watch your face as you see how awesome it is, because I'd love to see your face when you discover its awesomeness too. But, since I cannot do that, I blog it, and hope you discover it on your own.

My current favorite thing, has been in my realm for a while, but I haven't fully appreciated it until recently.

Photoshop can make a creative genius out of anyone, turning your ordinary photographs into stunning masterpieces. Unfortunately, it is intimidating, even for computer savvy artists. There are so many tools and ways about it, I always feel so lost.

That is why I love, love, LOVE, Photoshop Creative Magazine!

It's expensive, as far as magazines go - $16 at the newsstand... but oh, so worth it! The step-by-step tutorials are easy to follow and will have you creating your own amazing art immediately. PLUS, each issue includes a CD filled - really filled - with video tutorials and freebies, that make $16 a BARGAIN.

I do not subscribe to the magazine --- yet. But every time I play with it, I consider the idea. This magazine has made Photoshop more accessible to me.

When I am feeling a lack of creative inspiration, I can pick up the magazine, find a project and play.

Here is the tutorial image:

And then my Kelsea:

From this ORIGINAL photo:

My projects never turn out exactly the same as the tutorial, because I experiment with the steps as I go along. But it is a fun discovery and learning process!

If you have Photoshop, and don't know what the hell to do with it, pick up a copy of this magazine and surprise yourself!

Namaste,

C H E Z

Send Me an Angel

Have you noticed that many artists have a theme, color palette, or symbol that they gravitate to?

I tend to experiment a lot with different styles, ideas, and color.

But there is a predominant, recurrent symbol in my work.

The angel.

They show up again and again.

But not your typical celestial being of heaven.

Over and over I find myself creating humans as angel.

This is never planned. It just becomes so along the way. Usually because I find WINGS everywhere. Wings in images of magazines, books, catalogs and flyers. They appear magically on a daily basis.

Like this page for instance.

I started with an old, reusable Trader Joe's bag - because I liked the colors and patterns.

And I pulled out my favorite blue acrylic - because it matched the bag - and it is my favorite blue.

And I dug out the body from my ephemera box.

I had the an epiphany of incorporating different heads on the little body and came up with the wheel/halo idea.

As I was cutting the bag into strips, I noticed there were wings printed on the bag. Up in an out of the way corner. I'd never noticed them there before because they blended into the chaos of the other imagery.

And my imperfect, little girls became winged.

Whenever I find wings and feathers, I imagine my personal angels must be saying,

"Hello! Remember us today. Remember who you are."

They keep sending me wings for a reason.

Namaste,

C H E Z

POST 300 CELEBRATION!!!!!

A Very Real Possibility

What do you expect...

when you tell the children they are worthless, no good, sinners?

You get what you pray for,

that's what.

What would you get...

if you told a child that "Made in the Image of God" was embossed on the essence of their soul?

That their only goal in life was to be divine while walking on fleshy feet?

Maybe we could give that a chance?

"Stepping outside this limited concept of myself &

into the very real possibility that

i am divine."

Namaste,

C H E Z

Phrenology 2010

"Phrenology 2010"

Mixed Media Collage on Yupo (14x18")

Today is my last day of vacation.

Boo hoo.

Today I take Kelsea back to school for another semester.

Boo hoo, too.

So many ideas, issues, worries and dreams are crowding in my head right now.

I find it interesting that I finished this mixed media collage "Phrenology 2010" two days ago.

Funny how art directly reflects the inner working of the being.

I look at it and say, yep that's my head in there!

I thank God for the process of art, for the playing and the creating. It brings order and enlightenment to my soul.

Namaste,

C H E Z