Bleakness, Hope & New Year Blessings

These are not my words... but we were driving around in the snow earlier in the week & the skies were darkening. The landscape looked very bleak & for some reason I thought about this commission I did a few years ago. 

Skies darkened, clouds filled every void.

Darkness fell, guiding light extinguished.

Waves that crashed upon rocks.

Wind that blew.

All had gone.

Darkness. 

Stillness.

Emptiness.

Searching for the light

Heart from body ripped

Light from life imploded

Once whole, torn apart.

I found myself wondering about the person who asked for this... the words are so deeply moving. I know nothing about her or her story; the order came by email & I didn't ask, but I have often wondered... there is something raw & powerful conveyed in these few lines. I hope that time has been a healer for her, that the rawness has eased....

chinese liquid stick ink, silver powder, brause nib, compressed capitals

I've spent a fair bit of time thinking about & letting reiki flow to those going through that first Christmas after bereavement, especially when someone has died close to Christmas itself. Not just for those I know, but asking that those who need it receive the blessing of healing energy.

The bleakness of loss at this time of year is emphasized by the fact that it is supposed to be a time of festivity & everyone else seems to be going on their merry way around you, while all you can feel is a cold hole in your heart, while you go through the motions of acting ‘normally’. 

Of course grief affects everyone differently… the complicated chemical cocktail that makes us human creates different reactions & feelings. And grief isn’t solely caused by death…. separation, abandonment, illness, anything that causes a loss of hopes, dreams, future, trust, way of life… there’s many more, but sometimes we feel that ‘bleakness’ & don’t associate it with grief because no one close has died.

I read words like these & they really move me… so, as we move to the New Year I’m sending out my love & healing thoughts to those who are feeling the chill of loss… may you find comfort & the strength to re-build...

May the new decade that we enter be one of hope… may it burn inside us all, encouraging the sparks of light within us, to be a beacon of hope... a shining light that extends beyond ourselves to those around us…. our families & communities…. our countries… to the whole world & beyond….

New Year Blessings to you all xx

'Hope' Rubber Stamp available from http://craftyindividuals.co.uk/

Like a gleaming tapers light, hope shines, no matter how you look at it.

Great hopes make great people.

Nourish your hopes, cherish your dreams.

If you have never hoped you have never breathed.

Do not fear to hope.

Hold on to all hopes & follow your dreams- never let go.

Believe.

Never let go of hope.

Hope always shines.

Christening Gift

My latest commission.... a 10x 12 inch canvas for a christening gift from a godmother. Girly pink & white with some silver powder dropped into the wet paint. This is a popular idea for 'new baby' gifts too, with the name & date added subtly at the bottom.

The quotations are;

Babies are little bits of stardust sprinkled from heaven.

Angels surround you every day...
may they love & protect you in every way.

Silver Strands...

...thread light downwards...

Recognise these words? They're by a favourite writer of mine, and if you visit regularly you may recognise them from something I did earlier. Yes, the words written by mel continue to inspire me.

When i laid the plaster down for 'hear the ocean' i also put some on this black Hannemuhle Buggra Butten paper... it's designed for pastels, but at 120gsm i thought it may be heavy enough to take this technique. If you don't try, you don't know! The paper did cockle a bit with the wetness, but dried out ok. I used various blacks & silver, thinking about waves crashing at night in moonlight... the photo doesn't really show the depth that the 'rocks' give to the piece, but i'm pleased with the 3d effect in real life.

(click to enlarge)

I've used pencil for the lettering (6B i think)... quite tall narrow skeleton letters to convey the movement of light downwards... the use of pressure & release so the colour isn't solid. Pencil on black paper isn't the easiest to read or photograph, at some angles parts of the lettering seem to disappear, only to reappear as you move around... but that's the whole point.
We are talking about moonlight threading down... ebb& flow... weavings... magic... re-connecting.... and apart from that, there are layers of meaning within the words & the energy around them.


As it's pastel paper, it's only fair to use some pastel somewhere.... so i scraped a mix of white, black & grey through a stencil & smudged it with a brush. There's also a spattering of silver acrylic & silver powder in there too.... all those layers of light & shadow, thought & meaning...

Look deep into the spiral.... & re-connect....

Mels Candy

A special commission for a special lady.... a little bit of Blog Candy for Mel

It's a concertina book designed to hang up.... Finding something to write especially for her was easy... they are her own words inspired by the moon from a little while ago.... I dropped silver powder into black gouache for the calligraphy, giving a random sparkly moonlight effect...

I wanted "silver strands" to literally "thread downwards"...this is achieved with aluminium leaf over a raised line from a glue gun, and also rubbed over flat glue.... choosing a format was more tricky, as it was to be posted to canada.... Sue (creative spirit) provided the inspiration to combine a vertical format that I wanted, with a book...

The book is covered with japanese sanwaa tissue, it is deliciously fine with pieces of gold & silver leaf in it. Layered over black paper it gives the effect I wanted.

Silver strands thread light downwards...

Into the heart of darkness...

Winds with the ebb & flow of time...

To send our hearts & minds once more into these weavings...

Of magic & the old ways to bind & connect our souls once more
with She who knows

Izumi Shikibu-"Love-soaked, rain-soaked"

Love-soaked, rain-soaked,
if people ask which drenched your sleeves
what will you say?
(Izumi Shikibu)

It's wild, windy & rainy here... i'm sure it's just a brief tempest in an otherwise sunny but breezy day. Apple blossom is being tossed by the wind & rain-soaked petals cling where they land... on the car, the walls, the grass... It was that "rain-soaked" phrase that made me think of this piece of calligraphy.

"Love-soaked, rain-soaked..." what an evocative image... that Japanese talent for saying so much in so few words. Considered one of the finest poets of her time, Izumi Shikibu(wiki ref) was born approx 930, there is no record of her death, though her last recorded correspondance was dated 1033. More of her writing is available here.

Daughter of a governor, a courtier, poet, some say politician too, married twice (some say thrice) several affairs... one independant lady! Reading more of her poetry, it dawned on me that this was written before Britain had even been invaded by the Normans- it certainly highlights the culture difference at that time.

Written in gouache with a folded ruling pen & brause nib, I used water colour to shade some areas to pick up on the idea of 'soaked sleeves'. Silver powder is just dropped into the wet ink to spread as it will & torn japanese tissue completes the effect- a sort of raw & ragged look, which is the feeling I sensed from the poem as she talks to her lover....