big ideas in 2022

hi all.  yep, it's been a minute since i've posted.  honestly, i've been on a painting hiatus, concentrating on my spiritual health, trying to educate myself and to delve into lifes' mysteries.  i'm a libra, so i look into things from all sides, and oh, there are so many sides to the mystery of life and the earth we live on!  the muds run deep, lol.

but, i'm back!  i spent some time with my tarot deck the other day, and it gave me some great insight to some places where i might stumble in the coming year.  since then i had an idea that will bring some forward motion to a dream sweetie and i have.  forward motion made by me, instead of all from him, so this gives me an added push for my idea to work;  i need to be of financial assistance with making the dream happen.

our dream is a big one, with a big, ongoing income stream needed, and my artwork hasnt been forthcoming with the flow.  i get awesome drips here and there, but it's time to come up with a product that will give more of a flow wherever it's seen.   that means affordable to the masses and with a feeling that people will want in their homes.

i think i found it!

it feels good!

i have a stack of these wooden slice ornaments that i've used to affix prints of personal photos as gifts, but i'm about to experiment with affixing prints of my paintings.  i think my paintings would look great as minis hanging in various unexpected spots in a home!  i can imagine them in windows, hanging on lamp switches and drawer pulls.  i've also made some photo ones with magnets behind the wood slices and can imagine my art on fridges all around the world.  that thought makes me smile!

i was able to affix one print today, and i think i want a thicker paper, which means stronger medium to attach to the wood.  i also need to ponder how i want the edges to be.  do i want to decorate where the paper meets the wood so it's not feeling so abrupt?  do i want a matte or gloss finish?  (leaning towards matte finish, so the glare wont be too much in some light).  do i want some of the inner wood to show, instead of only the bark? 

 

i'll be experimenting with decorating this one

each wood piece is so different that it's going to be a process to size each and every print for each ornament and to cut each print to the unique shape of the wooden piece.  that's going to take some time for each piece so i'll still be taking care and putting my energies into them just like all my artwork.  i want to make these affordable for people to consider buying them, but i'll need to consider if this will be financially feasible to make any profit at all with these. or maybe i should concentrate on the bigger original paintings to sell and to put in my shops for people to put on mugs and other merchandise. remember, this will be helping to finance our big dream!

i can see these anywhere a little pop of color is needed in the home!

 

these little guys need a name now.  i've got some ideas for that as well, but here's my problem with naming these little gems of a product.  i have original paintings on canvas, and original mini paintings on canvas.  those are self explanatory; "paintings", and "mini paintings".  but these are prints on wood.  i feel they need a 'product name' and it needs to make sense with who i am as an artist and my artwork.  my art business name is HeavenSpirit Creations.  my art is spiritual and uplifting; joyful; has something to say; makes you feel connected; sends a message.  so the name needs to convey what it is and what it is presenting.  or at least has a name that gives some sort of feeling in that direction.  sweetie likes the name "Whimspirations", which is a cute name, but my art isnt whimsical in my eyes.  even if my art becomes cute in a mini size, it really doesnt say "whimsy" to me.

my name ideas i have that i like so far are;

 

Tiny Intentions

Tiny Totems (but not all will be of spirit animals, so not the best)

Hanging Altars

Tiny Guides (not my favorite)

Rooted Offerings

Rooted Altars

Mini Alters

Rooted Intentions

Rooted Visions

Rooted Treasures

Tiny Treasures

 

as you can see, i like the double meaning of the word rooted here.  rooted, meaning very strong and firmly fixed, and they are also made of wood from a rooted tree.  i really enjoy the imagery of that.  out of my list of names, what is your favorite?

 

 

looking good on my own altar space

 

 

for now, i'll be starting to make these with prints of some of my original paintings.  since i have almost 200 paintings, i'll be picking favorites that will work well for the circular piece of wood.  it's gonna take time to get a good supply going, and while i work i'll be able to figure out a name as well as think about cost to make and how much to pay myself for the time and artwork.  it'll be a process!

until later,

jenny

 

 

the newest tarot card art journal spreads

I've been slow with making these, but I'm happy that I've been able to dabble in paint and collage without judgement from my inner critic.  baby steps in getting back to physical and mental health.

the next cards drawn were the 5 of pentacles;

meaning financial loss, poverty, lack mindset, isolation, worry.

read more about 5 of pentacles here

and the queen of swords;

here are her elements before figuring out composition and such

symbolizes independent, unbiased judgement, clear boundaries, direct communication.

read more about Queen of Swords here

the high priestess was next.  I had some difficulties when I scrubbed part of the ink off the collage piece for her face while affixing it to the page.  I had to trust that I could enjoy my time correcting the colors and making her face mine (and not 'perfect')

symbolizes intuition, sacred knowledge, divine feminine, the subconscious mind.

read more about the high priestess here

until later,

Jenny

tarot art journal spreads

I was able to get back to the art table on November 4th, after a little break from things.  I always worry when I take breaks cause I wonder if I'll ever have the energy to get back into art of any form.  I also have to hold myself from criticism with these journal pages.  other artists may spend hours futzing with every little detail in their art journals, but I want to do quick pages just to let off steam and get something down on the page that represents the tarot card that I chose that day.

my first card of the month of November was the Tower.  it's not a sweet card to draw, for sure, and I found some good images to represent the chaos of it.

I laid out all the collage pieces and took a photo (above), but when I went to glue the elements down things got shifted and I couldn't shift them back.  I liked the composition above much better.

the way it turned out seemed to have a bit of disconnect with the woman and the tower.  the eye didn't move freely with the image as a whole and got stuck where her hand is.  movement is much better in the unglued version!  I had an inward chuckle that this spread was giving me trouble, and fixed it a bit with fire images.

it is what it is

I also like that the woman in the fetal position in the image has a soft ball of yarn.  to me that tells me that what is happening is for the better in the long run; that I will come to the end of this phase stronger from it.  read about the Tower card here.





I worked today with the Page of Cups.  for some reason I felt the energy of my son, Winter-Orion, for this card.  Winter is in the spirit dimension now, but he was very creative and intuitive and this is the energy for the card.  I thought about using a photo of him for this, but realized it might get in the way of knowing the card better instead of always relating it to Winter.  again, I chose the images that spoke to me and just created without too much thought.

and the end result has become another favorite;

read about the Page of Cups here

it was a good creative outcome today, and glad to have my boy join me in it!

until later,
Jenny

tarot art journalling in October

I've been making progress with my tarot art journalling.  the first three days were easy.  I was motivated and I think I may have found a combination of supplements that have me feeling much 'better' in my battle with Lyme disease.  I had the motivation and the energy in the first 3 days of art journalling to do 3 spreads, and those two elements (energy and motivation) are the things that will keep me moving and off the couch.  I still have pain, and I'm still dead tired (which is funny since I have energy... it's different, though), but with motivation and energy, I can move mountains!

these spreads are meant to be quick, imperfect learning tools to get me off the couch, into art again and immersing myself in tarot.  these are not to become agitated about or stressed about in any way, because they are just for my eyes- and you- not something to sell.  I'm hoping to do a few each week until finished with the deck of 78 cards.

I showed you my first spread, The Sun, which I chose to be the main card for this journal;

signifies positivity, fun, warmth, success, and vitality

read more about Sun here

my second spread was the 4 of Cups, and I really love this one;

signifies meditation, contemplation, apathy, and reevaluation

read more here

spread 3 is the Queen of Rods;

signifies courage, confidence, independence, social butterfly, and determination

read more here

next I worked on 3 of Swords.  it has a lot of texture in it;

signifies heartbreak, emotional pain, sorrow, grief, hurt

read more about 3 of swords here

next card I drew was The Empress;

signifies femininity, beauty, nature, nurturing, abundance

read more about the Empress here

I took a few days off, being busy and then tired, and then, suddenly, it was November 1st.  I'll do a post a month with my progress in this tarot journal.  

until later,

Jenny

easy art journalling with "365 tarot spells"

I bought this book for my birthday and it came yesterday;

365 tarot spells

creating the magic in each day

by Sasha graham

this book excites me!  I need a nudge to get my head cleared of all the negativity that has been enveloping me lately and I think working with the book can help me relieve some of it through just getting to know my tarot deck in a more intimate way.  not only does this have spells to work with to help in everyday life (ease of travel spell, sound sleep spell...), but it has what is called "connection rituals", where you hold a meditation and find yourself entering the card to see from it's eyes, so to speak.

what I've decided to do first with this book is to create an art journal page for each card in the deck.  there are 78 cards, so this will be a long-term project and I'm not going to hold myself to create each day but take it slow.  I have the perfect journal for this, that was once a tried-and-failed attempt at a hand written Book of Shadows.

it's a pretty, purple, leather-bound with many signatures

I chose the first spread to be for THE SUN, but for each of my other spreads I'll be shuffling the deck to see what energies I'll be working with that day.

letting the image rest while I journal about the card

finishing up the art with some gold for added energies

I found a good reference site called biddytarot.com to learn about tarot, and used it for journalling about the Sun card.  it may be my go-to for each card, I'm not sure yet.  click here to learn what they say about the Sun.

I was rather impressed that I intuitively picked the Sun card to be the first card in the journal.  reading up on it, it has everything I need right now; with going into such a big project, with not knowing where my health is going, with going into a known depressive time of year.  this card lets me know that I have what it takes to get through all my struggles and to shine my radiance into the world like only I can.  in another book I have, "your guide to the tarot" (in this tarot kit),  Janet Berres calls the Sun card "the best card of the deck!

my goal is to just explore things in this journal.  not going for works of art, but to enjoy myself, to experiment with what materials I have and to show what each card means to me in a quick, easy way.  the front portion of this beautiful leather-bound book will be for artwork, and later signatures of the book will hold journalling of tarot spreads and spells I've done.

updated with some added dots for more motion

this should be a great project for the upcoming hibernation months!

until later,

Jenny

this years tarot draw

a few days back i did my big tarot draw for insight into the coming year.  as always i burned some sage, lit a candle and went inward, into spirit.  i currently have 10 decks that i use for these big draws, and i intuitively chose one deck for each month.  i wrote the meaning for each card in the journal i have just for my tarot use, so i can go back to see if i need to heed any warnings or just to get a heads up which is always nice.

going inward

*disclaimer

 unless specifically stated otherwise, 

i took the words for each card directly from the authors book that came with the decks in question.  i did not write the descriptions, they are not my words.

january- i drew from goddess guidance oracle cards by doreen virtue 

kuan yin- compassion

release judgements about yourself and others and focus on the love and light that is within everyone.




february- i drew from power of surrender cards by judith orloff m.d.

surrender frustration

frustration doesn't open any doors.  the key to resolving a block is to take a deep breath, center yourself, and regroup so you may approach the situation more calmly.



march- i drew from wisdom of the oracle cards by colette baron-reid

#39 new life

when spring awakens the world, joy and excitement can be felt all around and in your very core.  blossoms burst from the trees overnight, birds return home and sing their glorious song, and nature is full of promise.  miracles beckon to all of us.  this is one of those times in your life when new ideas inspire you and new opportunities bring you hope for seeing your dreams come true.  all is well in your world, and you have the energy you need to feel renewed.  allow your heart to fill with enthusiasm.  let your light shine, for this is a time of good fortune.

april- i drew from my old morgan greer (i think) tarot deck 

8 of rods/wands

(description from the tarot coloring book, by theresa reed)

not a single human figure appears in the 8 of rods- these wands fly through the air all by themselves.  if you look at the direction, they are pointed toward the earth, a sign that something is about to come to a successful conclusion.  something is moving along with great speed.  this is a great card to see if you are planning on moving or taking a trip.  it is also sometimes associated with important messages.  all systems go!

may- i drew from tree magick by gillian kemp

39 the sweet chestnut tree- growth

three sweet gifts of heaven will fall like sweet chestnuts.  life will be bright and social like the trees glossy, sharp pointed leaves.  the deep spiral furrows in the grey bark symbolizes interaction and growth.  a new romance or social activity may happen through three friends, just as the female flowers sit in threes in a little cup.  like the sweet chestnut, life may flower in june and bear fruit in october.  when the pale green male catkins fertilize the flowers, the cup becomes a spiky shell encasing three nuts until fall when they escape.  each nut encapsulates knowledge, predicting a phase of learning for you.

june- i drew from the wild kuan yin oracle by alana fairchild

34.  blessing of the khata bestowed

in your heart a desire for union grows, an impulse to move deeper into loves embrace.  as you open your heart, i pour forth my healing balm and my blessing.  it is never too late for love.  it is never too late for joy.  it is never too late for connection.  as my blessing vests in your heart, a path will open up for you, leading you into loves expansive landscape.  you too shall be as enchanted in love as i am, cherished and adored, surrendered in love.  love's blessing and presence finds you now.  you are worthy of such blessing and shall be safe in the joy of it's embrace.

(this one i'm confused about, as i am fully engulfed in love.  though it may be self love, self acceptance that i find)

july- i drew from lo scarabs universal tarot that came in this set

14.  temperance

(description from the tarot coloring book, by theresa reed)

temperance is the card of moderation and balance.  the angel in the card transfers water from one cup to another, signifying healing.  this action is also related to blending, as in testing things out to find the right mix.

going with the flow.  finding the sweet spot. patience and calm.  sobriety, emotional stability and spiritual growth.  thats what temperance is all about.

august- i drew from the angel tarot by doreen virtue and radleigh valentine

knight of fire

a significant situation requires your immediate and full attention.  while time is of the essence, it's important to avoid making rash decisions.  enthusiasm and self assuredness are wonderful, so long as they aren't separated from wisdom and caution.

a person who is passionate, a take-charge person who moves quickly with confidence and certainty on behalf of loved ones or loved causes.  fearless, loyal, charismatic, self assured, adventurous, restless.

september- i chose from earth magic oracle cards by steven d. farmer

lotus flower- unfoldment

your spiritual unfoldment is occurring at all times whether or not you are aware of it.  its inevitable as long as you put your trust in the hands of the creator, the one who holds the light.  like the lotus, your soul is always reaching for the light to fulfill it's karmic destiny, but even in that process there are periods of darkness and times to rest.  it is a natural cycle, one that cannot truly be coerced or halted.  it has an innate rhythm of its own, one that is unique to the being that is you.

you do not need to strive or be driven by spiritual ambition.  it does no good to try to force growth upon yourself- or others, for that matter.  allowing is the key here.  allow the place in you that naturally wants to follow the light to do so while recognizing that even when you have complete faith, you will face challenges and occasionally suffering.  your steady faith and love will guide you on your journey of returning to the light.

october- i pulled from crystal ally cards by naisha ahsain

(i have no book on this deck, and no information, even the name.  google was my friend.

i found information and a message from this deck and card here)

storm

when storm whirls through your cards you are being blessed with a time of great change and growth. the growth that storm brings is rarely easy.  ego based beliefs and ideas may be shattered.  old beliefs that were held dear may become empty of meaning.  but this difficult cleansing of obsolete energies is crucial to gaining new levels of deeper understanding and growth.

storm is calling you to stretch out your arms to the sky and invoke the powers of lightning, rain, wind and earth.  in doing so, you will begin your initiation into the deeper mysteries of your life.

i then had to choose two of the same decks for november and december.

november- i pulled from wisdom of the oracle deck again

2. yin

the feminine principle of receptivity.  letting someone else make the first move.  gathering information and taking cues.  the art of conscious allowing.

this is a time of calculated receptivity as you gracefully await what is coming to you, ready to accept it when it appears.  yin doesn't involve frozen dreams or resting, but rather consciously allowing things to flow to you, poised to receive the bounty that will be made available to you.  it implies sensitivity as you alertly study the actions of others and contemplate how they will affect you and yours.  remember you must make space for miracles to appear.  be the 'shaped' not the 'shaper', and you'll see how quickly your dreams manifest.

december- i pulled from earth magic again

winter solstice- reflection 

review the past year and ask yourself what the most important lessons you have had to learn are, what you have accomplished, and what dreams and visions you want to manifest in the coming year.  whether it has been a relatively smooth ride or a challenging series of events, acknowledge your experience as being the work of Source, no matter what your judgments, fears, or joys are.  honor whatever has happened over previous several months with gratitude and forgiveness.  then let it go.  allow yourself some solitude so you can spend some quiet, slow time in reflection.

once you feel complete, reflect on your present life, especially focusing on what you are grateful for.  when you are finished, consider what is to come- all the different possibilities and potential that exist before you.  allow your imagination to roam without limitation or ambition and see what shows up.  notice how you feel in your body with whatever scenario plays out in your mind.  these are previews of that which is gestating, and can manifest and grow when cared for properly.  patience and stillness is called for here, for just as the earth cycles have their own pace, so does this cycle.

so, there it is- my year in full view.  i find it rather interesting, the cycles seem to be in tune with how i usually am feeling, and winter for the month of december, going inward and reflecting.  for july i pulled number 14 which is a symbolic number for winter-orion and his death, and the card is for emotional stability and sobriety as well as healing.  july will bring winters 20th anniversary on the other side, and i'm going to need assistance with it all.  all in all i see lots of growth coming up, personally, spiritually, and in my art.  i post this here in order to come back and reflect each month or in years to come.

until later,

jenny

progress is slow

i mentioned last time that i received a gigantic canvas for christmas this year.  the day after christmas i had to bail from a family gathering due to depression and anxiety and felt like the worst person on the planet for doing so.  the next day i started sketching what i hope to be a healing work for me.

she is incredibly sad and vulnerable but her light still has a glow to it.  she does not want the guilt and responsibility of 'living because others need her'.  she needs to find her own joy in living again.  she's tentative and protective of her flame, scared it will be snuffed out. she needs to keep herself and her little light safe but knows your own light, and the light of the world, shines brighter if you share your flame with others.  

on new years day our kids and grands came to play games instead of our annual movie marathon.  i just could not come up with movies i wanted to watch.  it needed to be lighthearted, thats all i knew.  in the end, i just decided on a game day.

here 'we' are playing our new game "labyrinth".  

i ended up just watching the game play that day

 my yearly january ritual of pulling a card for every month proved interesting and gave me some hope.  i need 2 more decks to bring my total to 12, one for each month!

i will read each months card reading on the first of each month for insight

i'm waiting for a shipment of some paint to be delivered to me, cause i don't have enough of the right colors to cover this whole canvas.  trying to be patient, here.  i had an idea about collage-ing the whole background full of this girls 'story' before painting the background, but i put a few pieces down and decided to collage only the orb she carries and just a few odd papers here and there on the background.

as i collaged the papers in the orb, parts of it became sort of a conversation between winter-orion and myself... my grief speaking and winter speaking to my grief.  it was pretty cool and felt good.

this is the soul, the part of you that makes you, you.  

your memories and thoughts, the important parts of life

now i am thinking about how it will all play out, how i want it to be, how i can try to get the effects i would like to see, tossing things out there in my head and hoping it comes out ok in the end.  it's all an experiment.  the work of painting sometimes happens well before paint even enters the studio.

speaking of the studio...  it is wicked cold here in massachusetts and set to be even colder this weekend, wind-chills said to get down to -35 degrees F.  i've been turning on the heater down there in order to piddle around, and one night forgot to turn it off until the next evening.  when i went to turn it off, it hadn't gotten above 44 degrees!  i won't be painting down there anytime soon.  right now i'm set up in our sitting room, and plan on just being as tidy as i can with the drips.  

as soon as my paint is delivered.

until later,

jenny

2016 mid year review, and a couple of surprises

remember this;

read about it here

i have not been working with my yearbook faithfully.  er... like, not at all.  

today i dusted it off to look at my 2016 tarot spread, wondering how accurate it is for june, (not bad) and thought i'd take a look back at what my goals were back at the start of the new year. see if i've been able to succeed at some, and if others needed to be tweaked.

goal 1 revolved around creativity.  i wanted to create one mini canvas a week (52 total) and one large canvas every 2 months (6 total).  was i able to do this?  yes and no.  the mini canvasses became tougher for me to do by being so small.  they limited me.  the larger canvasses have been easier for me to create on and i've worked on them, creating 10 large canvasses this year!  thats really good and over my goal for the big canvasses.  i finished one mini canvas so far this year.  today.  

goal 2 was about personal growth and learning about the technical aspect of being a blogger with an online store.  i wanted to learn more about putting 'bells and whistles' on my blog, and i wanted to learn how to upload things onto my store site.  was i able to do this?  so far so good.  i'm learning as i go with the blog, and can do what i want to do.  as for uploading things onto my store site, mark is still doing that *with* me.  we enjoy doing it together, but i think i need to start trying to do it with mark coaching me.  that way i won't have to rely on him.  if ever i have to do it without him i want to be able to do so.

those are the goals i'm willing to share.  the others are about health, cooking, that sort of stuff, and i'm kind of slacking on those as well.  

i guess it's time to get back into the swing of things, especially now that i'm feeling more confidence in my work.  i want to be able to live the artist life that i dream of, and in order to do that i gotta get off my behind and just do it!

and on THAT note, i worked today.  i found the octopus eye i had been yearning for.  it actually looks like it fits, hehe!

i think she may be complete!

not only that, but i was inspired for a brand new painting.  i had a vision, and then i added to that, and it was 'meh'.  but one extra detail and i fell in love!  hard. 

she is not done.  she has more to say.  she wants fish and bubbles in her hair.  i just have to be able to listen and find the detail she needs.

until later,

jenny

my magical yearbook

i mentioned in my last post that i'd been working on a big journal about my goals for the year.  taken from prompts at journalwild.com, this has been a great start to figure out what i really want to do with my year.  i'm almost finished with the journaling part of it, and then i will start to be more consistent with the actual work of the book.

i used an old discarded childrens' book i bought from the library and gessoed the pages enough that my details would be the focal point but you can still make out sweet drawings and some text.

dreaming of my ideal year

i needed to think of several goals i wish to accomplish this year and then figure out how to work small tasks related to the goal into daily life.

getting to some heavy stuff, the mean things i say to myself and which ones i want to try to get rid of this year.  slow steps

it's so pretty underneath, though

in another prompt i needed to come up with 52 things i love about me.  that took a little while and a lot of thought.

my favorite pages so far are the ones about spirit!

 pretty textures!

for one spread i knew i wanted a big tarot reading for the year.  twelve cards, one for each month, plus a card for the beginning of the year and one for the end.  i printed a mini version of each card chosen from my deck, Colette Baron-Reids wisdom of the oracle card deck.

 the spread with each months card in place.  

i chose a different deck for the beginning and end cards 

makes for a very fat book!

this was a great project for me to get my bearings on what i wished to have happen this year and figure out what little steps i can take every day to succeed!  

and, in other news...

this little man will be coming home to live with us in a few days!!!  he does have a name, but i am not sharing until he is safe and warm in my home.  his shelter name is dijon.

i had been extremely depressed lately and mark decided i needed something to distract me from my thoughts.  

since my loki kitty died suddenly in his sleep on my oldest sons birthday over a year ago, a hard enough day for me made more difficult, i have been wanting another kitty in my house.  we were down to zero kitties from 2, and i am not used to no kitties in my home.  i'd been wanting a ginger kitten.  my dad had one at the farm when i was little and he was a sweet guy, even putting up with a wedding between he and another tolerant kitty we had.  i have a sweet spot for gingers.  

so, mark said yes to a kitty in a text from work, but he wanted a cat from a shelter, not a kitten.  he wanted to help out the shelter, and not have to deal with the neutering and such ourselves.   i knew the cat i wanted.  i had seen a big brute of a cat in a photo at our grocery store for a long, long time.  i messaged the animal control about him and they told me he was feral, that he doesn't allow people to touch him.  i knew that if it wasn't for our crazy pup, lucy, who chased our kitty previously, that i wouldn't have a problem with the cat being antisocial.  but two crazy animals in one house is too much for even me.  i was heartbroken for the poor guy, though.

the next day the animal control Facebook page posted the photo you see above, asking if anyone knew the owners.  i fell hard for that sweet face!  he looked friendly and young.  a couple days after that, on a saturday, we went to the shelter to visit and see if his owners had shown up.  they hadn't, and the weather was bitter cold!  so glad he was in a safe, warm place.  i let them know if the owners didn't show that i was very interested in him.  i got to cuddle with him and he is so social and sweet!  they took my name, as the director was not there, and told me that she would give me a call.  when she called later that day, she had remembered me from my time working with a wildlife rehabber in the area and other times when we donated to the shelter.  we talked and she needed to know i was serious, as they needed room for other cats coming in left and right.  they would bring him to another shelter to make space for others in our area.  this guy also needed to be neutered, and would take money from their funds.  mark assured me we would find the money they asked for, for them to just break even, and she told me they wait 7 days for an owner to contact them.

today has been seven days!  i contacted them this morning, and they let me know that my little orange kitty will be going to the vet tomorrow, thursday, and we can pick him up on saturday!

i will update later with more photos of him in his new home and with his name.  i'm very excited, if you can't tell!

until later,

jenny