LOVE!!!

First things first: HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Sherida, born on the day of LOVE. This is a painting I did for her a coupla years ago. Hard to see here, but the outside purple part is textured with tissue paper and then sparkley varnished. The hearts around the hand are holographic confetti that I glued individually. The symbol in the center of the lotus is Sanskrit, "yam" (pronounced yah-m), and is the seed sound of the heart chakra. The green is a variation on the green of the heart chakra, and purple is a v. spiritual, higher chakra colour. She is a massage therapist and so much more; truly a healer in every sense of the word. I told her once that what she does can't be taught in school or with any technique. When I decided to go to massage school, she was part of my inspiration, because she is THAT good.

And in honour of Valentine's day:

This is the third painting I did for Bulgarian Gal for her skincare line called Chakra. It's a variation on the heart chakra yantra (sacred geometric symbol). And here we go with a poem for today:

May your heart be open to the LOVE

all around.

May your spirit be filled with

God's holy sound.

May GRACE be your guide

with LOVE at your side

As you walk through this life

with arms opened wide.

Ornament Thursday is Back!

We had such a good time that we're doing a monthly version of artistic expression until we get to December when we'll be posting all-things-ornamenty on Thursdays. So, this month is "Love Story." I was asked to do these two paintings for a skincare line created by a Bulgarian homeopathic acupuncturist. She wanted to include something of her Bulgarian heritage and asked me to use the Cyrillic alphabet. No problem! And she wanted to include the word love in the packaging. Except that the cyrillic version of love is...kinda ugly. She wanted a flower and she wanted 5 petals to represent the Chinese acupuncture five elements. So we settled on taking 3 letters and spelling out L-U-V. The center of the flower is the first letter, then the next letter in the center of each petal, and then each petal is the last letter.

I drew it out on paper and then primed each canvas board (8 X 10). I used graphite paper to trace the image onto the canvas and acrylic paints (mostly Americana from Michael's). I used sparkle varnish where it's sparkley and I used sparkley dimentional paint to outline the flower.

LINKS to other Ornament Gals:

Ornament Thursday - The Main Page

Art Bead Scene The designers at Art Bead Scene have two jewelry love stories for you! Elaine Ray links together a little love with her ceramic heart components while Melanie Brooks Lukacs tells a little tale of romance in a Gothic Garden http://artbeadscene.blogspot.com/2008/01/ornament-thursday-two-love-stories.html
Cindy Gimbrone Beads Cindy's Love Story is about a hook and beadshttp://lampworkdiva.blogspot.com/2008/01/my-love-story-spirals-n-shay.html
Earthenwood Studio Bead Blog What is sweeter than a mix CD for your Valentine? A yummy gift box in which to present it, filled with candy themed decorations, including a cute bracelet and cell phone charm!http://earthenwood-beads.blogspot.com/2008/01/ornament-thursday-sweet-sounds.html
Heart mobile painted paper pulp heartshttp://pomly.livejournal.com/43236.html
Humblebeads Heather shares her favorite bracelet design in a Valentine inspired color scheme.http://humblebeads.blogspot.com/2008/01/ornament-thursday-love-story.html
Jennifer Heynen of Jangles Jennifer has made a fun "Ornament" for her neck that looks good enought to eat.http://jenniferjangles.blogspot.com/2008/01/ornament-thursday.html
Joolz by Lisa This "Love Story" will last all year long! Lisa shares how beads and books work together.http://lisaliddy.wordpress.com/2008/01/30/ornament-thursday-love-story/
Katie's Beading Blog Here's a happy little heart project for you - use it to embellish a bag or your jeans, or as inspiration for a necklace or bracelet.http://katiehacker.blogspot.com/2008/01/happy-hearts.html
Kriss Cramer - Art Interrupted Grow Love! Nuture and care for your loved ones every day. Use this heartfelt book, you can make yourself, to remind you of all the love you have to give.http://art-interrupted.blogspot.com/
Linda Augsburg at Make It Mine magazine Linda's love story project is a dress she embellished by stenciling dancers and a big band along the hem. Read why and learn how to do it yourself on the Make It Mine blog.http://cs.makeitminemag.com/mimcs/blogs/makeitmine/archive/2008/01/31/ornament-thursday-january-love-story.aspx
Michelle's Love Story... The band is getting back together again! Ornament Thursday celebrates the story of love...http://fromichelle.blogspot.com/2008/01/love-story-by-ornament-thursday.html
Savvy Crafter Candie's love affair with big rings continue...she's making her own now! Love Stories and more over at the Savvy Crafter! XOXO! http://candiecooper.typepad.com/savvycrafter/2008/01/heartsy-artsy-i.html
Snap out of it, Jean! There's beading to be done! Ah, Love ! This satirical creation of Jean's immortalizes certain women's profound affecton for their ... handbags!!!http://prettykittydogmoonjewelry.blogspot.com/2008/01/love-story.html
Strands of Beads Love speaks many languages. Learn how to say "I Love You" in an untraditional way with Melissa Lee's whimsical jewelry project.http://strandsofbeads.blogspot.com/2008/01/ornament-thursday-language-of-love.html
SwellDesigner Alexa shares with you her truly swell and punny Valentines!http://www.swelldesigner.blogspot.com
The Impatient Blogger Love is in the air at The Impatient Blogger! Margot shares two vintage inspired jewelry designs that are oozing with romance...in a good way!