Featured Artist: Sonya Gonzalez

Artist Sonya & I connected via labyrinths, when I sent her directions on how to draw them. And LOOK at her artwork! She calls these collage labyrinths:

Flower Labyrinth & frame.

You can see (and buy) her artwork at her Etsy shop. And she has another website with more of her artwork: Cards by Sonya. Her art work is so cheery and full of whimsy. I thought as I was scrolling thru that it's reminiscent of Chagall, one of my favourite artists. And then look at this collage labyrinth:

The Chagall Labyrinth; collaged Chagall calendar & Sonya's art work. BEAUTIFUL.

A Few Collages

I've done a few collages recently. I just pulled a bunch of phrases, images, & colours (from O Magazines) that caught my eye and put them all together fairly quickly; didn't think about it too much . . .

Cover of my journal.  [Click on pix to embiggen]

I love the colours of these 2 pages. I only added a coupla things to the page on the left. Such a great illustration for getting rid of "baggage."  Love the tea cup pic on the second page.

V. naturey.

Summer!  And I love the quote, "Believe you can do anything at least once a day."

Again, I did these 2 pages at the same time. The second page is just a page from O Magazine, but I love how the colours coordinate.

Summer!  One of my favourite things is popsicles.

Most of my poetry rhymes, but I think I was channeling Maya Angelou. I called chiro-sis Ruth & read it to her over the phone, doing my best Maya impression--which was pretty easy to do since I've had laryngitis all week.

Haven't finished this one yet, but I love the quote and the cake is so deliciously BEAUTIFUL.  It was Oprah's 10th anniversary for the magazine.

Another Collage Page

Quote of the day:

Collage

This is one of the pages out of my altered book art journal that I started during Unplugged. Back tomorrow. :-) H.

Visual Auditory

I do collages, but this one was different. Usually I'm v. precise and spend a lot of time with colour, shape, images. This one is mostly words & phrases. I went thru a magazine [Ladies Home Journal with Ellen on the cover--because she's a . . . wait for it . . . that's right . . . Cover Girl]. Anyway, I flipped thru v. quickly & just cut & ripped out words that got my attention. I didn't think about it, I just did it. And this is what I got:

Quote by the candle from Ellen:

As I've aged and matured,
I just feel better about myself,
more confident and
more comfortable
in my own skin.

Yeah, like that. :-) This is going to be one of those pieces that I look at and get something different out of each time. What do you notice first? I look at that "Unblock Feeling" and it makes me think of a Jerry Stocking course. And there's nothing like a healthy dose of *giggles*[snort] So as Jerry likes to say, time for me to go play. And by play I mean do dishes. How do you make that fun? I'm going to listen to some v. fun music. And *splash* :-)

Today is your day

Today is your day
to dream yourself awake
Today is your day
life is what you make
Today is your day
to hold most dear
Today is your day
to let go of fear
Today is your day
to give it a rest
Today is your day
to clean up this mess
Today is your day
to give it a go
Today is your day
to give up what you know
Today is your day
to learn something new
Today is your day
your day for you.

A Merrie Heart

A merrie heart maketh glad the day, and there you find your treasure.

I have this on my business cards and on the header of my blog. The story of this comes from an experience with my GSF Kristina a few years ago. She was recovering from bronchitis and asked if I could come over to Reiki her before she had to leave for work. We had about 10 minutes. I started with a tuning fork on an acupuncture point (Lung 1). Then I stood behind her and put a hand on her back and the other on her chest. She was v. tired and congested and her breathing was labored.

What can you do in 10 minutes? 10 minutes of Clock Time is a blip and an eternity all at once when you’re working in the realm of Spirit and healing. It is that place of Presence and Stillness. There is no past or future, but only NOW. We were in her living room completely embraced by God’s healing Light. She breathed a deep sigh. With my hand on her heart, I heard the phrase, “A merrie heart maketh glad the day.” I think there’s a similar quote from the Bible. Anyway, then it was time for her to go to work, feeling much better. We were both completely merrie!

A merrie heart repeated as I was driving down the road. You know those moments of quiet joy and peace? This was one of them. Later, as I was writing my first Healing Labyrinth Path newsletter, and there you’ll find your treasure completed the phrase. It’s kind of like a clue from Spirit. Imagine if everyone had a merrie heart, perhaps the world would be a bit different. Having a merrie heart is allowing God to smile through you. It’s not the concept of human happiness, because that’s so fleeting. It’s also about finding your treasure, your gift from God that you share with the world. What makes you SMILE now? Do that.

This is the smile in my heart: making people feel good. Helping them to relax and take a pause from the stresses of daily life. Whether I’m doing it hypnotically on a CD or in person with a massage, this is the work I was born to do.

Massage Collage

I'm a journal kinda gal. I use a basic spiral blank art pad so that I can draw, write, take notes, record quotes. On the cover of each journal, I do a collage or put a picture from a magazine that I like. Sometimes I do it at the end of the journal or before I begin. It just depends. It's a great medium when traveling: just get an Oprah magazine & scissors & go at it. I always travel with glue sticks, doesn't everyone? ;-)

Creating a collage is like a labyrinth: it's directed by your intention. I've done collages for goals and collages for inspiration. This one is my Sedona journal, an AMAZING trip I took with my friend Susan (who has an Oct. post about our trip). Sedona is such a *magical* place. Our whole trip was so inspired; we spent the week with Chloe Wordsworth at a Holographic (Resonance) Repatterning conference AND Bruce Lipton kicked it off with his Biology of Belief seminar. AWESOME! We just by chance got tickets to a sold-out concert by Deva Premal AND we took a day trip to the Grand Canyon. If you've never been to the Grand Canyon, it's a must-see before you die. And I think Bell Rock is one of my favourite places in the world--AWESOME!


This next collage was done 3 years ago and was the answer to my prayer What now? I was asking for guidance about renting space at a spa to do Reiki, education consulting, etc. At the time, I had interpreted it as a "yes," but didn't follow through. Something didn't feel right about it. Less than a year later I went to massage school. One of those wonderful life-decisions that changes you forever. Sometimes we receive guidance and misinterpret it, but somehow we get to where we're going!

So now it's collage time again. Every December I do a collage for the cover of my planner and set an intention for the year. Ah...what's in store for 2008?