Ispirato

Check out my runes. The runic alphabet contains 24 symbols and is Germanic in origin. The Vikings used this alphabet and even left some markings behind when they visited North America prior to the voyage of Columbus. (I think that’s so neat. When I was in elementary school they taught us that Columbus was the first white man to venture to North America … they got that wrong, didn’t they?)

You can use a set of rune tiles like mine at left for divination. You can punch a hole in the rune that represents a quality you want to attract and wear it as a talisman.

I have put together a five-lesson eClass at Go-Make-Art.com about making magical objects from polymer clay. The rune set is lesson one, and includes a list of the letters and what each one represents on a ‘divine’ level. As a bonus, I have some short videos that accompany the lessons. It just makes it easier when you can see certain techniques in action, doesn’t it?

In addition to my class, there’s one from artist Susan Sorrell called “Fabulous Felt Pins”. They are really eye-catching - popping with color. And her illustrated instructions are so clear. Good stuff.

Here’s a peek at a talisman you can make in my eClass ‘Rune, Talisman, Amulet, Fetish’ over at Go-Make-Art.com. This is one of two pendants you make in lesson three.

I actually teach students to make a mold (or, if you prefer ‘mould’, but no mildew, please) that is used to create this design.

The spiral is symbolic of creative energy.

Wear this talisman and your levels of artistic output will increase. Guaranteed.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph - What’s a nativity scene doing on a blog post in August? Well, it is a craft project, of course!

I belong to a wonderful miniature crafting group called “Tiny Tarts”. There are nine of us and we meet monthly. Mostly we craft mini’s in 1/12th scale - that means one inch in the mini-world equals one foot in the real world. That would be your typical dollhouse size mini.

The stable in this scene is less than two inches tall. Maybe it is 200th scale - I don’t know.

One of our members, Kathie, has her own kiln and makes porcelain dolls. (She does amazing work!) She got a mold for this collection of tiny nativity characters and made us each a ceramic set last Christmas - fired and ready to paint. A few months ago we spent a meeting painting them. When it was my turn to teach a project I designed the little stable and trees which are glued to a coaster painted with sandy paint.

The other ‘Tarts’ painted or stained their stables but I left mine unfinished. In my mind, the stable is just a backdrop for the people and animals. It is a symbol of humble shelter. Hey, historians argue that the stable Jesus was born in was, in fact, a cave.

On the topic of decluttering, isn’t it painful when you have ufo’s cluttering up your studio? For the uninitiated, UFO is craft-speak for “un-finished object”. We often bring these home from classes and never get around to finishing them …

I decided my little shocked gourd doll from the Polymer Clay retreat wasn’t gonna remain a ufo for long. I painted and varnished him and he’s come up a treat! See him here with the original laughing doll I bought from Cathy Harris a couple of years ago. She led the workshop at the retreat. They look fantastic together. I’ve put them on the table in the front entrance to our house.

I think the big one just told a saucy joke. The little one wasn’t expecting that punchline.

To celebrate the birthday of the wonderful Robyn S-S, she and I took a road trip to  the Convent Gallery in Daylesford on Thursday. This is a wonderful old building converted to art gallery/cafe and reception center. The convent chapel remains intact and is lovely. 

Daylesford is a tourist town not far out of Melbourne and popular for its mineral springs and spa at Hepburn  Springs. The Convent Gallery is another big drawcard, and we were keen to visit because a group of textile artists we know are having a group exhibition there at the moment. It was  very inspiring - we especially loved the felt vessels and  hangings from our friend Brigitte.

I will pause a moment and remind readers that, in January, Robyn organized an outing to celebrate my birthday at a real live burlesque show, having sent me off to pole dancing lessons the previous year. What does this say about her? And what does it say about me, that I should take Robyn to a convent for her birthday? Hmmmm…

All day long we talked and talked and it was so glorious to get some of those thoughts out of my head and express them to a friend. As I am pretty much a sole worker in a home-based business, I miss out on the practice of sharing and bouncing ideas off of co-workers.

“I’m feeling pulled in too many directions and probably need to re-visit my business plan,” I told Robyn. She wisely reminded me that I benefit from writing things down. “Put it on paper,” she ordered.

So yesterday was the day. I started the morning propped up in bed with a coffee, my journal, work diary and work notebook. The notebook is where I right the highly prized THINGS TO DO list. I also write name and phone numbers here, when I play back the answering machine messages, I jot notes during phone conversations, make notes when I’m researching something on the internet, etc. It is a mess. It is an important work tool.

I wrote in my journal a very long time sorting out my thoughts and feelings. It helped me get clear about quite a few things. Then I wrote up a new Things to Do list in my notebook based on real priorities for the next two months. I have some ideas for new projects that must wait till November. I gave myself permission to slow down and not expect so much from myself all at once. It was so freeing to get all this stuff out of my head and onto paper.

When I rose and dressed I had a new energy. I was in de-cluttering mode. I turned my attention to the guest bedroom, which is a sort of annex to my art studio. This is where I keep my beading and my polymer clay stuff. You may recall from a recent blog post that I shoved a bunch of books and magazines here when I decluttered the bedside table. Well now they are relegated to the appropriate bookshelves, and my beading and clay paraphernalia is all sorted and tidy. It took me all afternoon but, by gum, that guest bedroom is tidy enough that I could actually put up a guest in it, if necessary!

I went to bed physically exhausted but happy. Clutter in the head and clutter in the home and workplace - they all weigh you down.

There remains one beast left to battle in this house: my studio. Jeepers, it’s more than a jungle. It is a living, breathing organism of messiness. But as Scarlett O’Hara would say, “I’ll think about that tomorrow.”

I had a fab weekend split between my two favorite focuses: making art and exploring spirituality.

The Melbourne Polymer Clay Group was having a retreat and Cathy Harris (from Morwell, Victoria) led us in making gourd dolls on Saturday. I own a Cathy original - a gourd leaning back with hands on hips having a good belly laugh! So when I started to sculpt my own little gourd’s face I wondered what his reaction to the bigger gourd would be. Here he is, shocked and amazed. Maybe he’s never seen anyone enjoy life so much. I think this little gourd’s led a sheltered life.

The face and arms are sculpted and baked on the body/gourd. They don’t stick sufficiently to the gourd and have to be removed after cooling, then glued on with two-part epoxy. Next we smoothed wood putty around the joining edges. I haven’t completed the last steps which are painting and varnishing.

If I get onto this soon, I’ll take another photo of him finished, beside the gourd I bought from Cathy a couple of years ago.

There were about 15 of us at this workshop and all the gourd dolls took on their own personalities. There wasn’t a dud in the bunch. Everyone really enjoyed this, even those who said they’d never had an interest in doll making before.

I have done polymer clay doll-sculpting with two other talented artists: Shirley Dougan from Mt Evelyn, Victoria and Kim Murdock who works in 1/12th scale to create dollhouse size dolls. She is from Western Australia.

I had to leave the polymer clay retreat early because I was booked into the Caroline Myss workshop back in Melbourne on Sunday. This woman is an amazing writer and speaker from the US and I’ve wanted to see her in person for a few years. Hay House brought her out. Basically she gave a day’s lecture interspersed with some guided visualizations relevant to her latest book, “Entering the Castle”. This is based on the work of Christian mystic Teresa of Avila. Caroline is a theologian interested in all religions, of course, not just Christianity. My fave quote of the day from Caroline: “Religion is a costume party.”

The experience was totally satisfying and I think I am an even bigger fan of Caroline (if that is possible) having seen her speak in person. I like the fact that she challenges me to want to be a better person - more forgiving, more accepting, more compassionate. Less ego driven, more humble.
Interestingly, Caroline pooh-poohed The Secret, during her lecture. She said it preaches too much about “stuffology”. The main focus of the Law of Attraction, as presented in this movie, is on attracting more wealth, more stuff. I see Caroline’s point. More should be made of the fact that we can use Law of Attraction to attract qualities into our life: wisdom, generosity, tolerance, love of God, happiness, honesty. We all need to love the lives we already have, said Caroline, not get carried away dreaming about fantasies.
All in all a pretty fantastic weekend.

I took inspiration from articles in issue 3 of Astarte’s Mega-Zine by Doris Arndt and Lee Silber. They both addressed the need to  de-clutter.  Ah yes, it is a problem held in common by many of us creative types!

I started in the bedroom with my bedside table. Would you believe that I removed over 40 books and magazines stacked on this little table?! Yikes! I narrowed it down to one book and one magazine, then shoved the rest into the guest room for redeployment at a later date.

The bedside table required little dusting, as every inch of surface had been covered with something before the big clear-out.

Then I decided to park my ceramic goddess statue beside the lamp. I instructed her to watch that I didn’t allow the books and periodicals to stack up again.

I think I am actually sleeping better now.

I’ve since tidied my closet, the laundry, meals area and living room. And I weeded the front garden. I’m on a roll!

Of course I’m leaving the worst for last: my studio.

Issue 3 of Astarte’s Mega-Zine is out. Woo-hoo! Catherine, my associate editor, tells me it is even better than issue 2. I can’t tell - I am simply too close to the publications to make that sort of comparison. I CAN confidently say that the Mega-Zine is DEFINITELY the sort of thing I would want to subscribe to, even if I weren’t the publisher.
Above is an image of the toran that I wrote an article about this time. It is painted canvas and can hang on an external door short term, as it is varnished, or permanently over an internal doorway in the house. I recall it took me less than 2 hours in labor to whip this up - that excludes the drying time. And I really enjoyed making it. I sketched the main shapes onto the canvas with pencil then painted it freehand, allowing for a certain level of sloppiness. After the paint dried, I embellished it with markers. Traditional Indian textile torans are heavily embroidered. I love these, too, but if you don’t have much time, a painted toran comes together fast and it adds a certain pizzazz to your house!

The theme of Issue 3 is “Dwelling Places”.