Pakarituampu

Peru's flower.
The hotel is surrounded by flowers. Opening up the window early in the morning, flowers and a hummingbird greet me.

Last year and this year we stayed at Pakaritampu Hotel. Really nice place. Didn't have "water issues" here, but instead the electricity went out. They had a generator though. What was cool was seeing the stars at night here. The hotel is close to the train station where we caught the train to Aquas Calientas at the foot of Machu Picchu.

Cycles

Lessons on Life - cycles that begin and end. Dear flower, teach me how to be in touch with that part of life, that part of how to let go, when to release that which no longer serves the higher good. Teach me that it is all about transformation. Beginning - blossoming into our wholeness and then releasing and letting go when we have served our purpose.
Even in decay, there is beauty.
And each time, we begin again in our newness. Every day we can begin again. Each time blossoming into our truest Self. Being part of the oneness of All.

May we all see from the highest perspective, that of the Divine, to help one another.

More flowers

I am in awe!

A day with Nature

We took a walk at the beach and found these little guys swimming with mom and dad.
There is a neighbor that has a garden which always seems to be in constant bloom. I found these beautiful iris' and was just mesmerized by their beauty... looking deeper and deeper within. Yeah, that's where I wanted to be today... going within... going deeper within, getting in touch with my true inner self. I realized how much I love my camera and what it provides for me. Those moments that make me stop and look deeply into a flower, catch a bee and wonder at the magic of nature.
Flowers are so sensual.

Cusco from above

My new friends.

Walking up the street towards San Blas, there is a fantastic jewelry store. Unique pieces that stood out from the tiresome pieces you begin to see repeatedly on the street. One of the woman who works there had her daughter in the store, Andrea, in blue, a sweet little girl. She was drawing on a piece of paper with a red pen. While Mai-Liis was making some serious buying decisions, I played with her. We had gone back to the store numberous time and the last time gave Andrea two boxes of crayons. I wanted to encourage this little artist :-)
12 angles on this stone!
Sachsayhuaman from above on our way to Pisac.
Looking at Cusco from above. Cusco is laid out in the shape of a Puma, the jagged wall at Sachsayhuaman in the hairs on the back of it's head...

Flowers from Kuntur Wassi, Colca Canyon

The oven.

Cala Lily at Kuntur Wassi

Garlic tiles done

Emelio sent the tiles I painted, completing this part of the wall. The only remaining part is above the doorway.

I love You

I love you, too.

Chakra Box

I had a dream of a box filled with gemstones.

I had started this box quite awhile ago and the original idea had a black rock in the middle. At the time I was wondering how to remove the obstacle of moving from the lower chakras to the upper ones. It was mostly the idea of looking to my heart more often rather than thinking - to get out of my head and not worry so much. Rather, looking to how to live in the moment be true to one's heart. I had wires jumping over the rock.... but I decided to go back to the box and just look at it all as a whole and remove the obstacle, the block and instead replaced it with the keys that create a path to the heart.

From earth: being grounded to the sky: sipping the necter of love and wisdom.

To create balance and harmony within all the energy centers of the body. Be whole and one.

A good message

The Universe sent me this message today.... (some of you are getting this as well :-) but today, this really speaks to me:

Don't be afraid. You needn't slay the beast nor scale the entire mountain. That's not how it's done. You only need to move through today, Doreen. Think of the distance you've already covered. Focus on your strengths. Let each new step remind you of your freedom. Let every breath you take remind you of your power. Seek out friends and guides; they're anxious to help. You're not alone. You're understood. This road has been walked before. Dance life's dance, just a few steps at a time, and in the wink of an eye you will wonder to yourself, "What beast, what mountain? Was I having a dream?"
Love you,
The Universe

Thank You Universe :-)
Loving You as well,
Doreen

Where Have I been????

I have finished teaching a 20, actually 21 week class with a group of preschoolers. Fun work. More like play. At the end, we celebrate the week of the child (more like a month) with an exhibit of their art and photos of them in the process of creating. I'll be hanging the show Wednesday and the reception is Sunday.

Although it's fun and I love working with these kids, it's time consuming and took me a lot longer to put it together than I had anticipated. But it's done. With the help of the Rec guys, the boards were brought over to the building and now to hang it. Today is court day, so I won't go anywhere near there...........

There are 35 boards... the above is a sample of work. Recycled cd's, photos and quotes. They paint, collage, work with modeling materials... all sorts of stuff that they probably wouldn't normally use. Very rewarding program.
As for myself....... I've done a little here and there, sneaking it in during art class on Tuesday nights. Working on another assemblage and a painting.
I have a bit of a breather today and I just might be able to have some art time for myself.

Be

For class, we are working on assemblages. I took some time to play with this myself and came up with this one. Influenced by A New Earth, the time I am most likely to be able to just be, without the worried mind, is when I am creating. It's afterwards though, when the ego comes into play...

oops, forgot to take the rest of that paper off.

Altered roses

Transition to Spring

So quieting to the mind - painting mandalas. centering. focusing.
As I was painting, the purple swirls reminded me of the symbols for aries and yet at the same time, as waves. Waves going in opposite directions, like the fish of pisces swimming in opposite directions. Remembering the past and moving towards the future. Using our history to move us forward. But the little sprout is in the now. Being present.

Complements 101

For Tuesday's class, we are having a lesson in complementary colors. Here's an example that I played around with. It's painted on a piece of matboard.

Preparing for Flight

Painting on collaged paper on mat board. About transformation...........

It may still change a bit, but I'm letting it sit for awhile and moving on to something bigger and more spontaneous. A sharper photo is on the other blog.

Flowers for Me :-)

I've been missing in action here for awhile... lots going on. Art patiently waiting for me to work on.. various works in stages.

Today my wonderful husband brought me some flowers for an early birthday present.

Having flowers in the home in the winter really perks one up... and brought some inspiration. Camera in hand, I took some photos which may be turned into paintings.

Keyword - New

What have I been doing lately? Sharing.
Creating with kids. It was clay week. I used it with every class I had and it seems to have been what we all needed. From abstract pieces to creative creatures in a cage - model magic to plasticine- it was all good.........

And we are usually rewarded at the end of class with beautiful sunsets. With my own art, I've been all over the place - painting, collage, assemblage, furniture and preparing for my new venture teaching in a new studio with older students. Scary and exciting at the same time. It is all good. It's all growth. Youth Art Month preparations, Exhibit of the Young Child prep as well and now a new possibility of a juried art show. Ideas are streaming through my mind and it is ready to explode with all these possibilities...... new beginnings.

Art is good for the Soul!

It was a joy to watch these kids create. some were so absorbed in the process of creating. Others mixed and remixed all the colors until they ended up with brown clay, while some kept the colors seperate and clean. Some were simple, some very full and colorful and other's created an airplane or space ship and played with it.
I love all the swirley colors.....
Liking those beads!

Day 2- creative all day long :-)

Today was a pretty creative day. I began the day with the children's center. We worked with clay - model magic - and primary colors so they could mix new colors. What was kind of nice was how a few kids came in with a bit of a "mood" and watched how it changed. Art is magic.
Art is healing.
Yesterday as I was reading, an image came to me for a painting. I pulled out a canvas, 20 x20 from under the bed and did a quick sketch on it.
Ripped out some more images for my next collage as well. Not only that, but I pulled out an assemblage that I started a while back. It got buried behind a bunch on stuff and I unearthed it today... I brought it to the forefront of the large table to work on.
This made my day today.... One of the kids said he wished I were his teacher and would stay all day long and not go home. Sweet, huh? I told him that I would be back. Nothing in the world like a smiling, happy kid enjoying himself and creating. I'll have to upload the pictures and post some.

Begin Again - Intentions '08

Beginning another year of art. I've decided to begin with a series of collages. These are Intention collages. Today, it is focused on my spiritual intentions of the new year. Practice yoga everyday and challenge myself to grow and expand in my practice. Find more time to go within and listen to that "voice", the one that speaks from my heart and knows all the answers. Keep focusing on my connection to Spirit and when I am being true to myself, I can be and share the truth of my authentic self with you. This is the Self that contributes to the World, a piece of the puzzle, that if I did not share with you and you did not share with others, would create a gap, and the puzzle would miss a valuable piece.

Always return to center. The center within - the heart.

Speak with kindness and good intention and find the sacred in everything.

Triangle Texture Trees

Hope your Christmas is shiny, sparkley, soft, and full of peace and love and joy!

We finished up our portrait dolls today, or most of them anyway. Then moved on to making collages of themselves.
When I turned around at the end of class, this is what I saw! Love the sunsets here at this time of year.

Who are you?

We've been playing around with self portrait dolls in class. Being that it's the holiday, a lot of the kids are making themselves as a Santa or even a reindeer. One wanted to be a rock star. Three of the kids created a Hannukah theme and then some just wanted to be themselves.
They're fun to do. Taking a bit of time as well. Some taking 3 classes to do them which is fine by me.
I want to do one myself.......
For some reason, my own art took a little vacation.
New moon intention: Get back in there and do something adventurous. Something new. Take a risk.
I just picked up Jane Ann Wynn's book, Altered Curiosities. I'll be teaching assemblages and shrines along with altered photographs and collage on canvas at the new studio at Masterpiece Framing. I'm getting really excited about these new classes - older kids, too. Something new for me.
On the path................