"Wyatt Was No Wallflower" - mixed media on gallery-wrapped canvas, 24" x 24"

It was another week for painting BIG!  I felt myself called again to the wild and wonderful wildebeest, one of my favorite horned creatures.  Wyatt has a bit of drama to his look, and makes a huge, bright and cheery statement on the wall.  His muzzle is made of gelli-print papers (one of my favorite painterly addictions), and he is liberally doused with bright color from my new uni-posca paint pens (oooooh how I love these pens!!!)  I cannot help but smile when I walk past him in the front entryway.

So what message does the wildebeest have for me this week?  The first sentence I read about this animal totem was "​wildebeest teaches that fearlessness comes from riding the waves of change" - gads!  More change?  I gulped and read on.  Wildebeest energy requires you to not only survive changes, but to thrive during change.  The wildebeest follows a migration pattern, moving from places of lack to places of plenty, following the seasons.  The wildebeest tells you to follow the path of plenty, (ok, that's not so bad) and here it is a changing of seasons and a full moon, too.

The wildebeest tells us to strengthen family ties and bond together.  He tells us to use our body language to communicate, and that there is no reason not to express our emotions.  There is also a message of numbers....the wildebeest does not travel alone, and his message for us is we don't have to do (or bear) everything alone.  There is safety and security in a group, and life is just better with family and friends around us.  Interestingly, the wildebeest appears to those who are going to travel a great distance...and this just two days before my trek to Charlotte for a whirlwind art adventure!

I feel covered by wildebeest magic today.  Ready for change, knowing I am not alone.

This piece is available, ready for hanging.  Inquiries: imajenation@gmail.com

"Shamanic Journey" - mixed media on canvas,  24" x 30"

The last week was a whirlwind.  Not just the events of my life and the lives of those around me, but the weather itself - wild winds and swaying trees, as if the entire universe was agitated, moving and changing.  No amount of planning, orchestrating, machinations or organizing could alter the course of events.  They went where they wanted to go, despite our intentions and actions.

As I watched the trees this week, bending and bowing to the wind, I realized I must do the same.  This meant being flexible (something I am not known for!) and letting go of preconceived outcomes.  When I came across this article online 
http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/19/health/stress-free-acceptance/index.html, I knew the universe was speaking to me.

So I decided to follow the same windswept path in my art this week, and this large abstract is the result.  Painting an abstract is an exercise in emotional tension - pushing and pulling, letting go of parts and embracing others, frustration with colors and textures and then a gasp of delight at one little bit that is perfect, lying awake at night contemplating what doesn't work about the piece, rushing to the studio at 5 am to try something you just thought of upon waking - until finally, finally, there is a feeling of resolution and completion. 

Like this week, building an abstract is about letting go of outcomes, following the present moment and allowing the piece to speak what it will.  Somehow the process of making this particular piece gave me the ability to accept life's series of events.  Art influencing the experience of life through the process of making the art.

And there isn't even a bird on it.

This piece is available.  Inquiries: imjenation@gmail.com

"Gretchen in the City" - mixed media on gallery-wrapped canvas, 36" x 36"

Two weeks after the 30 in 30 challenge, and my studio is overrun with malarkey.

Recently I was warned by a friend to watch out for gators in the storm drains here in Florida.  I have to admit, there hasn't been a single gator in sight since my arrival in June.  But that doesn't mean they aren't out there.  My mind stirred up a bit of imajenation about this and tossed it onto my largest canvas ever! 

So what does the alligator mean for those who come across it?   Native American wisdom holds the gift of the alligator is to fully appreciate and integrate everything in your life.  Digesting pleasure and pain, laughing when you're too serious, letting go of rigidity.  If a gator appears to you, she might be advising you examine the facts of a situation before taking action or passing judgment.

Gator medicine asked you to count your victories and honor rites of passage in your life.  Honor your progress.  Slow down and take time to appreciate all you've accomplished.  An overwhelming message of the alligator is to avoid getting caught up in the judgment of others (for artists, I believe that means create the work without worrying what others will think!)  and to focus on your own process and growth.

Above all, the alligator teaches patience and timing.  Gator people balance their own emotions with the facts before moving forward, taking time to observe and process a situation.  If the alligator has appeared to you, she may be warning you something has escaped your assessment...you've missed an important piece of the puzzle.  Stop and look.

As for me, I will be looking carefully at storm drains and sewers, lakes and ponds.  Looking for a big, pink alligator named Gretchen.

​This piece is available, ready for hanging.  Inquiries: imajenation@gmail.com

"Pink Balloon" - mixed media on canvas,  18" x 24"

A week after the 30 in 30 challenge and I am back in the studio with multiple projects under way.  There is something wonderful about working simultaneous pieces and letting the process wander wherever it wishes (which is sometimes out on the porch with a cup of tea).

This piece began as colored pencil and two colors of paint.  I was with my dad at his house for a quick overnight, and so I decided to work with whatever I could find there.  Supplies were limited!  But the challenge had me engaged immediately.    
I brought it back to finish at home and add other colors and layers, but I almost love the limited supply version as much as the completed piece.

The inspiration for this is a journal page by my mentor and mixed media idol, the esteemed Caroline C. Brown (check her out at http://www.carolinecbrown.com ) I decided to follow her prompt just to see what would happen.  

So what does this piece mean to me?  It is all about circles and cycles.  Round balloon, round-faced girl.  Circles of life - in this case, circles of JOY in life.  The path to this creative life began with a prompt from Caroline, and then a hundred more prompts, more amazing mentors and teachers and a hundred more prompts, and before I knew it - here I was. The ever-expanding circle of my pink balloon.  A metaphor for my magical creative life.

This piece is available.  Inquiries: imajenation@gmail.com