We're taking a Dream Journey in 2014....are you coming?

It was a glorious summer day.  

With great excitement, my friend Sonja and I presented our second and final workshop for the year.  We were surrounded by majestic horses, cajoling bushbuck, trees of glowing greens 

and the sweetest of birdsong.  

And just as we concluded the day - the blessing of soft and cooling rain. 

We made our own journals.  

We reflected.  

There were things that were holding us back from reconnecting 

to our heartsongs.

So first we had to give ourselves permission to listen.

Then we made maps of our 

life stories. 

Because in order to understand the journeys that our hearts 

are leading us on, 

we need to make sense of 

where we have been.  

And where we are now.  

And so the journey of rediscovering our hearts have started.  

A Dream Journey. 

 There's so much more 

to come in 2014.  

Are you courageous enough to join?

Majorelle Blue

The Jardin Majorelle in Marrakech, Morocco is a botanical garden that was created by oriental watercolourist, Jacques Majorelle, during the 1920s and 1930s. 

Although the garden was opened to the public in 1947, the world rediscovered it when the late Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge became it's owners in 1980.  This was a place of great inspiration for YSL. Each time he visited, he created a specific design for the garden.  All of which are on display today in the garden's museum.  His ashes were scattered here when he died in 2008.  

It was that close to his heart.

Jacques Majorelle will not only be remembered for creating this incredible space, but also for the special tint of blue that he used on the garden finishes.

 Today this rich lapis lazuli blue with a hint of magenta, is referred to as Bleu Majorelle.

Source: jazzberryjam.wordpress.com/2010/11/26/love-ysl/

 I've had this dream to one day have a proper garden that is filled with scatterings of this wonderfully rich tint. I don't consider myself as somebody who is gifted with green fingers. But you might say that my fingers are blue... with paint....  

So I decided to start by having my own version of Majorelle Blue mixed. 

For a test run, my 2 year old and I tackled some of my outdoor moroccan lamps with paintbrushes. 

(Note to all: Use waterbased acrylic paint when joined by a toddler in your painting ventures!  It is odourless and washes off with water - no turpentine needed.  Oh, and a plastic paint jacket really goes a long way to help preserve the little one's clothing!)

Love this blue, but it needs to be toned darker for future projects.

  

Once my vision is implemented, I might just end up calling

our farmhouse Maison Majorelle....

Mmm...

What do you think?

Close to my Heart

Taking pictures of the progress of a journal spread or painting really filters out the emotional attachment that I seem to develop while working on something.  

 I tend to work very light. 

Because I'm a watercolourist at heart, you see.  

My darks can, most of the time, be made even darker.  

The camera lens gives me an objective eye to track my progress and the depth of contrast. 

Thank you digital technology! 

And thank you Jane Davenport and Rachelle Panagarry for your inpsiration.

And here is the final spread. 

Supply list: Acrylic and watercolour paint, brayer, acrylic texture paste, spraypaint, handmade stencils, stamps, coloured pencils, collage on watercolour and mulberry paper.

Windows open.

And windows closed.

3 moonchasers on the loose

There is much to be said about rituals. Being in a ritual space elevates any event into a highlight in one's consciousness. Creating rituals in family life frames those experiences in our future memories. I am a great believer in making something special out of everyday occurences and elevating them into small celebrations of life.

At this point in my life I would rather light a candle or pick flowers or make a mark on paper with my two year old than use my limited time and energy to tweet or facebook about it. Because toddlers benefit more if they are engaged in an event with tactile sensibilities in order to mark an event. A case in point was when Angeli's dad skyped her from the US during a trip. He said goodbye by gesturing a hug. She was left in tears, turning her back on the screen and sobbing that she liked real hugs.

So the other day at dusk, quite unplanned, the 3 of us jumped into our red pickup truck and took a scenic drive to a lookout point close to our house. We watched while the full moon was rising quietly while sounds from the valley below drifted upwards. Geese, kestrell, ibis, bullfrogs, the odd dog barking and some human voices. It was magical. No music. Nothing to drink or eat. No camera. Just us 3. Our eyes. Our ears. Magical.

When we drove back after dark we realised that this was the second time we had chased the moon. And so a small family ritual was born that day. That easy. That quietly.
Like praying together at the start of each day that we are gifted to experience together.
Small little tokens that will bind the 3 of us together forever in our memories.

Precious are the days that we are given to be witnesses to each others' lives.
We need to make them count.

Experimenting away..

Just a quick check-in to say that I'm still here experimenting - mostly at night. You will find me in my little studio somewhere between 10pm and 2am amongst puddles of gel medium, blobs of paint, snippets of paper and stacks of journals while listening to audiobooks about travel. I am taking art-infused nocturnal journeys. And to me they are truly epic!

Right now the soundtrack to my nightly antics is Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. I've been unable to travel on my own as much as I used to since the birth of my sweet little girl. And that is ok for now - for this is a very brief season in my life. She is growing up so fast.

You might wonder where I am going with all this? Truth is, for the first time in my life I don't have any idea what all these trail-and-error artsperiments may lead to. I am living on very little sleep but oh I am having tons of fun and I am learning and absorbing so much in the process.

Here are some of the results..

Legacy

My Mermaid Circus handmade journal is slowly filling up. Just finished another page last night. I have a deadline, you see! 30 August is drawing closer, and with it follows our spring here in the South - on 1 September. 3 more pages to go and I'm there! My little girl whirls into my studio every couple of days now and then she asks to see the mermaids. Everytime, she carefully puts down the tiny book on the sofa and turns every page very carefully with her little 30 month-old fingers. She takes in every page, every detail. And while she stands there I can see glimpses of her adult self paging through this book when perhaps I'm not there anymore, somewhere in the future.

I want her to remember, to feel my love - a secure foundation that will provide the impetus behind her determined steps as she makes her own positive imprint on the world with passion and with confidence.

I'm leaving her my story. Illustrated testimonies of what perseverance, prayer and love can do. The beliefs and values that I live by, and how these remain a steady vehicle that carry me through the rollercoaster of day-to-day human emotions and trivialities.

I'm not just creating journals, I'm leaving a legacy.

Dreaming in the Dust

July and August are the driest and dustiest of the rain free, sunny winter months here on the Highveld of the southernmost tip of Africa. Amidst all the greys and browns that now dominate the rather drab and sleepy scenery around here, I was visited by my dear friend Marise who now lives in Mumbai. She shared many stories from her life in India and with them, she brought the promise of colour. The yellows of saffron, canaries and ochre, the reds of sumac, pink peppercorns and pomegranates, the blues of indigo and of peacocks, the greens of limes, Darjeeling tea plantations and cardamom. Perfect to get me through the last few parched weeks of winter until the first spring rains transform everything into lush emerald. So until then I'll just be here dreaming...