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Posts tagged ‘life’

chop suey Tuesday

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Blue skies, dazzling sunshine, a fresh crispness in the air, it was time for a day trip. We are fortunate that we can just pick up and go, if the spirit moves us.  The landscapes look so different when they are blanketed with snow and the trees are bare of their leaves.

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Notice the happy shadows, at the time of my visit, they are free of critter tracks, but I’m sure had I ventured in further, I would have found evidence of the abundant life within the little woodland patch.

1-30-17-aI was content to simply peak silently into the little world I’d come across. Hoping that by standing very still, I’d catch a glimpse of another wandering nomad, or furry critter going about its day.

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The simplicity of the moment, the beauty of the shadow a silver-gray on the textured snow brings tranquility and beauty to my tired eyes. The natural sunlight, the fresh air, background noises of the woodland and the cars in the distance, all blend to harmonize into my moment of communion with Nature.

It takes but a second to connect, to allow God to colour our day with a joy of recognition, that it isn’t man-made news that is important, rather the essence of happiness lies within.  Life IS.

To achieve peace and happiness, we must find it first within ourselves.  Peace is a by-product of LOVE.

PL Precept # 10   Love Yourself and Others

PL Precept # 11  Always be with God

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making friends

As I pondered my life this morning, my Mother in the hospital, cherished friends in far distant lands, others busy with their lives I reflected on the current project I’m working on.

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This is another of the books I collected out of the throw away box.  It was published under the direction of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland, The church of England, The church of Scotland,  the  list goes on.  It has maps and plans inside, along with the text of course.  The cover was rather battered, especially I don’t know how long it had been exposed to the elements or where it had been prior to being thrown away.

I’ve used masking tape to protect the center of the cover and I’m working at giving the rest of the cover some strength and I hope character back.

Our lives are lived pretty much like this book.  We are conceived, given birth to, presented to the world, and then……………  who knows where we will go or end up.  Each one of us  has our own  path, destination/goal, and how we achieve or get there.. is our own personal journey.

Facing the possibilities of my Mother’s journey, gives me plenty of time to reflect on my own journey.  Which brings me back to friendships.  Some friends you have known, have carved a place in your heart that will last forever, yet you may never see them again, for their paths have gone in different directions.  Or… the value of the friendship was not balanced, that happens too.

The one person, that is the most important person of all, is yourself.    When I’m working doing art projects, or creating, I’m allowing my self-expression to be seen or heard.  I may be the only one who sees it, but the act of BEING is…. in fact.. making friends with mySELF.

PL Precept #11  Always be with God.

PL Precept # 15   All is a Mirror

GOD is the constant in our lives.  When we are quiet, silent, STILL, we feel and hear from within, not the external machines and noises around us.

PL Precept 20  Live Maintaining Equilibrium between mind and matter

(Vivez en harmonie materielle et spirituelle)    this is so important for us to work towards achieving.

PL Precept #1   Life is ART

Oyashikiri

Thanksgiving Service tonight at 7 pm.  See you then =^_^=

journals -discovery

book-cover

After a meeting at the church, a friend and I went out to lunch, after all Chinese New Year is happening, and the Mandarin on Hunt Club was having a special Chinese New Year Buffet, offering dim sum, and other special dishes. for the celebration.  Having indulged ourselves in the many dishes, and the array of desserts offered, we headed back to the church so my friend could get her car.

A stop along the way, was for me a small bonanza of free books.  Now that I’m happily working on recycling books, into my own personal versions of “junk journals” I picked out books by size and age. I was not interested in the content but rather the size .. quality of paper was also important but I was going to be using gesso or acrylic paints to change them anyway.

I was particularly drawn to this little 4x 6 book, it was nicely bound and had enough pages for me to get “junk” look to go with my other projects.  I had no intention of doing any work on the books when I got home, I planned on just putting them aside for another day.

PL Precept #7     Everything exists in Relativity

PL Precept #15    All is a Mirror

When I got in, the little book fell to the floor, I bent down to retrieve it and saw handwriting in it.  I glanced at  the writing and realized that it was someone’s journal.  The pages were highlighted, small pencil notations were on almost every second page.  Someone had read and re read the book from cover to cover.  In the back I saw that this particular book was one obtained at a conference on the theme of the book.  There was a page with the 12 steps (12 step program) and a few other pages, with goals and objectives etc.

Needless to say, it was like looking into someone’s private, very private thoughts. The person had even identified the book, in case of loss, name and address labels were prominent on both back and front covers.  The book was not current.  I wondered how it had come to be in a pile of books being given away, left out as garbage at a thrift shop.

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Without further thought, I found myself searching for papers, cuttings and colours to depersonalize the book, I removed the labels and then began to paint and glue.

Pl Precept # 19   Begin Once you Perceive

The transformation will not happen overnight, these journals take sometimes years to complete.  IF EVER….. that is just the nature of the journals. Unless you are doing a particular theme for a give away, or to share .. They are ongoing projects, and become part of your “personal” inventory of treasures

When I told my friend about the find, she asked if the person had achieved their goal..  I didn’t have the answer, it would have meant that I would have  had to read her/his thoughts and try to know his/her mind.  Some artistic expressions are to share, others… are for one’s own pleasure.

There are printed pages of the book, that I will leave as is, there are thoughts in there that I can reflect on when I visit the journal from time to time.  Like sharing with a friend.

I love sharing with a friend, and today I made a new one.  how beautiful is that.

Oyashikiri

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no words needed

Not one person walked by this car without whipping out their phones to take a picture. I did wait awhile to see if the owner would come out.  But no, so I captured a few myself and left the area.  There was a whole theme on the top too.  It would have been hard to get a picture without the other getting another person in the picture.  That is how much attention this car was getting.

The hours, the attention to detail, this was  a dedicated passion. That edging is coins, pennies, dimes and nickles.  There was something to see, everywhere you looked. Kudos to the owner of the car, that is what I call, personal expression!

=^_^=  What will you do today to make someone smile….

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fog

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A shroud of fog blanketed most of the day yesterday.  It was still a great day for drive out of the city.  My iPhone had to do for snaps, in my desire to get going to enjoy the day, the camera got left behind.

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See the heart, it was a happy day, not everyone finds it a joyful experience to drive along the river, when the fog is basically what you see in all areas.  It was mild, it was actually balmy, the dogs found it wet and slushy =^_^=.  Care had to be taken in the small towns that pedestrians braving the sidewalks, didn’t get showered with the huge puddles on the roadways.

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Here is where I wanted my camera,  but, it was snug in its case back home. We were in Hawksbury, this is a favourite park when out this way, only the road leading to the “tourist” building was plowed, we were limited in where we could go.  Life is not always full of colour and blue skies.  However, in my world …. it is always wonderful, when I’m sharing time with Nature.

PL Precept # 11    Always be with God..

Today in China people are on the move, heading home for the big Spring Festival (Chinese New Year)  Are you doing anything special today?  You having a good day?

2017 is a Fire Rooster Year.. you can easily google it, to find out your sign, and the predictions for you lunar year  I won’t spoil it for you.. There are so many sites, so much information, and since our birth year is very personal, we need to make our own discoveries

Fog is a beautiful element, for a while it can blow in like a mist and change the landscape with its ethereal beauty… be aware, its delicate beauty can be disastrous if you don’t pay attention to your surroundings … It is a balance.  In life, we need to learn to maneuver in all situations with confidence and faith, that we will be guided.

Through the teachings of Perfect Liberty, receiving consultations, and working every day to live a creative life.  PL Precept #1 Life is Art     We will discover that  –PL Precept # 18  Each Moment is a turning Point.

Oyashikiri

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c’est bizarre, c’est jeudi

What happens when suddenly you realize it is Thursday! Wow, like how did this happen, it came at me right out of the blue.

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Like the seasons, was it just yesterday I sat and watched the birds fly by on the horizon, couldn’t have been, when I look out side now, the world is white, we’ve had snow.  Lots of it, although, it was so mild yesterday, temperatures went up to 40 degrees F.  Today is going to be another mild day.

img_20151206_125944719I had thought of going to New York city for the Perfect Liberty Thanksgiving service this month.  The thought of seeing NY again, I’ve been away from some time, actually a LONG time, so close to the Chinese New Year, a side trip down to Chinatown would have been a real treat.

If you saw my blog the other day on Chinese New Year, and took the time to watch the video on the foods prepared for the special celebration, you would have seen a lot of colour, especially reds.

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It was not to be.  In the Japanese Church of Perfect Liberty, we use a word, Kamuwaza, it basically means, “God’s Act”  or through no other reason, but that “something” just doesn’t happen, due to many different circumstances.  In this case, all the signs were not pointing towards a good productive trip, my pushing the envelope to go anyway, would mean that, my desire, my wishes, were “mine” and not necessarily were they going to happen.

The TAO. also addresses this, there are times when we simply need to listen to the “signs” around us, and STOP pushing forward. It is time to STOP, reflect, and regroup.

Noooooo I’m not bummed about it, a tad disappointed maybe, but I have learned, that everything has a reason, (season) and by staying tuned in .. PL Precept # 11   Always be with God.  
PL Precept #17   Grasp what is essential   AND

PL Precept # 20 Live maintaining Equilibrium between Mind and Matter..  Things will progress and develop (PL Precept # 16)

Life is beautiful when you live the PL WAY … every day, in every way.

Oyashikiri

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lazy day

There is something to be said about a cold sunny day, when you can see the shimmering bling of the icicles as they hang from the roof edge.  I have been trying to listen to the good advice from friends, “stay in, stay out of the cold, REST”, I think I’m soon going to be able to say, its been 4 weeks now! cough, cough, splutter, sneeze, wheeze and darn I’m tired.

windows-iceThis is a much better shot of the beautiful sculptured ice.  The sky was the beckoning blue that makes me want to be outside.  I don’t care it is cold, I’m happy outside, I layer up and I’m toasty warm.. the air is so fresh, crisp and deliciously brisk.

Thanks for the great feedback on the Sludge project, thought I’d show you a sneak peek.

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This is a piece of a cover that I was very taken with.  I liked it so much I kept the magazine for ages.  Doing these “Art” journals has given me a new way to display and keep the pictures I like, without keeping a whole magazine.  Eventually some time in the future, I will add to the pages.. this is the fun of it all.. there is no rush, no deadlines, just a great way to have quality time with myself doing “stuff” I like.

PL Precept #1   Life is Art

PL Precept # 18  Each Moment is a Turning Point

Make each moment count, enjoy being alive, be grateful, and appreciate that God is in your life…

PL Precept #11   Always be with God

When we live with love in our hearts…it is so much easier to express ourselves.

PL Precept #2   To live is to Express One’s Self.

Oyashikiri

Sludge

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Take a discarded children’s book, or any other book you have or find, and turn it into a working surface to paint, or create a new image on.

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As an artist or crafts person, we are often looking for a place to try out different ideas, I first say pages being reconstructed when I saw a junk journal being made.  In the video the artist was taking old flyers and other junk mail and repurposing it into a journal, where she then proceeded to embellish it so that it could be used for  journaling, art ideas, thoughts, project possibilities… every scrap of paper, cardstock was recycled into a work of “personal” art.

The idea of recycling books no longer wanted or enjoyed as they were, struck me as a good one, especially I had books and magazines everywhere that I could use to jump start my imagination.

I found this product, Sludge by Tri Art on the shelves of the local DeSerres Art Supply shop.  Gesso was more expensive,  and the colour selections I had with the Sludge offered a challenge that I wanted to take.  Where at one time I had a brush or palette knife attached to the end of my arms at all time, it has not been the case for many many years.    Now when I enter an Art Supply place.. it is a brand new experience.

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In PL, Perfect Liberty, we believe that everyday is a brand new experience.  To an artist of life, it presents us with a brand new canvas.  It is up to us, to be as creative as we can be, to find happiness, and share that happiness with others.

On their label it says.. “be a sludge head” enjoy the satisfaction of helping the environment You can find out more by visiting their website.. http://www.tri-art.ca

Made in Canada…(Kingston, Ontario)

You might not paint, or be a paper crafter, but I bet you know someone who is. Check it out.

PL Precept # 1   Life is Art

PL Precept # 2   To live is to Express One’s Self

Oyashikiri

The black is intense!

The green -forest-  check the batches, different batches will give a slightly different colour.

what I learned today

black-gesso-1Black gesso is messy.

Black gesso really works, and using the brand that works for you,  helps a lot.

When working with black gesso.. wear gloves, it really is black

practice, practice, practice…..

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So far I’ve tried it on different papers, waiting for it to dry, then I’ll press the papers over night.  I had tried using white gesso with a black paint, but the results were not the same.

Learning to work with a new product, and to get results that please you, for your own personal style of expression, takes patience and the willingness to experiment. Taking chances, it is through mistakes that we learn, what we want.

This philosophy applies to our experiences in life. Sometimes we have to try something a few times, in a number of different ways to get what we “think” we want at the time.  Each new steps, leads us to further discoveries.  We need only be open to “change”

Oyashikiri

quiet beckoning

ompah-hwy-7Ompah is in Ontario, a little out-of-the-way, but not so far one can’t get to it.  The seasons change, right now I’m sure it doesn’t look like this.  It will be snow-covered, and likely there will be a chill in the air.

My body has a cold right now.  Notice I’ve disengaged myself from the body that is wanting to sneeze, wheeze and be a total drain on my energy.

I envision this wonderful location, patiently waiting for the cold to have its day and disappear.

Such is life, sometimes, Nature has its own agenda, time for me to settle down, find a cave and  hibernate for a while. =^_^=

I’ll do that after Hubby takes me out for our anniversary dinner…..International Buffet.. yum.. what is it, you feed a cold or starve a cold??   later, I’ll dwell on it later… =^_^=

smilePencil                                                          Oyashikiri

I know… I will own my decision to go out, when I should be tucked in bed…  I will not complain if/when my body does not take kindly to my actions.

Pl Principle #2     the last part….. ” I will always be creative and will look for shortcomings in my OWN thinking and ACTIONS”

 

 

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