At the Market

Maybe it's because so many people know me from other work I've done in the community. Maybe be it's a more affluent neighborhood. Maybe people here just love beauty. Maybe it's because I'm not all worn out from taking the 6:25 am ferry to any other market I've been to.

Whatever the reason, I have consistently sold more at the Vashon Farmer's Market than at any other venue I've tried with my silks and my cards. And had more fun!

This little girl was so excited about my scarves, she wanted to try on every single one! She wasn't satisfied until her mom offered to take her picture wearing one and I told her I would post it on my blog. Then she picked out my two almost matching scarves and insisted that I wear one in the picture too!

This is Celeste, grandmother of two former students.
 Isn't she beautiful? 

Sometimes former students stop by with their parents; the kids and parents recognize me, but the kids are twice as tall and some of the boys are close to sprouting beards! The sweet little girls have turned into beautiful young women!

I love to see the smiles when people walk away wearing one of my scarves, or with a gift of a special scarf tucked away and parting words like, "You have made someone so happy!"

Learn to Paint on Silk; for Non-Artists and Artists Alike

I will be starting an new series of silk painting classes soon. I want to give people a way to make beautiful gifts for their loved ones this Christmas. Wish me luck! And come if you can!!

Upcoming Classes

Silk Painting for Christmas Giving

October 23, 30, Nov 6th

at my studio on Vashon

These classes are for artists and non-artists alike 

to create beautiful wearable art and home decor.

Sunday Oct 23, 1-4 pm: 

cost $55 including materials

Create wonderful patterns by printing with found and natural objects, a technique that can be used for scarves, clothing, pillows, table runners and more.

Sunday Oct 30, 1-4 pm:

Cost: $55 including materials.

Use a Japanese tie dying technique called Shibori to create 3 beautiful scarves. 

Sunday Nov 6, 1-4 pm:

Cost: $55 including materials

Use a water soluble resist for a batik like effect to create images on silk. 

Open Studio

Sunday November 13  1-4

Cost $10

For anyone who has taken a silk painting class from me

To play with color and cloth and to create beauty to share

I supply the dyes and the space and answer your questions; you supply the silk

Emerald Spiral Expo Fall 2011

Isirdro Nilsson won my scarf for Joannie Vogel as a door prize

The Emerald Spiral Expo:
I didn't know quite what to expect. A line of tents with gypsy fortune tellers? Tarot readers? Crystal balls? Energy Healers? Astrologers? People channeling their spirit guides? Regression into past lives? Sellers of Crystals and magic potients? Would  my booth partner, Michele of Hurrikayn Natural Soaps, and I be the only ones with products you can touch? Would we feel out of place? Would anyone buy our wares?

Well, yes, there were astrologers and Tarot readers, crystal balls, and spirit channelers. There were energy healers and Reiki practitioners, people doing spirit cleansings and healings of many kinds. The energy of all the venders was for healing, helping, and loving.

There were several people I would like to meet again:

*L'aura Grace told me she was healed of a 17 year chronic bladder infection when she connected with energy healers using light. She now channels this light for others with the help of an Angel (whose name I've lost). I had just read in Ode Magazine of the light that transmits healing messages to our whole bodies. Sounds kind of woo woo, but I have used this concept and it works!

*Dolly Mae wrote a book: Choosing Joy in the Midst of Crisis. Her premis is that one can choose to live in fear--or to live in Love. Living in Love leads to a joyful life. She is teaching "A Course in Metaphysics" Wednesday Evenings in Everett. Choosing to respond to life with love rather than fear has been my path for awhile now.

*Robin Ritter is a "Certified Oneness Master". She practices I'O Mastery Healing, a form of healing founded by Laurie Keako'a Grant of Hawaii. What I saw her doing reminded me of Reiki, which I used to help my husband when he was sick with cancer.

And no, no one bought my scarves or cards, but I did have fun! Michele did sell enough soaps to pay the booth fee and perhaps a bit more.

Japan now--what the news media doesn't tell

I honor my friend Maki, who has recently visited Japan to see the effects of the tsunami and earthquake.
Please read her account here.

Finding the Soul in These Times

Golden Pathway
My Etsy Shop
Print
Card

 I had the nicest compliment from someone who stopped by my booth at the Vashon Farmer's Market yesterday. She was admiring my cards, and said, "Your work is lovely. It looks as though it really comes from your soul."

She was right, you know. "Golden Pathway", for example, was inspired  by a magical walk in the forest with my beloved. It was July, and the Madrona trees were dropping golden leaves on the ground. We had just spent a week sailing together, just the two of us, in perfect harmony.

This image and the phrase, "walking the golden pathway", has come to mean living in joy, in love, when life is good, when you are in just the right place.

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  "Grandfather Moon"
  My Etsy Shop
  Print
  Card

This one, "Grandfather Moon", was inspired by the story Goose Moon by Carolyn Arden. It speaks to me of the bond between grandparents and young grandchildren--something I was just beginning to experience when I created this.


Dragon Lady was inspired by my courageous daughter in law, who gave us a beautiful baby boy in spite of her ms, and by all the women I know who have faced cancer and kept on living with joy and purpose.

Dragon Lady
My Etsy Shop
Print

The dragon symbolizes both what one most fears and our own inner strength. The Dragon Lady has made friends with both.











All these  paintings are done on silk, and are available at my etsy shop as cards and as prints.

A Show of Silks!

getting ready for the show
"Sunflower " painting

Thank you to everyone who came to see my show at PSCCU! Your support means a great deal to me.
The paintings will be up through the end of October, so if you haven't had a chance to see it yet, and you happen to be on Vashon Isl, WA during that time, do stop by!

an admirer of my silk painting
"Sky House"

For folks who live too far away to see the show in person, I'll get it up on Flickr as soon as I can, and post a link here and on Facebook.

Dance in Ecstasy

A sweet friend gave me this card for my
birthday.

I wish I knew the artist of this lovely card! This image expresses the joy I want you to know, the joy that sings in my soul so often these days, as I spend more time in my studio and find more ways to bring my own images to you.

This isn't about ignoring the painful bits, stuffing them inside and pretending they don't exist. This is about acknowledging the pain,  and being able to step out of it. It's about opening the window to the beauty of the world, and allowing that into our deepest selves. It's about allowing ourselves to experience moments of pure joy  and to be healed by them, to experience ecstasy.

Michael Meade says, "Even a little ecstasy can provide a sense of liberation that renews both the body and the soul."

What makes your soul sing out in joy? How do you allow yourself to access and express this joy, this ecstasy?