I have always loved miniatures and I love nature, so this week I decided to indulge myself and make a fairy garden. My daughter-in-law had given me a basket with a screened top, meant to keep the bugs off of your lunch! But I saw something entirely different. I had already made a fairy with a wooden bead head, acorn hat, pipe cleaner body and a silk flower dress, so I got out my collection of "nature stuff" and made a fairy picnic. To a base of moss, I added a ready-made teddy bear and two tiny easter chicks as guests, a rock for a bench, a dried orange slice glued to a wooden spool for a table, and then prepared a picnic lunch - a tiny basket filled with black bead "berries" and two button plates piled with some of the berries. Two silk placemats and a acorn cup for tea, a good book for later, and the party is on.
Since today was my birthday, I gave the fairy garden to the three little girls next door. The fun was in the creation and knowing someone else will enjoy it.
I have a place where I can retreat and be more at peace than
anywhere else I have ever visited. Away from TV, phones, traffic
and my ever-present clutter at home. Want to know more?
It
is Shantivanam, Forest of Peace, in Easton, KS, way out in the country
west of Leavenworth. Located on a gravel road, it is a place I
describe as Kansas Zen...lots of barn wood, but surrounded by Japanese
landscaping, as well as other Asian touches. There is a main
building with two guest rooms, but I prefer to stay in one of cabins in
the woods. Very simple, very peaceful. The cabin has a bed,
a small kitchen, a desk, a small table and chairs for meals, and a
rocking chair with a reading lamp. Oh, and a bathroom, of
course. There is a small screened porch with a rocking
chair. On the weekend, you can have your meals at the main
building, served at a long harvest table; simple, healthy, but well
presented food. The memory of aromas of baking bread and
simmering soups comes back to me now.
There are times of
meditation and prayer in the chapel three times a day, if you wish to
attend. The chapel is barn wood and has a wall of windows looking
out to the forest. I have seen deer coming out of the woods on
occasion. On warmer days a window is open so you can hear the
sounds of nature, as well as the fountain in the garden beneath the
windows. The prayers are from many spiritual teachings...Christian,
Islam, Jewish, Native American, Buddhist, etc. Shantivanam was started
by Fr. Edward Hays, a Roman Catholic priest, about 35 years ago, but
the intention was to welcome people of all faiths. Ed Hays has written
many books and is an artist who has illustrated many of his own
writings. My favorite is Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim,
a book filled with the beauty and wonder of nature. Many of his
other books are allegories and his artwork has a quality of fantasy.
There
are many acres of woods and meadows (90? I don't remember how
many) and walking trails up and down the hills. I have often
discovered an altar, built by an unseen wanderer, made of stones from a
dry creek bed. There is a lovely pond with a simple "tea house"
surrounded by bamboo and wildflowers in the summer. Is there
anything more peaceful than watching ripples in a pond created by
unseen fish? Mesmerizing. The photo I have included is the
teahouse in autumn.
I havn't been to Shativanum since I
moved to the Missouri Ozarks, but I can feel calm just thinking about
it. In those "imagine yourself in a peaceful place" guided
meditations, that is where I always go. But lately, I feel a
strong pull from that direction, and hope to go there sometime this
year. In the meantime, I will just close my eyes.....
Yesterday was great...sunny, in the lower 60's, and a day
trip! We drove to Jasper, Arkansas, and listended to "The Power
of Now" audio book by Eckhart Tolle on the drive down. We enjoyed
getting into the Arkansas "mountains", the curvy roads, and a wonderful
organic lunch at the Boadwalk Cafe, part of the Arkansas House B&B.
Then we walked up the street to meander through Emma's Museum of Junk,
a great flea market. Emma was there and we had nice
conversation. I am on a tight budget, but I managed to find some
fun things for future art projects. When I came home and
photographed them, I noticed that I had a color theme going on...red
and black! It wasn't planned, just stream of conciousness
shopping, I guess. I get in the "zone" when I am in some shops.
After Emma's, we went to the Old Carriage House,
an art gallery in an 1800's building. Rebecca, the owner, is a
potter, and the other artwork is made by local artists. Unfortunately,
the economy has not closed the gallery, but the building is for
sale. It is a lovely place that we visit whenever we are in that
area.
Then we took a drive on the state roads, and saw the
Buffalo River and a field of about 60 - 70 elk. That is elk
country down there. There are also many very old barns that I
want to photograph this spring. I have a photo that I took of
some river rodks in the Buffalo River, and pushed the color saturation
for fun. I love to photograph rocks, but that will be a subject
for a future story.
Days like that lift my spirits and we all need them, don't we? I am ready to create something new today.
Thank you Artella. Thank you Eric Maisel. And thank you,
all of those bloggers who admit to periods of depression and the
"blues". I have almost stopped creating lately, and I certainly
let my blogging sit on the back burner for a few months. When I
am depressed, writing is the first thing I let go. Not eating,
mind you. I have to be incredibly depressed to give up
sweets. But pen to paper, or keyboard to computer, that is
another story. I do still read and and Artella reminded me of
Eric Maisel and his many wonderful books. I own several and
certainly one of the best is The Van Gogh Blues. So I searched
through my generous collection of books (I buy books when I am
depressed...retail therapy) and now I am reading it again. The
other thing I have done 
to
help myself is to get rid of my collection of Solitaire games on the
computer. Anyone else hooked on Freecell? Then you know how much
time can be wasted mindlessly playing computer games until the wee
hours until your eyes cross or vision goes blurry. Nothing wrong
with computer games unless they become an obsessive way of avoiding
everything else. So now I am experiencing withdrawl symptoms, but
after a few more days I will be fine. The picture with this
posting was my way of dealing with my blue period in a creative
way. Thank you flea market photo and Photoshop.
When I stop to think of a perfect moment in my life, I can think of
many. Most of them are about birth...the birth of three of my
children, the arrival from Korea of my adopted daughter, the arrival of
12 wonderful grandchildren. But today I will write about Lori, my
child from Korea.
We waited about a year and went through all of
the legal procedures thaat attend a foreign adoption. At last
the day arrived, July 4, 1974. What a perfect day for 10 little
children to come home to their excited parents in Kansas City. I
could see through the windows of the terminal when the plane finally
came to a sop and finally, a friend went out to greet my new
daughter. Volunteers brought the children from the plane to the
parents. I watched Judy carry the tiny girl across the tarmac and
into the terminal. She brought her to me and I hugged the
frightened little one to me, all 20 lbs. of her. She was 2 1/2
years old, but malnourished.
Lori Soo was too tired from
the 22 hour trip to even cry, but felt like a limp little rag doll in
my arms. Both of her ears were crusted from drainage from ear
infections, and I thought of the pain she must have indured from the
long flight and changes of altitude. Her dark hair was plastered
to her head from perspiration and she was dressed in a little cotton
dress lined with crinoline; not the most comfortable thing I can
imagine. She wore yellow rubber shoes and carried a pacifier. She looked so vulnerable.
I
would like to write that we all lived happily ever after, but life is
not usually that kind. We had many trials, some family tragedies,
but yesterday Lori had her 36th birthday and now has four children of
her own. I love her more today than I did at that moment, because
real love is a process, not an event. Love grows in our hearts if
we nourish it, and my prayer for Lori is that she know deep in her
heart that she is loved.
Since I have so many wonderful children and grandchildren, I make a
lot of gifts for them with my art supplies and ideas. It is also
a great way to practice with new products and techniques. Some of
my favorite things to make are collaged journals or sketchbooks.
I like to buy inexpensive, plain cover books at Borders Bookstore, for
instance. Then I have a great time trying out different materials
and ideas, keeping in mind the recipient's interests and
personality. For instance, for my oldest granddaughter, I chose
a black cover and kept a sepia, cream and copper theme. I used
old illustrations and text from an Italian schoolbook, a sepia photo of
her at Mount Vesuvius, and stamps, embossed stickers, art papers, brass
metal accents and a coin from England. Valerie lived in London
for 5 yers and has traveled to Italy and France, among other places, so
it was easy to think of a theme. There is also a piece of black
fabric with a French image stamped with copper metallic ink, and I
rubbed antique gold metallic ink around the edges.
The photo is a scanned image of most of the cover of the
journal. I also collaged the first two pages inside with photos
and other papers, and made a bookmark trimmed with great ribbons and
fibers. I have made several of these books, each completely
different. Sometimes I begin with painting the cover with Lumiere
paint, one of my favorites, and love to use buttons, polymer clay faces
and other embellishments. It is fun to go back through my favorite
photos of the family and I often make creative changes in
Photoshop. I am planning to make several more books for
Christmas. Try it....it makes a great gift! 
I am attempting to add a photo to my blog, again, and so this is a test. So, bear with me:-)
Obviously, the photo I referred to in my post "Sitting on Top of the World" did not appear. I am having a great deal of trouble posting text, much less photos. However, I will try to post the photo to my gallery, Jacque's Dreamscapes. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
This is one of my favorite pictures of my son. When he was 21, he set out to see the world on foot, so to speak. He flew to London and backpacked to Greece, where ths photo was taken. He then went on to Israel, wher he worked on a commercial collective farm for a year. After that, he flew to Egypt, then to Nigeria. He then backpacked for 6 months through 9 countries, until he reached Capetown, South Africa. By then, he had contracted malaria, and was in the hospital a week before he returned home to Kansas. This is not the end of the story. There was a lot more traveling to come.
This picture represents freedom and accomplishment to me. He is now a husband and father of 2 little girls, but this picture is full of his spirit of adventure. He has inspired me to try new thing and recognise my own need for travel and adventure.
I am old enough that I saw "Saturday Night Fever" when it was brand new! I have since watched it many times. I have always been a frustrated dancer, never allowed to take lessons as a child. However, I did take ballet when I was 39 years old, hoping to reverse all of the inactivity for the past 39 years so that I could look great at 40. I had a great time, except I would get dizzy with all of those twirls.
Anyway, one of my day dreams involved dancing with John Travolta, and dancing wonderfully, to the amazement of my friends and family, who were, of course, shocked to see it was me. The scenerio changed from time to time, but we were always great together. Now, many years later, I still play the sound track whenever I want to charge myself up to do housework or clean up my art studio. I never get tired of it.
Imagine my surprise when I recently read that John Travolta will be appearing at a charity function in Kansas City and that high bidders will get the opportunity to dance with him! I live only 3 hours away from KC....but there is a little problem about the high bid part. So, John, unless I win the lottery soon, I will just have to keep daydreaming.
I am finally getting started with my new blog. I have stopped traveling long enough to do other things, and I am getting back to my artwork, mostly collage and needle felting (my new love). We went to Colorado for a few weeks and I loved the mountain air and wonderful scenery. We go every year, but stayed longer this time. I took lots of photos of Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs and plan on using them in my artowrk...collage, needle felting, cardmaking, etc. There are so many new things to try in the world of fiber and paper arts that I have a hard time finishing one project before I go on to the next! Does anyone else have this problem? According to the Meyer-Briggs Personality Prefence Profile, I am an INFP, which in a nutshel means I prefer my inner life,work intuitively , based on my feelings and have a hard time finishing things because I am always attracted to all of the possibilities out there!
While in Colorado, I discovered a shop in the tiny mining town of Victor,Colorado, that has the most wonderful selection of hand-dyed wool roving, as well as roving from alpacas and llama. So many wonderful colors to choose from, and you can purchase it by the ounce. I was there over an hour, much to the frustration of my husband, who doesn't get excited about wool roving. The best part is that they have a website -
http://store.leightonfarms.com/ Check them out if you love fibers. They also have hand-dyed yard, including many multi-color choices. I purchased some for my needle felting and dollmaking.
I am going to try some new fiber embellishing techniques today, so check out the website and try something new today!