orange

Hello you, Monday morning here. Lots of sunshine and really warm, we are in the middle of a heatwave. No complaints on my part, I’m trying to soak up all the solar energy before the return of the gray days.

I visited a garden close to my home yesterday and the orange coloured flowers called my attention. I had to check out the meaning of orange colour. It’s all about energy, creativity, joy, positive vibes …, it is a combo of red and yellow: Energy from red and happiness from yellow. I just love it! And I really need it, my creativity is down at the moment.

I also looked up which chakra orange represents, it’s the Sacral chakra:

Meaning: “This chakra represents and governs your emotional state and sense of creativity,” says Singh. And as such, it’s the source of sensitivity, sexuality, intimacy, and self-expression, says Poon: “Often, the sacral chakra needs to be cleared of stuck energy from traumas and pent-up emotions in order to heighten your creativity and ability to express your truest self.” 7 Chakra Colors and Meanings

Yes, all about letting go of traumas and being creative. So, I decided to start my week writing this post.

Hope you have a great week ahead, full of orange colour around you! 🙂

20/30 – it’s the little things

This tiny beauty was on my way, I took the photo and later realized that it is out of focus. I was going to delete it, but I thought better and decide to keep it as it is, no filter, no focus, just being there. It’s ok to have an imperfect photo, the same with certain stuff in life, we don’t need to be perfect in everything we do.

I’m learning to be spontaneous in relation to my creativity in relation to my writing, photography, art pages… Trying to make everything perfect was exhausting me with all the checking and double-checking, erasing and doing it again, or giving up. The process to reach perfection was blocking my creative mood. It’s not easy to let go of perfection but I’m learning little by little.

“Creativity doesn’t wait for that perfect moment. It fashions its own perfect moments out of ordinary ones.”
Bruce Garrabrandt

kindness

kindness
holding a door
a smile

a smile
a cup of tea
thank you

thank you
sending flowers
love you

love you
I'm listening
kindness

Tanka Tuesday – Kindness is the theme prompt for this week. I’ve written this poem but it doesn’t fit any of the classic poetry forms, at least that I could find. I love it, so I decided to be kind to myself and share it anyways. It is a syllabic poem, so I think Colleen will like. The form is 2:4:2, the last word of one stanza is the first of the following on and the first word of the poem repeats as the last one. I am thinking a name for it, but first I’d like know from the poetry experts if there isn’t already a form like this one.

Another gesture of kindness I’m sharing here, is a self-kindness. A few minutes every morning I give to myself to play with colours, images. It’s a ‘me time’ that I use for art journaling.

Hope you enjoy both of my creativity forms.

WQWWC :: Heat

This week’s theme for WQWWC is “heat”. I decided to go a little bit sideways and post about the heat from the soul, my inside heat that needs to come out in the form of creativity. Not sure if the word heat is the best, “fire” is more appropriate. For many years I’m using paintings and collages as a vessel for expression. Poetry is another form to let out what is in my mind. And of course, I couldn’t forget to mention the journaling practice that is a constant form of expression for me.

Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.
Rumi

Abstraction is my favourite kind of expression, both for my painting and my poetry. Recently I had my poems featured in a poetry book, I’m quite pleased with myself, you can check it here.

The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.
Ferdinand Foch

I always write about my feelings before starting any piece of art. I need to check what my soul needs at that moment, what is the fire, the energy igniting my creativity at that moment that I need to put out in the world.

Energy is the key to creativity. Energy is the key to life.
William Shatner

The poem below is one of my favourites when I need to express my feelings through art.

In the heat of heat
The heat is so hot
My body takes control
In the heat of heat
The heat gets so hot
My passion overloads
James Harris III

WQWWC is a challenge that I’ve recently joined, I’m loving to be part of it! Marsha is the host and the prompts are great. Check it out if you want to see nice posts or joining the challenge.

Noticing # 87

Noticing how my handwriting follows my mood. This morning is loaded with scattered thoughts and as I result I have messed up pages. Transferring from the mind to the paper, questioning and making sense of myself.

Nurt Thurs :: Expression

Expression is the essence of thought.
Tony Calderone

We all need fresh air from time to time, to open up our mind and let our feelings surface. It’s like that say: Thinking outside the box!

Expression is the mystery of beauty.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton

There are so many rules and directions to be followed for each task at any moment. We get lost in the middle of them. Where is the creativity in all of this?

To express one’s inner self so that others can understand you, is art. If your expressions are elevated and beautiful, it is good art.
Anonymous

Sharing with Nurturing Thursday.

A little bit of creativity

You can’t use up creativity.
The more you use, the more you have.
Maya Angelou

Have a great week and remember to be creative!

100 day project – part 1

Hello, how are you doing? A new week is starting and we are still in STAY HOME mood!

I’m trying to be creative and keep up with few projects. One of them is the 100 day project that I started last week. You can see the introductory post here.

I’m using a mix of collage and painting for creating my art cards. Below are few of them I made this past week.

Have a great and safe week ahead!

100 day project

Today is starting the #100 day project! It’s a famous Instagram challenge that has been going on for few years. It consists of doing some art related project for 100 days. Something simple that you can do in 10 min to sparkle your creativity. I’ve completed this challenge a few times, and I’ll join this year again.

My project theme is 100 days of messy art cards. Here is my first one:

Hope you are going to follow me along. I’m not sure yet if I’ll post one everyday, maybe not, but I should do a weekly recap for the cards.

In case you want to join, check me out on IG #teandpaper or check the hashtag #100dayproject to know the challenge details.

Creating

Art journal, visual journal, collage journal… there are so many names for it. I don’t know which one I prefer to use, but I do enjoy to express my feelings adding images to the pages of my notebooks.

This weekend I joined a art party on Instagram, few hours creating together with other ladies from around the world. Three prompts in 2 hours.

The first prompt was Polka dots. This is my new journal, you can see the cover on the first photo (bottom right). I was using it for the first time, it’s not easy to start a new journal, the first page is always a challenge. I wanted it to be messy and full of possibilities to give me freedom to work on the other pages without boundaries.

Second prompt was about travelling. Places we want to visit. This is a difficult one, I want to go to many places from deserts to mountains. Of course, beaches are always on the list.

The third and last prompt was a quote by Oscar Wilde “Memory … is the diary that we all carry about with us.” We always want to carry good memories, things that have made us happy and loved. Tiny moments along the road.

I’ll be co-hosting next month art party, please let me know if you would like to join it.