Busy-ness and artichokes

There are times when everything seems so busy! Times when a little peace and quiet seem hard to find. Yet those are the times when we need them even more. Look for and appreciate those lulls when they come. They are necessary times of refreshment.

One of my times for mulling things over is when I am in the garden. I'm not really much of a gardener. I plant the seeds and water them, but no other mollycoddling. If it doesn't grow, so be it. 

I like to plant things to eat rather than flowers, so to be able to grow a flower that you can eat was fun. Here are a couple of the artichokes we had for dinner last night, fresh from the garden.

Seeing in the dark

When I acquire a new book to journal in - often a decommissioned library book selling for a dollar - the first thing I do is take out some pages if the book is quite thick. Then I cover the pages by either adding a layer of gesso, some masking tape, brown paper tape, pages from foreign-language books, collaged papers or images, or a combination of these things.

Occasionally I use black acrylic paint.

When I come to one of the black pages I often wonder why I did it. What was I thinking? What can I do with this page.

This time I was pleased to see that there were gaps in the black where I could put some colour. I went for a sunny yellow. The black didn't seem so bold then, and the strip of yellow down the middle meant that I ended up with two panels.

I thought about how we often focus on the dark rather than on the light that spills in around the edges, so that became the first panel.

With it being spring here in Australia, I have been planting some vegetable seeds. I thought about how they start to germinate in the dark - how they need the dark to germinate in a lot of cases. When we go through bleak times there is often something that germinates within us during that time. Something that we don't see the fruit of immediately.

So don't disregard the bleak times. Ask yourself where the light is spilling in and what is starting to grow in you.

I'll be linking this to Art Journal Every Day. Look forward to seeing you there!

sowing and reaping

How often do you think to yourself, 'I wish I was thinner/healthier/had a different job' etc. Too often we want the fruit without having to sow the seed.

If you want to grow something, you first have to plant it. But that's not the end - you have to cultivate it as well. That's what takes the time. As my husband pointed out in  his sermon on Sunday, you can't go into your garden and pick an apple if there is no apple tree planted there.

Lots of us would like  to be more patient, but it doesn't happen overnight. You become more patient by cultivating patience - by actually just doing it. Yes, we'd all like to wave a magic wand and become saintly in an instant, but that's not how it works. We build muscles by using them.

We grow virtues by practising them.

We need to plant the right seeds.

Are you harvesting the crop you want?

If you want to grow oaks, you have to plant acorns.

Duh! Obviously, you say.

But we don't always think about this in terms of how we live our lives. We don't always think that if we look down on someone, then we will not be growing a friend. If we are mean and spiteful, why should we expect a crop of love in our lives? If we don't dream big, why should we expect miracles?

What are you planting?

Do you need to change your seeds?



And to change the subject entirely, hop on over to inspired.gumnut.net  where I was recently interviewed by Liz Powley.

Deep in the earth...

Had such trouble photographing these pages - the black really reflects the light even when you turn off the flash. Never mind...

I came to this page with a black background and groaned. I've done a few with black backgrounds lately - must have gone a bit mad when I was prepping the latest batch of books. I liked the golden yellow surround which reminded me of a sunny day. That got me thinking about the warmth of the sun working on the earth and seeds preparing to sprout up. I've been out working in the garden, so perhaps that's why my mind went in that direction.

Anyway, I thought of seeds sprouting in the dark while aiming to reach the sunlight. Much like when something new starts in our lives. At first it is all dark and quiet. The seed sits there while you ponder and prepare. Then the first root and shoot sprout. Everything is still dark, but you have some idea of what direction you need to push in. A bit more growth and you break through into the sunlight and can really get going.

What is sprouting up  in your life at the moment?