Following the Moon: Renewing the Heart

paper mache skin on half-size guitar 

I send all best to you as we wind down this mysterious time of the natural year when deep internal realinment takes place preparing us for the approaching 90 days of spring.

I've invested this moon in renewing my heart. I've been sitting in the quiet of my studio creating a tribute to my dear friend and mentor Ann Dearsley Vernon.
The video shows Ann's art created in the 12 months following a cutting edge medical treatment, the insertion of an LVAD. The procedure gave Ann a new lease on life...her vitality and passion soared and her paintings flowed like the newly revitalized blood in her veins.

On December 12 at 2am Ann suffered a massive stroke. Since that time she has been unable to communicate clearly and her time is spent in physical, occupational and speech therapy sessions. Every aspect of her recovery is made more complicated and affected by the LVAD that literally keeps her on the planet.

Honoring the family's request for holding back and not flooding her with visitors I sat and wondered what I could do so that my love for her was being directed in a healthy way. When the idea came: create a tribute...every step fell into place.

Along came the call for artists to create an 'instrument of art' for the 6th annual Sea Level Festival's . Both Ann and I have been active with Tidewater Arts Outreach since it began in 2004. TAO is the organization that hosts the SeaLevel Festival and so I accepted the half size guitar offered to me and went into the studio.

A work of art using someone elses images, in this case Ann Vernon's paintings as transfers, became my new experience as I moved forward to create a tribute to her life well lived.

 

  begin to lay in color and texture

 

 

 add repeat transfers of Ann's painting of her memory of collapsing in her garden

 

one side of the guitar holds a transfer of her painting 'Word Salad'...

  the opposite side panel with Ann and her painting 'My Mechanical Heart'...

 

 

We're in the Full Moon phase of the Renewal/Purity moon cycle. A lovely time to take a deep breath and renew the love of your heart.

As we move into the last weeks of the winter 'Mystery' quadrant of this year's Natural Wheel I dream of best health to your heart and for our world.

Enjoy your Luna See
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Following the Blue Moon

 Journal page, Drozda,  2006

It's been a busy time, no?
As it ought to be during this most active 'doing' time of the year.

Celebrate the Full 'Love' Blue Moon with some dancing.

I'm so happy to share with you the 'Life in Transit' project that I've been investing in since last fall and now launched  as a public art initiative in collaboration with dear artist friend, poet/educator Toni Wynn and nonprofit partner, Tidewater Arts Outreach.

'Life in Transit', a public art/education project, honors and respects the strength and vitality of women around the world who have taken creative action to be liberated from domestic violence and poverty.
As a 'think global, act local', venture LiT invites a group of marginalized and culturally invisible women (who have participated in a community shelter support program in our community) to creatively express their inner strengths and inspire courage through personal art made public.

Please visit our new Face Book page, friend us and give the project a LIKE...we're moving toward sponsorship by our public transit system, enlisting their support in making 'Life in Transit' a community outreach...is your life in transit? ...visit our blog and share your courage and strength.

Read more...

And may you dance...

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Following the Moon: Who do You Trust?

Leo,Opposite hand Tarot, Drozda, mixed media, 1993

I hope you've had a fabulous Growth Moon ...in the blink of an eye... here we are:


Welcome to the New Trust Moon. As we are well aware it requires strength to cultivate trust. I truly appreciate that in a subtle way each year, at this place on the Natural Calendar, we have the opportunity to set a vision for where we choose to invest our Trust. Being born in February my moon/month keyword gift is Renewal...now half way round the wheel... is where I discover my opposite point and the challenge/opportunity for growth. Year by year I learn a bit more about surrendering fears, known and unknown, and radically trusting Life. Read more...

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Following the Moon: Growing Pains

MOCA Plein Aire class in my garden, Drozda, 2012

Welcome to Following the Moon...can you sense into and feel the need for an Art/Life stretch? It's Growing-pain time...and that's meant to be a healthy and beneficial sensation.


Week by week , as Luna-tics, we engage the natural rhythm of the moon cycles and the seasons to find our current creative flow. This week we end the 'Illumination' Moon cycle . Illumination visits each year during the Moon of June. Of course nature could care less about our calendars and not every moon falls exactly within the confines of a month. For example, currently we're experiencing the half n' half quality of the new moon falling at the midpoint of the month. This makes for an interesting opportunity to straddle our keywords...the moon cycle now closing is the Wisdom/Illumination cycle.


We're in the Balsamic Phase between now and Tuesday's New Moon. Each month these last several Balsamic days, prior to the New Moon, are perfect for dreaming.

What do you dream of growing in the cycle ahead?
The New Moon, beginning on Tuesday, June 19, brings us the Illumination/Growth cycle. In June, July and August we're looking at the most fertile and expansive period of the Natural Year. Whatever you are intending for the Natural Year's walk from Equinox in March all the way round to next spring when we begin anew...really put a push on now.



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Following the Moon: Sparkle and Shine

Young artists entranced by Andy Warhol's Silver Pillow, MOCA, 2012, Drozda

Welcome to Following the Moon...it's the First Quarter phase of the Illumination cycle. Each year at this time we have the opportunity to push out and make contact with 'lightening up'.


Once again I'm sharing my artist/friend Sandra's writing. She publishes an essay on the First Quarter each moon/month...

The New Moon in Gemini on May 20 began a 29.6-day cycle, during which the emphasis is on information. The quality of our thoughts shapes the quality of our lives. Throughout this lunation, we are choosing what to bring into our consciousness, and thus into our experience. The results of our efforts will become evident seven months from now, during the Capricorn lunation. Consider the differences between reporting and gossip, knowledge and intelligence, versatility and superficiality.


This is a good cycle to engage in remedial studies, address transportation issues, or to make contact with others via correspondence and telephone.

Gemini correlates to Illumination on the Medicine Wheel. Arriving from the place of Wisdom developed during the Taurus lunation, we now occupy a place of illumination. Illumination allows us to interpret and make use of the clarity and wisdom gained thus far in the cycle that began with the Aries lunation. At this place in the cycle we develop a road map of sorts to guide us through the rest of the year.

During the 1st Quarter phase of this cycle it’s important to be discriminating. Pay close attention to everything heard and said. Filter out facts from speculation. Identify and break away from old mental patterns and styles of communication, especially as they occur in your daily activities and routines. Cultivate habits which make your communication more efficient.
Sometimes the smallest actions can have far-reaching effects and that is certainly true during this phase. Simple practices like counting silently to ten before responding to another in conversation.

Here are some additional suggestions for “Moving With Spirit” during this 1st Quarter phase (May 28 - 31):


Exercise with a Hula Hoop.

Write a book review or recommendation.

Attend a neighborhood meeting or block party.

Contact your siblings.

Sign up for a class or register for school.

Practice Yoga.

Play some mind games and tease your brain.

Physical activity during this phase should be detailed and well-considered. All actions this phase need to be taken from a place of service and humility.


Questions to consider during this phase:


How do you express your feelings of appreciation?

When are you most verbal and what words do you use repeatedly?

What triggers your curiosity?

Where and with whom would it serve you best to speak your truth and communicate with greater clarity?

How are your relationships with siblings and/or neighbors?

What situations bring out the student, teacher or debater in you?

Affirm: “ I communicate with honor and sensitivity.”


May we walk the path of illumination together with humility and grace.


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Making the Art/Life the Master Peace

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Following the Moon: Ruby & Valentine

Ruby & Valentine...the early days

CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF OUR HEROIC FRIENDS RUBY & VALENTINE

Both of our girls left the planet yesterday, May 31, 2012, with the help of the hospice veterinarian...we are so grateful to Dr. Tom Woods for offering such a heartfelt service in our community.

“I think I could turn and live with the animals, they are so placid and self contained;

I stand and look at them long and long.

They do not sweat and whine about their condition;

They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins;

They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God;

Not one is dissatisfied-not one is demented with the mania of owning things;

Not one kneels to another, nor his kind that lived thousands of years ago;

Not one is responsible or industrious over the whole earth.”

            Walt Whitman

Ruby Slippers of Wren House, April 11, 1998 ...born in a raging storm, 6 of her litter mates drowned in their birthing box. She came to Wren House as a rescue, actually being drained of all energy by countless ticks and fleas. She lived a most wonderful and heroic life.

Valentine, born September 9, 1999... a puppy mill/petshop pup purchased as a ploy to save a marriage...it didn't work so the abandoned husband/father cast her into a kennel cage hardly large enough to turn around in... where she was 'stored' for a nearly a year. We heard that the man was going to dump her at the pound and we went to her rescue. She wasn't house broken or socialized but she became a devoted and fabulous protector of all thing Wren related.

I send love to you, and all your four leggeds, in honor of the Art/Life that we share with all the gentle beings.

Following the Moon:

Luna See, Drozda, ink on Bristol, 2012

Welcome to Following the Moon... This week we begin the 'Illumination' Moon which visits us each year during the Moon of June. This New Moon began on Sunday, May 20, in the early evening (EDT). Perhaps you were able to witness the extraordinary 'ring of fire' solar eclipse.



This is a great time to set your Art/Life creatively ablaze for the 6 Moon/Months ahead. From the Equinox in March through the Equinox in September the primary creative quality is 'masculine action'...step up...step out...act...assert...it's completely natural to get a move on now. What would you like to have sizzle into your creative expression between now and November? Keep a journal...track the steps you need to take.


In June, with the Gemini Moon, you can be natural and seek to expand. Each New Moon provides space for a vision. Start with a vision that can expand your mind. This is a great Moon/Month to continue the active push that is expected at this point of the year. Move yourself forward and notice how qualified you are to create the work of beauty, goodness and care that only you can bring into the world.


The New Moon, and your opportunity to visualize your genius, continues through Thursday, May 24 and then opens to the Crescent Phase in the late evening. At the Crescent Phase (which extends through Monday afternoon, May 28) it's time to do your research focusing on your 'Illumination' vision.

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Following the Moon: Wise Up

Fence Graffitti, Drozda, 2012

Welcome to Following the Moon... It's the Wisdom cycle...


We're in the Full Moon Phase through Wednesday, May 9, pre-dawn (EDT) and it's been a Super Moon...put these pieces together, apply them creatively, and you'll discover that it's a great time for observing how you balance your Art/Life and take action...all without making yourself crazy.

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius...and a lot of courage...to move in the opposite dierection.

E.F.Schumacher

A whole lot can...and ought...to happen during this 29.6 days (April 21 - May 20) of the Wisdom cycle. It's a time to take a risk on an idea that inspires you. Take a leap of faith. Add to your leadership skills. The 90 days between Equinox and Solstice are like flint igniting and sparks flying.

On Wednesday morning when the Phase turns to Disseminating, we have a stretch of time...until Saturday, May 12 at dusk ... to share. Focus on your Art/Life vision. Notice what's brought the greatest dose of Wisdom since the cycle began April 21.

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