Year of the Fire Horse
As always, I like to guide activities related to seasonal and cyclic happenings of the natural world, so I’ve been leading some explorations related to the Lunar New Year. This year is the Year of the Fire Horse! In my Art Journey and Adventures in Acrylic painting classes, we have been exploring horse energy and have been inspired by the ancient Lascaux Cave Paintings of horses made by our human ancestors 20,000 years ago. The fact that humans were driven to paint on these cave walls brings home the idea that art is an essential part of the human experience, and it has been for a very long time. Art can help us get in touch with joy, also, in my opinion, an essential part of our experience. I firmly believe that all of us have a sacred artist within ourselves. Unfortunately, we have learned from society, culture, and school that there is such a thing as good art and bad art and that some people are artistic and others are not. This is simply not true. As Picasso said (and I like to mention this often) “every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain one when we grow up.” Simply doing art can teach us about who we are, about our unique gifts, and it can ground us in our power. The more centered we are, the more we can be a solid presence for others in the world, for our family, our friends, and the community, including the more than human - other beings, the land, and all elements encompassing the natural world. If we have permission to explore our own artistic selves in a safe, nonjudgmental space, there is so much we can learn and share, including there is no wrong way to do art, or life for that matter.
Guiding nature journaling classes since 2023, I have seen my students grow in their awareness and enjoyment of the world around them. This is such a beautiful thing to witness. In my classes and workshops, I enjoy giving people the tools to create their own daily nature journaling habits. While we can do this on our own, it is helpful to do this in community to gain the support of others, to witness and learn from one another, and for the enjoyment of being together. One of the great things about nature journaling is that it opens us up in many ways. It opens us up to experiencing the world anew, with wonder and curiosity, with excitement and questions. Those questions lead us to more questions, and our daily lives become a wonderful ongoing exploration. The more you do this practice, the more you are rewarded; experiencing the beauty of the world through an expanded awareness and enjoyment of life on Earth.
Speaking of nature journaling, I guided a 31 day nature journaling adventure on my YouTube channel, offering daily prompts for writing or contemplation. I also led a nature journaling workshop at the Simsbury Public Library, where we had great fun exploring sweet gum tree balls, which fall from these gorgeous trees this time of year. These spiky balls, which contain hundreds of tiny seeds of the tree within them, are fascinating and reminded us of all sorts of different creatures and shapes such as insect mandibles, octopus beaks, baby birds, and more. It was fun to hear from others what they saw in these spiky wonders. We wrote about the impending snow storm, which walloped our area with over a foot of snow the following day, and explored some other nature objects through observation, using our senses to guide us. I will be back in Simsbury again soon!
I have also been crafting away with senior citizens in New Britain and Hartford, enjoying sharing time to make seasonal crafts celebrating different aspects of the seasons. We made felt snowmen and several different Valentine crafts including a door hanging and heart shaped ornament made of buttons. When I do crafts, I work hard to try to use sustainable materials such as felt or paper, or things we already have around, like buttons! It’s fun to craft together, and even if we are all doing the “same” thing, everyone has their own unique spin, and that’s what makes art (and crafts) a great activity for getting to know ourselves and each other.
In other news, I have also been continuing to guide a fun series at the Lucy Robbins Welles Library in Newington called “Let’s Talk Nature.” In this series, I have been offering hands-on nature art and discussion. Some projects included cherry blossom sponge painting, painting and printing with evergreen boughs, making drawings inspired by roots, and monoprints inspired by the February supermoon. I enjoy seeing how people respond to working with nature in this open-ended way - there is so much creativity! Working expressively with nature gives us space. Mother Nature is the ultimate experimenter. She will play with form and shape, and she gives us permission to explore the world in the same way a root searches for nutrients underground. Working with nature helps us remember our own nature!
Very soon, we will be welcoming spring and the Vernal Equinox! In early March I will be offering workshops on Nature Art and Nature Journaling at the Keefe Bruyette Symposium for educators at the School for Young Children at the University of St. Joseph. I will also be leading a Nature writing workshop on Sunday, March 22, from 1-3 PM at Winding Trails, Farmington, CT.
I am also thrilled that my book of nature poetry, “One Strawberry Moon,” will be used to create a poetry walking trail at Winding Trails in April, National Poetry Month!
So much exciting nature journaling, nature inspired art, and poetry to do! Check out my Upcoming Events page for up to the minute info!
What I’m reading: The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth by Zoe Schlanger
Plant consciousness!
What I’m listening to: More Than Ever, by Liz Longley
Beautiful Americana. “I want to leave this world a little better” is a beautiful line.
What I’m watching: The Olympics. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat… I especially enjoyed the figure skating short program performance by Alysa Liu, gold medalist in the figure skating team event. I am inspired by her gorgeous skating and her brazen style (her hairstyle is based on tree rings), and fearless approach to competing, especially when she said she didn’t care if she fell, she just wanted to go out and skate. This ability to detach from the outcome really freed her to skate her best, and it was amazing to watch her flow across the ice with joy and abandon. Truly an inspiration and an invitation to let go of outcomes and expectations. This often takes us a lot of time, so let’s be gentle with ourselves!
