Erik Gonzales. See more of Eric's work at the Costello Childs Gallery website here
I suppose we all have a place in our hearts, perhaps from childhood or another life time that makes the heart ache when you think about it. A place that has a strong pull but is sometimes too painful to think about because you know you can't go back. I learned to love nature in such a place. When I feel a connection to all the things that live and grow in the countryside I also feel a connection to the farm I grew up on.
Erik Gonzales. See more here
I find this poem by Pablo Neruda particularly moving.
Lost in the forest, I broke off a dark twig
and lifted its whisper to my thirsty lips:
maybe it was the voice of the rain crying,
a cracked bell, or a torn heart.
Something from far off: it seemed
deep and secret to me, hidden by the earth,
a shout muffled by huge autumns,
by the moist half-opened darkness of leaves.
Wakening from the dreaming forest there, the hazel-sprig
sang under my tongue, its drifting fragrance
climbed up through my conscious mind
as if suddenly the roots I had left behind
cried out to me, the land I had lost with my childhood --
and I stopped, wounded by the wandering scent.
- Pablo Neruda
An Unwritten Book by Fiona Watson. See Fiona's Flickr photo stream here
Fiona Watson. See more of Fiona's work here
Fiona Watson. See more here
One-of-a-kind artist book by Jill Hubley. Click here
Everything/Something, a unique book with wooden pages, screenprint, gouache by Karen Kunc. See website here.
Bee Mapping by Cas Holmes. This piece is currently on tour in the 5th European Quilt Art Tour. See website here and blog here
Rosie Turnbull textile print. Click here.
Exquisite Leaf by Francis Ooi. See more here
Mayumi Sarai draws inspiration from organic structures and other natural processes to create her carved wooden sculptures. See more here
Bronze sculpture by Mark Hall. See more here
Exquisite nature photography by Mary Jo Hoffman. See more here
During the festive season
I made time
over a slow cup of coffee
to think about
what I consider to be soul food.
Food for MY soul.
Nature photography by Mary Jo Hoffman. Click
This is my LIST OF TWELVE:
1. Nature
Taking a few moments to observe nature raises my spirits and restores my energy fairly quickly.
"The goal of life is to make your heartbeat
match the beat of the universe,
to match your nature with Nature".
- Joseph Campbell
2. Wilderness
Knowing I will be going into the wilderness once or twice a year goes a long way to keeping me happy. It's something we look forward to and plan from one holiday to the next. This category covers beach combing, pebble gathering, toe dipping, walking walking... walking, forest languishing, mountain perching and generally immersing ourselves in nature and the beauty of our surroundings.
"Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity ... " - John Muir
Caroline Rannersberger. See website here
3. Space
Not only the wide open spaces of the countryside but also head space to hear myself think, to muse and to dream.
"When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life." - Jean Shinoda Bolen
4. Stillness
Without stillness in my day I can actually feel myself wilt and it is just something I have to make time for or suffer the consequences. In quiet solitude my art blossoms. There is nothing more calming and replenishing than the quiet time spent carving.
5. Nourishing books
While it has been so hot I've managed to get through a pile of books.
My three favourites :
i) Every Day Sacred by Sue Bender
ii) Plain and Simple by Sue Bender
iii) Travelling Mercies by Anne Lamott
6. Poetry
"Good poetry begins with
the lightest touch,
a breeze arriving from nowhere,
a whispering healing arrival,
a word in your ear,
a settling into things,
then like a hand in the dark
it arrests the whole body,
steeling you for revelation ...... "
- David Whyte (The Lightest Touch)
7. Art
Immersing myself in my own art or wallowing in the glorious art of others. Pinterest is a good way to store art images..... and yes I do spend waaaaaay too much time there, but looking at the beautiful art on my boards is food for my soul. Follow the link and see for yourself.
"Whenever you are creating beauty around you, you are restoring your own soul." - Alice Walker
8. Writing
Forgetting where I am while writing my heart out.
9.The ritual of tea and coffee
A pause to catch up with oneself, family and friends.
Thomas Bucci. Website here
10. Discovery
New ways of seeing .... new ways of thinking .... new ideas ..... new places.
11. Laughter
Good rolling-on-the-floor belly laughs with my daughter and husband.
Infectious laughter circulating around a room of friends like a Mexican wave.
12. Blogging friends who share and understand my connection to all of the above
"There was a dawn I remember when
my soul heard something from your soul
I drank water from your spring
and felt the current take me." - Rumi
Nature photography by Mary Jo Hoffman
I hope you will share what you consider to be food for your soul.
Into the Hartz (oil on paper) by Caroline Rannersberger. See website here
We, in our immediate family, seem to discuss the serious, deeper things in life early in the morning over our first cup of coffee. The discussion some times stretches to a second and a third cup. This week we had a three cuppa conversation about the way humans tend to fight against the natural flow of life ..... which brought to mind a poem I love .................
Caroline Rannersberger. See exhibition here
Passage by John Brehm
In all the woods that day I was
the only living thing
fretful, exhausted, or unsure.
Giant fir and spruce and cedar trees
that had stood their ground
three hundred years
stretched in sunlight calmly
unimpressed by whatever
it was that held me
hunched and tense above the stream,
biting my nails, calculating all
my impossibilities.
Nor did the water pause
to reflect or enter into
my considerations.
It found its way
over and around a crowd
of rocks in easy flourishes,
in laughing evasions and
shifts in direction.
Nothing could slow it down for long.
It even made a little song
out of all the things
that got in its way,
a music against the hard edges
of whatever might interrupt its going.
Caroline Rannersberger.
"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." - Lao Tzu
The Treeness of Trees by Bridgette Guerzon Mills. Read blog post here
"If you watch nature,
how nature deals with adversity,
continually renewing itself,
you can't help but learn .... " - Bernie Siegel
Deposit of Silence(3) by Xavier Verhoest. See website here
Stone Speaks to Water by Bill Gingles. See website here
Talking Low in a Boat by Bill Gingles
Undercurrents by Judith White. See more of Judith's work here and here
Julie Shackson. See more of Julie's work here and blog here
"I look at a stream and I see myself; a South African, flowing irresistibly over hard obstacles until they become smooth, and one day, disappear." - Miriam Makeba
Miriam Makeba, nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award-winning South African singer and civil rights activist. You might recognize Pata Pata, the click song, here
Scanned Assemblage found at Morning Earth. I will definitely go back to browse! Click here.
Xavier+Verhoest.jpg)
