Category Archives: intuitive

healing, intuitive, life, self help

Healing through self love

I’m reading the book Healing by David Elliott and it’s fabulous. There is a free PDF download on his website HERE.  You have to register but then there is a library where you can download the book.

I resonate with his statement that self-love is something we all fall short of, and it is also the healing force for pretty much everything. There are some exercises and questions to answer to see where you lack the self-love needed for transformation.

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Healing, David Elliott

I took the following description from his website to give you some more information.

What if you could heal yourself of any illness, addiction, or chronic condition? How empowered would you feel if you had the keys to healing, not only on the physical level, but on emotional, mental and spiritual levels as well?

HEALING, the second book by healer and author David Elliott, is a comprehensive and thorough exploration of the limitless potential within you to discover the healing you have been searching for.

  • Clear instruction and guidance on how to develop your own ability to heal
  • Examples and stories from David’s 20 years working as a healer
  • Over 30 exercises, meditations and numerous diagrams to help the reader

I really love this book and I can’t wait to try all of the meditations and breath work that help to open up the heart and release stuck emotions.

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David Elliott

I feel this kind of work can only help in my own journey of artful expression.  There is always more internal junk to release and I read a lot of self-help books. This is one of the best ones I have come across lately.

Want to give it a try? You won’t regret it. 🙂

xo

Maria

P.S. I have a couple of new things for sale in my etsy shop now. CLICK HERE.

creativity, inspirational, intuitive, life, motivational, purpose

What is your purpose?

What is your purpose? Mine is to be happy. How do I accomplish that? I have chosen to do things I love to do to explore my capabilities. Today’s post is a video about purpose. My goal with the video is to inspire and also make you think about what you’re doing with your life. Do you like what you’re doing?

Have a creative day!
xo

Maria

P.S. I can help you find out what you’re talented at if you don’t know. Check out my intuitive consultation offers HERE.

art, inspirational, intuitive, life, nature

I joined a 30 day blog writing challenge.

Yes, I joined, gasp.  What was I thinking?

I love to write, but having to come up with interesting posts every day is not easy.  I do love to inspire where I can, so expect to see some inspirational posts and art of course.

soap-bubble-1388505__180Life is truly about following one’s dreams and that is what I’m doing, but I have found that my dream is morphing into something slightly different.  I love art and art classes that expand my skills and imagination. Art is a constant exploration, not a fixed “dream” per se.  Being immersed in art is being inside the dream, so it’s process. Nothing new there but sometimes I look at art as something concrete and inflexible.

In the nineties I was obsessed with communicating with nature and learning about flower essences. I lived in Upstate New York at the time and then I moved to Florida and all that work went by the wayside. I have not had the same connection with Florida nature since it’s very different.  Think savage and tough to survive the heat. Lots of prickly and biting things, but every landscape has its own beauty.

I have always been fascinated with the metaphysical aspects of nature.

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nature

Have you ever stopped by a tree and felt its presence?  Why are we drawn to certain areas of nature but not others? It is an intuitive reaction and the body might feel more comfortable by the beach than in the mountains.

Working with nature metaphysically takes patience and stillness.  The challenge is to still the mind and be in the present. All of nature lives in the present, so the gateway is NOW. The more we practice being in the moment of now, the more open we become to energies.

I believe the destruction of nature will end if people become aware of the beautiful life force of everything.  We won’t be so eager to do, make, and use things that destroy.

Since I’m aware that nature is highly intelligent and a totally AWARE Being and WANTS to work with us, I feel it’s only right that I endeavor to inspire others to grow that connection  Nature can help us with every aspect of life.  Nature spirits are not a myth, but they only exist on the inner plane, though people have seen them. They can appear as any form.  🙂

dwarf-972875__180Next time you go out in nature, pick out a tree that seems friendly or any other plant. Take a deep breath to still yourself and see if you can tune into the energy of the plant.  It might surprise you.  The energy is usually loving and fun.

That would be a first step to connecting with nature. If you don’t feel anything, keep trying. It can take some time so practice the connection. If you can, go to the same plant each time. You can also use a house plant.

How does this connect to art? Art is energy and if I were to translate nature’s energy into art, it would be mostly  colors in an abstract way for me. I believe we recognize the energy that flows  through everything and that’s why we like good art.

All for now. More tomorrow about the wonders of nature and other things. 🙂

I wish you a creative week!!

xo

Maria

P.S. I have three evergreen mixed media art e-courses available for self study.  CLICK HERE.

art, art journaling, creativity, ecourse, free, intuitive, painting, process, tutorial, video

Ugly is ok! micro workshop

I already posted back in the fall of ’15 about painting ugly. Here are some more thoughts about that.

If you’re like me, art holds certain standards for us. We try so many methods and techniques; we compare ourselves to others. Some styles we like some we don’t. It’s hard to know which style suits you the best.

Have you ever tried just being yourself as you approach art? Forget about the rules and be free, like kids fearlessly showing up at the empty page. Paint outside the box! To reach the true core of who we are involves a lot of unlearning or ignoring what we know. Unlearning is deeply satisfying, yet it can be hard to let go and allow the art to be what it wants to be.

Like you I make a decent painting and art journal spreads, and I’m proud and happy about the results. When it comes to spontaneity however, it can be very frustrating since we’re always striving for results.

My aim for this FREE micro workshop is to give you space to be yourself, to wait and see what will come onto the page without you pushing anything.

What I get from this kind of art is a sense of Self. I can actually recognize my own energy in the art. It has a very intimate feel to it, and I find it addictive to paint in this way. I also receive sudden insights and messages about the state I’m in at the time of painting. This particular spread in the video turned out happy, and it’s a state I’m in a lot, but others that I’ve done are dark and dreary. The tendency is to rip out those kinds of pages, but to honor myself, I also have to honor my darker, more destructive side. Usually, I don’t like showing those pages to people. They are basic and pretty ugly. It’s like trying anything new and unknown, you just have to immerse yourself in it to find out the truth about it.

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in the shadows “Uglee”

I invite you to explore.

I invite you to leave all your knowledge at the door and explore you inner self.

I invite you to paint “ugly,” unfettered like a child.

I invite you to meet your inner self without fear.

I invite you to sit through the discomfort.

I invite you to break through to the “fire.”

Are you willing to take this trip with me?

All you need is an art journal page, or a watercolor sheet, or even a canvas. Whatever you have on hand, and you need some paint, brushes, and markers. That is all. You can even use colored pencils, pencils, ballpoint pens, and oil pastels. There are no rules.

If you want to share your work, please join my Facebook group. HERE.

I need to point out that your art will be completely different from mine! The video will show the process I go through and you’ll get an idea how to go about it.  And then you can make your own art spread. YES!

Access the FREE micro workshop Ugly is Ok! HERE.

I also did an Ugly is Ok! 2 a month later.  To view, click HERE.

Now go and paint something ugly! 🙂

xo

Maria

art, art journaling, creativity, ecourse, free, intuitive, painting, process, unstuck

Creativity on fire.

Creativity on fire, do you feel it, or do you feel stuck most of the time?

Creativity has become a big deal these days. The word is thrown around all over Facebook and other social media.  What is creativity?  I like how Wiki defines creativity:

Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and somehow valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention a literary work or a painting).

In other words, it’s not just artsy stuff. I’m into artsy stuff and self development. Creative ideas can be very helpful in both.

The problem with art is that we tend to copy each other, or paint in the style that is popular now. The artists we admire have forged their own path of creativity and that’s why they are leaders.

Forging your own path can be quite difficult and challenging, especially if you’re prone to criticize yourself and your work. It is always easier to copy others.

However, all the art looks the same, and part of us approve that we follow the trend, but another part says “wait a minute” that painting is not ME.

The only way to keep creativity on fire is to explore your inner landscape, to discover more and more of who you are and how you express. That means to listen to your intuition and step lightly and slowly in a world that runs at warp speed. Are you willing to truly go deep an explore or are you just having fun copying others or the teacher of the moment?

Every moment that feels authentic has another moment following, and to keep authentic we have to listen for that moment and what it presents. It might not present anything, and then we get frustrated.

I do this all the time. I override my better deeper judgment and paint something I already know, usually something cute. As you know, cute is IN, so you can’t go wrong with cute and whimsical.

However, the practice makes me frustrated and I get stopped in my tracks. That’s no way to feel around creativity. I want to feel fresh and inspired, “on fire.”

Maybe the hardest thing is to stay present and listening, and not bulling through to the finished product.

I have a FREE mini ecourse where art-ing in the moment can be explored. Check this out: Ugly Is Ok!

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In the shadow

Join my Facebook group and share your work if you like. HERE.

Cheerio, and happy creating. Find the fire within!

xo

Maria