Tag Archives: spiritual art

The makings of greatness

She had the “makings of greatness” as the saying goes but never amounted to anything. What a whopper of judgment and out-and-out lie! If you are breathing and walking, you are a success. The rest is judgment. We are always a work in progress.

We are always in the process of greatness

As I create my art, it creates me too. The struggle and the many minor difficulties are part of living. The clay I mold is how life molds me, and there is adding and taking away, smoothing, and digging, and carving. It does not end until I die and likely goes on from there.

It’s so easy to judge everything and everyone around us, but what a limitation! What do we really know about others and their work? I don’t want to put limitations on my life, but to be fluid in life is to let go in every moment. Go with the flow as they say.

I realize I have so many items in my Etsy shop that I have to branch out. Part of life is discipline, which helps us move along and not get stuck, but sometimes there is too much “making” and not enough “creating.”

The makings of a crow

I found a doll pattern by Susan Barmore of a crow and decided to try my hand at making one. I bathed in frustration for days and blamed my sewing machine for the clumsy sewing. But good comes to those who persevere… Discipline – perseverance – makings of greatness.

crow in making

The feet were not that hard to make since I have made several for other projects. Sewing never came easy to me, and I can never get one side looking the same as the other even if I follow the pattern exactly. But it’s not about perfectionism.

Finished basic crow

Gray cotton fabric was great to work with, and the crow could stand on her own two feet.

Black paint
Finished painting her

I used black satin craft paint and it got all over me, the table, and the crow. 🙂 I dry-brushed some purple paint that never showed up when dry, and on top, I added some copper paint.

When I had painted the crow, all the fun commenced. I stained some fabric to make the dress, made a clay bird and talisman for the necklace.

It was hard to get good pictures of the black-painted bird. The black seemed to eat all the light.

The most important part

I kept a prayerful frame of mind (for the most part), and also added prayers to the actual doll. Crow is one of the smartest birds, and the energy of intelligence, fluidity, curiosity, agility, and courage they embody is inspiring.

You can purchase this healing doll at Earth and Faery, and there are loads of other things in the shop as well.

December is a busy month, but I hope you’ve had some time to make things. I made some items to give to my friends, but so as not to spoil the surprise, I will post pictures in my next blog post.

If you missed my last post, another stuffed bird I made, the Dastardly Owl, you can check it out. I’ve been into birds lately.

To move into greatness, which is some kind of elusive goal we made up, keep going, create, get surprised as the art takes over and becomes much more than we ever intended.

Lots of love this holiday season! Remember to breathe.

Spirit box tutorial

Spirit box tutorial with pictures is here!  If you have followed my blog or posts on Facebook, you know that I don’t like to stay with one art medium for long.  I guess I’m half a crafts’ person / art journaler, and half painter.

Mood decides which side wins any given day.

Inspired by mixed media artist Lyn Belisle, I made these Spirit boxes. She wrote a how-to article in Cloth, Paper, Scissors a few years back and I saved said article to experiment with later. Here are my experiments. I made two boxes.

You might have seen my angel shrines described in some earlier posts. I had a couple of left over molded faces from that project and decided to use them for the Spirit box dolls.

First I cut out two pieces of heavy cardboard, 4×3.5″ and glued them together like a “cross.” I covered them with scrap-book paper.

The face is really too small for this. I should have used a smaller cardboard base.  But, I decided I would make it look narrower with some vertical stripes.  I didn’t get a picture of that exact process, but you can see the result in the finished picture.

spirit box
spirit box

I like to use twigs as a natural element to add dimension. I have some very tough branches in my backyard, and I don’t know the name of the tree, but you need to find tough dry twigs to use or they might break. I suppose you could use green twigs, but I haven’t tried that.

Hook and Eye, but only the eye…

I used a random metal eye to wrap with copper around the twig. I added a bead for some sparkle on the main focus point.

I made a cardboard halo and painted it gold. The second halo is a scrap-book cut-out of a clock face.

spirit box
spirit box

Spirit box
Spirit box

I chose random scrap-book papers and wrapping paper. I used hand-dyed strips of fabric and hemp string to make the parts dangling off the metal eye.

Hair and head are attached here with a large glob of glue. I used eyelash yarn in two colors, green and purple.

spirit box
spirit box

spirit box
spirit box

Where is the box part?

I gessoed an empty Altoids(tm) tin and inserted a metal wire, using an awl to punch two holes on the bottom end of the tin. See picture. The doll will be glued to the lid for unhindered access to the box.

You can glue a piece of paper to the bottom of the tin (that will face the wall when hanging.) Optional.

spirit box

spirit boxspirit box

I added more dangly stuff to the metal eye, buttons on hemp string in two colors, a prayer box charm.

spirit doll

Everything is glued on securely.  I believe in heavy application of glue… 🙂 Speaking of glue, below is a picture of the attached tin to the back of the doll.  As you can see, the lid is glued to the back. I added scrap-book paper to cover up any paper gaps on the back of the doll itself.

spirit doll

Doll number two.

I used various papers and strips I cut to fashion the “clothing” for this doll.

spirit doll
spirit doll

All my materials covered every inch of my work table.

spirit doll
spirit doll

spirit doll
spirit doll

Now make your own. It’s easier than you think. Use whatever materials you have on hand. You could use a thrift store doll face. Great gift idea, and you can put some special treasure in the box for the recipient to find.

I have some doll faces (more elaborate than these) for sale in my etsy shop. They are meant to be used in doll assembly, but would work as talismans or ornaments too. Check them out in my etsy shop EARTH AND FAERY.

Free shipping, yay!

You can find Lyn Belisle’s website HERE.  She has so much inspiration to share! I love her spirit dolls.

You can also join my NEW Facebook group for more sharing: HeART Inspiration.

Spirit guardians and other surprises

Spirit guardians showed up on my canvas yesterday, and part of me knows them well.  One is a fantasy lion, and I have always loved birds of all kinds.

I painted this painting in the past, maybe three years ago:

abstract art

I liked the movement and the colors but I could not reconcile myself with the finished art.  The lines were too harsh among other things. So, I painted over it with a mess of marks and colors. I don’t have a picture of that, but something in me saw figures emerging from the mess. My previous post has a picture of such color mess.

I think we all have “x-ray” eyes and the subconscious leads us into the unknown, if we can trust. That painting ended up being the “Spirit guardians” below, though I must say that all layers underneath are never lost. The energy remains.

spirit guardians

The cat doesn’t look exactly like a cat, but it doesn’t matter. I often dream of lions and they protect me, and I love the strength and the “sun-like” quality of that particular cat.

Three birds showed up as well. It takes a lot of trust to knit it all together, but when you do it many times, it becomes an urge to keep going until it’s done.

I also finished an old painting that I now call Anxiety/Overwhelm. I have experienced that a lot lately and it feels good to express it. The result is peace inside.

anxiety overwhelm

This painting has many layers as well.  It is telling me to slow down and forget the craziness of the world around me.

Sometimes I wonder how paintings can go from one image to something totally different, but it’s part of the fun discovery of the unknown, the unexpected.

That’s why I love intuitive art so much and why I want my spirit guardians to step through and take on color and form. It’s a very empowering feeling. Art that touches the soul is empowering for the artist and the viewer.

Always shoot for bringing out the best of your inner artist. It may be a long journey, but it will make you very happy! It makes such a difference to make things in life that are worthwhile. When you feel happy and fulfilled you know you’ve hit the right groove!

The paintings are for sale in my etsy shop Earth and Faery.

Enjoy your creativity. Don’t waste any more time on “killing time.”

xo

Maria