Carnevale

Carnival in Malta and Gozo takes up five days before Lent. Traditionally this was the time to indulge and feast before sobering up for the 40-day fast which in Christian tradition preceded the Resurrection of Christ. Actually carne vale lieterally means no meat and marked the period when meat and other earthly pleasures could be enjoyed in a spree prior to the commencement of the term of Lenten penitence.
Valletta is the palce to watch processions on Malta and Victoria and Nadur, hold the biggest celebrations on Gozo. It is a time for everyone to make their weird and wonderful costumes and get out onto the streets to party before the start of lent. Many visitors make their way to the islands for these few days in Februaury and the place is alive with festivities. The weather is usually foul for carnival and all the scantilly clad children stand shivering in the rain putting on brave faces but not deterred. The 20 somethings tend to party well into the night as the famous Nadur grotesque carnival doesn't start until midnight, when all the weird and macbre figures come to life.
It's a joyous time and something quite special to see. Having made a day of the dead costume for halloween I may well dig that out again and join in the fun....if I can stay awake !

On the move

My studio and gallery is moving !
Watch this space.

Ummmmm

Under the bohdi tree is finished.

..... and a new one.....

Ahha moment

I still haven't finished this piece, I seem to have writers block. I wanted it to embody all that went on with me last year, with snippets of events depicted in the leaves and other shapes. The bohdi tree symbolises the inter-connectedness of all of us and the Buddha (me) having an 'ahha' moment under it.  Too deep ??? lol never mind , go with the flow on this !

I was talking with a friend the otherday, whilst soaking up the winter sun in the bay, about goings on in our pasts that were perhaps significant in our development. She told me a story that spanned seven years of year life, involving a successful and flamboyant artist and herslf. The relationship was tumultuous and short lived but clearly changed her life. He treated her unkindly and she spent seven years following him around the Americas, always hoping that one day they could reconcile their differences. It was never to be and she finaly came to terms with the situation and moved on. Whilst she was giving a little background to his bizzarre life she mentioned that in his his youth he had lived as a buddhist monk. I was amazed at how someone clearly dedicated to a peacful way of life could turn into such an uncaring and hurtful human being....and asked the question.

My friend replied that karma was inherent in everything we do and is interconnected with everyone. That his behavouir was her karma and that she had a lesson to learn from that. Wow, think about that one. 

That was my ahha moment. I finally understood the concept that all of humanity/life, past, present, future, is like the ocean all rolling along together. We can be individual droplets of water but move together like the ocean in waves and that each change we make within our own lives has a calming or tumultuous effect on everything else....ad infinitum. That our past karma continues to effect for ever. GOSH !  I have to say I understood it intellectually before but now I feel it and see it.

Which brings me to forgiveness...... another post on this one but briefly:

I think there are two kinds of forgiveness, The kind that when you forgive you are also giving them another chance and the kind where you forgive but move on without them.

I think I can finish the picture now.   

Namaste

Trust Witness

A flick through my ideas book of last year before I start the next one. How my work changed and progressed in 2014 !

People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own soul. One does not become engulfed by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness concious. - Carl Jung

With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose. - Wayne Dyer

 New 2015 journal. I made the cover some 18 months ago. Ink on watercolour paper using horse tail hair. I like the movement in it and hope that this next year will be about movement in many areas of my life.

Trust and Witness are my words for next year. I chose two because both kept popping up in my mind. They kind of go together so I will incorporate both in my book.

I need to trust my intuition. Intuition is an inner knowing, allowing it to guide.. I have in the past ignored that gut feeling and have been sorry.  Trusting the process is vital. A deep sense of trust in what cannot be seen. This not in anyway a religious faith but a trust that life unfolds for the best outcome.

To witness means to be quiet and listen. Sometimes, simply by sitting the soul collects wisdom. So this goes hand in hand with trust.

There are big changes going to take place in the New Year so I would do well to stand back and observe before making any decisions !

 This intuitive painting will straddle the years ! I started it yesterday and will probably finish it tomorrow. Just feeling my way through this one quietly.