The Return of the Light

As usual for this time of year, my husband and I have been reminiscing about past Holiday Seasons.  The one that usually tops the list is when we traveled to Stockholm in November at the very start of their Advent Season. There were Christmas Markets in the squares, and random folks were singing in the streets. There was outdoor skating with big bonfires and yes, actual hot roasted chestnuts for sale. Oh and glug, (hot mulled wine), that you could enjoy while shopping .  You could partake in many a Julbord, which is a giant Christmas buffet, held from November to Christmas at various restaurants around Sweden.  There weren`t huge light displays, but everything was quietly decorated and beautiful.  

At our hotel, we noticed that every morning and evening they had lit votive candles throughout all the common areas, giving the place a cozy and festive feel. It was very welcome as the sun appeared for a very short time each day.  Upon our return home, my husband jumped on the candle wagon and started placing them about our home, so that when I awoke in the morning they would welcome me with their warm glow in the darkness.  It was simple, but it was magical.

Winter can be a dark time for some (Thank goodness for Happy Lights!),  but it also can be a wonderful time of introspection, where we are given time to administer to the INNER SACRED SELF.  It may also be a time to shed a new light on old issues and grievances.  A time to let the light in through the cracks, and a time of letting things go just a little bit more to ease the loads of life. 

So with this in mind I am offering a New Workshop where we will Celebrate the Return of the Light and create together lovely ZENTANGLE VOTIVE LIGHTS for you to enjoy for years to come.  Either for those dark days or for a special occasion....Light always lifts the spirits.  It will be held in Lumby, BC, on January 26th, 2019 from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm.  The cost is $35.00 per adult (16 and older) and $20 for the younger set aged 11 to 15.  As usual, NO EXPERIENCE IS REQUIRED AND ALL IN CLASS SUPPLIES ARE INCLUDED! 

GIFT CERTIFICATES ARE AVAILABLE

Just click on the Classes and Workshops Tab on the right and you can pay right away on line.  If you pay by December 31st, 2018 you will be entered to win one of my original Zentangle 3D framed artworks from my HOUSE PARTY series. Which is pictured below.  The drawing will be on NEW YEARS DAY, January 1st, 2019!

You may also pay via etrans, cheque or cash.  Just send me a note via email lorettawest18@gmail.com or text or call 250 938 4308 to arrange payment. 

Wishing You and Yours the Brightest of HolyDay Seasons!

  

SoulCollage - My Experience

Many times I am asked just what SoulCollage is and what it can do for a person.  It is a hard question to answer quickly. The short answer being that our deepest self (the Soul) speaks best through images. SoulCollage involves choosing images intuitively and then cutting them carefully and placing them on a card and moving the various images around until it "feels" just right, then gluing them on a card to keep.  But that's just the very surface.  The process continues where one has a "dialogue" with the card which provides a gateway to your inner wisdom that all too often is silenced by the intellect and constant brain chatter and other distractions.

So let me tell you how I became involved in SoulCollage.  One day about 4 years ago, I briefly met another artist and SoulCollage Facilitator at a gathering, and then she showed up a few days later at my yoga class and we got to talking (serendipity rides again!).  She told me about SoulCollage and how it has helped her with her life challenges.  Then we talked about eventually getting together to make art.  I was a bit sceptical about this SoulCollage, but intrigued at the same time.  I checked out the www.soulcollage.com website and was even more intrigued but did nothing about it.

Some time passed and I was walking my dog near my home one day and this car slows and pulls up beside me and it's this same gal.  Hey!  She says, I'm house sitting near here, let's get together to make art!  So we did and we had a great time.  We had similar interests and hatched a plan to do a learning exchange. I would teach her Zentangle and she would teach me SoulCollage and another artist would share her Mandala knowledge with us.  It worked! I was  now hooked on SoulCollage and wanted to do more.  This same friend was offering a day long workshop which I took and really enjoyed.  I couldn't`t glue images down fast enough!  It`s as if a fountain had opened inside me and stuff was pouring out into the images I chose.  Apparently, my Soul had a lot of talking to do!

The making of the cards is fun and quite often revealing.  We are all many layers of existance, not good nor bad, but just as it is. We are all multi faceted, from being a partner,  a healer, a friend, a confidant, or a hero and the list goes on and on infinitely.  All these different aspects of our psyche reside within each of  us and come out as needed in our day to day existence. The cool thing is that they all hold wisdom for us, even, the shadow aspects of ourselves which we tend not to like to listen to.

 After we made some cards we let the cards tell us their wisdom by looking at the card and completing the sentence, I am One who.  Then other specific questions where asked.  So for example with my card below the complete sentence is...
I am One who...is Fire, Flashy and Proud.  Yep, she`s in there too!

If you journal in any manner, SoulCollage is a great adjunct to journaling. I quite often journal about a situation then intuitively choose cards to help me with it. What I found was that the more complex the issue, the more cards are needed!  Different than Tarot and Angel cards, these are not made by someone else, they are YOUR OWN CARDS. They hold your own unique wisdom. They do not predict the future, but what I find they do is that they help me to see a challenge by offering many points of view which helps to shed light on it and also cuts to the chase.  There is deep wisdom in all of us, we just need tools to access it and SoulCollage is one such personal tool.

So I continued to work with my cards, but felt I needed to learn more. I signed up for a Facilitator training in Seattle, but it was cancelled.  Then another one came just months before we moved and it was a lot right then, but I went!  It turned out to be just the ticket as I was going through a big life change and the gathering of understanding people at the training was really good for me.  I came away with new knowledge on how to use SoulCollage and a renewed sense of confidence, knowing that I could unravel most problems using my deck as a tool and guide.

When I got home I introduced SoulCollage to close friends and did a lot of card making and journaling. I wanted to use it mainly for myself while we moved to a new home and settled in.

So now we are here, back in my beloved Canada and I feel it`s time to share this creative process with the wider world. The great thing about it is that you can take it as deep as you want, just want to make cards and look at them, great!  Want to go deeper and journal with them?  That`s fine too. The point is to honour and give light to these different aspects of ourselves that are here to help us, they truly are.

I do hope you will join me in the Introductory Workshop on October 20th.  Just click on Workshops and Classes tab and I`ll see you there!  All the wonderfully different parts of you!!

Have a gentle day friend,

Loretta West

SoulCollage Facilitator, Certified Zentangle Teacher, Teaching Artist

New For Fall

SoulCollage card by L. West

Fabulous and Fun for Fall!

I hope you have had a wonderful summer despite the weeks of smoke.  It was hard on my usual outdoor activities, but it did keep me working in my studio on NEW class ideas to bring to you. I also spent a reflective week teaching Zentangle at a retreat.  Together with three old friends,  we led a week of personal exploration for a small group of older adults.  It was a good challenge for me and quite enjoyable by all accounts.  It was great reminiscing with my friends and meeting new folks as well. I will remember my experience at  The Centre at Naramata (https://www.naramatacentresociety.org/) for years to come. 

So what have I been thinking about, you may wonder?  Well to start off this fall season, I have decided to add one more hour to the Zentangle classes so we have more time together. 

 In addition, I am adding something new to my offerings. For a few years now, I have been a SoulCollage Facilitator and have been using SoulCollage for my own life`s path. I love how the use of  collaged images spark the deepest parts of  myself and allow these parts, that are often ignored. to speak and offer often wise and insightful guidance.   We are often our own greatest teacher, and this is a gentle way to hear that teacher`s voice.  I hope you will be intrigued enough to join me in learning how to make SoulCollage cards and understanding this fun process. If you click on the SoulCollage Tab you can find out more about this wonderfully creative process. 

I will also be starting classes a bit later this year, as well.  So beginning in early October, I am offering a Zentangle Beginner and Refresher class for those who are just starting out and also for those with experience who want a refresher or just to tangle in a group again. 

Through the fall/winter we will explore Zentangle in other mediums which will include metal embossing, Christmas Ornaments, Zen-animal forms, Zendala, to name a few.  As always, the classes are geared towards people with no experience to more experienced tanglers, so all are welcome.

And that`s not all!  I have been making short Zentangle Videos and you can view them on my YouTube channel and click like if you like them and hit subscribe if you want to see them as soon as they are made.  

Wishing you a clear sky for days to come,  Loretta 

NEW CLASS IN JULY....Ani-MANDALA FOR EVERYONE!

Some things can take a long time to come into being and this class is certainly the case.  You see, a couple of years ago I met a Mandala Mamma who introduced me to the fun and sometimes deep work of Mandala making.  From there I was hooked and of course encorporated tangles making many Zendalas,( including the one pictured above which I did on a Spring Equinox).  From there, I took an extensive year long Mandala workshop online from a gal in Scotland under the title Mandala Magic.  I did it with two other friends and we would gather monthly to go over our insights and artwork. My take from that experience, is that Mandala work effects people in unique ways, and that the turning of the circle can gently churn things up; making what mud that was settled deep inside brought to the light.   By completing a Mandala we work on ourselves by either working inside outwards or from the outer edge inwards.  It really is magic how it unwinds old habits that we no longer need.

Ever since then I wanted to present a class in Mandala, but how?  Well, it came about that Christine, the Queen of our Community Centre in the small village where I live, told me how they really need programs for families and could I come up with something? So more ideas were tabled, but none seemed quite right to me.  That was until one day syncronisity happened!  I was in Kauai early this year and saw a notice by someone offering Mandala Classes for Families!  Voila! Perfect!

Now it was down to deciding what to teach where all ages could have fun together?  I really thought hard on this one and perhaps over thought it (I do that).  Just when I was going to give up, I thought what is the simplest Mandala?....A Circle....and the next simplest?  A Sprial. So I drew a Sprial and from that one line, ideas flowed into Ani-Mandala where we will combine Mandala with Animal forms for FUN!

So hop on over to the Classes page and find out more about this cool class in July designed for everyone, including families! 

The SUN has Returned - 10 Ways to Keep Tangling in Summer

I am typing this on my balcony wearing shorts and flip flops and it feels exhilarating to let my feet free!  For many people once the warm weather returns, we tend to focus on outdoor activities which, after all the snow we have had is perfectly understandable. Though things can seem to be more care free in the warmer weather, stresses tend not to take the same break so it can be a good idea to continue the Zentangle practise in warmer months too. 

So, I have come up with a list of ideas for you to tangle and still enjoy the summer sun...sound good?  Then read on!

1. Head to the beach!  Find a stick and a spot of sand and tangle BIG in the sand.  It's really fun to do with someone else, and who knows who might join in once you've started something.  Great to do with kids too.

Or, take your supplies to the beach and tangle on tiles or paper.  It could go something like this....swim, nap, tangle, read, eat....repeat.

2. Tangle on Rocks!  It's easy and fun to do. Just pick some smoothish rocks wash em and let them dry and then tangle with fine sharpies (you don't want to wreck your good pen nibs for this, so sharpies are best).  You can also paint the rocks first with cheap acrylic paints, let them dry and then tangle on!

3. If you are giving a lot of gifts this summer, how about tangling a gift tag or card to make it more personal?  Also something you can do at the beach! Get the tags at the dollar store and add some nice ribbon.  I like to use them for hostess gifts like jam or wine. 

4. Speaking of wine.....if you purposely spill your red wine on a Zentangle tile or other similar paper and let it dry, it's fun to use as a string.  Wine not your thang?  No worries,it works with dark staining juices, think pomegranate or blueberry, or strong coffee or tea too! Spill it sister!

5. Set a goal...Try Tangling for 100 days straight, just a few minutes as day, that's all it takes.  You can either use small tiles or paper like the Zentangle Bijou tiles to do a tiny mono tangle a day or thing BIGGER...Get a larger piece of paper and start with one tangle in one corner and in just a few minutes a day, slowly add on with another tangle. Finish that one? Start another and keep going!  It takes at least 3 weeks to develop a habit so that if feels natural and weird to stop, so stick with it.  Here's one I did a few years back on a big piece of paper, adding a bit each day and Voila!  Make it a project on social media so others can see what you are doing and it helps to keep you going knowing others are watching what you do....yes, Big Brother is Watching!

6. Got Garden Tools that could use a sprucing up? Say no more, tangle your dibbler!  A few years ago, I had a garden of weeds and grass...ugh.  I dreaded pulling them up, but then I remembered what my dear old Dad did.  He kept a garden fork stuck in the ground so that anytime he passed by and saw a weed, he just grabbed his fork by the walkway and plucked it out!  So, I did that but of course had to pretty up my fork first. I sealed it with polyurethane and then let it dry, added the tangles with an oil based sharpie and then sealed it again with several coats of krylon. Prettiest Fork on the block! Makes a nice gift for a gardener too!

7. Let those Feet Loose!  A while back I took an intensive Mandala course on line and one of the exercises was to trace around your feet and then draw and colour the inside space.  This is so fun to do with kids....lots of giggles!

8. Create a book of Tangled Hands.  One of my students liked to draw the hand outlines of her loved ones and tangle them with patterns that were special to that person. She created a sketchbook of all the hands and then made a copy to give to the person who's hand she drew. This is her work:

9. Tangle with KiDs or GrAnd KiDs!  Children love to tangle.  This is especially good to get them to settle down.  If they say the classic "I'm bored" in the middle of summer, show them a tangle or two and watch how the magic unfolds. 

10. Join me at a week long retreat this July! Decades ago I attended an intense community building session in Naramata one winter, it set the stage for me as a young woman and I still use the same tools today.  Well, last summer we had a big reunion of our class and from that an idea grew that we would offer a little bit of the same experience of years ago in a week long retreat of sorts this summer.  So I am teaming up with some pretty talented and soulful sisters to bring you a great week to learn and nourish your spirit.  Zentangle will be one of the mornings, as will poetry and other great offerings. Then in the afternoons you are free to explore or kick back on the private beach meditate, tangle, or walk the labyrinth.  You can stay on site or camp for a lesser fee and scholarships are available. To find out more check out the link below under Winter Session Redux...that's us! 

https://www.naramatacentresociety.org/summer-2018#/event/326/summer-week-4-july-21-28

Have a FAbUlOuS Zentangle Summer!

  

When the Dog Bites.....Waves of Life and Ways to Find the Deep Ocean

Life brings us many things including unexpected waves that wash up on our shores. Sometimes good, at other times they are instructive to our growth, painful though they may be.   

I am not usually one to write about my personal experiences on the Internet, preferring privacy, but this time I feel it is important to share one experience as it may be helpful for you to know that you are not alone in your suffering. Let me begin by telling you that I love dogs and always have! Last summer I was attacked by a German Shepherd that was deemed safe and friendly by it's owner...but nope...not really.  I was shocked at the time, was seen by ER, stitches, bruising etc, and yes, it still hurts a bit.  I had been bitten before as a gentle reminder, but this surprise attack was a new experience. Later found out that the dog had previously bit a child but not seriously and the owner obviously had not followed the muzzle law in public, a policy for dangerous dogs.  It wasn't until  weeks later that I  started experiencing night sweats, inexplicable feelings of frustration and anger, digestive upset, that I initially put off to moving which probably contributed. For a while I thought Peri menopause had returned with a vengeance!   Things were too muddy to see the real reason.  Slowly I started putting it all together, noticing that I was really startled by large dogs barking (we have one of those) and it took me a while to find calm after such episodes. Then if I couldn't get a way (flight response) I got angry (fight response). So it was determined that I have mild PTSD from this experience.  

A difficult thing about PTSD is that you can be triggered out of the blue.  I have absolutely no control of dogs that bark suddenly from a neighbouring car or jump up to greet me for a lick, which happened recently.  The dog made no contact but it was big and just the act of jumping up was enough to cause me to go into protective mode.  It wasn't until two days later that the symptoms appeared as sweating and poor digestion as my solar plexus tightened to protect my organs.  Luckily it didn't take me so long this time to figure it out.

Perhaps you have never been effected by events in such a way and if that's the case, you are lucky. Many people do and they practise avoidance as a coping strategy.  I thought of that, but I can't avoid dogs unless I lock myself in a room and never come out.   It is an odd thing that one incident for one person could have no effect, but for another be a game changer.  As this picture demonstrates well.

Inserting Dog Cartoon to lighten the mood....

10 Things that Help me Right Now

Here is a list of things I have done to find the deep calm of my inner ocean when I feel triggered and feel anxious, frustrated and angry. I am not a medical professional, get help if you feel you need it.

1. When I have an anxious thought I identify the associated emotion with it in my mind.  It might the word frozen, or startled, or fear, or anger.  What ever it is I take note of it and usually that keeps it from escalating into some sort of spiralling story in my head usually related to self  criticism. As in.... I should have not gotten near that dog....the old self blame....you get the picture. By noticing the emotions I take the charge out of the story. I also ask if the thought is true or real? Usually it's not, it's just a thought loop. I make a point of feeling the contact of my body with a solid object, chair, ground etc.

2. I tangle....a lot....it really helps me access that deep calm inside of me which is inside each an every one of us.  I practise SoulCollage which helps to bring forth my underlying emotions and put things into pictures, then words and  a new perspective..

3. I meditate....I like to listen to Tara Brach meditations, though it has a Buddist lean, she includes other beliefs and I am  just fine with that and what she says makes sense to me.  She also has great longer talks too that are part of my Sunday morning tangling ritual. Her voice is gentle and soothing but not too saccharin and her jokes are good too!

https://www.tarabrach.com/talks-audio-video/

4. I do yoga, qigong and Feldenkrais.  I attend classes in these when ever I can. We are very lucky in Lumby in that we have a Feldenkrais Practitioner (which works on the nervous system through gentle movements) in Lumby!  As a bonus..Since I have been doing this my low back feels wonderful!

https://www.facebook.com/Health-in-Motion-Carie-Bicchieri-657180597652219/

5. I get extra help when it first started I was helped by my Naturopath.  I get unstuck through acupuncture and osteopathy and that helps clear my mind and put things into proper perspective by freeing up the stuck bits that are holding protection in my body.

6. I have a loving and supportive husband who knows me after decades of togetherness, probably the most.  He teases me about all I do to keep balanced, but I know he understands how important it is too. 

7.  I take walks in nature....I can not stress how important this is for my mind, body and spirit.  I especially love walking by a lake on a windy day as it seems to blow the gunk from my brain and refresh my soul. 

8. I call my Mom.  Turns out that even at my age hearing a parents voice releases all those good calming brain chemicals to make us feel safe.  She is 91 and I am so glad that she is still around to call. I also talk to my Dad who left us a few years ago....he is an excellent listener who stays silent.  At his memorial, a eagle flew close over our heads when we were singing and now I think of him every time I see an eagle.  It reminds me that he is still close and is my cue for our private conversations.

9.  I try to remember to let go and not control things as it is ALL out of my control.   I started off  avoiding all encounters with big dogs. Then for a while I thought about carrying extra leashes for off leash dogs we encountered on our walks with our dog, then I realised that I was just trying to control the uncontrollable to make me feel safer.

10. TIME.  I tend to identify, find a fix and get it done and dusted! These mental hiccups don't respond to fast, at least for me they don't.  I have to remind myself when I am triggered and I take a couple of steps backward; "that these things take the time they take" (a maddening quote from my wise husband).  I am learning to give myself the gift of time to not really heal exactly, but to accept where I am and to understand it's not about going back to where I was, but a moving forward to a new place with new knowledge and understanding. 

In short....it's all learning in the BIG SCHOOL OF LIFE and I am grateful for it.

PS: I had a real good sweating session while I wrote this and proof read it and noticed an improvement and felt lighter as I read the steps I had taken to help myself.  So this personal experience sharing on the net thing might be more cathartic and beneficial than I thought....who knew? 

If you would like to join my ZenGemStems Class in April, please check out my Classes link!  My heartfelt thanks for taking the time to read, and I sincerely hope that it helps you on your journey. 

Epilogue 

Since writing this I had an interesting doggy encounter. I was driving home from Vernon and saw a big Weimariner dog in a cow pasture near the highway but not near any houses and no people about. I thought it odd and kept driving. I asked myself should I turn around? And my inner voice shouted YES!  So I did and didn't see it but on my way back there he was running along the opposite ditch on the highway looking panicky . I pulled over across the highway from him. As soon as I got out of the car he ran to me. Luckily there were no cars. There was a scary moment for me as he neared me but he licked my hand and we were instant friends.  I put home in the back of the car where he gratefully licked my face and I called the number on his tag that said his name was Scout.  (I had a pony named Scout that I fell from the first time I rode him...but I got back on! He was also an adventurous escape artist) So the connection was made. The owners appeared and took Scout home. May he live a long life. 

They say it takes 5 positive encounters to help eleviate the effects of a traumatic experience....thanks Scout....you helped me more than you will ever know....or perhaps you do.

Celtic Line Drawing and Zentangle....A Perfect Match

CelticTangle: Breaking Things Down into Managable Steps

I feel lucky!  Not only because I am living a life I dreamed of years ago, but also because of the people who have walked this path with me, some for a short while and others longer.  One such person is a very talented artist, teacher, mentor and dear friend.  She is a marvel who is a constant inspiration to me.  In addition to teaching and weaving wonderful blankets she also is a passionate draftswoman and turned me on to Celtic Line Drawing years ago.  At one point she took on wood turning and after a few classes she went big with a massive wood workshop where she hosted other woodturners in summer workshops.  Then the winds changed for her and she wound up in Victoria and joined the local wood turners guild.

I had just started teaching Zentangle and paid a visit to her in her new home where she was surrounded by beautiful art peices she has been given and collected over the years.  She was showing me how she was drawing celtic designs on wooden bowls with a micron pen and was trying to convince the other wood turners in her guild to draw and not to burn designs into wood but wasn't having much luck. When I showed her my Zentangle designs I could see in her face that the wheels  where grinding away...perhaps struggling with "this isn't the way I was taught to draw  formally in art school versus....hmmm there might be something to this".  I left our visit knowing that she fully supported what I was doing, but I was not quite sure she was convinced if it was for her.

Several weeks later she contacted me saying that she had tried to teach members of the wood turners guild (where they proclaim to make two types of product....round stuff and flat stuff) to draw celtic line designs and it was just frustrating them to no end.  Would I please come to Victoria and teach them Zentangle as she thought it would be easier.  So the next time I was there visiting family, a class was formed; complete with gentle teasing and laughter between the men  who attended, plus a bonus of coffee and butter tarts for after class.  Some continued on as they had before with no drawn designs but a few really caught the bug and added it to their wooden bowls with beautiful results. Here's a link to the guild where you can see their flat and round stuff
http://www.islandwoodturners.ca/

Not too long after that class I got a message from one of the wood turners, that my friend had had a very severe stroke and was in hospital with limited speech, little use of her legs and most sadly the loss of the use of her dominant right hand. My heart sank.

My husband and I visited her after she was just out of the hospital and found her at home with her family working on drawing and writing the alphabet with her left hand as she was determined to return to her normal life.  Over time, she began weaving again with her left hand and eventually regained the use of  her right hand through hard work and determination. In a visit to see her months later, she had regained most of the mobility in the right hand, was back to driving, and was mad as H-E- double- hockey -sticks that she couldn't read because the words were out of order in her brain. So she then devised a method to teach herself. She had the local librarians all trained to save her books where there was also an audio edition and she would read along in the book while listening to the  audio download of the same book on her Iphone. Curiously, this worked best if she placed the Iphone on her lower back.

When I  saw her last year, she was reading without difficulty and was doing a little work on the computer......her next challange!  Her speech has improved greatly and she gets around just fine in her little electric car!  She accomplished much in a relatively short time and keeps on going.

Some times when we are faced with a challenge, large or small, we get overwhelmed by the big picture.  Often when we just see the big daunting picture we can't imagine overcoing the obstacles to create something beautiful like Zentangle, Celtic Drawing or even recovering from a stroke.   My friend overcame these life challenges partly because she took things incrementally and tackled each obstacle one at a time.  Zentangle and Celtic Line Drawing are the same in that each is done one line at a time. Anything is possible if you break it down into managable steps. Then that is a lesson that these art forms teach us in a safe way...to break things down into managable steps or goals and not to give up. So that when life deals us a greater challenge we know we can get there if we break things down into baby steps which in turns builds confidence to strive even further.

On March 24th I am teaching class designed to combine Celtic Line Drawing and Zentangle in a fun, gentle and easy step by step method.  I hope you will join me then.  You can sign up on the classes page.  See you there!

Valentangle - Healing the Heart through Zentangle

The days are brightening and so too are our spirits!  It hit me this week that while my body had easily (well sort of) moved back to BC, my heart was taking it's sweet time to catch up and needed validation and acknowledgement of all the changes it has endured these past two years. Most of all it needed time to relax and get used to things.  So, over the holidays,  I did a lot of tangling, reading and lounging about in my new surroundings to give my heart quiet space to recover.

Funny how we get attached to places and circumstances and we don't even really know it until we leave. I remember moving from Alberta to Toronto years ago as an adventure and being especially homesick for my tribe of people and as a surprise to me.....wilderness.  I missed the wildness of my surroundings, and now have some of that very wildness in my back yard. 

Before we decided to move to Lumby, BC, from Washington state;  I did a mixed media piece of a personal map, pictured above.  I found it in my archives this week and it was a good reminder of how I was feeling at that time.... as if I were straddling a border. A border of two countries, of two social circles, of two cultures and it was leaving a hole in my heart.   I had the feeling of being pulled in two directions for too long.  

So now I have been granted the opportunity to fill my heart with family, friends, wildness and of course Art! To celebrate I am teaching a special Zentangle Class called Valentangle on Saturday February 10th in Lumby to help fill your heart and mine. Just click on over to the Classes and Workshops tab and sign up and pay online, it's that easy!

"Anything, everything, little or big becomes an adventure when the right person shares it."
- Kathleen Norris