Athena Dreams Design

Burgundy .:. A Different View of Red

Burgundy stretches across such a range of hues .:. it starts with a deep and dark red, and moves towards the purples and the eggplants. It is rich and warm and luscious and can be irridescent and so full of flavour, and the rich, heady scent of fall and early winter.

Burgundy makes me think of rich velvets, brocades, early sunsets and deep shadowy light in the woods where the leaves have changed to flaming reds. Burgundy is a mulled wine on a cold evening; a fully burned fire in the grate, just before bedtime; it is the scent of apples turning; and the smell of beets roasting.

Burgundy is warmth and richness, heavy, woody herbs and your favourite book read under a soft silk and alpaca blanket. Burgundy is comfort.

Sacred Life .:. Sunday

I was thinking this morning - when I woke up, and was still lying in bed looking out at the misty fall morning - how very much I love autumn, and how I look forward to it all the time it's not here, and to practice noticing it more when it is here would be a good exercise for me to start now, and continue it through all the seasons.

We all talk about how quickly the time is passing, how experiences, and friends and loves and time just fly by us in a whirlwind of colour and sound and motion. The only way I can think to slow bits of it down is to spend at least a few minutes everyday, noticing.

Today I went out and noticed the leaves. The Liquid Amber trees are a fiery gorgeous red, and beginning to fall to the ground.

I was intrigued with the piles of leaves at first, and how they lay on the ground together. Like friends who had survived some big changes together, and were still hanging out, talking, laughing, or whispering quietly to each other in the misty foggy rain.

There were a few leaves that had moved away from the others, out on some solo adventure, and perhaps happy with their brave moment of freedom, or maybe missing their friends, just a bit.

These leaves that give us glorious shade all summer long, are now moving on to another stage, and so I am taking this Sunday to notice their transition, and thank them for their beauty.

[Liz at Be Present, Be Here "introduced" me to the Sacred Life Sunday blog and posting series {thank you Liz}. You can read more sacred sunday moments here]

Illustration Friday - Superstition

I have always been intrigued with our collective and individual superstitions:

The American Heritage Dictionary's first definition of the word superstition is: An irrational belief that an object, action, or circumstance not logically related to a course of events influences its outcome.

I have often wondered as we hurtle into the future, technology and progress blazing, if at the points of biggest change
.:. Iron to Bronze Age .:. Dark Ages to the Renaissance .:. Agrarian to Industrial .:. Post Modern to ... (and etc)

that those may be the junctures where cultural (and individual) superstitions are born, are created. As things change and evolve, there are always those of us who are fearful of such big shifts, terrified of what might be around the corner, and invested in holding on to things from the past, from when we were children, from a time, when perhaps we felt safer, than we do now.

I know as much as I love my computers and telephones and iPod and all the other whats-its, there are moments where I feel like rushing back to my childhood, when who had ever heard of play dates, you just played; and we would wait all day for 1 car to drive through our neighborhood; and running till you could run no more was one of the funnest things to do, ever; when laying in summer grass and finding the constellations in the sky was an evenings entertainment . .

I go back to things from childhood that I still do now:
Touch a tree for luck .:. Make a wish on the first star at night .:. Count the mailboxes from the top of the street to my house in multiples of 7 .:. Step ina puddle with my left foot .:. Whisper "rabbit rabbit" before saying anything else on the first day of the month .:.

So

Past and Future
Ancient and Modern

these are my superstitions...

Scenes from a Late Autumn Birthday

There is something so much better about a Monday when it's a birthday and you have pushed all your work aside (deadlines or not) and your best and most favouritest guy has pushed all his deadlines aside, and it isn't raining, and there isn't one reason in the whole universe that you shouldn't step out into the hills, walk a bit and breathe the air, listen to the birds, and the grasses move in the wind, and feel so very happy to be alive.

I was thinking about this old song by a band called Talk Talk that I listened to at college. Some line about Life is what you make it, with a thumping bass line, and I remember singing it all the time with my housemates, but can't recall the whole song now. Made me want to dig through the garage and find my old box of cassette tapes that I couldn't bare to part with...

And I was thinking about how things come and go, ebb and flow, move and stay still, and where I fit into that pattern, right this second. Not tomorrow or yesterday, because our place in the scheme of things changes with every second, with every new breathe, but right now. Right now.

Life keeps unfolding, and it's a miraculous thing, even when you're not sure what the next un-fold will bring.

Paying it Forward

Ganesha - Lord of Beginnings and Remover of Obstacles

I first came across the Pay it Forward of art and creative blogs at Deanna's Artist Emerging. I was #4, but she said she was feeling generous and would send me something... I came across it again on Kirsty's blog, and so, I am following the rules (with my own small twist) and Paying it Forward to the first FOUR* commenters on this blog. The rules below say 3, and I dont want to go and change the original theme, but feel I have to up it to 4 because of Deanna's generosity.

I spent WAY too much time being a forensic detective (no blood, just words and links) trying to go back in time to where this started, and after a bit more than an hour, decided perhaps I had better things to do with my overscheduled day. It sure would be great to know where this originated though...

Pay It Forward (via Deanna, via Kirsty, via Mrs Eliot and onwards ...

Here are the rules:

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Pretty cool, I agree to make and send something to the first three (*four in my case) people to comment, who then make things for their first three commenters and so on.

There is something SO totally pleasing about artwork and ideas and creative projects winging their way around the world for no other reason than, just because.

Pink .:. Brown

Pink and brown has quite the following. The two colours are almost as ubiquitous as the slightly less famous turquoise and brown. Pink and Brown are a warm on warm combination. It's a chocolate and cherry blossoms combination. It's a brown leather boot and salmon coloured skirt combination. It's a camelia still blooming in March combination... It's an earthy and frothy partnership. That old favourite, things that don't at first look like they would go together, and then you lay them side by side and feel warm and smiling inside . . .

Some beautiful stationery
Rock out with a very loud punk Band
fabrics and patterns by the fair Amy
Art and more art that makes me feel Happy

Wallow in the beauties of the Pink .:. Brown

Beautiful Browns

"God has a brown voice, as soft and full as beer." - Anne Sexton

Brown is not an overall favourite with most people. I hear things like: "so dull", "so blah", "so, uhm, Brown!" I am a brown lover, I wear brown, I willingly choose couches and other household items that are brown. Brown feels warm and grounded and homey and solid, comforting and an all-around good friend.

One of the most charming things that I read somewhere about brown, is that in Japan, they do not have a word for "brown". Brown is very specifically named. As in: tea-colour, or fall-leaf, or coffee-colour, all their browns are pinpointed, narrowed down and defined.

Brown is associated with autumn, with UPS trucks, and the ever pleasing chocolate. In design brown is grouped with the "neutrals" or the "naturals": taupe and beige and cream. Brown is, I think, by most thought of as unpretentious, earthy, natural. It is less exciting, or flashy or brilliant, then say a yellow, or a pink, but brown has its own shine, its own lustre and its own glow.

Visit some beautiful browns from around the Flickr world.

"More than any other colour, brown must be thought of in terms of usage and context. The various tones of brick, brown, tan, clay and terracotta are seen as the most rooted, protective and secure of all shades because they are inevitably connected to the earth." -from Communicating with Colour by Leatrice Eiseman

Materials .:. Studio Friday

I thought about the Studio Friday topic "Materials" for a bit last night and this morning. I could take a zillion photos of a zillion different things. Materials for: painting .:. collage .:. jewelery .:. paper making .:. weaving .:. the list could go on. I realised that I wanted to just look at the tools/materials that I am using these days, this season. And so:

paint .:. brushes .:. pencils .:. iMac .:. scanner

and my Quan Yin watching over me, inspiring, encouraging, and loving all the processes that occur...

Decor8 .:. 2008 Calendar Round Up

I arrived home tonight to discover that the 2008 calendar I created and designed - Flower Silhouettes - made it into "Part One" of Holly's 2008 Calendar round up over on Decor8. It just made me so happy to be there at all, never mind in between Cecily Ink and JHill Designs, 2 of my favourites!

Thanks so much Holly!

If you are still looking for a 2008 calendar to adorn your wall or sit on your desk, please go on over and have a look, there are some truly beautiful pieces of "utilitarian" art.

Nearing the end of a semi-crappy week, and there is a big pot of joy at the end of the road . . .