Athena Dreams Design

One Dream House, or another

Do any of you have dreams that happen in the same house? I mean, different dreams, at different times, but when you enter your dream, you realise that you've been in this house before, that other dreams have occurred here?

I had a dream last night in my "new" house, and when I woke up at at about 5 to the sound of the garbage truck, I made a slightly conscious mental note to remember that I remembered that I had a new dream house, before I fell back to sleep.

When I got up a little bit later this morning, I thought "oh that was cool", and started doing a walk through in my head of the house. It has lots of glass, and has a room for everything that I love. There is a painting studio, a recording studio, 3 living rooms, a big kitchen, a library, many bedrooms, lots of gardens and a lake to swim in.

In my dreams, the house is always slightly different: more furniture, less furniture, art on the walls, bare walls, people, no people, daylight, nighttime, and there is usually some action going on, some problem to solve, some issue to work out. It is, afterall, not so much a Dream House, as a house I go to in my dreams.

One of the things that I find so interesting—if we follow the psychology that this house is ME—is that it is a relatively "new" house in my dreams. I think it's been a go-to-dream-house for maybe 7 or 8 years. Hard to calculate in dream time. I have another house, one that I dream about less and less, but it still pops up, and it's the house I've had dreams inside of since I was a little girl.

It's an old house, full of stairways, and turrets, and windowseats, and rooms that are slightly tippy. It's familiar, and cozy, and whenever I show up at it in one of my dreams, there is a feeling of connection to past times, to many moments, to many people. This older dream house, has small rooms, and you have to walk through one room to get to the next, not a lot of hallways. In some rooms the ceilings are low, in others they are high, and in a very Alice in Wonderland kind of way, the rooms are never quite the same every time.

So it's taken me a while, but now that I've recognised that there has been a second house I dream inside and it's been around for a quite a few years, I'm thinking: wow what else is happening while I'm asleep. No, seriously... I find it intriguing and mysterious and ever so interesting... 2 Dream Houses in one sleeping mind. And will the old rambling funky house stick around, or will I eventuallly move completely into the house with lots of windows. All things to ask of the sleeping mind.

3 Weeks In

 

• My painting studio is almost clean. All the stuff is off the floor, most of it has found a home, and what has not found a home needs to live elsewhere. (That's why our garage looks like it "did" - see below)

• I have started to learn to use Wordpress. And it's fun, way more fun than I ever thought it might be, tho if I am being completely honest with myself, I secretly hoped it would be.

• After many years of knitting, I am dipping my toes into the pool of design. It makes me a little scared, and very excited - I have found that this is always a great combo in any new endeavor.

 • After almost a year, our cat has decided that she likes my husband. When he gets in bed, she no longer hisses and growls at him. That makes us all very happy.

• After one year and 4 months of living in our house, we cleaned out the garage. When we moved in we basically piled everything in the garage that we either didn't immediately need, or weren't sure what to do with. We unearthed many things we had forgotten about, and we are keeping too many of them, but getting rid of more. Behind all the boxes and rolled up rugs, we found the shelves. Still no room to park a car, but hey, there had to be space for that extra couch we don't know what to do with...

• Three days of sun, after many days of gray, and more than a few days of rainy since before Christmas, makes the whole world a new place.

• Week 3, we're right in the middle of week 3, and I feel as though I am right where I should be.

Moments with Blue

While I am away, I am re-posting some thoughts on Blue, for the autumn blue skies happening these days. Hope you enjoy the Blue celebration! blue n 1 : a colour whose hue is that of the clear sky or that of the portion of the colour spectrum lying between green and violet 2 a : a pigment or dye that colours blue b : BLUING 3 a : Blue clothing or cloth b pl a blue costume or uniform 4 : one who wears a blue uniform: as a : a soldier in the Union army during the American Civil War b : the Union army 5 a : (1) : SKY (2) : the far distance b : SEA 6 : a blue object 7 : BLUESTOCKING 8 : any of numerous small chiefly blue butterflies (family Lycaenidae) 9 : BLUEFISH — out of the blue : without advance notice : UNEXPECTEDLY (a job offer that came out of the blue) -Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary Blue is the hue of intellect, peace and contemplation. It represents water and coolness and symbolizes the sky, infinity the emptiness from which existence arises and to which it returns. To the Christians blue is the colour of the Virgin as Queen of Heaven and denotes fath, compassion and the waters of baptism. The ancient Greeks and Romans attributed the colour blue to Aphrodite and Venus, the goddess of Love. -The Secret Language of Symbols by David Fontana

Primary colour long associated with sky, heaven, peace and truth, it became the convention in icon painting to portray the Virgin Mary in blue robes. This is thought to be a continuation of a pagan belief that blue stones and glass could drive away demons, including the witch known as the evil eye. The same tradition survives today with the dressing of boys in blue, while their sisters are dresses in pink, symbolically the colour of earth and appropriately, of fertility. -Living Colours

The colour of Heaven, distance and water. It is usually experienced as transparent, pure, immaterial and cool. Blue is the colour of the divine, of truth and of fidelity, (in the sense of clinging to the truth, as well as with reference to the fixed firmament of heaven). Blue is the colour of the unreal and the fantastic — blue flower being the symbol of the romantic yearning for the infinite. -The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols

Long associated with the serenity of a clear, cloudless blue sky reflected over a calm sea, the light, mid and deep blues bring a feeling of respite and introspection – a quiet, cool permanence. The human mind embraces the concept of blue as tranquil and constant nad translates it into a symbolic images of dependability and loyalty. -Color: Messages and Meanings by Leatrice Eiseman --- Blue has that eternal quality going for it. How many people do you know that say it is their favourite of all colours? I know many, granted most of them men, but I think that overall, blue is a colour (much like green) that holds an appeal for everyone. <strong>What are your favourite blues?</strong> Denim? Cerulean? Powder? Sea? Summer Sky? All artwork and photography by Liz Kalloch Painting of Our Lady of Guadelupe by Karen Schmidt-Carbetta

The Merits of Buying a Lottery Ticket and/or Dreaming Bigger

The other day I heard myself say "I never win anything", when talking to a friend on the phone about the merits of buying a lottery ticket, and what our chances would be for winning. I think the topic began with politics, moved onto the economy, and you can see where the topic of lottery tickets might have come in. 

She said: "oh, I think of you as being very lucky, I bet you would win something." To which I replied: "no, I never win anything."  But I woke up this morning with a thought: that's not so true.

In August, my name was picked out of Maurice Chevalier's hat (who could kid about that) and I won the print of my choice from TangoBaby's extensive and totally moving and wonderful photographs. I chose Early Sunday Morning, and tho not showing up well in this photo, you can go see this print and more of here work over here. OH, and she has a book out too!

And then in September, after reading a really great post on Leonie's site about ways to get past the frustrations and fears that can come up around creative dreams, I signed up for her newsletter, and put myself in a pool to win a print of my choice.

And won.

So, perhaps the lesson here is: 

Dream Bigger, yes! 

But also dream 

deeper

wider

fuller

higher

taller 

and generally,

just dream 

more regularly

because I most certainly

might win.

Buoyant Blue

In many cultures, blue is seen as a protective colour. In Greece, a small blue ribbon is pinned to a baby's undergarments as a talisman. In Jerusalem, blue hands are painted on front doors, while in many areas of the southwest and southeast U.S., front doors and or porches are often painted blue to keep evil spirits away.

Enjoy all these blues from around Flickr. You can visit the Living Colours group on Flickr, if you want to see who created all this buoantly beautiful blue work.

Colour Symbolism .:. Green

green n 1 : a colour whose hue is somewhat less yellow than that of growing fresh grass or of the emerald or is that of the part of the spectrum lying between blue and yellow 2 : something of a green colour 3 green vegetayion as a pl leafy parts of plants for use as decoration b pl leafy herbs (as spinach, dandelions, Swiss chard) that are boiled or steamed as a vegetable 4 : a grassy plain or plot: as a : a common or park in the center of a town or village b : Putting Green -Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary

apple .:. aquamarine .:. beryl .:. chartreuse .:. fir .:. forest .:. grass .:. jade .:. kelly .:. lime .:. malachite .:. moss .:. olive .:. pea .:. peacock .:. pine .:. sage .:. sap .:. sea .:. spinach .:. verdigris .:. vert .:. viridian .:. willow

Green retains a strange and complex character derived from its twin polarity - the green of the bud and of decay, life and death. Green is the image of the depths and of Fate. -The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols

Take a walk in the park, even on a dull wintery day, and you will count more variations of green than you would have thought possible. Every tree, leaf, bit of foliage and blade of grass can render still another shade of green. Some are vibrant yellow green, some are true deep green, some are subtle grey green and wait — there's the bluish spruce, not to mention the deep blue green of the neighboring lake, or the mossy greens gathereed on the sides of the rocks. –Colour: Messages and Meanings by Leatrice Eiseman

A primary of light but not of pigments, green is also a psychological primary in that it is seen as a basic hue, along with red, yellow and blue. Green is associated with growth, youth and fertility, as in the Green Man of pre-Christian myth. -Living Colours by Margaret Walch

Set midway between the inaccessible absolutes of the blue of Heaven and the red of Hell, green, with its middling quality, mediates between heat and cold and high and low. It is a comforting, refreshing, human colour. After Winter strips bare and freezes the Earth which supports human beings, convincing them of their lonliness and vulnerability, Spring comes to clothe the Earth once more in green, bringing hope and making it again the nurse of the human race. Green is warm. The coming of Spring is heralded by the thawing of the ice and falling of rain. -The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols by Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant

Colour Symbolism .:. Orange

orange n [ME, fr. MF, fr. OProv auranja, fr. Per narang] 1 a: a globose berry with a reddish yellow rind and a sweet edible pulp b: any of various rather small evergreen trees (genus Citrus) with ovate inifoliolate leaves, hard yellow wood, fragrant white flowers, and fruits that are oranges 2 : any of several trees or fruits resembling the orange 3 : any of a group of colours that lie midway between red and yellow in hue and are of medium lightness and moderate to high saturation –Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary

This is one of the few pieces I have ever created where orange is the dominant colour. I set up a series of shadow boxes - the Colour Series - as a way to delve into all the spectrum colours, and take a few steps out of my comfort range.

Orange is half way between the vibrant red, and the royal yellow, and encompasses so many different hues: peach, copper, terra cotta, coral, butterscotch and on and on.

The first mention of the fruit that gave a name to the colour orange dates back to 500 BC. Oranges had their origins near the South China Sea. From there they were transported and cultivated throughout Malaysia, India, East Africa and into the Mediterranean regions and the rest of Europe. There was literally no word for orange in Europe until the fruit arrived. Oranges became known as the fruit of the gods, of emperors and kings and the hierarchy of the church—exclusively for aristocrats and the wealthy, ultimately gaining symbolic importance in Renaissance paintings. –Color: Messages and Meanings by Leatrice Eiseman

Orange is midway between yellow and red and therefore is the most actinic colour. [Actinic = radiant energy] Lying between celestial gold and chthonian red, the primary symbolism of the colour is that of the point of balance between the spirit and the libido. However, this balance tends to be upset in one direction or the other, so that orange may become the revelation of divine love or the emblem of lust. -The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols by Jean Chevalier and Alain Gherbrandt

As a fruit with pips the orange is a symbol of fertility and has a very positive meaning in dreams: to be given one in your hand means that you will acquire 'the perfect fruit of love, full of sunshine; just as if it had been picked fresh from the tree of life in all its glory.' The Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols

Temperature-wise orange is seen as the hottest of all colours. It is a high arousal colour invariable associated with autumn's burnished foliage or the radiant shadings of sunset - glowing and vital.
In its most vivid intensities, it is perceived as a colour that shouldn't be taken too seriously; a dramatic exclamation point generally preferred by the extroverted personality. -Communicating with Colour by Leatrice Eiseman

I talked yesterday about making friends with the colour orange, and this is my first baby step. I found more orange in some of my work than I ever imagined I had. I have to admit though, that my leaning is toward a golden orange, or a coral, or peach, and not so much the glowing burst of energy that a more pure orange provides.

Orange, my new friend.