making stuff for christmas

Lots of hearts this year. I never get bored of making hearts and I like having them around me. I guess it keeps me in touch with human emotion and reminds me how important love, passion and creativity are in my life. At the moment compassion is also a bit of a theme and my hearts remind me to extend compassion to myself and others...I have many people in mind as I make them and am reminded of the importance of nurturing strong relationships in our lives that sustain us. Happy Xmas!

lady in my fire

I made this figure a while ago and recently I found her buried in the fireplace. I am not sure how she got there but she reminded me of the victorian shoe we found as kids bricked into the fireplace in Saxtead. I imagine it was for good luck or superstition and was intended to keep the house safe and to ward of bad spirits. This is how I think about my figure and her baby bringing creativity to our home and holding a warm and precious space.

in the shadows of my mind

please get up and dance with me

in retreat

bridge to the inside

mother and daughter

there is no human mind without a body

joint artwork with winni

holding up my identity

reminds me that my body will die and therefore so will I

working together

today winni and I were both 'off sick'. A lot of hours to fill... I wanted to do some painting but I knew I had no chance if winni got even a whiff that I was trying to do something. So we got the paints out together and set up the table as a shared space and to start with we both worked on our own. Then winni decided she wanted to copy my painting and I decided I wanted to copy hers and she quite liked that idea. We got 2 new sheets of paper and sat opposite each other. I followed her lead and this is what we got to. It was a great thing to do. Apart from Winni enjoying being in charge, it was interesting slowing right down and trying to copy her mark making; applying the same pressure, moving the paintbrush in the same way and so on. It wasn't at all easy and I had to hold my paintbrush in a different way to try and mess up my own habitual ways. I felt like we connected and while she did all the thinking and choosing the painting time went on much longer than it normally would. Big achievements!

I love you

Why is it such a big deal for you to say, "I love you"? did you never hear it as a child? is that why you can't say those words out loud to her now?

Sadness

sometimes it can feel sad to end something... for the first time it is so sad and hard, so many feelings rush in at once that tears burst, my heart aches and I feel so sad saying goodbye it feels like the end of something.

Internal world

Forgotten lives or just lost memories?

confronted by myself in an other

Containment?