Showing posts with label February. Show all posts
Showing posts with label February. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

February: Bear on the Beach

I started working on my February block after I finished my January block so around the 16th I started painting it and then got all of my supplies together since we were going to Philly the next weekend and I knew I would have time on the way up at least to work on it. I had other time as well and then finished it on the very last day of February. This block was a lot of fun to work on and required no real thought. Although my bear guardian is a male, Wayne and I both agree that my bear looks like female. She looks like she is happy to be sitting on the beach playing in the sand and gathering treasures.

Bears symbolize healing, solitude, change, communication with spirit, death and rebirth, transformation, patience, playfulness, astral travel and wisdom. Bear offers strength, introspection and knowledge. Bears do not make snap decisions; they take in all available information, take it to their quiet place, study it carefully until they reach their own informed decision. They teach us to go within our inner sanctum to find our answers. They are strong, nurturing and protective; reminding us to not forget caution. Bears are self sufficient and would rather stand on their own two feet than rely on others. Bears are often associated with trees (all can climb), trees are the natural antenna linking heaven and earth, fertility and things that grow. The tree serves as a reminder that we must bring what we awaken into the world and apply it. We should also keep the cub in us alive and climb trees.

They are a creature of dreams, and teach us to be dreamers and may help us to develop the skill to visualize new things. They store the teaching of our dreams until we wake up to them. They help us awaken the power of the unconscious. They are a spirit keeper of the west, a place of maturity and good harvest. Bears are active both day and night and are connected with both solar (strength and power) and lunar (intuition) energies.

The bears going into their caves is symbolic of a return to the Mother Earth. Bear people tend to like home and shelter and like to be warm and cozy. They help us to go within to find the inner stores of energy and essence necessary for our personal survival, even those that have never been tapped, and teach us how to remain balanced amid change. Bears represent the great cycle of life and rebirth, renewal and fresh beginnings. People with bears often feel a need to go deep within themselves, to have periods in their life when they can be more reclusive. Often during this time they will birth 2-3 new ideas or projects that they will nurse through the winter and as spring approaches they emerge with their new “babies” to help them grow. A cycle of semi-hibernation and reclusiveness in the winter may feel very natural to these people and the thing to remember is to be careful not to hide away and hibernate all year long.

I have always felt very drawn to bears starting in early childhood. I always liked bear stories, seeing bears on TV or in zoos. When I was 10 I got Teddy who is my favorite bear, he goes with me everywhere and is a very well traveled bear. I also have a decent collection of stuffed bears and other bear goodies. When I first read about bears I was amazed in how much it related to who I am, especially in that I did indeed have a certain need to hibernate in the winter. I often will not leave the house for weeks at a time if I don’t have to and often am very creatively productive. It is also a time of great introspection for me which is definitely one of my personality traits.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Final Polish

I actually finished this page about 2 weeks ago but getting the house cleaned up and a visit from Wayne's folks have keep me pretty busy and catching up on my Artistic Kreations and Passions website, my Web Gallery and working on my Pond Necklace has also taken a bit of time.

This page has the most embroidery without beads of any of my pages so far and it is one of my favorites. It could be partially the subject matter, the fact that I used some of my treasures on it or the very textural quality of it.

I used a couple of different stitches in 11/0 and 15/0 seed beads for the moss, some lone seed beads for a bit of rock gravel, and a bit of fringing for the lichen. I made a spiral herringbone vine for the border.



Friday, February 29, 2008

Treasures

I decided that for my February and upcoming March pages that I would include some of my "treasures" on the pages. While out and about hiking, walking along beaches etc I like to pick up interesting rocks, shells, glass and other little treasures. I have a table in our bedroom that is my "Sacred Space". I have my art doll Arabella who acts as my muse on it as well as other pieces that I have made and purchased that are beautiful, inspiring, or otherwise caught my eye. On this table I keep my treasures that I have found over the years.

The close up of the rocks and moss seemed like the perfect place to include some of the smaller rocks and bits of glass. All of them were glued on and then secured with some 15/0 seed beads. Finally some seed beads made it onto the page. The piece is actually almost finished I just need to work on the border and take some more photos. I have added many more beads but haven't lost the feel of the page. I think it may be one of my favorites so far. I should finish the piece today or tomorrow and then I will try to get my finished piece up here.

I finished my 3-D Iris for my Pond Necklace if you want to check it out.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Nary a Bead in Sight























The month of February is over half over and so far not a single bead has made it on to my page.

The top photo is the piece before any embellishments were added. One of my many pond photos this was a close up to capture the details that so fascinate me. I have added a lot of stitching to add texture to the piece. I am really enjoying how the piece is coming along.

My next step is to add the small rocks and bits of glass that are going on and then add the beaded embellishments. I am thinking of adding an Ndebele vine to the edge, sort of like the one I used for October.



A few cord twigs made their way onto this page as well as all of the stitching, the last few pieces definitely have things in common. It is very interesting to see how I approach each page because I picked out most of these images months ago. I picked pieces that I thought I could embellish with beads but didn't have specific plans for most of them.






















Besides this page I have also started a new piece so that I can enter it for Bead Dreams, If you wish to see the start of it visit my main blog. (Artistic Kreations and Passions Blog)