Calla Lily Memories

(c) Olenka -AKPhilippas    A small study from my 2015 sketchbook

I was looking for a particular photo and came upon a few from my old sketchbook.  This little acrylic painting was based upon photos I took of the centerpiece during a luncheon with friends in Connecticut.

I have wonderful memories of the long row of calla lilies that lined the entrance walkway to our house in Argentina.  As a toddler I would sometimes break off the yellow stamen and taste it -- very bitter.  Ever hopeful that the next one would be better, it took several bites on different days to convince me it was never going to be sweet. Didn't stop me from enjoying their beauty...

Wishing you a day of sweet discovery!

Vote for Love

A Song for Recovery

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

1:01 PM

On this day Nov. 6, 2018, when our nation was focused on voting, while so much emotion and opinion and judgement was being tossed around on the news and all media, I prayed for the words that might be considered today as a way of remembering our Divine source and origin, to heal, calm and realign our heart's with Soul so that whatever the outcome we can walk together, listening with open agreement to  allow only guidance toward action that leads to the highest good of all.

Staff of Life

Contemplation

Changing Season

Photo I reworked, expressing the ever present light witnessing life's changing seasons.  The tree is aged and strong, having withstood years of passing winds, sun, rain, snow, heat--just as we live through countless changes in time. The evergreen speaks of continuity...Autumn leaves fall, their branches bare through the Winter, renewing within until the time for revealing returns in Spring, but the evergreen reminds us there is always life within the silence.

Illuminating Shadows

The photo is of my three avocado pits which are growing nicely into plants on the windowsill.  When the morning sun comes through it casts wonderful shadows on the sheer curtains.
 I very much enjoy the play of light on objects...it's magical how a any scene can be transformed with a beam of light.

It reminds me  that there is so much more present which we don't always see, and that how we shine our inner light on any experience will determine how deeply its shadows form.  So many shadows try to grab our attention these days in countless ways, but we can adjust the light to a soft glow that illuminates our experience and allows us to remember what is of substance and what is the changing shape of passing experiences.  My heart is full of compassion for those who are suffering today all over the world.  I pray for clear vision; that each of us can feel the good that is the foundation that sustains us and see the way to bringing that good into the world.  Don't let the shadows fool you. Let us allow the Light to comfort our hearts with love and show us the way forward together.

Poem: Colors Are Singing

Colors Are Singing

Blossoming joy fills your canvas of life

As wonder filled songs in your heart dissolve strife.

Keep painting your visions as beauty surrounds,

Translating daily Love's rainbow of sounds.

Each color is singing, it's tone clear and true,

It's leading and sharing life's wonders with you.

It asks that you see it and hear this clear voice

As your own ability to make the right choice.

The choice to see colors, hear sounds with your heart,

Life's really a symphony -- you too play a part.

Your words and your actions do color each day,

Each moment of living has something to say.

It's our own dim seeing or judgement of word

'Unwittingly alters what's viewed and what's heard.

But once we've begun to explore how we feel,

This question can help us sort out what is Real:
Does it fit in the framework Soul-Knowing has made?
That's how we're restored or at least not afraid.
Peace comes in awareness -- all's happening inside.
Love's living presence helps hearts open wide.
Life's colors are singing of wonders around,
As our hearts keep sharing the beauty we've found.

                                 - Olenka - AKP    (C) 2017

Nasturtium

  Nasturtium     Olenka / AKP  2016

Victorian Interpretation: During the Victorian times, bouquets of flowers come in hidden secret codes. Men and women exchange flower to express their feelings and get to speak to one another in hidden meanings. Clearly, the nasturtium means one thing – jest. Although many Victorians regarded this flower as a “joke”, many women nonetheless took this flower to their homes to ward off odorous smells.

Isn't that strange?  It's not clear to me at all why this cheerful flower would be considered a joke!  I used to grow these lovely flowers in many colors at my home in Stamford, CT.  They added a wonderful peppery flavor when added to salads and a joyful pop of color. 

Wonderful, aren't they?  No kidding!

Poem: Remember the Source

Remember the Source

My mind says "Pray, go tell the Lord the fears you hold in heart."

The still small voice just softly calls, says, "Trust-- then do your part.

Paint your art and sing your songs and write and dance -- don't fall!

Remember God is what inspires you, and God created ALL!

You see the colors, you make the sounds, you string the words and move with grace,

But God lives AS and THROUGH what IS in all of time and space.

Do tell the Source your heart is full of joy and thanks and love,

Then listen deeply once again for 'next steps' from Above.

Above, within and all around God's grace no boundary knows,

Create and share with open heart; enjoy the path you chose!"

 art and poem by  Olenka / AKP (c) 2017

Choices

Mapping Choices    (C) Olenka - AKPhilippas

Yesterday, when I admonished myself for skipping a day of Morning Pages (the practice of stream of consciousness writing--3 pages every morning--suggested by Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way and several other of her books as a core practice), it occurred to me how arbitrary our mind can be in allocating authority, e.g. you pick out a book and follow the author's instructions seriously and then feel badly when lapses occur, but there is no one really standing over you forcing you to do anything--you're the one who chose the book, you chose to try out that method of instruction, you decided the guidance was worth following to reach your goals and you alone chose to take a break or let it go or moved in a different direction. Who said that's wrong? Obviously, you'll never know what results you would have achieved if you had continued on any given path if you don't follow it to the end, but if it served to get you started with a new perspective which then led you to a tangent which also sparked a satisfactory idea -- then all is well.  If you choose to feel guilty and disappointed in your inability to keep a commitment to your own goals, or dislike giving in to the inner critic or monkey-mind, then just re-focus, start again and know that as you redefine  your intentions and keep moving toward your desires every action will lead to the next and the learning directs a new move forward.  It's all an adventure filled with discovery of self and the world.  I choose to keep it joyful and filled with wonder!  Wishing you a wonderful day!

Explorations

Here's another sample of my Kitchen Art series - this one based on a photo of coffee grounds.

                                              INVITATION - (C)  Olenka - AKPhilippas 

Breaking Through

Left Behind  -  (c)  Olenka / AK Philippas 

                       
After several attempts AGAIN to get back to this blog (Google kept telling me I don't have one because I had changed the email associated with my computer account!!!) finally got through.

 Posting a photo transformed digitally as part of my "Kitchen Art" series.  I enjoy taking photo's of mundane objects and creating something totally different by coloring, adding, deleting, and applying filters using Photoscape.  Can you guess the source of this image?   Those are artichoke leaves beside a dipping bowl.  It's just the first layer but can stand on it's own also.  Food for thought....

Wishing you joy!

NY Botanical Garden - Orchid Paradise

Actually wrote this post last month but had trouble transferring photos so here it is anyway as part of my journal:   The unusually warm weather this past week -- here in NYC we'd usually have snow in February -- enticed us out to the NY Botanical Gardens to see the current orchid exhibit in the main conservatory.  Balmy air, warm sunshine, blue sky with white clouds sprinkled here and there in gestures of flight; singing birds, life pushing forth in trees, bushes and earth--all signs of Self-renewing life.  All is well in the garden.

OK, wanted to download photos from my phone but I would first have to load the app for G+ as a backup method that connects with Blogger.  Already have them backed up on Verizon Cloud and many are located in Dropbox and on my laptop.  This is getting out of control!  I've actually started tagging the photos on the laptop and yesterday spent a few hours putting photos into themed folders on my tablet since having lists of file numbers is very impractical.  Do you have a favorite method or app to recommend for organizing photo files?     So, a photo of birthday orchids by my window and an orchid digital painting of mine--just for a bit of color!

Orchids   (c) Olenka -- AKPhilippas

Summer's Fruit

Is this truly possible?  For several years I have returned occassionally, trying to regain access to my blog, always finding some strange advertising placed over the cover page & no way to remove it or contact those who hijacked my site. Suddenly today I was able to scroll down and read my old posts!  Yay!  Let's see if this post actually registers on the blog...

Thought Exchange

That's my friend, the wonderful composer-speaker-author, David Friedman and me during the book signing portion of his book launch at Borders in Manhattan on Saturday night (April 30).  What a wonderful evening!  A large, enthusiastic crowd sat listening to his presentation about "The Thought Exchange" and experienced a short demonstration of the process with a volunteer from the audience.
Having attended many Thought Exchange workshops with David and experiencing the benefits, I highly recommend not just reading this book but really using the principles and learning to watch life's thoughts and sensations from that safe, neutral place within that enables us to observe our experience without being affected by it, therefore allowing us to constantly act in the moment, living our full potential with open hearts.  The freedom gained is worth the effort! 

If you'd like to know more about David's music and Thought Exchange work, visit his website:  http://www.middermusic.com/

Resurrection

On this beautiful Easter Sunday I wish you all joyful activities shared with family and friends!  Talk to you soon...

Say a Prayer

Catskills, NY

Isn't that a lovely hill?  It's part of my sister's land in the Catskills, where we've spent many happy days and were looking forward to another visit but Mom is back in the hospital with the C Diff bacteria so no traveling anytime soon.  I've started putting a few small quilts together in the evenings using the newly dyed fabric, but even that's on hold now.  Let's think of a joyful moment in our life and then send a prayer into the Universe for all those who are facing challenges that seem overwhelming, so that we may remember together that Love embraces us all.

Dyeing Experiment

Many years ago I considered sewing a headboard cover and bedskirt in an offbeat small leapord-print fabric and bought several yards.  Lesson learned: buy a small swatch to take home and check first.  But I didn't and had this bolt of fabric standing in the corner until last Summer when I decided to use it as a slip cover for my wingback chair so I cut it up in smaller pieces and threw it in the washing machine hoping to soften the color.  Wrong again.  I happened to have a box of fabric dye remover...yes, I threw that into the washer next, hoping for a soft pink result.  Not even close.

This is what the fabric looked like wet, with areas changing color as the dye remover chemicals took effect.

I watched as all the fabric turned into this brownish-green color.  Very interesting...

I closed the lid, thinking the next phase would be a fade out of color, but when I reopened the lid the finished effect was:

OMG!  Nothing changed.

The only difference was a slightly softer feel to the cotton fabric, so I folded it up and put it back into the stash.  Have you noticed that the back side is a pastel color?  

SO, during my recent dyeing frenzy, I took a section of this and dyed it with the RIT dyes.  

Tadaaaaa!   This I can use!

Patience and the courage to experiment -- essential artist tools. 

It's All Good

Hello again...it's been a journey through sorrow these past months as my mother battled several debilitating infections that almost took her life. So much was happening that I wrote only in my private journal. During my walk last night down by the beach, I stood on the big rocks overlooking Long Island Sound and thanked God that I live surrounded by so much beauty offering healing. Even these rocks beneath my feet reminded me again that Life continues to find expression no matter how hard the circumstances.



I too have found a crack in the surface of my life's painful events, and have started creating in fabric again. All the photos and little sketches I've made these past few months are now source material. First little quilt is on the table being assembled...using my image transfers and fabrics which I dyed recently (first time using RIT dyes per article in Quilting Arts Magazine by Judy Coates Perez -- Thanks Judy, your clear instructions made it very easy!).

The article mentions that if you don't disolve the powdered dyes completely the grains will show up on the fabric -- that's how I got the speckles on the purple piece and the red on the neutral mottled piece on the left. As for the fabric on the far left, I already overdyed it last night with navy and love the results.

Since my studio table is overtaken with paints and a mosaic in progress, I set up the ironing board in the living room to iron dyed swatches and the little wooden table for photo transfers.

Earlier, out on the deck I put down a piece of plywood onto which 2 sheets of newsprint were laid to soak up excess dye and then two folded lengths of white cotton which I dyed with abandon.

This photo shows the pattern which ended up on the paper....
I laughed to think that the best part wasn't the actually dyed fabric (which will also be useful though it turned out a bit dense and dark) but the paper meant to be tossed away. NOT!  Took photos of various sections to use as backgrounds for other work by printing onto fabric and saved the paper for collage.  Lots of new ideas...

It's good to be back!