My December Journal page

Jan13

My December journal page is entitled “The Birth of the Sun”, in honor of the winter solstice and the long celebrated “return of the sun”. Inspired by the beautiful color palette of the sunrise, my piece symbolizes the light of the holiday season. The days are now getting longer and my sun contains the seed/embryo of the warmer months to come and its continuing journey towards light. For me personally, I meditated on the light within my own heart as I set down each bead.

Inspired by the beautiful fiber embroidery of fellow bead journaler, Acey at Nichobella, I have incorporated some fiber into my page for texture and color. In a photo of my page taken in sunlight, you can really see the texture.

I have prepared a fabric square for my January page but I have not been inspired yet to set down any beads. As I am turning 50 this month, I think I will start the page on my birthday. I have a glimmer of an idea about the path/journey of my life as I reach the half century mark. As for November, my idea for a photo transfer will take shape once I begin my experiments as per my 2008 goals. I’d like to transfer a photo of my beloved greyhound, Buddy, who passed in 2001. Even though it has been almost 6 1/2 years since he has been with me, I still miss him everyday. First, January and then catch up with November.

My October Journal Page

Nov28

My October page took its own long, slow time to unfold. A candle image started teasing into my imagination during a meditation several months ago. I meditated some more on this candle image and it grew into thoughts on illumination and wisdom. I originally wrote about the candle illuminating and unmasking my Higher Self but this changed as I beaded the page.

November was a busy month with preparations for my jewelry show and then Thanksgiving not even a week later. So, finding time to bead was a challenge. When I actually sat down to bead, my mind was crammed full with all of the things on my “to-do” list. An inner voice kept droning on and on that I should be doing this and I should be doing that. My gremlin voice. Hmmmm… As I let my mind settle around all of these thoughts, I began to imagine my illuminated candle, not the figure, as my Higher Self. The figure represents my gremlin. Though she looks serene, almost like she is sleeping or meditating, she is always there, a ghostlike figure, watching, waiting for the perfect moment to find my cracks. She feeds on what lies in the cracks of my psyche, my guilt about not being “good enough”, a good enough artist, a good enough mother, a good enough friend, a good enough partner, a good enough person. She tells me about all of the things I should be doing and, if I don’t do them, I am a failure. I cannot get rid of this gremlin because she is a part of my psyche, my inner critic. Instead, I let the light of my Higher Self, who I truly am, illuminate her and unmask her for what she is. And then I embrace her as a part of me.

This page was a struggle for me but it also brought me deeper into myself while I was beading it. My gremlin voice tells me that I am behind with my beading. My Higher Self tells me that I am not too far behind and it will all come together in its time.

And now I turn my attention to starting my November page which marks the halfway point on this wondrous journey.

October Journal Page Progress

Nov3

The idea for my October beaded journal page has been gestating for the last couple of months. It all started with the image of a candle illuminating the darkness, which came to me during a meditation one day. I thought about the candle as being a wonderful symbol for all of the aha moments I have been experiencing in my life this year. I added the oval moon face but instead of this representing the obvious (a moon), it will symbolize the face of my serene Higher self. I made a little mask from polymer clay leaf canes. As the candle burns brightly and illuminates, the mask falls away and reveals my Higher self. There is much more work to be done on this piece but I am pleased on its progress so far. I have a jewelry show in 2 weeks so a lot of my time is being devoted to getting ready for that. So, this page will emerge a bit behind schedule but its slow progress can also be representative of the slow emergence of my authentic Higher self.

My September Journal page

Oct12

I have finished my September journal page, entitled “The Harvest Goddess of Abundance and Gratitude”. Only 12 days behind schedule!

She embodies the cycle of the harvest from the birth of the seed to its growth and manifestation to its harvest and production of more seeds to its dormancy to the rebirth of the seed. The cycle spirals on. The sun rises and gives warmth and nurture to the growth of the seed and its harvest. As the Goddess’s harvest progresses, the leaves fall gently through the air all around her. They will return to the earth to nourish the next seeds.

So, this piece represents the abundance of our harvest and gratitude for what has manifested from the seeds we have sown. Acceptance of the natural rhythms of the earth and a turning inward to contemplate how our seeds have grown and manifested in this cycle.

What do you think?

September Page Progress

Oct1

The beading on the Harvest Goddess is finished. For her long, luxuriant hair, I used a twisted fringe technique with my variegated beads and then tacked down the fringe. My eyes happened upon these lovely golden amber glass leaves in my bead stash and I couldn’t resist giving her a crown. I’ve been fascinated by crowns ever since I was in kindergarten. I loved to draw crowns on all of the ladies in my pictures. When my Mom took me to the library, I always made a beeline for the adult section to find my precious treasure – a big, heavy dusty old book containing color photos of the crown jewels of England. I loved thumbing through that book to gaze upon all of the beautiful, sparkly objects it contained.

Ideas about my October page are starting to glimmer in my mind. The image of a candle has been present in my thoughts all day. I think I will start with that and then see where it takes me.