My rituals and spirituality keep me nurtured. My family keeps me cocooned, safe and loved. As always in the dark nights of the soul,  the light comes through, reminding me that there is balance and that fears will always be there, but it is the moving forward in those fears that the courage comes.

Love is the strongest engine of survival, life’s calling and I’m moving forward with the light of courage.

Peace to you and yours.

(“Life’s Calling” Collage/Paper-5″x7″ - ©2012 Indigene Theresa Gaskin)

©2001-2012 Indigene Theresa Gaskin– Image: “Brave Warrior”)

This year my intention is Courage. I did not come to this intent quickly or lightly, but through…the power of daily meditation, prayer, silence and deep listening.

So what does this mean?

This means I will not wait for fear to go away before I move forward with new ideas and dreams that need to be realized. The only way I can dissolve fear is to begin to move with it.

I have heard, that the thing that stands in the way of us creating the life we want, will only go away, if we start creating it. Yet, this is the most fearful aspect of beginning that life!

So like a brave warrior, I am empowered by my first step…setting my intention. Intent needs to have action to follow it…so I have posted my intent, in various place in my home, in my studio and I have found a visual for my intent. (See image). So by blogging this, my intent is in the world!

These are the steps for me to build a foundation grounding myself in this intent.

These baby steps of intent and action, will give me more courage to take many more steps, as I give myself time and space to experience the voices of my fears, moving with purpose, while staying aligned with my intention and fiercely committed as each day poses its challenges and rewards.

Of course, I know the definition of vanity, but there have been times when I’ve mistaken someone for being vain, and after getting to know them, I realized that they had a confidence of self, that was enviable. Which brings me to my next pondering…do we see vanity because we envy the confidence of an individual?

The lesson learned for me, is not to judge, since it is only when I get to know the person, do I begin to see the true self, and there have been times, when I would have missed out on knowing a wonderfully confident and loving individual.

(Image: “Da Bronx” – 9″x12″ Mixed Media/Paper)

I captured this beauty sitting on a stoop in the Bronx. My first thought was “what a vain young woman.”  She exuded confidence, beauty, which many took as being vain. I glad I got to know her, she had a mighty story, where vanity had no play in it.

How do you know when you’re dealing with vanity or confidence?

How do you know the difference? Have you ever mistaken one for the other?

Does culture play a role in your viewpoint of vanity of another?

Have you ever dismiss a vain individual without getting to know them?

Love to hear what you think!

Peace to you and yours.

I remember as a child, being asked to stop talking in class, a few minutes later, when the teacher turned away from the board, she asked me, “Are you still talking?” I remember looking at her perplexed and then replied, “Yes, because you’re asking me a question, and I need to talk to answer you.” Hmmm…I was sent home with a note from school that day! :)

(Image:  ©2011 Indigene – Title: “Dream Sequence 11“)

We are told to question everything, yet we are sometimes ostracized as being too inquisitive, attention-wanting, time-suckers, with a rolling of eyes, etc. There were times in my life when I didn’t want to ask the question, but I needed to know why I’m asked to do things without reason or question. It’s my way of making sense of the world. I know that there are some questions that cannot be answered, but the search for the answer is a response to a life worth living.

Silence is great for meditation, but not as a response to life. Art making for me is answering a call/question from within me. I do this to explore every stripe, star and to make a mark as an answer or to question my spirit’s leanings.

If you are from the 50+ age crowd, you may have had to curb your questioning as a child, because it was better to be seen and not heard, back then! Can you imagine?

How do you respond to questions? As an adult are you embarrassed to ask questions? Do you fear the answers? Do you fear asking questions?

I love hearing from you.

In peace to you and yours.

Attending workshops, creating new work, gearing up for my  Holiday Studio Tour, conference calls, video summits and taking care of my daily business routines!

I’ve also spent some incredible time with new friends and old friends, (Thank you, awesome goddesses, you know who you are); which always fills me with love and adrenaline…:)

My thoughts have been scattered, but focused…is that possible, you ask? Yes, because these scattered thoughts and actions are an abundance of energy, that I believe are coming together, to bring another dimension to my life, creating richer experiences for me. They are only scattered, in the sense that I’m snatching time from here and there, because I want it all (insert, Vincent Price loud laugh here)!

I want to do so much and every waking moment is filled with something I love and need to get done, but at the same time, I’m savoring every nano-second and loving it! Now, how’s that for scattered thoughts and feelings?! :)

Every day, I miss my Mom and my sister, Renee, but I remember their beautiful spirits and then I live…in all my moments!

Savor your scattered moments, they have a place in your life, too.

In peace to you and yours.

(Image: collaged page from my “Creative Entrepreneur Business Journal”, Date: Friday, Oct.14, 2011)

P.S. I didn’t have time to edit this, so pardon any typos or scattered thought processes (insert more Vincent Price laughter!)

I love exploring the spirituality of the forgotten feminine, be it in dreams, myths, or truths hidden in mysterious legends. It is one of the things that my art allows me to explore…the mysterious!

There is a Navajo legend of the Changing Woman. According to this legend, Changing Woman comes closest to representing Earth and the natural order of the Universe. She represents the cycle of the Seasons, Birth (Spring), Maturing (Summer), Growing old (Fall) and Dying (Winter), only to be reborn again in the Spring. Changing Woman is mysterious and meant to be explored and shared.

(To find out more on this Native American legend, visit: http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/Changing_Woman-Navajo.html).

(Image: “Changing Woman/ShapeShifter”- Mixed Media)

There is a sense of the mysterious, everywhere, our challenge is to bask in it, share it fearlessly and allow it to shape us, not conquer it until it is only dust that slips through our fingertips.

How do you define mysterious? Does it excite you or make you tread carefully?  I look forward to reading your answers and comments.

Our humanness is a mystery. Peace to you and yours.

It’s not something that I can articulate well at this point, and maybe I never will.

(“Mind Body & Spirit” – Mixed Media/Paper)

My sweet little sister, Renee is in hospice, that is really all I can say now. My dreams are filled with surrender, an outpouring of love and a deep hole of sadness. So on these midsummer nights, I try to understand, believe and sustain faith. May the God you believe in, give you the peace of mind, that can surround the body, so that the soul may be released. Blessings to you and yours.

]]> http://indigeneart.com/midsummer-nights-of-mind-body-spirit/feed/ 16 http://indigeneart.com/shadow-of-her-former-self/ http://indigeneart.com/shadow-of-her-former-self/#comments Sat, 04 Jun 2011 16:01:29 +0000 Indigene http://indigeneart.com/?p=1956

Soaking up this beautiful weather, communing with nature, chatting with friends, loving family, laughing, being shamelessly silly and truly understanding how life is so precious, always puts me in a pondering mode.

(Work In Progress- April 25, 2011-SEE COMPLETED PAINTING BELOW)

I’m currently pondering on…

Creating starts  with shadows, some darker than others, with more and more substance added and once the shadows have become a thing of substance, color invades it from all angles.

Like our earth.

Maybe that’s really the big bang theory, or is it what God created from the shadows, what is now our earth; no matter what you believe,  something started it off.

Is that what it will take to save the earth from the onslaught of humankind’s continual draining of her resources? An intervention is inevitable. She is a shadow of her former self…Save her…save us.

(COMPLETED WORK)

“Saving Me, Saves Us“

(24″ x 18″ – Mixed Media/Paper)

Enjoy what has been given freely…the earth.

Peace to you and yours.

]]> http://indigeneart.com/shadow-of-her-former-self/feed/ 12 http://indigeneart.com/zoo-safari/ http://indigeneart.com/zoo-safari/#comments Fri, 13 May 2011 18:01:05 +0000 Indigene http://indigeneart.com/?p=1940 The word for this week at Illustration Friday‘s website, is “safari“. Unfortunately, my current safari adventures with exotic wild animals are at the zoo! One day, I will go to Africa, the Amazon, China and India to see exotic wild life. Hopefully, they will not be extinct!

During my safari to the Philadelphia Zoo (click on the zoo link to find out more about Maya and friends) in March 2011, I visited the snow leopards and polar bears!

As I watched, Maya, the snow leopard, I was mesmerized by her spirit! So after sketching and taking photos, I came back to my Studio Nookery and created this piece, entitled, “Maya’s Spirit” (14″x 12″- Mixed Media/Paper) She is a part of my “Animal Totem” Series.

There are many cultures that have myths and legends where animals are the main characters or play an important role in teaching important life lessons. Animal Totem characteristics for Snow Leopard are: Sensitivity, Agility, Strength and Mystery.

Life, itself is a journey, as we travel through it, we gain the knowledge and tools to make it our own unique safari! Peace to you and yours.

For those of us, whose mothers have transitioned out of this life, this can be a bittersweet day. We remember her with love, and then remember, that she is no longer with us. We continue her legacy by living our lives with integrity and the lessons she taught us.

Some of us may not have any of those memories above. You may be one of those courageous women, who did it alone, then you are to be celebrated too!

Maybe your memories are not tempered with love, maybe that mother figure was not what you would have liked; hopefully, there is a woman, that gave you some semblance of a Mom.

Hopefully, in most of our lives, we have met a woman, who has embodied that “mother” figure. She has nurtured us, cheered us on, when we needed it most, told us about ourselves when we were acting less than we were, she may be your best friend, a girl friend at work who taught you something that one else could or would take the time to!

I don’t think of Mother’s Day as the only day to honor my mother or the other women in my life, but it is a day, that can be used to remember all the other women in my life who have given me their “mothering ways”; the ones, that I might forget in the hectic thing, I call my life, it is these women, I honor on Mother’s Day, because, my Mom tells me I honor her everyday, so she would prefer that I honor all the women in my life who have been there for me as well!

So I encourage you to do that on this upcoming Mother’s Day. Honor the Women in Your Life. A special call, a card, take her out to breakfast, a gift, an “I love you for who you are”. Give her a token of your love. As women, we treasure those things, because the words and the action are important.

May you continue to honor the women in your life, wherever they are.

My art work is created and based on honoring all women, from various cultures, traditions, myths and spirituality.

For prints or cards, order by April 30th the latest for Mother’s Day at:

indigene-theresa-gaskin.fineartamerica.com

In peace from me to you.