TRIBAL QUEST

It's been a strange couple of weeks with some family drama sent to test us.  It is all sorted out now (favourably thank goodness) and we can all breath again.

Art has got me through the questions going through my head in the last few days.  It gave me something else to concentrate on during this worrying time and my journal pages gave me a place to spill my thoughts.  If you look at a page, you won't be able to read the words and I don't know what they say either, it was a process and a healing process.  The words were never meant to be re-read, just got out of my head and onto the page.

So the creative process, as I have found now and before, is very healing.  And I have realised that other people are finding my work healing too!! Result!! I get healing doing it and you feel healed looking at it - who knew?

The comments I have had include:

I love your tribe pictures--they make me feel a certain "part of-ness"

I really like your people

I find them healing to look at

I've been using my 'tribal questing' process that I blogged about a few weeks ago in my post Hidden Treasure It is a personal quest for me, unearthing these little people who just seem to step onto the page or float up out of the colour.  

For me, the little figures are parts of me, soul fragments, ancestors or angels looking down and looking after me. They are all these aspects but all parts of me and all parts of all of us, for in reality we are all one.  We are all linked; we are all part of the whole, part of the great Creator.  Perhaps this is why people feel that they resonate with my tribes...

We all need a tribe or tribes to belong to - family, friends, online, offline... My family has had its drama this week, but my online tribe and friends in real life gave me real support.  

One of my favourite tribes is the TAJ Community (Inspirations) group on Facebook.  It's a private group run by Teresa Robinson and Mandy Steward otherwise known as the Art Journallers.  It's a wonderful supportive group whether you are a newbie or a seasoned journaller.  There is real support here for sharing journal pages and inspiration for art journaling.

My other favourite tribe at the moment is Instagram - I've met some wonderful creative people there - another source of real support and inspiration and an amazing willingness to share techniques and ideas.  If you want to meet up I'm Rachellen333 - hope to see you there.

My tribes are also for celebrating!!!  And I'm celebrating taking my first steps towards offering my artwork for sale - to get the updates on this in your mail box (and other news), sign up for my newsletter at the top of the page.  I'd love to hear from you and let you know when I have my prints and paintings for sale.

How are you relating to your tribes this week? Hanging out, having fun, sharing artwork and ideas...

From my questing heart to yours...

Rachel xox

Hi, I'm here

Hi I'm new to blogging, but I'm here!! 

2011 was a big, big year for me.  I started to make art again.  

I originally trained in Fine Art, graduating in 1980, leaving university knowing that I wanted to PAINT.  I did this for 7 years, supporting myself with various part time jobs, but in those days, pre-internet, it was much tougher to sell art and get yourself out there.  I made my paintings, but I didn't sell any.  When I hit 30 I became severely depressed and stopped painting.  I came out of my depression, but by that time I had my first child and then didn't find the desire to go back to my creativity.  Life went on, the years went by; I had another child and another depression and other important life events meant that my creative self went deeper and deeper.

But she was still there, sleeping in my heart, till one day she woke up and I couldn't ignore her whispers anymore.  The whispers became shouts and I knew I had to start making art again.  I began with art jounalling and creating mandalas. Both were extremely healing processes for me.

During this time I did a lot of healing work on myself using Angelic Reiki as my main means of support. This inner healing enabled me to find out what I really, truly wanted to do with my life and I committed to daily art/creative practice; first of all with Louise Gale's Colour Bliss Mini Retreat and then just took off on my own.  I wasn't too hard on myself - if I didn't do any art, I created vision boards, mind mapped to define my dreams or baked a cake.

Slowly, over a period of months the need to make art a  much bigger part of my life grew and grew until I realised that my BIG dream was to stop teaching holistic therapies and live a CREATIVE life - to be the artist I dreamed of being in my 20's.  This would be a giant step - I had been teaching for 12 years and had built up my own training business.  I took Kelly Rae Robert's Flying Lessons and found that I knew in my heart of hearts that I could do whatever I wanted to do...

I've taken baby steps towards that dream - I've led a mandala workshop, facilitated my first creative healing workshop and co-taught two goddess workshops (which are based on soul work through creativity).  Most importantly, having spent a year doing art journalling and mixed media work I started PAINTING again thanks to Flora Bowley's course, Bloom True.

And so...where am I now??  

In the last month I've taken the GIANT step!!  I've given up teaching therapies and handed in my keys for my training/therapy room.  My training business still exists (Amethyst Holistic Training) but now I do the admin but no teaching, therefore freeing up time for creativity.

'You have to put yourself out there, if you want the Universe to come rushing in...' 

Kelly Rae Roberts

I've spent the last 18 months re-connecting to my creative self and at last I've reached a point where I feel brave enough to put myself and my art out there.  And now I really, really want the Universe to come rushing in...

I'm here!!  Here I am...