Rainbows and the beauty of colour.

I saw a rainbow two months ago.

I saw it at a time when I had been feeling really discouraged. 

It stopped me in my tracks and I had a conversation with a stranger in the street about the vibrancy of it, and about how it had made my day.

As I stood in the street and looked and looked at it, the child in me felt that the rainbow was in the sky just for me.

It felt like a reminder of hope, that the promise of my life would be fulfilled and that I live out this promise in every moment. 

A reminder that the moments of my life, in every single day, are precious, and they are beautiful. 

That regardless of any outcome or end result, my life's story is a series of moments, treasures stored up that will one day be counted, and laid out and cherished. 

A reminder that life is a process and this process is the main event.

Since then, I have seen two more rainbows, one with my daughter Daniella, about two weeks ago, and another, two days ago with my husband, walking home after a lovely dinner together.

Rainbows are by their very nature, a celebration of colour, so I have been honoring my 'rainbow moments' with as much colour as possible.

Yesterday I met with my friend Deborahgrace for an art date at mine.
It was a wonderful time of colour, laughter and fun.

My work in progress..

Deborahgrace's beautiful art!

Deborahgrace and her and her joy filled art. Gorgeous!

Here's to many more 'rainbow moments' filled with hope, love and colour.
Much love.
xxx

Roses and Reminders.

Summer is in full flow here. 

I suddenly realised that the roses were in full bloom in the park opposite where we live. 

So my daughter Kezia and I went out to admire them together.

It's so refreshing to see the beauty in nature, the beauty that's all around, even in the middle of the city.
I am constantly reminded that in a world where awful things happen daily, the birds continue to sing and the roses continue to bloom.
There's something about the rhythm of the seasons and constantness of these things that's hugely comforting and always reminds me of the promise of good.

I started the year celebrating the beauty of flowers at my birthday party. 

(See more in this post, and this one too.)

It's lovely that flowers continue to capture my heart and my attention throughout the year.

I went out early this morning and photographed some more roses still covered in droplets of dew. Gorgeous!

And funnily enough, yesterday at my art class, the teacher announced that we would make paper flowers.

The flowers are chasing me down!

 They are proclaiming their beauty all around me. 

Constant reminders!

Here are the ones I made yesterday.

Much love.

xxx

Love

The thing about love is that it gets right in your bones and transforms you from the inside out.

Lately I've been thinking about love. 

I kind of mean love in its purest form, although love is love is love is.

I've seen a couple of friends recently leave unhappy relationships and be completely transformed by the love of another. You can see it in their faces and in the brightness of their eyes. Like flowers that have finally blossomed fully because they are in the right environment, with petals open and colours vibrant. I tell you, the depth of a woman's heart is remarkable, mysterious and beautiful!

My health has improved because I think I have literally been loved better,

by the love of God, the love of my husband, children and family, the love of my friends, old and new.

This love got inside my bones and my cells and the depths of my innermost being and breathed life into my heart and into my spirit, and my body followed suit.

Below is a painting I did on a large canvas a few years ago and it ties in beautifully with what I'm sharing in this post..

Love speaks to disappointment and says that there are innumerably more opportunities, it says there is much more time and space than you realise.

Love speaks to abandonment and says that you are seen and that you will not be overlooked, that you are never alone even when it feels like it.

Love speaks to insecurity and says that you are beautiful, that there is noone else like you, that you are delighted in and rejoiced over, just as you are.

Much love to you dear friends.

Have a great week. 

xxx

Surrendering

I've been wondering recently why some days feel more fragile than others, why on some days I'm perfectly fine whilst on others my heart goes into panic mode at the slightest noise, like an easily scared bird. 

A couple of days ago I was sitting in a cafe after taking ages to leave the flat because I couldn't decide what to wear, I ended up opting for jeans that were too tight, so tight that I couldn't breathe properly and the chair I was sitting on in the cafe was shiny and I began to have an irrational fear that I was going to slip off the chair in my too tight jeans and make a commotion. A plate had already inexplicably fallen off a shelf and smashed which had left me feeling a bit jittery, and also the sound of the coffee machine was making me feel a bit stressed. I mean it's ridiculous right? But I chose then not to criticize myself for being weird, I chose to simply surrender and laugh inwardly at my foolishness.

I am realising that it's okay to be more fragile and sensitive on some days, that it's ok to feel, to really feel. Feeling is better than being numb, I'd rather be completely awake, than sleep through the days of my life.

The thing is, the more open I become, and the more I open up my heart, the more fragile I feel. It feels like my nerve endings are exposed to the elements and it feels overwhelming at times. But I choose to surrender. I choose to surrender to the process of vulnerability, of my heart cracking open, because surrender means relaxing into who I am, without judgement or fear.

Art Journal entry.

The world needs sensitive souls, but the world doesn't always allow souls to be sensitive. 

We're all supposed to be coping and getting on with things, with a smile and a hurray...but I can't play that game for too long. My face starts to hurt and my voice starts to crack under the pressure of singing a tune that isn't mine to sing.

I recently joined an online course called "Sunday mornings" by Mindy Lacefield, which takes you through the process of combining art and prayer. (You can find out more by clicking this link)

Here are my prayer portraits from week one. I've been surprised by the faces and characters I've painted, the suggested colours for this exercise make the faces seem more vulnerable somehow, and my prayers all seem to tie in with the theme of surrendering, and wanting to be found, just as I am.

My Journal cover.

To end, and to lighten the mood a tad, I shall share a couple of pictures from a book I've been working on for a wonderful little boy, about a very happy Hippo...

Mr Hippo and his lady friends!

Mr Hippo makes me very happy! Oh and my new orange shoes! I almost forgot to mention them. They're really rather bright and they don't go with any of my clothes, but I love them.

Much love.

xxx

Adventures in Blue, the joy of permission.

I've been thinking lately about permission. I often will have an idea pop into my head and before I've even given myself time to explore it, I tend to dismiss it as either silly, fanciful or a waste of time. But the thing is, I get these sorts of ideas all the time, the sorts that just pop up unexpectedly, and I think that by refusing myself permission to enjoy them, I have been clamping down on a really important part of who I am.

So when the idea of doing a colour treasure hunt popped up in my head, I decided to entertain it, to welcome it and sit it down with a cup of tea and a chocolate hobnob.

The idea came because since my last post, I had become very obsessed with green and grey combos and my kids were getting a bit tired of it, so my daughter and I play a game on the way to school where we spot different colours. We've decided that pink is the hardest colour to spot in the city, but you never know, watch this space!

In the meantime, the colour blue has become my current obsession and in the past week I've been stopping to photograph blue things whenever I come across them, including the sky, road signs, doors, railings and lots more.  Most of the photos are taken on my iphone.

Here's my lovely blue collection!...

 

 

Here are some of my favourite blue things at home...

 Today I played with some paint on a canvas, just for the joy of it, rather than trying to paint a coherent picture..

There's magic in the process..

The thing with granting myself permission to indulge my blue obsession is that I feel so much more awakened and inspired than I would have done otherwise, and it really didn't take much time or effort, it was a joy.

So here's to permission, to saying yes to the little childlike voice that is longing to be heard.

Today in celebration of permission, I am wearing blue stripey songs with my purple shiny shoes, (Much to my kids' horror). I have a feeling that such a combo should not be seen on a woman of my age, but I don't mind, and I don't care too much, and that really is a very lovely thing.

Much love.

xxx