You won't be sitting on a shelf much longer

Right now is an awesome time in my life. It's amazing how this past year has really filled out and filled in.

First of all, I know the best people. I have the most fantastic friend Sandy and Michelle. Yesterday, they both said the most wonderful things about me and what I'm doing without me asking. They just said it. How fabulous is that? The best part is that I know what they are saying is true, I've been thinking it about myself already, but confirmation from your Sisters is like loads of gorgeous texture on a pretty painting. They really made me smile and warmed my heart. My job is to keep their words in my mind, so when I do hit a snag (and I will) - BAM, I can pull out their opinions to help me battle those demons. BACK!! Back I say!!

I was listening to Sade the other day while working. It reminded me of another time and place.....way back 6, 7, 8 years ago and West Palm Beach FL vacations. I had the very strong feeling of:

wanting to be creative so badly, but not being satisfied with my creativity
being wrapped up in bad relationships and bad friendships
working in hell
being around crazy people and in the dramatic life
playing the part I was cast in
knowing there was peace to be had, but not having a clue as to how to get it
living in crappy apartment after crappy apartment with no space around me, jammed in there
having to share space with living and the little creating I was doing

Then, I realized,

I am here right now, being creative, doing what I've been wanting to do for so long that I never thought I'd be here. Living it. Being it. In a place I love, with lots of space and trees and animals and bugs (some of the bugs I don't like, but they're part of it, so I gotta take them too). Here I am, right now, doing exactly what I've always wanted to.

I was an amazing feeling. There were a lot of things that made the difference, but one huge one was my dedication to the work and the time I put in almost daily.

An Artist arts.

I am an Artist.

~magick~
Melissa

Herb garden poetry

Four white moths with four black spots worshiped the parsley

& I stood in the warmth of the sun

& fuzzy slippers watching their ritual.

Somewhere in the hidden space of the trees, a chipmunk chirped.

One, two, three, and then I lost count.

Buddha meditated amongst the ferns.

The breeze rustled the greens.

Many birds sang their happy tunes,

while one complained loudly at some unknown angst.

The hum of the world in the distance and overhead.

At the end of this moment in the herb garden, I knew,

while they worshiped that parsley and went about their lives,

I worshiped them all.

~magick~
Melissa

Goodwill -n- Melissa 4-ever

Can I just say, I LOVE Goodwill. We're lucky enough to have 3 of them around us. A few weekends back the Hubby and I visited all three. I found this awesome cabinet at the last one for $25.00! Mine!

I feel like I have so much more space. I can breathe. Well, except when I start working and then spreading art stuff all over and cram myself into a little box on the floor. But I have been a pretty good girl at cleaning it all up.





I also bought this bookshelf for $4.97! Now my books don't have to sit in a pile in the corner. I have them divided: books for reference and books for cutting up.



My TV is on the opposite wall.



I also got a ton of other stuff. Old books of all sorts. A hymnal, which I was just talking about before I found it. Some shelves to hang on the wall (which are sitting in the garage). Lots of stuff to paint on and alter.

I really do have to work on what's hanging (or not) on the walls of my studio (and my house for that matter). I need a professional picture hanger to help me.

Here's some new art I've been working on.

I have no idea yet what this lady is saying. She hasn't told me yet. But I hope it's as interesting as her house. Maybe she has some ideas about balance??


We are connected, not by wires, but by the heart.



There are many worlds out there
of which we have no idea
worlds of strangely beautiful bird-woman queens
with one magickal wing.



Do you think it's possible?



Know the beauty of thy~self



A journal girl. She is also being quiet. She's got something going on behind those intense eyes.



Hey Sandy, here's a preview just for you, love!



Well, I'm off. Enjoy your day and your weekend. And whatever you choose to do,


~magick~
Melissa

Hi.

:)

Be warned

June 4, 2010

If you are going to do this, be prepared to find yourself bored, uninspired, frustrated, lonely, blah, depressed, incapable, not-worthy, angry, disappointed, unable...even if you LOVE doing this! There will still be these emotions. They will still be present. If it's REALLY for you - you'll work through them, with them, in-spite of them because you won't be able to NOT do this. If it's IN you, it will be a part of your life (period).

~magick~
Melissa

The Prius brings another one to justice

Lately, I feel like a superhero.

We saved a lil amish baby who had wandered away from his family and was standing in the middle of the road:

Because of a pin sized hole in the cold water pipe going into the hot water heater, Stu went to Lowe's. While there, someone handed him a sale paper where he saw a grill he wanted to buy. After going to Lowe's to see the grill, we decided to rent a truck and drive it home. After driving it home, we were driving on a back-country road to return the truck. At 8:15 pm, we noticed a little boy standing in the road with no one but cows around. ?? I got him to come over to the side of the road and told Hubby to drive down the nearest driveway to see if he belonged to them. Suddenly, we saw an Amish woman running her butt off down the driveway.

"Oh, many thanks! The neighbors were just here, he must have followed them out. I thought he was with my husband, who probably thought he was with me. Was he in the road?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Oh, many thanks! What do we owe you?"

"Nothing :)" (it's just another day in the life of a superhero)

Who knew a hole in a pipe would lead us there? Good thing we were there - it was soon to be dark, he was dressed mostly in black, people drive like maniacs on those curvy country back roads, and there are people out there who would have scooped him up and no one would have seen a thing. Scary.

They were surely thanking God that night!

We accidentally apprehended a wanted criminal:

"There's a person driving in front of us with their foot out the window," Hubby says.

Sure enough there was. Then he started jerking the wheel back and forth while coming to stop at the next light. Then he was drifting all over the road - the shoulder, but worse right into on coming traffic.

"Is he drunk or just an idiot?"

While contemplating reporting him to the police, the next thing he did decided for us. He was approaching a light that had just turned green. No one was going yet. There was a person in front of him sitting at the light, but no one was in the left hand side turning lane. On the opposite side, both lanes were full. We were waiting for him to start to stop, but he didn't until it was too late to stop. He slowed down a bit and at the last second, he jerked the wheel into the open turning lane. Now instead of stopping there, he decided to go straight from the turning lane, around the person sitting next to him. That was it.

So many times we see these people and we do nothing about it. We mind our own business. But for some reason, we thought, "Ya know, if he kills someone and we could have reported him before that happened, we're gonna feel bad."

So, we called the police, told them where he was, what type of car he had (we couldn't get the license plate because there was a car in-between us), and where he was. We watched him continue to drive into on-coming traffic. Before the cops got there, he turned off of the road. We followed him.

He was driving 20 miles over the speed limit (like I said, people drive like maniacs on these curvy back country roads) and again all over the road. Hubby was trying not to drive fast because we had just gone to Goodwill and bought a bunch of collectible cups (he's obsessed with the old McDonald's, Burger King, etc. cups :). A couple times we came upon cross roads and had to guess which way he went. We were right. But eventually, he was just going too fast and we lost him.

BTW, we followed him down a road we'd never been before. So, at that point, we decided to try to figure out where we were. Next thing I know, Hubby says, "Is that him behind us?" Sure enough, it was. We slowed down, so did he. He turned off, Hubby turned around. As we were coming around the corner, he see him backing into a driveway, hiding behind a bush. So, we waited. He pulled out, drove toward us, and passed us, so we got a real good look at him. Orange shirt, white hat. But not as good a look at the license plate - I could only get the first couple, before he was turning around to follow us again.

So, we start to driving again. Him behind us. We call the cops back. We were driving kinda slow. So was he. He was hanging back a bit. Apparently, he realized we were following him at some point. Hey, I didn't say I was an under-cover super hero.

As we drove around a bend, we saw him turn into a driveway. Hubby knew the road we were on and saw the number he pulled into. So, we told the cops we'd meet them there. Unfortunately, it was again, a back road, with no where to pull over without getting hit by someone. We decided to drive back and forth. We figured he was gone, turned around in the driveway and took off. Then I see, a guy coming out of a house with an orange shirt and white hat. THAT'S HIM!

What a dummy. Rule #1 when being followed by someone is never go home!

The cops showed up and we told him what happened. The guy was standing outside the house watching us talk to the cops with a woman. We went home not knowing what happened. But we were chuckling at how stupid the guy was. We gave up on him and were headed home, until we saw him following us. Then he leads us right to his house! DUH!

The story gets better - the next morning Hubby's phone rings. It's a state trooper saying that they guy is in prison (not jail, PRISON) because he had a bench warrant out for him!! We couldn't believe it! And what an even bigger idiot. Hubby says, "If I was wanted, I wouldn't be driving with my foot out the window. I'd be driving 2 miles an hour under the limit!" That's all we kept saying for the rest of the day, bench warrant, haha. Apparently, they tested him and he wasn't drunk or on drugs. He said he was tired. Tired doesn't drive with it's foot out the window. And tired wakes up after it almost slams into the back of someone. I guess, some people just don't care enough about their own lives to care about anyone else's. It was pure magick from above that he didn't hurt or kill anyone.

Amazingly enough, between my adventures, I've still had time to art! And yesterday I added some 'new' furniture to my studio!

Here's some stuff I did a while ago, but haven't shared yet.

From my art journal (I had shared an unfinished version of this several posts back)


One of the few times I didn't draw first, but used white gesso to discover these three ladies on the canvas. The Priestesses 3



She is


This girl reminds me of my beautiful friend Kim.


She is



She is


It takes courage to sea.



She is accepting.



She holds the rune of courage.




She is praying.


Lean toward the light.




This is a painting painted over a painting. It used to be flirty birdie. Now it's, there is a tiny dancer who dances inside my heart.



There are memories of flirty birdie remaining.


Another journal with women of color. She says, "Keep on that balanced path."

She says, "Show up" and "Wear God on your shoulders."


I'll share pictures of my new and improved studio another day.

~Have a magickal day!~
Melissa