Why not?
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Svadhishthana Origami
Recently I have begun work on the second Chakra, Svadhishthana. This Chakra, orange in colour, is a centre for creativity, sexuality, and desire, and is also associated with our emotions. Svadhishthana is of particular interest to me because it shares many elements with my sun sign, Cancer. Along with the emotional and sexual nature, it shares its symbols with Cancer. Its element is water, its metal silver, its planet the moon.
When it is balanced Svadhishthana fosters an exuberance for life, especially its sensuous aspects. This makes sense since its vehicles are emotions, sexuality and creativity, which are the spheres of our psyche where we experience the conscious appreciation of being alive.
Because of the comradery I feel with this Chakra, I may stay here for a bit longer than I would typically. It also seems to be an important Chakra for artists because such a large part of what we do involves being able to stop and see the hidden potential in ourselves and in the world around us.
To externalize my focus on Svadhishthana, I have decorated my meditation altar in orange, including a couple orange fish, which is an animal associated with this Chakra. I even managed to find some beautiful old Silver trays from a local thrift store to add some weight.
When it is balanced Svadhishthana fosters an exuberance for life, especially its sensuous aspects. This makes sense since its vehicles are emotions, sexuality and creativity, which are the spheres of our psyche where we experience the conscious appreciation of being alive.
Because of the comradery I feel with this Chakra, I may stay here for a bit longer than I would typically. It also seems to be an important Chakra for artists because such a large part of what we do involves being able to stop and see the hidden potential in ourselves and in the world around us.
To externalize my focus on Svadhishthana, I have decorated my meditation altar in orange, including a couple orange fish, which is an animal associated with this Chakra. I even managed to find some beautiful old Silver trays from a local thrift store to add some weight.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Muladhara Origami
During my last yoga lesson we took a look at the Chakras. The Chakras have always intrigued me but I only had a vague knowledge of them before. Studying them appeals greatly to someone like me who likes structure, symbolism, and colour. So recently my yoga practice has been focused on the Chakras. I began at the bottom with the Root Chakra, Muladhara. This Chakra is about basic needs, security, and the survival instinct. Its colour is red. During the period I worked on this Chakra, I thought it would be fun to decorate my meditation altar to externalize the Muladhara Chakra. I used a red candle of course, but I also made some red and gold origami stars. In addition to being red, they seemed like little platforms, or foundations, which also echoed the characteristics of the Root Chakra.
I plan to continue this trend. In fact I have already begun working with the second Chakra and will be posting about that soon. Because yoga and creativity are both cornerstones of my life, I like to take any chance I have to intertwine them. The psychology of our bodies and minds finds its expression through art. Why else would each Chakra be represented by a physical symbol? (Muladhara's is a golden square). Carl Jung recognized the benefits of expressing our internal experiences through artistic expression, both on an individual and collective scale. For the individual Jung called this process Active Imagination. Today it is more popularly referred to as art therapy. I figure, why not incorporate yoga here?
My origami stars are certainly not "art". But they are a physical representation of an abstract idea. This unique human talent allows us to be midwives of expression. It's quite an honour, if you think about it.
I plan to continue this trend. In fact I have already begun working with the second Chakra and will be posting about that soon. Because yoga and creativity are both cornerstones of my life, I like to take any chance I have to intertwine them. The psychology of our bodies and minds finds its expression through art. Why else would each Chakra be represented by a physical symbol? (Muladhara's is a golden square). Carl Jung recognized the benefits of expressing our internal experiences through artistic expression, both on an individual and collective scale. For the individual Jung called this process Active Imagination. Today it is more popularly referred to as art therapy. I figure, why not incorporate yoga here?
My origami stars are certainly not "art". But they are a physical representation of an abstract idea. This unique human talent allows us to be midwives of expression. It's quite an honour, if you think about it.
Christmas Cards
It feels like it's been forever since I've written here! The holidays seem to slow me down. It's like I was a huge hunk of fruitcake trying to maneuver my way through a landscape also made of fruitcake. But the holidays are finally over, and I do have some things to show for it. I spent my time making gifts of course. As a result, I feel more like a crafter than an artist right now. I'm just trying to go with it...
The little Christmas cards pictured here are special because they were my very first silk screening project. It was definitely a learning experience. I tried using the "positive" drawing fluid method first, but when I added the screen filler on top the drawing fluid, the images blurred quite badly. I'm sure there's a knack to it, but I don't have it. So, I ended up just using the "negative" method with the screen filler alone. It was time consuming, (and that screen filler is a bitch to clean off the screen because you have to apply a pretty thick layer), but it worked out well enough for the cards.
Next year I hope to be a bit more ahead of schedule so I can sell some cards on Etsy.
The little Christmas cards pictured here are special because they were my very first silk screening project. It was definitely a learning experience. I tried using the "positive" drawing fluid method first, but when I added the screen filler on top the drawing fluid, the images blurred quite badly. I'm sure there's a knack to it, but I don't have it. So, I ended up just using the "negative" method with the screen filler alone. It was time consuming, (and that screen filler is a bitch to clean off the screen because you have to apply a pretty thick layer), but it worked out well enough for the cards.
Next year I hope to be a bit more ahead of schedule so I can sell some cards on Etsy.
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