Be still

Hello gorgeous souls. I hope you all had a nice Christmas. I have been off work for a week now but I have been keeping myself quite busy. Until my body forced me to take time to rest and kept me in bed. I understood that I just needed to be finally still, not running around, rushing and catching up but just stay still for a bit. So I did stayed in bed, surrounded by hot water bottles and aromatherapy oils. Suddenly I appreciate that stillness which I have avoided for a long time. It was so good to simply read a book and take a nap. It was good to go with a flow, accept how I felt and what I needed.

My first wreath. It is fun to make things with using seasonal abundance of nature.

Draft of the new painting.

Photos from the trip to Loch Lomond.

Winter and sea

Hello Dear Ones. I have not written for a while and because of lack of time I have not been painting as well. The lack of time for myself can be quite a hard thing to deal with. I suppose it is all about returning and acceptance of moments and time. When I let go emotions and ideas unfold again. The creation process will start. In the meantime, there is busy December. Cold and windy days, Christmas lights outside and fires bright and warm up dark nights and I become more thoughtful about passing year and how much love there is everywhere around.

Pebbels

The last days of November and beginning of winter. It has been time of the sea, dark and cold evenings, sitting with a book in front of the fire,  afternoons on the beach, piano soothing music and beautiful November full moon.
  Pebbles little round treasures picked from the beaches, carried in the pocket home to be painted one day. I spent last weeks painting mostly seashore finds. It was good to focus and take time working on the small objects. I combined my two passions: geography and painting in one again. I also enjoyed refreshing my knowledge about different types of shells and seashore finds.

Port Seton

I have been thinking recently about traces and marks of myself and my identity in my works. Also after weeks of reading historic novel I have been thinking about time and our inner and outer prints which we will leave behind one day. Our inner and outer artifacts, tracks and signs of our existence. What would it be? In the world full of constantly developing technologies, in the world when living without electronic devices seems to be impossible those days. What we will leave behind? My inner and outer artifacts will be memories, photographs, things which I made, collected and found like those shells from Port Seton and the other ones picked in the North of Scotland. 

Port Seton (watercolour)

List of inspirations

I would like to share with you the list of  my inspirations. It is strangely almost seasonal and fallows natural cycle. My inspirations are: black and white photographs of remote places, electric posts (not wires as much but electric posts in remote locations), moon, women, shells, seaside, leaves, driftwood (I love driftwood), ...feet, spirit and wild animals and all those things which are lost between words and images and could be found only through emotions.  I leave the clues of my identity in the techniques and the subjects I use and the more I paint or create the more I become aware of it.

'Lost' (acrylics)

'Lost there' (acrylics)

Changing seasons

Days are getting colder and colder. Winter breeze is spreading around. It is getting dark earlier and evenings are getting longer and longer, filled with reading and knitting in front of the fire. It is hard to explain why but during the colder seasons I prefer to use as a medium pastels and acrylics. Whilst during the warmer time I create usually with watercolours and oils. Watercolours paintings are usually painted memories of the summer or journeys.

The gifts of nature III

Before winter comes...

Poland

My time in Poland. Combinations of moments, glimpses of magic. Catching up with my friend Domi in Poznan-coffee and chat in the old part of the city, lack of traffic noise, the sound of church bells at noon, watching falling leaves at night and lots of our laughter. Cycling in the mornings in the park, walking barefoot on the leaves. Time with my parents and brother, sketching leaves and enjoying sun, warmth and autumn. Magic moments.

Inner compass

Sometimes when we feel that it is getting darker and darker suddenly the light appears. It can be a memory, music, treat of yoga, seeing a friend, moment of silence, leaf picked in the park,  child's whisper, solitude or walk in the woods. Then our hearts start to glow again. They glow with light. Maybe it is a power of life which brings us back where our hearts belong. Then our awareness raises and we feel that we are enough. 

Scott and I took a walk through the woods few days ago. I followed my inner compass and let myself go. It was when my heart started to glow again. When darkness disappeared...

Changes

Hello dear ones, my me time has shrunken a lot recently. I am trying to catch the beauty of autumn in the gaps of time and awareness . There is so much beauty in combination of light, colours, melancholy and changes. Hopefully I will get back to my painting routine again soon. In the meantime I have been playing with soft pastels. Wishing you all a great and inspiring week!

The gifts of Nature II

So simple, so delicate and so beautiful. Autumn.