Piggy and the Bowl

I have been away from blogging for several weeks now. I’ve been on that winding and demanding path of working and looking for a new job and it kept me away from this wonderful space. Sometimes with my energy level and creativity it is all or nothing. All output in one direction or the flow dries up. I was so happy on Beltane yesterday and felt my creativity blossoming once again. Beltane brings us fertility and fertility can be in so many aspects of our lives and come in so many different forms rather than just biologically. At this stage in my life I experience fertile ideas for making art and plans for the future. Beltane is a beautiful and logical follow-up to Seed Moon because it continues to speak of preparations and planning for a distant harvest. While it seems as though I have not been producing art, to me anyway, I have used my creativity to create new projects for my students. I have been busy over the last few weeks with paper mache. I have made a very sturdy, tall, fruit bowl and a piggy bank as demonstrations of what can be done from a simple balloon armature, newspaper and handmade paste. I know piggy banks are supposed to be for children but I plan to use mine. He is a very expressive character. It’s amazing to see the level of energy paper mache raises in children. The children in my classes who are using it have gone buck wild. An art therapist I know says certain materials can make children go out of control and I believe paper mache can be one of them in the right mix of kids. This has not been a good thing because as the teacher I am simply exhausted after reach 45 minute class. Making pounds and pounds of the goop they need as paste, carrying it to school and then watching them proceed into chaos is wearing me down little by little. Another teacher came in and helped out by turning off the lights and that calmed down the students for a while but then even with two of us in the room they started up again….exhausting! Now I am just ready to work on piggy and the bowl at home. Even though it sends an electrical charge through the classroom for me paper mache is relaxing and soothing in the studio.

Gran Bwa

Gran Bwa is a lwa that helps you connect to ancestral roots or the spiritual home of Vodou. A friend of mine, who is an expert on Haitian Vodou, who has spent a lot of time in Haiti with the artists there, told me I had painted Gran Bwa when I made this spontaneous work out of walnut ink and sumi-ink on handmade paper. I had considered this painting a self-portrait. She now holds this piece in her private collection: Quite a few people are afraid of Vodou but it is an awe-inspiring tradition of bringing together plant energy with divinity, spiritual and personal energy. My friend who is very involved with Vodou, especially the art that surrounds it, is from European ancestry. She is light in spirit and bubbly, with a close relationship to nature and her garden. Vodou affirms the relationships between cycles of life, trees of knowledge and spirit. The Vodou vision of lwa , understands them as the intelligence of energy present in humans, nature and thoughts. Mysteries ca

Xochitl--Flower

(Winter Poinsettia by Stephanie Rose Bird, oil on wood) One of my Facebook friends does daily posts and shares called "I love Flowers." I love flowers too, in real life, in my garden, in paintings and as they are related to the gods and goddesses, in healing, as well as their use in folklore like Hoodoo. Not long ago I posted about Xochipelli (Sho-CHEE-pee-lee) prince of flowers and Xochiquetzal (Sho-CHEE-ket-zul) goddess of flowers in anticipation of April's blooming season. The Goddess and Prince of Flowers post is here. Today, I want to focus in on the root word of their names and it's symbolism. This word is Xochitl (Show-CHEE-tul) in the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs. This word means flower. ( Frida Kahlo "Self Portrait Dedicated to Dr. Eloesser) In many different belief systems there are nature gods and goddesses connected with flowers. Flowers possess symbolism,

Follow Fest Interview and Sharing

When I first became a blogger it was difficult to know if I had readers and visitors coming to my blog. I’d post and be met by the sounds of crickets. Then, I branched out into the world of the blogosphere, a world I didn't know really existed. From my ventures, I met a lot of interesting bloggers. I've started following and commenting on numerous blogs, for you see, prior to my outings, I too was out among the crickets. Lurking about but seldom saying anything. A fellow blogger I've met through my journeys around the blogosphere is Melissa Maygrove . She had the brilliant idea to have a Follow Fest , where we share about who we are, what we do and most importantly, how you can connect with us further. It is my intention through joining Follow Fest, that I’ll connect with many more readers and people interested enough in what I do to want to learn more by following. So, here goes my entry for the fest. Name: Stephanie Rose Bird Fiction or

Stephanie's Studio

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