lisemeijer

“Listen”, mixed media on canvas

The other day I came home. I was already at home, but I came home in myself. I sat down in our garden and settled into life. And I could feel it again. The silence. I wrote. A lot of anxiety came out through my writing. Things like the fear of not having enough money, being afraid that I would need to take a job that would drain my creative spark, fear of being too busy and not paying attention to the things that really matter.

As I sat down there in my garden I let it all run out through my hand pen and unto paper. And suddenly from out of the blue I began getting images of Indians. I saw Indians walk and move through the forrest and through life. And I thought there was something very special about this image. And then I knew what was so striking about them: the way they listened.

Shadow-portrait

The Indians I saw knew how to listen to life itself. In that moment I knew that if I want to learn how to really listen like they did, I need to not be so full of myself and my plans.  I saw that if we humans today want to hear the fine almost unhearable sounds of wisdom that runs like a hidden stream under all life, we need to become so still that we can hear past all the other noises.

And I saw that our focus is like inducing fluid. If we listen from a quiet place and give space to more than ourselves, then those small unhearable sounds become stronger and stronger until they form a clear, very hearable sound.

Tipi from “Do what you love”-course in England may ´11

That day in the garden I felt a humble gratitude toward the indian people. Who knows what they won on humanitys behalf? On your and my behalf.  Maybe they created a sacred space in life for listening. A space that will always be there, available for us to tap into when we are still enough to  hear more than ourselves, in a quiet moment.

Detail from York Minster

Thought to show you these step by step pics. Above: Blank canvas!

Step one: papers on as a background. I use Golden medium to glue/ shield them or just any collage/decoupage glue.

Then: layers of acrylic paint, making sure the background is still visible. I use a cloth or spunge too. This is fun!

Image forming up…. using an oily cohl crayon for sketching. It can be rubbed off easily with a wet cloth or a rubber, because of the already lack-glued paper.

Then some more painting with acrylics and/or pen´s called molotow. They come in many colors and sizes and are seriously cool (pic above). I used them for the tree and the bird.

Finished piece: “Wild nature – Quiet heart” (Comission work)

 ”In the middle of  the wildest nature you may find a quiet heart”.

Also: today I am part of  the guest-post series  “Changing places” over at Dixon Hill!  Go visit Helen Agarval´s  beauty-filled blog (she´s an awesome photographer!) and read the post about cafés here.

New painting, BIG one (75 x 75 cm). Now ready to fly on it´s own wings into the world…. (contact me for details if you are intetested to buy)

For more than a year I have been painting every monday. The mondays painting sessions are almost holy. Not much else would have a change to get my attention those days. Last monday I looked myself in the mirror in the evening after finishing painting. I looked so happy, I was amazed! I could see utter joy beaming from my whole being, like a child. That made me even more happy. So much can crave our attention and often locate us in the past or the future, but the simplest things can bring us right back to ourselves. Like time spent with something we love doing.

Wiew from our garden right now

Spring does the most miraculous things right now, like growing these purple cones right next to the green and yellow field. Love the sight of that!

Our daughter, Celeste and a friend mixed up in wonderful creativity

Absolutely love it when the children are being creative in the house. So much well being comes from their process. They dive so easily into that time and spaceless room, what a blessing and something to take good care of.

Brewing coffee the good old way….

Our gas-stove recently stopped working properly in the part of it that is small enough to hold the coffee-brewer and milk-heater, so I started using the stove when it is on. Such a good old feeling!

“Bird tree” by Sofie Børsting

My dear friend Sofie Børsting is also running her own creative business. She is a wonderful artist, and often spectacular birds or lions or other fabulous graphic animals or landscapes get unique life through her creative talent.

One day Sofie told me that she had found an analogy that helped her cope with the hyped state that can occur when you run your own business. One moment it´s quiet and then suddenly you get a big order for postcards or prints and you may start running around yourself like a headless chicken.

“Mister Peacock”

That´s when she came up with the farmer-analogy: For a while she had been longing for more steadyness in her life. Simple stuff. With specific rythms every day and every year. And the same routine over and over every day. She longed for a farmer´s life: Milking the cows, stacking the strawbales, leading the sheep out to graze. Nothing hyped or extraordinaire about that! Hard work, but steady, something you can count on.

“Tiger” …one of the friendliest tigers I know!

One day when she got a big and unexpected order, she began imagining she was that farmer and the postcards and prints were simply cows and strawbales. First she had to pack and stack and count all the bales, and later help her cows into town to graze in a shop there. She was the calm farmer, just doing her job like on any day of the year.  Steadily working, smiling and looking at the field, the animals, and just doing her job.

I laughed and loved this idea and immediately began using it. Now we often refer to our cows or strawbales when we speak. And it actually helps!

You can see more of Sofies beautyful work here or in her etsy shop where you can buy her cards and posters.