The shrilling of the red-bellied woodpecker rings outside my window as I write this blog post. Sitting at my writing desk, I slowly turn my head to the left to see him pecking away at the suet feeder.
On my art desk is something new I’m working on for my Etsy shop. Using the same 2.5 x 3.5 wooden templates that I created the animal cards for my Animal Reflections Oracle Deck, I had some leftover blank templates.
I’m incorporating more into these mixed media pieces by making them more dimensional. I’ve added sparkling jewels, and to create more dimension I’m propping the animal images a bit off the card by adhering a drop of silicone glue on the back of the images I want to stand out.
In December I used two of the templates with my new ideas and made them into gifts – one for my mom and one for my dad and his wife.
I enjoyed the process so much that I wanted to make more. And I just love surrounding myself with animals and their wisdom and it seems as if Woodpecker was echoing that sense just as I jumped on here to write about it.
Earlier in the week last week, I made a card inspired by the Bufflehead Ducks I’m missing seeing on a nearby pond. But I’m not ready to show it yet until I’ve made a few more and then they will all be available in my Etsy shop.
So yesterday I wanted to work on a new card which is the hummingbird and what you see in the photo above. The flower and the hummingbird images will be the pieces I use to prop off the card to add dimension.
What I love is when synchronicity happens! When I’d finished making the Bufflehead duck card I wasn’t sure what animal I wanted to work on next. So I just sat in silence until an animal showed itself to me – and it was Hummingbird.
Later in the evening, as I do when a new week is about to begin, I draw an oracle card from a deck I keep on a small table in our bathroom. Perhaps you are thinking it’s a strange place to keep oracle cards? ha! But I like having the card I have drawn for the week in a spot I know I’ll for sure see it several times a day. It’s a great reminder and a wonderful way of pausing and checking in with myself.
Turning the card over I was granted a smile and a shot of synchronicity with the image of Hummingbird on the card.
And a lovely message that soothed my heart. Reflecting on the message I appreciate that in times of turbulence how important it is to take time to quiet the mind. I know creating art for the past fourteen months which began with my oracle cards and also 5 x 7 animal oracle collages I’ve created for my Etsy shop, and now this new idea has been such a gift to me.
When I’m in creative mode my mind does not get trapped in the outside chaos and I find many moments of calm when at my art desk.
When I awoke this morning, for the first time since the pandemic began, I didn’t grab my phone to look at my newsfeed first. While I still feel it’s important to stay informed and continue to do my research during challenging times, I felt a shift to honoring quiet time first. The news and all its unfolding will still be there when I check in later in the day.
Hummingbird teaching was still with me and reminded me to first greet the day with gratefulness and joy.
Having done that, I indeed experienced a very welcome sense of calmness to begin, and take into my day and week.
XO
Barb
