Monday, August 15, 2011

The Element of Air

The element of air is the focus of the third week in The Elements of Art Journaling workshop at Wild.Precious.  I'm an air and water baby with very little fire or earth in my horoscope, so I really enjoyed working with the materials.  I associate a lot of positive things with air.  The following is a chart of associations that I quickly came up with.  Would you add anything to it?


I tossed a lot of different ideas around for my journal page, but kept returning to the words of a chant that I learned when my kids were small.  It's a beautiful chant, and one that I've used as a lullaby, as a balm during times of doubt, grief or pain, and as a prayer too.  I'll share the words here:

May we walk in beauty in a sacred way
May we walk in beauty each and every day
May the beauty of the fire
lift your spirit higher
May the beauty of the Earth
fill your heart with mirth
May the beauty of the rain
wash away your pain
May the beauty of the sky
teach your mind to fly
May we walk in beauty in a sacred way
May we walk in beauty each and every day

I chose words from the chant for my journaling page.  And dragonflies.  To me, dragonflies represent wonder, joy, gentle movement and lightness of being.  I used gesso, watercolors, alcohol inks, glitter, flower embellishments and a tiny crocheted butterfly. 

Each journaling page actually consists of two pages and it's necessary for me to scan each separately, so there are two images:


Next up will be the element of water and I'm looking forward to working with it, creating a new page and enjoying the beauty that everyone in the workshop is creating! 







8 comments:

  1. Dear Cynthia,

    What a beautiful poem and such and inspired interpretation of the AIR element. The painting is fluid and powerful. Really enjoyed reading your words and seeing the journal pages. For whatever reason I'm struggling with the AIR element. But I'll get there!
    Blessings!
    Corina

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  2. Thanks for the wonderful compliments Corina! I really had fun doing these pages :)
    I know you'll get past your struggles with the Air element and spread your wings into something wonderful! Earth was a huge struggle for me, and I think that fire will be as well - but it's all part of the process.

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  3. The chant and your pages are so beautiful!
    Thank you so much for sharing!

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  4. Cynthia, you have done a lovely spread for air and I love your chant and the way you used some of the words in your journal pages.

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  5. Rita, thank you :) Now, if I can get caught up on the element of water, lol!
    PS - I enjoy your posts both on Wild.Precious and on FB.

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  6. Hi Louise! Thanks so much. I (obviously) love the chant too. It's helped see me through more than 20 years of my life and has always served to remind me to focus on the positive. I'm glad that you love it too!

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  7. Hi Cynthia Just read the comment you left at Just Be Yourself. Thank you for that info. just don't know how often I'll be able to update it.
    Also, Thanks for visiting my blog. I am now following yours. It's easier this way to see what everyone is up to. Again, Thanks so much!

    hugs,
    Maggie

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  8. I love the words in the chant; so positive & uplifting. Your dragon fly pages are beautiful - I especially love the colours and sentiments in the words.

    Thanks for recently visiting my blog.

    Kat :-)

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Thank you for leaving your comments; I read and appreciate them all! Cynthia