LUNAR ECLIPSE

*Moon Dancers, oil painting by Zoe

**Lunar Eclipse, a poem by Isabel Jackson

The dark of the moon is grey,

just visible under the half halo;

all the moon's light drains

into this melon rind of glowing white,

growing smaller as blurred blue spreads.

It rises higher over the trees,

moves at the rate the shadow moves;

pale orange, burnt orange, shifting to red

gathering all the sunsets and sunrises

from all around the world into itself.

The rim of light disappears

and the moon is my eyeball on an x-ray;

moon's eye pulsing with blood;

stars prickle the sky.


A long slow sunset

*** Zoe Meditating, acrylic painting by Ivy



**** "....and the moon like a white rose shone,"  W.B. Yates

Blue Moonset

Blogger Search Key Words: Moon, Sunrise, Sunset, Meditation

Related Post:
Eclipsed

Resources:
Lunar Event, Jan 31, 2018:  Super Moon, Blue Moon, and Lunar Eclipse

** Lunar Eclipse, a poem by Isabel Jackson, from Observations and Affirmations, Little Book of Poems by Isabel Brady Jackson, 2017.  Poem published with permission


**** W.B. Yates, Poetry for Young People

Music: February Stars by the Foo Fighters

Meditation: Deepak Chopra and Rudi Tanzi, new book Healing the Self



Dahlis Roy: Visionary Artist, Author, and Tai Chi Instructor



Images:
* Moon Dancers, oil painting by Zoe, photo by Zoe, published with permission

*** Zoe Meditating, acrylic painting by Ivy, photo by Dahlis, published with Ivy's permission

Blue Moonset, photo by Rob, published with permission

DREAM CATCHER

Ruff Sketch

Road Blocked 

My creativity vanished into a misty sea of nothingness.... Why?  I had streamlined my household tasks so all flowed smoother and easier, but the "time" to create still escaped until, at night, just too tired to draw or paint I'd put it off until tomorrow....

tomorrow never came.

Always a daylight painter, one day a young friend suggested, why don't you switch your online time at night for reading and recreation into the afternoon, even in bits and pieces?  Then try this, at bedtime, during a quiet time of rest and music, as part of a pre bedtime meditation, take a sketch pad and draw just three quick drawings, of anything, in any style and without thinking or looking at something.  Best yet, sketching, is a no prep, no clean up type of artwork.

"Do something easy!" 

"I want easy, I want it now!"

* Interestingly, I had recently read from several sources that drawing, painting, sketching, coloring, and even knitting, beading or other relaxing crafts could aid in relaxation, enjoyment, and gentle stimulation of the hippocampus area of the brain.  This helps to gently store memory and improve over all function.  Even 2 hours a week, a little at a time, can show improvement in mood and a more positive enjoyment of life: "pride of accomplishment."    

Why not try night vision sketches, even in very low light?  Just start drawing 3-5 minutes of anything.  The first night I already had a feeling of gentleness and success at bedtime.  The second night I got a big surprise!  Without planning I waved the pen over the paper.  Little ears appeared, and as I drew I knew the cat coming in from nowhere was Ruff, our "big furry" now in full winter coat, complete with a tan fluffy sweater around his neck.  The gesture drawing technique is full of action and essence, the pen flows quickly without actually leaving the paper,"simple yet contoured." 

The above sketch is definitely Ruff!


So now I had at least four avenues of instant creativity, stimulation, and relaxation:
1-2-3 writing, three small pages of "anything at all" spontaneous writing

1-2-3 night sketching at bedtime

1-2-3 gratitude, What highlighted your day?  Even 3 easy words like  "love, joy, freedom" or other positive statements can add feelings of contentment and only takes a few seconds.

Easy knitting or craft projects, real easy, no set pattern or agenda!


No need to do every project in the same day.  Mix it up a bit.  Zoe, my friend, also added get a blank calendar and write in possible days for creative minutes or longer projects "as needed" to spur action.  Flexible and Fun.


Dream CATchers:

Dream #1: Enter the Dream
It was October and scattered golden leaves were wind blown in my dream.  Rob opened the front door and in ran Ruff, the black and tan cat in the above sketch.  He carried a skein of medium weight yarn in his mouth.  It was fully wrapped in its store package.  The yarn was mustard color.  Ruff carried the yarn to me and dropped it at my feet. Then I woke up.

And so I went looking for the dream yarn at a store.  There was a "mustard" colored yarn, but too light and yellow, not at all like the darker mustard hue in the dream.  I found instead a skein of self striping yarn, the colors of Ruff, in various shades of cream, ochre, red brown, chocolate, and dark brown.

"I'll try it!"

I designed an easy pattern, no not right.  Rip out and begin again.  Next came a "Stonehnge" scarf of rock-like block effects.  Not!  Rip again.  **I saw on the Knit Show with Vickie Howell that people were knitting "Frankenscarf" patterns including mixes of yarns and colors in spontaneous designs on wide ranges of needles, even sewing some swatches together in unique  ways for colorful wall hangings.  

Begin again, this time with garter stitch, real easy and all knit on short wooden needles.  we'll see what develops~ Knit breaks during the day help me relax and reset my energy.

Dream #2

**Yon and Mu come to life! 
Yon and Mu are cartoon cats in Junji Ito's Cat Diary book.  Every cat owner can relate to the challenges and surprises.  Yon is a short haired white cat with black spots and Mu is an adorable Norwegian Forest cat.  The art work is amazing in realism and fine detail while highlighting emotions and situations with believability.

I have a copy of the book!  I put it on my night table. One night while I was asleep and dreaming, Yon and Mu came alive in cartoon form and jumped out of the opened book and onto my bed!  I knew it was a dream at the time, but it was wonderful to have night visiting cats all the same!

I still marvel at Yon and Mu's similarity to our Orange and Ruff: Best Buddies

And today, on Jan 6, Epiphany, three years ago, Ruff arrived on our back porch, a kitten freezing and homeless in a blizzard.  Then, we took him into our home and hearts.



Related Posts:
CATaclysm  Ruff arrives
The Mane Event
Epiphany Gift
Escape Artists
Stars and Snow Spirit of Phoebe
Enter Extra Orange
Welcoming Mrs. Harris
Wander and Ponder, Chessie walks her timeline

Resources:
* Dr. Daniel Amen,  Memory Rescue 2017
  

** The Knit Show with Vickie Howell 

*** Yon and Mu, Junji Ito's Cat Diary

Meditation: 
Deepak Chopra

Meditative Exercise improve memory, strength, and flexibility:
Tai Chi
Qigong
Yoga


Dahlis Roy: Visionary Artist, Author, and Tai Chi Instructor


Images by Dahlis
Ruff Sketch, pen on paper

Knit Easy photo, self striping yarn

Best Buddies, Orange and Ruff, photo