A TALE OF TWO WINTERS

Recently we marveled at our good fortune:

"It looks like March out there, sky and all....It feels like early April...."  'What Luck!"  Cats played in the yard~

And then the Polar Vortex descended like a silent Great Snowy Owl in the night.  Stealthy wings of diamond dust snow crystals danced in the frigid air.  Snowy diamond sparkles dotted our porch steps and beyond.  Cats gazed in silent wonder and fear at a world turned white before their eyes.  A Winter Wonderland turned into a fantasy gone haywire.  

"What if our power goes out?"

Our furnace quit working....  

Thankfully the lights stayed on.  The furnace escapade has happened before...we knew what to do for a temporary fix.  Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't.. Coats and sweaters came out of the woodwork and blankets at the ready.  Oven went on to warm the kitchen, and water in large pots were set to simmering as needed for moisture and warmth. 

Patterns of Light and Shade  

*"All my pictures turned to black and white...."

I lost track of "Time"

Days and nights melted together....

Redefine: 

Schedule

Agenda

Cold

Sleep

Point of Reference

Uncertainty

* "Run the field you play alone...."

52 hours below zero....

And Now: 

** Some Light Returning:

Blog Search Key Words:  Winter, Snow

Related Posts

Weather or Not

Ice Patterns

Aftermath

A Strong Clear Vision

Resources:
Music

* Elton John quotes from song Someone Saved my Life Tonight, music and lyrics by Elton John and Bernie Taupin

Dr. Zen, Gymnopedia, music originally by Erik Satie,  MCNS Music Choice Nature Sounds, Direct TV 

Cats Purr Cd by Chet Day, Lucy, a real cat owned by Chet purrs along with nature sounds and musical melody, Gymnopedia by Erik Satie, for relaxation and meditation.

A Winter's "Tail"  Ruff rests in the cat tree~

Dahlis Roy Visionary Artist, Author, and Tai Chi Instructor



Photos by Dahlis
Cup with rainbow light
It's Snow Joke
Light and Time
Flower Color, Cards by Linda, reprinted with permission
A Winter's Tail, Ruff Cat hangin' out in cat tree

MAGIC MOUNTAIN

Into the Light

I think I'll paint a triangle!  It'll be easy!  

Think Again 


For several months a plain canvas greeted me on the wall, a new adventure, painting the triangle!  How easy can it get?  I daydreamed, I sketched, I saw "mountain."  So easy!  So simple~ so pure without conscious thought.  

The sketches didn't work~ the daydreams kept changing colors, when I placed a sketch over the triangle shape, no dice, nothing "fit" into a wholeness.

And so I waited and waited....

One evening, I just picked up the canvas and several assorted colors....took a plain tissue (yes a tissue) and gently brushed in a sky.  Nice and restful....

Now What?

I'll have fun so I picked up a handful of clean Q tips.  These are handy for blocking in basic shapes and lines with paint to set the stage for the brush work to come.  Easy, and no extra brush clean up.



Spirit Bear Appears

In full speed now, I got out my small chisel brush!  Thick and thin lines fueled with power and grace, mountain and trees painted themselves.  Fun!  Smile! 

I stepped back and noticed a shape of a White Bear, head and shoulders, had painted herself in the upper left corner....How did this happen?  I took a brush and went ahead and brushed in te eyes and shaped the ears.  Sometimes, the bear looks like she is wearing a dark blue hat, depending on how the light shifts across the painting.  


Surprise!  

Daybreaker 

Ancient scrips fascinate me.  Recently I noticed a symbol that looks like a butterfly and added it into right side of painting up about 1/4" and straight to your left. Of course I painted it blue, an X with sides connected.  This symbol can be found in various countries and cultures, sometimes carved into rocks or painted or written.  

The  "butterfly" can connote "the light of day," "dawn," "going within," or "reaching beyond" and "breakthrough."  In ancient times it also meant accepting into what the day had in store, not so much past or future as may be true in today's world.  

"Right Here Right Now"

Also, just for fun check out the mysterious animals and birds in the above close up, cat, horse, monkey, goat, rabbit, green butterfly and more~ open your imagination!


Blog Search Key Words:  Mountain, Creativity

Related Posts:
Peaceful Mountain
The White Triangle
The Painted Word

Resources:
Spirit Bear, (2016) Wild Kratts, PBS cartoons for kids of all ages.  A White Bear Appears.

Music:  
Here Comes the Sun King, the Beatles, Abbey Road, classic....gently edgy.
Neil Diamond:  Song Sung Blue, Holly Holy, and Stones from Neil Diamond's Greatest Hits
Ben Cooper, Radical Face, Roots, Leaves, Branches

Languages and Art:
Heiroglyphs from Egypt,  Petroglyphs, scripts and symbols Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, South Africa, and Etruscan paintings and carvings, cave paintings, Chauvet in S. France: 

 "The Earliest Communication was Art"

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

Oil Painting by Dahlis:  Spirit Bear with Mountain
Completed Painting
The White Triangle ("plain" geometry)
At an Angle, light emerging, shifting colors
Daybreaker Symbol Butterly in Flight (detail of painting)

HAPPINESS IS

SMILES!

HAPPY NEW YEAR  2019!

What's your favorite Happy Picture?

Zoe:  "When you feel blue, get out the sweater in your photo, wear it, or wrap yourself in it~ or drape it in your room and all happy times will come right back "Instantly!"

Family, Friends, Food, Pets, Vacations, and more "step in time" and parade before us in endless formats....

*Happy Photo Album (a few real print-outs) in a small album can bring instant happy memories for a relative or friend, or you..  Digital is good, ethereal and instant, but hands on photos, even faded or black and white, have an energy all their own.  

Happy Music, chosen for the moment, what music or song do I need right now?  Upbeat?  Dance, Sing Along, or quiet and calming?  That's a good question...turning on the music now.

Meditation, Relaxation  instant calm, even 1-2 minutes of reset makes a difference


Symbols:  Butterfly, twigs and branches, stars, clouds, think of them, draw or paint, bright color~ Imagine~

"Simple" One Liners...dancing tree

Pen on Paper...one minute~ carefree


Enter Winter Wolf

"A long time ago" I started a wolf painting, he went nowhere, I brought him to Michigan where he received a new life, slowly.  In painting him, I realized wolf was becoming our Collie pictured above....alert eyes, energy, watchfulness, intelligence, silence....

Every winter the painting comes into our living room.  This year, instead of being on a stone ledge high on our mantel, he is near the floor on a ledge.  He likes it there!  The light is softer, and his eyes light up when the winter sun filters over him bringing a new feeling of depth and dimension.  Natural sunlight brings artwork to a life of its own.   

Paint Your Dreams


Seeing the Wolf Star  CMA

CMA, "Canis Major" constellation appeared the other night on a moonless night filled with winter stars.  We went out to view in awe and wonder.  The air crisp, the night windless.  Perfect.  When I looked up to view Orion, the Hunter, and Sirius, The Wolf Star, I imagined the same glee my dad and I had when we first saw these constellations, years ago, with the red covered booklet and flashlight in hand in hand to guide us through the maps of stars and legends. 

The above painting, Our Christmas Puppy was made with two colors: cerulean blue and titanium white, no brushes....just Q-tips!  Quick Clean Up.  One afternoon, the winter sunlight filtered across the painting....and lit up Sirius The Wolf Star!  Quickly I captured the fleeting light beam.  Sirius, viewed in the night sky, is a beacon of blue white light, like a diamond sparkling on black velvet.


Tonight Jan 6, we celebrate our Epiphany Kitten, who appeared freezing on our doorstep in a blizzard four years ago....We coaxed him inside for warmth and food.  Today Ruff is "our mane event."   He is our Collie/Sheltie personality in a Cat Body.  Just like our Collie, Sky, Ruff closes his eyes in contentment when I brush him.....we both smile,

The Mane Event

Write Your Name on an Invisible Page

Create with Invisible Co-Stars

There is no Difference between the Visible and the Invisible....Space Time and Light~

Blog Search Key Words:  Collie, dog, wolf, cat, memory, creativity


Related Posts:
Mind Games: I dreamed my Collies into life~
Rocky's Road
Stars and Snow Spirit of Phoebe
A Strong Clear Vision
Winter Wolf
All Eyes
Sirius Blue
Our Christmas Puppy
By An Unfaltering Trust
All Alone in the Universe
Chasing Shadows
Epiphany

Resources:
*Happiness Enhancers:
Feel Better Fast and Make it Last, book, suggestions by Daniel G. Amen, M.D.

Animation:
Fantasia, The Lion King and more animated features.   Mary Poppins original and remake, animated characters interact, with actors.  So Dear to My Heart, Walt Disney Productions

Kids Cartoons for all ages:
Wild Kratts, Peg + Cat, on PBS.org  My Little Pony (Hasbro Allspark Entertainment) on DFCH and other sources

Music:
Song of the Day:  Cherry Tree Carol, Hose Feliciano, Sony-BMG Music Entertainment, 2008

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


Photos:
Sky and Dahlis in Iowa, Happy Times, photo by Rob
One Liners, Dancing Tree, ink on paper by Dahlis
Winter Wolf, oil painting by Dahlis
Our Christmas Puppy, oil painting by Dahlis, The Wolf Star
The Mane Event, Ruff, photo by Dahlis