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November Starts Out with a BANG :: aka my trip to #COTWS

11/20/2013

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Picture this as the backdrop:
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No, really, that was the backdrop. 
You are now in magical Petaluma, California, at the Institute for Noetic Sciences (EarthRise Retreat Center), where gentle deer families roam the area totally unconcerned. It is dawn, the crisp air feels clean and light, but there is a definite electricity for what is about to happen in the following three days.

Now picture a group of 52 beautiful & talented ladies (and one friendly man), all gathered for the sole purpose --or should I say the soul purpose-- of tuning into their creative beings, to play with art supplies, and share with one another. You have arrived at the Call of the Wild Soul (#COTWS) Retreat!

The fun actually started the evening before this dawn, but that was the best picture I took all weekend, so consider that licentia poetica, and let me backtrack to the very beginning.

Thursday, November 7
I leave Portland, OR and head straight south through the fog and rain. About half way into the ten hour trip, about 20 miles from the California border, the first ray of sun appears, and it is sunshine thereafter. Around 3:45pm I enter the enchanted property where the retreat is to be held and met the beautiful Erin Faith Allen, the woman dreamed up this retreat, and she is every bit as friendly and lovely as I imagined.

Opening activities for the night started with a warm welcome from Erin followed by wise words on losing the fear of business in art through strategizing with Jess Green (the genius behind Seek Your Course). A quick shimmy-shake-dance for a transition, and finally a fast deepening to facilitate bonding (and to really set the tone) with the soulful Katariina Fagering (GypsyLoveCafe) who shared her stories and powerful photographs and lead us straight into an experiential challenge helping us connect with one another.
Friday, November 8
Meeting Teesha Moore

followed by the art sale
Saturday, November 9
Meeting Tracy Verdugo
Sunday, November 10
Meeting Erin Faith Allen
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Last day of month *10* 

10/31/2013

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In how many ways are you creative every single day of your life?

In today's post I would like to acknowledge one of my favorite ways for creative expression: playing dress up.
Every day I have a small version of this when I get ready to go into the world and choose an ensemble that mirrors my mood. 


But this is a little beyond that... What follows is a visual narrative of my physical transformation as I got ready to attend Day of the Dead Portland @ Tabor Space and finish the night at the Vagabond Opera's Dia de los Muertos Ball downtown!

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#yestothismoment ... Liz Lamoreux's 10-Day Adventure

10/10/2013

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Be Present Retreat's Maven, Liz Lamoreux, offered a free 10-day online adventure to help us practice saying Yes to THIS Moment. Some of the days seamlessly fit with what was happening in my life... Others brought forth just what I needed. Here's a recap of my pics and notes for the week++ In December she will be offering an e-course to help us stay grounded and nurtured during this doozy of a month! Here's a link: http://www.lizlamoreux.com/water-your-soul-december/
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"Hello Beautiful Soul"
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Day 1: Five deep Breaths
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Day 2: Notice Beauty
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Day 3: Find your center
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Day 4: Senses Adventures
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Day 5: Go back into your heart
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Day 6: The gift of rest
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Day 7:
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Joy Seeking
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Day 8: Just Connect
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THANK YOU!
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Day 9
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a list of YES
Day 1: I love to breath. I mean CONSCIOUS breath... I still remember one of my first yoga classes when breathing blew my mind. Today got close...!!

Day 2: My garden is starting to fall asleep. Lots of leaves are turning yellow. Fruit left on the vine frozen in time:unripened. A beautiful morning glory that volunteered next to the pumpkin is withering. The dahlias, rushing to give one more bloom, collapse on the path under their own weighty heads... so many moments of beauty in just a corner of the yard!

Day 3: The studio is where I look for my center... sometimes I find it...

Day 4: There are really no coincidences... Today's prompt is to have an adventure of the senses... I had Lasik surgery yesterday, and today I am delighted by the smallest of things... I awoke a little groggy from the meds, looked over to the side and SAW the time clearly without reaching for my glasses!!! I am thrilled to start my senses adventure in such a powerfully simple way!!

Day 5: Going back into my heart I wanted to know what I most deeply want... to my surprise, instead of an epic answer, I heard an encouraging whisper that suggested I continue to explore this in one powerful way: Play More!


Day 6: Sunday's frequently such a busy day... clean & cook, reply to e-mails, connect with friends, try to get things organized for next week, catch up with phone calls, and definitely call home! -- And then I open the message for today and the prompt is to REST. Wow. I needed that!

Day 7: Joy Seeking is a practice that my friend Kristen Maus (beautiful soul, friend, artist & coach) has been talking about for ages. Whenever this comes up in conversation these days, I can totally see what it has done for her to cultivate this simple thing... What will I focus on today?

Day 8: Connect ~ I have a dear friend who lives in LA... She doesn't feel at home that, and now that she is recovering from a health-thing, she is particularly aware of how far she feels from 'home.' Today, in the spirit of connecting, I send this dear friend some Joy Mail (art in an envelope). It feels so good to imagine her smiling when the letter arrives... Why am I not more connected again??

Day 9: A list of YES - The biggest and most resounding YES I hear at this moment is to meeting myself exactly where I am in my life, in my career, in my relationships, in my art. Yes to the fear, yes to the ambivalence, yes to the joy, yes to endings and new beginnings, yes to small things that mean the mos. yes. YES!!

Day 10: Recap and Gratitude. What a generous thing to offer. What a lovely thing to accept!!
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Summer Round-up: a.k.a. Meeting Myself Exactly Where I AM 

9/30/2013

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PictureBreaking through walls can be tough... Kindness changes everything!
Summer 2013 was a delicious summer. Visitors and berry picking; sunshine & travel; hammock reading, ice-cream adventures, bare legs and sundresses... 

I followed my bliss and blissfully ignored (resisted) my year-long project to 'unleash' creatively, and be accountable through my blog.  Meh, what'cha'gonna-do!!  Can YOU RELATE??

So, there was nothing being put out there in July, and just that one post in August... reporting "nothing in July." 

Today is the LAST day in September, and there is no question summer as we knew it is done! I am sitting on the red couch, wrapped tight, like a little chimichanga. I can hear the wind chimes on the back porch, but louder and more furious is the blowing rain against the windows. We are having our first Fall storm: and it's a big one! 

Thus far in this creative experiment, the hardest break-through has been to be 'putting things out there...'  So I regroup, get myself ready, and try to kindly meet myself just where I am.


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Digital Art

9/15/2013

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I have discovered a new toy in somebody else's computer (>wink<) ... a bamboo tablet that does not get along with my Mac, but DOES let me play... These are some of the Personitas I created while learning what it can do... I am thrilled with the results... Somebody said "Holiday Sale" inventory?
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July MIA

8/1/2013

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OK, so this is a new low!
ZERO blog posts in July.
But, as always, context is very important in Understanding (and Justifying). 

So check out this equation: 
Prfct PDX Smmr Wthr + Rd Trps & Adventrrrrs + Wdding Celebs & Berry Pckn' = Zero Blog Posts in July
It is as true as the summer day is long, I swear!

So we move on, and conveniently today is August First. 
New Month... new attitude? 
We'll see.

And, although it did not show up in the aforementioned equation, PAINTING has been a part of July.
Here are some pieces to prove it!
Enjoy
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Beach Baby

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bedtime

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Summer

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Portland Girls on Bikes

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Wednesday Quote

6/26/2013

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“The world of reality 
has its limits; 
the world of imagination 
is boundless.”


― Jean-Jacques Rousseau


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Wednesday quote:

6/19/2013

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Nothing will work unless you do.

Maya Angelou


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Wednesday quote:

6/12/2013

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Picturelet it free- detail
If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.

                                       Jim Rohn- American business man- 1930- 2009

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On the easel

6/10/2013

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Let it Free
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Wednesday quote:

6/5/2013

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I love collecting inspirational quotes while learning about their authors. I decided to start a weekly feature in my blog to share my favorites with YOU!
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"The artist is nothing without the gift, 
but the gift is nothing without work."


                                  Emile Zola- French Novelist - 1840-1902

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Last day of month *5*

5/31/2013

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The little ritual of looking back after every month and acknowledging progress/accomplishments from the previous 4 weeks has been a surprisingly pressure-inducing self-imposed routine.

May was a great month for dragon boat practices, maternal visits, and birthday celebrations. In addition, May has been a month of many starts and few finishes in the studio... Below is a sampling... 
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getting ready to catch the flag during dragon boat racing!
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personal inspiration!
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kitty for Emma
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girlie
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favorite little painting
Sometimes things move along more than other times, and we just have to learn to be ok with it!!
Here's hoping for a better (or should I say 'more productive') upcoming month!
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Personitas

5/31/2013

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Art Journal Pages

5/29/2013

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Quick Warm Up page using colored pencils and pages from a catalog.
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She's done!

5/20/2013

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I am fast learning about consistency in social media... Having a blog, a FB page, an etsy shop all take time and attention. If I don't feed said outlets news of my creative adventures, 
it feels like I virtually disappear 
... and I am adventuring alone.

Alone = Comfortable
*and always has*

As I have admitted in earlier posts, being vulnerable and 'exposed' is NOT my cup of tea. I read Brene Brown and sigh with admiration. Oh, the courage! And then I close and lock the door to my studio to create in peaceful isolation and comfort.

So I know that we teach what we ourselves need to learn, and I continue to learn that the journey has twists and turns, peaks and valleys, swampy bits and freezing snow. And then I gather myself, and resurface 
to thaw in your presence,
 my friends and fellow creatives.

I offer you a sampling of what's been keeping me sane in the studio!


If you care to open up to me and share a comment, I'd love to hear from you!
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Screeeeeeeeeeech!! . . . why has there been no movement?

5/13/2013

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Nothing tempts me to be distracted from a goal more than a blue skyed day with pleasant temperatures. Make that a whole week and a half of great sunny warm days. Add to the mix a hammock, and a good book. Followed by a small pinch of a maternal visit, and a special birthday. . . I really had no chance.

Sure those things are true, but the REAL REASON for my sudden stopping of postings and creative updates is that I got scared. Sharing my work with the world is a big deal for me (and many other creatives), but pushing myself to market it and sell it, well that's a whole other thing.

I just posted the previous blog post, as it sat in the 'drafts' folder for 2 weeks! I didn't edit it or add anything to it... for some reason, the fact that it contained the etsy link, paralyzed me completely!! A million self-doubting voices (some with rather reasonable messages) vying for my attention. So today I pushed "publish live' without giving it another thought. I made sure it was not going to post the update either on FB or Twitter, but it is here on the blog. Chances are  --and I am crossing my fingers hard -- that nobody will see either of these, and that gives me a small measure of relief! 


Movement = Risk ... and I guess I am still learning to be brave in this area of my life. Cheers to pressing the 'publish live' button one more time: hooray!

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Last day of Month *4*

4/30/2013

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https://www.etsy.com/shop/consutolosa

I can't say April has been a raging success of a month in my pursuit of unleashing and art liberation... but it hasn't been a total dud EitherI'll take the small gains and resolve to face forward and move on... since there isn't really a choice in the matter and all.

The most nerve wracking part of this whole unleashing 2013 has been staying public with my thoughts and creations, and making myself accountable in a public way. April was a tough one in that the main goal was to 'put something, anything' in the Etsy store that I originally opened in 2008!!! I used the account to buy art and services from fellow creatives, but as of this weekend, I had nothing in it.

So, the truth is thatI met the challenge about 70% of the way. It is open, yes, but the inventory is not new, but a little collection I had finished a little while back. Oh well. I'll keep it going
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On the Easel: A progress report.

4/28/2013

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Girl with Butterflies in her hair. Acrylic on board.
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Sometimes I find  myself trying to do e v e r y t h i n g. At once. So the blogging falls behind, because, amongst the things that get accomplished --like planting an all-too-early-garden & training for dragon boat races-- are NOT finishing paintings...

So here's some evidence that art-things are still moving along! And I am excited to say, that my 'end of the month' report will contain another milestone! Keep tuned in, and I will keep you posted!
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What do YOU need today?

4/19/2013

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I've been thinking about hopelessness and dispair in the last couple of hours. Reading my FB feed it is hard to avoid impassioned posts about injustice and pain; devastating acts of one human against others. At home and abroad. We are victims and we are perpetrators.

 So I came into my studio looking to work through some of the feelings using form and color. Listening to music softly enough to also hear the incessant Portland rain, I saw this little figure emerge. Serious, intent stare, and holding a balloon with the word hope. 'Here. Give what you need to get,' she seemed to say.

I guess this could be an expanded version of the golden rule. Not so much about how I want to be treated, but more about what I want to experience in the world. What do you need today?

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A slow day at the office is a busy day in the studio...

4/17/2013

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The Snow Child and the Bug Kid take turns on the easel.
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Art Play Dates - Encaustic Adventures with Judy -

4/14/2013

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Judy and I met a decade ago in Santa Cruz, CA at an art retreat. Since she moved to Portland herself, we have been gathering here and there to talk, and play, and share meals. A couple of weeks ago we gathered in her great studio to play with wax, and break all the encaustic rules. There was dripping, and there was mixing. Eventually there was even a piece of plastic netting that came in the scene and made it into both of our little pieces. But above all there was fun, and camaraderie, and exploration. For me, I wanted to learn all Judy could teach me about encaustic; and for Judy, she ended up discovering that breaking some of the rules can free you up to have a lot of care-free fun.
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My little ladies in red and blue backgrounds.
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Judy's red-head, looking lovely and demurely flushed.

*thanks Judy!*

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Art Mail from Tia Consu

4/12/2013

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Picture- Brayden's Pirate - Click on the image to see a short and speedy video of the making of this Mixed-media Collage.























I have a few pen-pals, all under the age of 12. Today I am heading out to the post office to buy stamps for my joy mailing needs. I love this part of my tia role!


When I send something out I imagine the wonder of receiving a personally addressed piece of mail reflected in their little faces. And when I receive something - usually a lop-sided envelope stuffed with a too-large piece of paper, folded laboriously - I   tear it open to reveal my treasure.

Joy Mail Update:

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Yesterday I got this pic from Erin acknowledging receipt of the picture.  The message was brief; the mail had just arrived ... "and he is already working on his masterpiece to send back to you." Mission accomplished!

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What's in store for your day?

4/9/2013

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whatever you feed, grows

lo que tu alimentas, crece

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April 07th, 2013

4/7/2013

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When I want to get to the truth 
I have to be willing to doubt 
what I'm telling myself.
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why are you here; where do you belong?

4/2/2013

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"Why fit in when you were born to stand out?"  
                                                                                                           Dr. Seus
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