Art JourneyContemplationsFiltersGrandmothersGuardiansMedicine Basket

Let’s light more lights!!!

Posted on by sue boardman

If you’ve been reading along, dear heart, you’ll be pleased to know that “everyone” did, indeed, make it to the mythic stable for Christmas! (Along with a few other sentimental items which make my heart happy!)

The backdrop for our creche is volunteer art from A Creation Poem… “blacker than 100 midnights, down in a cypress swamp” (slb with thanks to James Weldon Johnson!)

I’ve thought about that a lot. Imagine being one of the folks in that rather rag-tag original gathering. No notion of what was coming next… only certain that, somehow, you belonged there in that moment.

And, yes! I – in a very small way – am relating just now.

There are other things in my awareness, as well.

News, though I’m still rationing that!

Dizziness off and on… with the need for new glasses. A very cranky right wrist and hand which makes painting more complicated. You get the drift…

Along with a crazy plan to re-arrange all the rooms in our house. Again! And, no, it’s not avoidance. It’s commitment to meeting new needs!!!

Here’s the real-deal room view from my favorite chair just now! And, no… I haven’t taken leave of my senses! There’s just a whole lot going on inside that needs externalizing. And that means words and paint. (And, bears!)

It also means space! The designated kind! So, the current bedroom is becoming the library. The studio is becoming the bedroom. The living room is becoming the studio. We’re even going to get rid of a few things!!! And, yes – blessedly – the Legendary Husband is on board!

Fortunately, painting and pondering go well together! You see, in several places where I hang out, the notion of intention or words or vision for 2025 has come up.

I like words and intentions way better than resolutions! And, I know it’s a bit early yet, but I’ve also heard The Muse whispering our answers!

I am declaring 2025 to be the year of Fiercely Compassionate Rebel Grandmothers… literal, or volunteer!

(I’m guessing you’ll agree that there’s more hope in this notion than in the “project” some of the folks in the news are planning for 2025…)

The words that chose me are Promise and Persist. (As many times as it takes!) And I’d love for you to join in!!!

What might YOU promise for the coming year?

What matters enough to YOU to empower you to persist?

And, yes… I really would love to know! You can leave a comment if you scroll down a ways, or email me at suesvoice@gmail.com

Here’s another thing I’m thrilled about… the studio revision will give me enough room to actually invite people to paint!!!

For this moment, though, the edges on my #Legend painting, The Time Returns, are dry enough for another coat of paint! She/they are counting on me… and on you! Counting on us to live in a world where promises matter and keep showing up for new knowing.

ps… rest in peace, Jimmy Carter. And rise in power. With huge thanks… he is teaching me, still!

pps… can you feel the intentions rumbling??? The dreams whispering??? Let’s talk! The world needs as many of us as possible on the path to the place where our great joy and the world’s deep longing meet, and my Filters model is going deep and wide! Just ask the calendar elves to hook you up with 45 min. My gift. You bring your notions of joy and longing, along with a cuppa, some paper and markers, or whatever’s handy. A scrap of Red Thread would be welcome. I’ll bring my very excited Medicine Basket! We’ll name a next right step!

ppps… help the Littles you love to start their new year with an inclusive new sense of belonging and wonder! January 6th is the feast day of Epiphany and the word, epiphany, comes from the Greek word which means manifestation!!! The very obliging shop elves insisted on extending the buy 2 – get one free – offer on my first picture book, A Creation Poem… until then. No fancy codes needed. Just put 3 copies in your basket and one will be free! As my old friend, Dr. H. Stephen Glenn helped me learn, “if a teenaged child has 5 adults who will listen to them, take them seriously, and not shame or blame them for their questions, that child is practically immune from ever attempting suicide.” A Creation Poem… is INTENTIONALLY written exactly that way for Littles of many traditions and families! Mattering matters!!!

Contemplations

Holiday blessings, with help from the way-back machine!

Posted on by sue boardman

I’ve never been very good at Christmas cards. Along about the time that I was also in charge of bulletins and sermons and late night rescues of battered women and children, I decided to give myself a break and get okay with not being good at everything! (Trust me… giving yourself a break is way worth experimenting with!)

That doesn’t change, though, the fact that you are much in my heart in this season, whatever you may call it. A couple of nights ago, I dreamed that I was inviting you on a tour of my inner museum. Kind of a chronological tour of how I’ve learned and juggled my shifting perspectives.

Let’s start here… my very first Intentional Creativity® painting, in 2017. Officially, she was the Black Madonna Pilgrimage. For me, she was an open door to whole new ways of believing and healing. Her name… Our Lady of Fierce Compassion.

Then, in 2020, deep under-layers of something that, rather ironically, turned into a whole other thing… a Red Madonna painting! I was grateful for a place to put all the dots and drips and tears as I watched the news when Congressman John Lewis walked into his future. Dots for radical notions like voice and choice. And, I was changed.

This one, you’ve probably seen. Officially, a Guardian painting… they surprised me no end! I began with an unfinished canvas which had been waiting in the basement for just the right moment. A moment when, once again, I needed lots of dots! Little did I know that all the hope and healing that went into this painting would become the cover for my book, A Creation Poem… A book I hadn’t even begun to dream – at least not consciously – when the painting was in progress!

And, then, Matilda, my 2024 Apothecary painting. (At least I think she was Apothecary… there’s been a whole lot of painting and learning going on!) And, yes… she gave me permission to share her official name: The Art of Overcoming Obstacles! She helped me learn to see what I’m creating, rather than creating what I think I should see!

Now, lean in, please. I’m supposed to whisper this part!

Matilda brought a huge gift with her! A gift which feels really timely in this moment. She brought a vision of hope in the midst of chaos. Of the best tool I know for making choices and taking new steps. And she taught me how to share it!

There’s more info to come. And, if you’re not yet on the blog list, now would be a really good time to sign up with the annoying pop-up thingy.

For today, though, two gifts, from the elves and me!

You can still get one free copy of A Creation Poem… when you buy 2 copies. Just put 3 in your basket and the shop elves will do the magic. The Guardian painting, complete with the very cool bear, will appear on the cover and in the book, along with a bunch of fun friends, and a story to help all our beloved Littles find a sense of belonging, even here and now! (ps… everybody who’s held the book will tell you the cover and pages feel really good!)

And, because Matilda and I are excited about the future, we’ve set aside some time for you! Just ask the calendar elves and they’ll hook you up with 45 minutes. Our gift. We want to know where you long to be! And, if you’re ready, we’ll help you claim the next right step on your path! You’ll want paper, some markers – or whatever, a cuppa, and a scrap of red thread if it’s handy.

Blessings, dear heart, for you and those you love. And light on the path!

Contemplations

As above… so below!

Posted on by sue boardman

I wonder if Creator imagined, when they spoke the world into being, how complicated we – the created ones – would one day make it!

I’m guessing not! At least the parts of me that have writing to do are guessing not. There are calendar issues and tradition issues and hemisphere issues and, frankly, body issues, and I’ll bet my last nickel I’m not the only one who’s noticed!

I mean, Have you ever felt like you finally had it – whatever it is for you – all figured out, and then discovered that there’s a whole lot more ALL than you ever imagined??? Welcome to my world!

So, a plan was in order… Around here, that means mind quilting… and you’re invited!

Whatever traditions you’re observing – or avoiding! – in this moment. Whatever stories you learned as a Little. Whatever hemisphere you live in… you are welcome here, with your precious scraps of memories and hopes, on the path of intentional newness.

Some introductions are in order. Blog readers, please meet Red Madonna sisters. And y’all meet some folks who are new around here, too. And imagine, please that we’re all sitting around the fireside of the Dangerous Old Women, calling in light.

Many of us (as Dr. Estes reminds us) are scar clan. Still standing. Still dancing.

And it is time, in this moment, to call in light, in all the ways!

Stars, of course. And candles. A bit more sunlight, day by day, for many of us. A bit more rest for many, many more. And a reminder – if we’re open to it – that light and rest both matter for growth… literally and metaphorically!!!

Here’s the challenge… the scrap that doesn’t seem to go with anything else in our mind quilt…

Growth means change and change can feel terrifying!

One of the ways that people have held power, throughout the ages, is by convincing others that they have to do everything the way WE’VE always done it.

Which reminds me of a new-to-me quote I learned from a wise friend…

Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire... Gustav Mahler

Now, I don’t even pretend to know what you will do with all these words in this moment, around this particular fireside, where all those who long to be here are welcome. And that’s okay!

What I do know is this… I must re-claim my need for both light and rest.

And that means not ignoring what I need. It means finding ways to give myself enough light and rest to stay on the path.

I have already begun by adding an intentional bit of light and shadow to each of my four paintings-in-progress at this moment. And I’ll add the same bits to the one I’m about to begin… and to all those I begin as I go forward.

Another thing I know is that Creator means us to keep learning. To keep asking questions. To keep being open to wonder… and I will, even when it’s scary!

And, one more thing… it really, really, really is all about love!

ps… know some littles who could us some of this love while they still have enough space to soak it up??? There’s a whole bunch of it – complete with art! – in A Creation Poem… and, while it’s a bit late for Christmas day, there’s still plenty of time for Hanukkah & the 12 days of Christmas and – well – just because! And the books are still buy 2 get one free! No codes needed… just put 3 in your basket and the elves will gladly do the math! Just click here… FierceArtWithHeart!

pps… stay tuned for a mini gallery showing, right here, on Wednesday. A bit of wonder from me to you, with much love!

ppps… coming soon – coloring pages!!! (The elves are inspired!)

Contemplations

Art in the midst of chaos…

Posted on by sue boardman

Do you know the old saying about many things being true and not all going together very well?

I’m beginning to think that’s most of the truth, most of the time! I mean, if we’re paying attention, there’s a whole lot of chaos going on and we need safe places to go. Places to take a break from the chaos. Places to make even a hint of order out of the chaos. Places safe enough to actually allow ourselves to sleep… and dream!

For me, at least, art – and the stories that grow into and from it – helps!!!

It’s a brain processing thing, for sure. The kind that helps all of our powers of perceiving and creating to work together. To make space for newness. (As you may have noticed, this feels like a really good time for that!!!)

And, here’s a bonus! We notice new things when we make art!!! We ask new questions and, if you’ve been reading along for a bit, you know I’m all in favor of new questions!

Now, here’s where we go out on a limb… what if – maybe… just maybe – making art gives us whole new strategies for making choices???

What if we practiced asking ourselves what we could do, rather than what we should do??? You know… actual internal preferences – vs – automatically complying with what we think others expect from us!

And, NO! I am emphatically NOT talking about the kind of coulds filling the news these days. The kind of things that go along with the notion that, in order for X to have more power, all the Y‘s must have less…

Instead, I’m talking about what colors or styles or elements could I choose that would help draw me in the direction of my own highest intentions, whether everything “goes together” or not. Whether it’s “the way we’ve always done it,” or not.

Let’s line it all out… The art we began with is a colored pencil sketch of a tree. It lives in a place I love, and became part of my inner family a while back, when I was up to my eyebrows in an art-venture known as #Guardian.

The same tree appeared previously in a couple of my paintings. In real life, it looks like this:

At one point, in the land of processing new questions, it also looked like this:

All true. All useful in different ways, depending on the questions and the needs. And here’s the punch line:

If a tree can teach me all this – and soothe my spirit at the same time – why would I be okay with needlessly endangering them???

And that, my dear friend, is the thing known around here as one step reframe with a big gold bow! (The reframes are very rarely actually one step, but feel like it when the light comes on!)

And – drum roll, please! – all of this reframing becomes medicine in my basket. Medicine for helping folks like you manifest your biggest, dearest intentions, one step at a time. If this notion sets anxiety/excitement bubbles rising inside you, let’s talk! 45 min. My gift. You bring a cuppa, some paper & a pen or markers… some red thread could be handy, too. We’ll name your next right thing!!!! Just click here and ask the calendar elves to hook you up!

ps… even though we’re running short on shipping time for the holidays, the buy 2 – get 1 free special on A Creation Poem… is still good! Here’s what one reader had to share: “What a gift! My youngest grand-children explored the paintings, simply transfixed, while the teens delighted in the inclusive language…” (Marilyn Washburn, MD, MDiv, PhD) No special codes needed. Just put 3 copies in your basket and they’ll make the magic! (pps… there are lots of other goodies discounted, too! Everything in the collections of Original Art, Archival Prints, and the Special Guest Artist Collection is 25% off the listed price – no codes needed. The elves have got you!)

Contemplations

Tradition!!!

Posted on by sue boardman

Do you remember Tevye, in Fiddler on the Roof???

Can you hear him, even now???

I can! Dancing on the roof, shouting Tra-di-tion! at the top of his lungs, while his version of the way we’ve always done it was rapidly changing around him…

And, as you’ve already guessed, I can relate!

In fact, I feel like one huge collection of traditions – of stories – that don’t all seem to get along very well.

And how in the world did The Muse get Tevye and the angels and shepherds into the same story on this third Sunday in Advent???

We’ll come back to that question in just a bit!

First, though, could we agree that many, many of us are more conscious of living in the midst of mixed metaphors than we used to be?

Some of that change is technical… as in access to information Tevye could never have imagined! And today – in one of my old, old stories – is about information.

Angels appearing in the fields, telling the shepherds to take their flocks and make their way to Bethlehem, following a star.

No Google Maps. Just wilderness.

No generations of Grandmothers telling them this story all their years. Just go. Now.

No Motel 6 or Howard Johnson’s along the way.

And, at least in my heart, they went. Complete with a Hungarian herding dog (!) and – quite possibly – some Red Thread of their own… connecting them in ways too big to really comprehend.

In this moment, we are remembering. Many, many of us.

The questions – the ones they leave out of Hallmark® cards… probably quite intentionally – are important.

Whose version of the story are we remembering?

Who is included? And who is left out? And who gets to decide who gets to decide???

And – perhaps most timely of all – who benefits hugely, while others suffer???

I’m going to go way out on a limb here. Just me… the most sense I can make of all of this, at this moment. Now.

This story is for everyone who would say yes. Everyone longing for hope. For peace. For justice. Everyone ready to set out on the path with others, longing for ways to be love.

It’s not the only way to tell such a story… and I’m not sure the details really matter all that much.

As long as we choose love… the kind of love big enough for everyone.

ps.. yes! That last word – everyone – is a challenge for me. There are, indeed, a few folks my hurt, angry, frightened emotional self might choose to leave out. (Go ahead and guess!) But, here’s what I know… that part isn’t my job. My job is to say yes. Over and over again. As many times as it takes. Good news isn’t easy. It just beats the hell out of the alternative.

pps… meet my #wip – even though it isn’t Wednesday! A very opinionated painting known, officially, as #Embrace. Unofficially, she is becoming Our Lady of Good Trouble. Stay tuned!

ppps… need a Good Trouble gift for the Littles you love??? A Creation Poem… is just the thing!!! Put 3 copies in your basket and the elves will be thrilled to make one copy free at checkout! And HURRY… they’re magical… and they still need to be shipped! Daphne & I are on it! (AND, everything in the Original Art, Archival Prints, and Special Guest Artist collections is 25% off the listed price. The math elves have got you!) Just click here to be instantly transported to the place where Hope is waiting…

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My painting is pregnant!

Posted on by sue boardman

Last night, the Muse and I worked on the dove. And added another person toward the bottom. And touched up some colors. Progress… and I knew there was more!

Then, I knew. She is here, becoming… to bring something new into my awareness.

I’m not clear about all of it yet, but it has a lot to do with growth and hope. And, if my own experience with the pregnant thing is any indication, there will be some challenges, along the way! (This is both true and, likely, the voice of the Critic, as well!)

And, regardless of the challenges – and the fear – I’m all in, whatever we’re birthing!

In fact, after the chaos dreams last night, the Muse sent me in search of some comfort. I found it in my box of Mother Mary Oracle Cards… or, more likely, it found me!

Card #1… Our Lady of the Sacred Hearth. There are times, it begins, when we have outgrown our old safety nets. Like a hermit crab that outgrows the little shell and needs to search for a larger home, we must endure a transition that can feel frightening, giving rise to many insecurities.

And, then, this… there are times when growth simply must happen. You are at one of those times in your life…

Just between us, I really, really hope so!!! In fact, I hope that much of the world is at one of those times!!!

Our Littles need for us to be at one of those times!

I don’t expect such a time will be easy. Growth rarely is.

When you get right down to it, though, why else would we be here???

This is a glimpse of another one of my growth-paintings…

The raised hand is mine. And the Hebrew word means, Here I am.

A reminder of my promise… even on a day when it’s way colder than it needs to be and my knee is doing a new painful thing which means my planned pot of soup is on hold.

Sometimes, apparently, growth decides we are ready, even when we don’t feel ready.

And the surprising thing, in this moment, is that, deep in my heart, I can just barely hear a whole huge circle of ancestors – of those who came before us – whispering yes… yes… yes!

Because there is, indeed, more growing to do!

For just a bit longer, though, I think I’ll stare at her and wonder what wonder has quickened her!

ps… right after I remind you that there’s still time to do some deep growth holiday gift shopping at FierceArtWithHeart! The shop elves will be delighted to hook you up with a copy of A Creation Poem… OR, put 3 in your basket and 1 of them will magically be free! Then, choose anything from Original Paintings, Archival Prints, or the Special Collection by my dear friend, August Venuh, and get 25 % off your choices. You just click here to fill up your basket and the elves will do the math! (No codes needed! )They’re really excited to help you, so fix yourself a cuppa and wander in the wonder! It’s time to deck the walls!!!

pps… I’d really love to know what’s calling you! 45 minutes. My gift. You & your big dreams. Me & my medicine basket. A cuppa. Paper and markers… or eyebrow pencils if that’s what you have! Some red thread if it’s handy… to get one step clearer!!!  Just click here and ask the calendar elves to hook you up!

Art JourneyContemplationsFiltersGrandmothersGuardians

’tis the season… for strategies!

Posted on by sue boardman

I woke, early this morning, with Little Cindy Lou Who whispering in my ear! (And, yes… I’ve been watching the Grinch!)

Cindy Lou’s voice was not the only one I heard. There was also a voice proclaiming, Fear not! Which is, admittedly, a bit ahead of where we are in the season, but hang with me, please.

Let’s begin with our friends in the photo.

Imagine being out on a hill in the dark someplace, making your living guarding sheep, with not much more help than an eager herding dog from a place far, far away. And the sky splits open and a voice booms – or even whispers – Fear not!

Then, imagine that again, from the perspective of one who has not heard this story their whole life long. One who likely can’t read or write. One who has no idea what will happen next.

And, yes… I’m identifying with that shepherd. Possibly for the first time in all my years of hearing and telling this story! And what I’m realizing is that I am, indeed, afraid, for there are more voices than ever before in my experience who want us to be afraid!

I’m also guessing that I’m not the only one who’s noticed that we really can’t just decide what we want to feel – or not feel – and make it so.

What we can do is to choose strategies. Like the Whos down in Who-ville, we can choose to claim the truth behind that old, old story.

We can do un-fear!

We can use our time and our resources, intentionally, to make the world a bit less scary for some of our neighbors.

We can externalize a whole lot of the chaos we may well be feeling… put it on a really big canvas… and paint hope over it. #abracadabra!

And we can use these strategies for good… no matter what particular version of the story we learned as children – no matter what version we may claim now – if we’re willing to claim that, in the very beginning, it was intended to be good news for all.

We can be the meaning!

It’s not going to solve all the problems right away. It hasn’t solved all the problems, yet! But, that, dear heart, is not our job. Our job is to be good news wherever we can, even when it’s scary.

ps… here’s a great way for you to be good news! The shop elves will be delighted to hook you up with a copy of A Creation Poem… OR, put 3 in your basket and 1 of them will magically be free! Then, choose anything from Original Paintings, Archival Prints, or the Special Collection by my dear friend, August Venuh, and get 25 % off your choices. You just click here to fill up your basket and the elves will do the math! (No codes needed! )They’re really excited to help you, so fix yourself a cuppa and wander in the wonder! It’s time to deck the walls!!!

pps… I’d really love to know what’s calling you! 45 minutes. My gift. You & your big dreams. Me & my medicine basket. A cuppa. Paper and markers… or eyebrow pencils if that’s what you have! Some red thread if it’s handy… to get one step clearer!!!  Just click here and ask the calendar elves to hook you up!