Category: Filters

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The way we’ve always done it!

Posted on by sue boardman

Once upon a time there was a scared young mom named Mom. She and the dad named Dad moved a lot because of the thing called work. Mom and Dad had two young daughters. One of them was named Me! Mom worried a lot – whether consciously or not – about those young daughters feeling like they were home. Like they fit in and belonged in each new place.

Because she was worried, Mom spent a lot of time explaining those young daughters to new people. The older one, named Me, was always introduced as the smart kid. The younger one was the artistic kid. And, because kids need to be able to depend on parents, each of those growing girls believed that Mom was right.

Time passed, as time does. About 40 years passed, in fact, before – one day – the one named Me had a new thought! What if, she wondered… maybe, just maybe, it was possible to be both smart and artistic??? So she picked up a brush and painted the dingy white kitchen cupboards in different colors to match the Fiesta Ware dishes that made her feel happy! It was huge fun and she really was thrilled with the way it looked. Even more, she loved the way it felt!

But, more things were true! There was a whole lot of smart kid stuff clamoring to be done in her world and it was close to 10 years before she picked up a paint brush again.

Then, she was invited on a magic journey called The Black Madonna Pilgrimage, in the mysterious land of Intentional Creativity®. She didn’t know then – and still isn’t quite sure – why she said yes, but she did! (Divine inspiration may have been involved!!!) And, with the help of a whole lot of wise people who’d been on such journeys before, she made art!!! In fact, she made the painting you caught a peek of, as we began. And she claimed a whole lot more of herself!

She even realized that she was both smart and artistic!!! And, ever since that day, she has learned and painted and helped others learn, too. The world is a complicated place and the she who is Me is absolutely convinced that if more and more of us learn what she has learned – and is ready to share – we can make the world safer and more welcoming for many, many, many more of us. For now, though, she has paintbrushes to wash and more dots to make! (And a very special thing to share with you, in just a moment!!!)

Here’s a glimpse of my #wip #Quickening painting. There’s still some finishing to be done but this is the piece we need now…

Yep! #Filters!!! Coming soon, to the land of Intentional Creativity® ! My first class for the Foundation and it’s about to start. You are invited!!! This is the place to bring all your questions… all the what next? and how will we make it? and what can I do? mumbo jumbo keeping you up at night!

My part is questions. And a whole lot of practice. Your part is claiming new possibilities… new paths to familiar dreams… and new tools for your medicine basket. Together, we CAN head out to the places where we are called!

I know… it sounds huge, and it is a lot to take in. That’s why there are lots of details, right here! Just click the pretty colored link to learn more. To HOPE again!!! (And, yes… there are pictures!!!)

ps… the shop elves have been busy updating at FierceArtWithHeart! Come on by to see all the fun and inspiration! It’s a great place to find encouraging Graduation gifts for your beloveds!

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It was a tiny earthquake… but, still!

Posted on by sue boardman

You know how sometimes you sort of vaguely notice things but don’t have a context for them? Like, Hmmmm…. whatever!

Well, we had one of those moments in Atlanta! According to the National Weather Service, attentive people from Tennessee, down into Georgia, did, indeed, notice an earthquake Saturday morning! For me, it was rather like my chair had learned the trembly, dance-like thing my muscles have been up to.

Just between us, it was already an unusual sort of weekend. It’s anniversary time. The Legendary Husband and I have been married for 35 years! He made it home from a road trip on Friday night. We’re shaking calendars and weather forecasts, looking for a suitable time to sit on a sidewalk – probably at Iberian Pig – and celebrate.

Frankly, we’re used to adjusting the date thing. In fact, we got married on a Thursday night, just before my first Columbia Seminary graduation, on Sunday. All the family was in town and it worked for our team of preacher-people, and student friends packing for big moves!

And, as you probably guessed from the photo, there are LOTS of things to catch up on around here. My #Legend painting is almost – though not quite – done. (At least that’s what she says!) There are books in the draft stage, and painting projects to finish, and wisdom cards in the works, as #Quickening concludes. And, yes… #Filters is about to begin!

Missing our kids on Mothers Day is on that list, too!

For this moment, though… a peek at my nearly-finished #Legend, and a few of her words, with huge thanks to the brilliant, miraculous Stella Mac… our writing coach, and – of course – my legendary self! When you get down to it, this stuff is more than a bit like an earthquake, too!

Legendary Wisdom

Good Trouble rising
a Phoenix from Stardust Soup
determined to Hope!

@slb 5/10/25

ps… I’m supposed to tell you that the Hebrew word in her stole is pronounced he-nay-ne and means both here I am and I am ready!

pps… sending much love this Mothers Day, of whatever sort you’d welcome! Whether it’s a happy, huggy day or a whistful one, you are witnessed.

ppps… let’s talk #Filters! You, me, and 45 minutes for naming your next right thing! (And, answering all your questions about this upcoming adventure with magic and paint!!!) Just click here and the calendar elves will hook you up. My gift, with much anticipation!

The invitation info is here…

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Remember card catalog drawers at the library?

Posted on by sue boardman

I do! And, just in this moment, I think somebody snuck into my personal library and mixed it all up! Not the external library, though we have lots of that, but my inner library.

Somehow Betsy, Tacy & Tib is now filed in the same place as my thesaurus – aka the dinosaur book! The dictionaries took a bit more hunting. English. Greek. Hebrew. Really! Thresholds of the Mind, Bill Harris’s book which opened the #Filters window in my being, was there, too, beside Shiloh Sophia McCloud’s Color of Woman, which is about to become really handy, again. Of course, my first picture book, A Creation Poem… and, obviously, my Grandmothers Are In Charge Of Hope.

And, tucked in a corner nearby, Brueggemann and Buechner and Leloup’s The Gospel of Mary Magdalene.

None of this was a huge surprise! You see, I’m writing fairy tales! And, Pope Francis has walked on. And virtually nothing I learned in high school Social Studies seems to be working.

Blessedly, the paintings are still whispering! The one known as #Quickening, more loudly than the others!

Much of Friday involved a cool process known as Meta-Cognitive Drawing, which means something pretty close to thinking about thinking while drawing. About that time, the bears got involved. The ones you can see, if you’re willing, in the photo we began with. And they wanted a chance to do some leading!

Bears leading is code for me thinking! And drawing. And writing. Even making soup! Somehow, in the midst of all that, I wound up with Alana Fairchild’s Sacred Rebels oracle cards in my hands. And, yes… I know that may seem like quite a long trip from Pope Francis and from Buechner and Brueggemann and Mary Magdalene, but it kind of really isn’t! What ties them all together is claiming choices!

So, I chose a card… lots of shuffling. Eyes closed. Fingers feeling deep.

7. LEGACY OF LIGHT It begins this way:

You are being asked to honour the legacy of light that is your sacred birthright. Take nourishment and support from those that have come before you — your ancestral lines not only in blood but also in spirit. Perhaps these are the beings that have inspired and motivated you to live as a sacred rebel, from your heart and with belief in yourself. The more you are nourished by this legacy of light from your past, the more you become a bearer of the legacy for those that will be supported by your light in the future…

There’s more and it all feels really helpful just now. (And it helped me get the next batch of work done on my own #Wisdom-Cards-in-progress, because even though I know – cognitively – how all this works… it helps – experientially!!!) Here’s a bit more:

The oracle of Legacy of Light comes to you when you need confirmation that a creative choice you are making, or have made, or soon will make, is one that is in alignment with your sacred purpose and spiritual path of healing and growth… If you were asking about a particular question and drew this card, then part of the answer to your question is that the issue at hand is one of utmost importance to your spiritual growth – even if it seemed like a relatively insignificant question… This light will offer you all manner of assistance. To not call upon it is like starving because you believe you have no means to acquire food, whilst a feast lays before your eyes — if only you would partake of it!

Part of partaking of the light, for me, is sharing this with you, even though, in some of the places I’m from, we don’t do things like this! And, I have big things to do! Writing. Painting. Teaching. Being the me I believe I was created to be, in this world, with a new note to come after my name, eventually… Curate!

ps… Does the longing to understand, to navigate, to become, burn within you, both a fire and a quiet ache? You are not alone. And more than that, what you seek has been within you all along. And, your chance to be part of it starts soon! #Filters is upon us. All the info is HERE!

pps… just in case you’re feeling curious – and a wee bit brave – I have an invitation just for you! 45 min. My gift. You and me in Zoom land, claiming the place where YOU feel called! I’ll even bring my Sacred Rebels cards if you’d like! Just click here and ask the calendar elves to hook us up!

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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!!!

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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!

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’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!

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“We Shall Not Be Moved!”

Posted on by sue boardman

There’s a story in this post… one of those that insists on making its way through all the chaos and filters to be heard again, in a dream, at this moment in time. Considerable hunting through the archives was involved!

The last time this particular story wanted to be heard – and shared – was on September 11, 2016. If you’re doing the history thing, that was the observance of 9/11 day, just before the upcoming election in the US. And, yes, I mean that election!

It was written by Sharon Mehdi and published in a children’s book entitled The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering: A Story for Anyone Who Thinks She Can’t Save the World.

You, wise soul, see where this is going…

The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering

A busboy, who worked in a café whose window faced the public park, noticed that two grandmotherly looking women had been standing in the park all day without moving at all and without talking.
They were dressed up in their Sunday best and were just staring at the town hall.
He asked the other patrons in the café what they thought the women were up to. They speculated on a variety of things.
Then, a five-year old year who was in the café spoke up and said “One of them is my grandmother and I know what they are doing. They are standing there to save the world.”
All of the men in the café hooted and howled and laughed.
On his way home, the busboy decided to ask the women what they were doing and sure enough their answer was “We are saving the world.”
Over dinner that evening the busboy told his parents and he and his father hooted and howled, but his mother was totally silent.
After dinner, the mother called her best friends to tell them. The next morning the busboy looked out the café window and the two women were back, along with his mother, her friends, and the women who had been in the café the day before.
All were standing in silence staring at the town hall. Again, the men hooted and howled and said things like “You can’t save the world by standing in the park. That is what we have armies for,” and “everyone knows you have to have banners and slogans to save the world – you can’t do it by just standing in the park.”
The next day the women were joined by the women who were in the café the day before and a number of their friends. This brought the local newspaper reporter to the scene. He wrote a derisive article about the women.
The day after it appeared, hundreds of women showed up to stand in the park in silence.
The mayor then told the police chief to make the women leave because they were making the town appear to be foolish.
When the police chief told them they would have to disperse because they didn’t have a permit, one of them responded that “we are just individuals standing in our public park and we are not giving speeches or having a demonstration so why would we need a permit?”
The police chief thought about this and agreed with them and left the park.
At this point 2,223 women including the mayor’s wife, the police chief’s wife, and one five-year old girl were standing in the park to save the world.
The news quickly spread and soon women were standing all over the country. Even women standing in every country throughout the globe… standing to save the world!

The mixed media piece, at the top, is my image of standing to save the world. In fact, it’s my #Legend painting from 2023, just after I stood in exactly that place, under that Laurel tree, with a whole other group of women standing to save the world. My current #Legend painting seems to have learned a lot at the base of Montsegur, and I am learning, still!

ps… just in case you’d like your very own copy of Mehdi’s book – with fabulous illustrations – click here! Clearly, I need another copy, as I gave mine to the (now) grand-teens!

pps… it’s a very special day at FierceArtWithHeart! Fix yourself a cuppa, click the colored link, and come shop a bit, especially if you need a hat for – you know – standing in the park! From casual to fab-dressy, one-of-a-kind, hand knitted and felted, glorious hats waiting for you in the Hat Heaven collection! AND, if you purchase a hat, at the special reduced price, I’d be thrilled to include a free copy of my new children’s book, A Creation Poem… All you do is add one hat AND one book to your basket and the elves will make the free book magic. NOTE: there are ONLY 8 hats available and this offer is ONLY good until the last one is adopted! (And, yes… if you buy more than one hat, you get an equal number of free books!)