In the land of Cosmic Cowgirls, where I’ve been hanging out for just about a year, it’s step nine of the Intentional Creativity Method: The 13 Steps.
Integrating: Mediums and Risky Glazes.
This is often a scary step – and there can be lots of resistance, so make light of it and at the same time let it be in the good kind of fear – where we are walking to the edge.
– Shiloh Sophia McCloud
It’s the next step for my painting project known as Alchemist on this vision quest and, as I “suspect” the wizard-teacher intended, the next step for me, as well.
She/they dragged me out of bed at 2 am insisting that it was risky glaze time, just as soon as I got this blog post finished to explain the signs of virtual risky glazing you may be noticing on this website and my Facebook page.
You see, glazes are meant to, well, integrate elements of a painting (and the painter, herself!) into a new whole. And that’s what the new images and language you’ll find in my world are meant to do, too.
First, a story.
I joined, as my son proclaimed, the blog-o-sphere about three years ago. Clueless did not begin to describe!
Tools for the Journey, it was called in those days. Bits of my books, tips on boiling bones, the occasional political opinion when I was feeling really brave. Book reviews. Poems, prayers, and pictures of the garden. Quilts. Lots of them. Inspiration, especially aimed for folks about the business of grandmothering.
My girls would have been about 5 and 7-ish at the time.
Then, in January of 2017, helped along by the amazing author and artist, SARK, I found language for what I thought I was doing.
I was The Fiercely Compassionate Grandmother.
Oddly enough, I found that language… at least the fiercely compassionate part… in a book illustrated by Shiloh Sophia McCloud. Yep!
And the puzzle pieces of my life began to come together.
A new website was born. New images. New language. New business cards. Even t-shirts!
Before too long, there began to be blog posts about painting, amongst the more usual ones, for I set out on a pilgrimage.
No one was more surprised than I!
What was even more surprising than the realization that I could actually learn to paint something other than walls, was the stunning awareness that I had wandered into a cosmos in which I discovered an amazing new tool for doing what I so longed to do… helping those who identified, in whatever way, with the Grandmother archetype to become one of those five people for their kids and, maybe, for the world.
And that requires another story, which you can read here. Just come right back, because we’re getting to the exciting part!!!
Have you ever made bone broth?
It’s a lot like life! Bits and pieces of things, not all of them terribly appealing on their own, a magical container, and the addition of energy over time. Depending on your particular container, lots of time.
And some help along the way. Especially if, like me, you happen to have a stock pot so big you can’t lift it all by yourself!
Which is a lot like realizing I can’t be The fiercely compassionate grandmother to the whole world. (Duh!)
The world needs lots and lots of fiercely compassionate grandmothers. Literal ones. Community ones. Thrilled ones. Reluctant ones. Archetypal ones. Young. Old. Women. Even men, if they’re very brave. Appalled, passionate ones who care deeply about things like justice and self-expression and an honest-to-goodness global community, ready to set about making stardust soup out of the situational angst of our world.
Everything I’ve ever learned has led to this moment.
My calling is to call the circle. To support and encourage as many fiercely compassionate grandmothers as possible. And to teach those who are curious about the miraculous ways fierce compassion and our own dreams can be set loose with magic wands like paintbrushes. And dots. Lots of dots.
So here we are. Fiercely Compassionate Grandmothers. Welcome!!! If you want to be here, you belong. (We might even make some new t-shirts!)
Honestly, I’m still sorting out details like emails and domain names and exactly what to change, when.
There will be lots of opportunities ahead. Bowls of stardust soup. Working with me individually. Workshops. Even videos, once I figure out the technology!
And retreats, like Grammy Camp. I can’t wait!
Soon. After that little business about literal risky glazing. And, perhaps, a nap!