The Guest House: La Maison d'Hôtes. Rumi

For English it's up top: Pour le Français c'est en bas

Two cultures living in Harmony ;-)

I've been busy faffing around with some scribbles. It feels good to get the inks and paints over my fingers again after so many months off. My fingers are cold from typing at the keys of this keyboard, something that rarely happens when I hold a 'plume' - unless I'm outside braving the elements in some badly timed attempt to break out of these four walls. 

Autumn is settling in. Rich, pumpkin orange and deep, inky indigo evenings. Silver moons rise over the skylight in my roof... And influence the production line.

This human being is a guest house. 

Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

Rumi

 

Does wanting to steal your child's melting ice cream count as a dark thought?

Accepting that it is, and allowing it to exist with no guilt, will that clear me out for some new delight? The jury's still out on that on for me. 

My, my! I  feel like being flippant today so don't take me too seriously.

But by all means DO ENJOY your week - or month. It's getting harder for me to blog again at the moment. And I'm just letting that be a matter of course because I can't do otherwise without causing myself a lot of guilt and hassle.  I'm a bit over that right now. Must be the art of living happily in one's 40s!!. 

Of course, in the word of the immortal ARNIE  you can still count on one thing - eventually - 'I'll be back!'

Much love till next time. French to follow...

xx

Etre humain, c’est être une maison d'hôtes. 
Tous les matins arrive un nouvel invité. 

Une joie, une dépression, une méchanceté, 
une prise de conscience momentanée vient 
comme un visiteur inattendu. 

Accueillez les tous et prenez-en soin! 
Même s'ils sont une foule de chagrins, 
qui balaient violemment votre maison 
et la vident de tous ses meubles, 
traitez chaque invité honorablement. 
Peut-être vient-il faire de la place en vous
pour de nouveaux délices. 

La pensée sombre, la honte, la malice, 
rencontrez-les à la porte en riant, 
et invitez-les à entrer. 

Soyez reconnaissants pour tous ceux qui viennent, 
parce que chacun a été envoyé 
comme un guide de l’au-delà.

Ca y est - j'ai recommencé mes gribouillages. Quel aubaine après des mois sans en faire. C'est une véritable joie de reprendre ma plume. L'arrivée de l'automne a une grande influence sur les couleurs que j'utilise, bien que l'orange et l'indigo sont de toutes façons mes teintes préférées de toujours.

Pour fêter le retour des potimarrons et autres délices orangées dont je raffole, je vous offre le texte ci-dessus du poète Soufi, 'Rumi,' calligraphié en anglais pour une commande récente. 

Optimiste née, il m'est difficile d'accueillir les pensées noires dans ma maison. Bien que j'avoue avoir voulu piquer le dessert de mes enfants de temps en temps... Ca compte comme pensée sombre et honteuse? ;-) 

En tout cas, c'est vrai et authentique ;-) Bloguer n'est pas mon point fort en ce moment. Duuuhhh! Trop de choses à faire et pas assez de temps comme d'habitude. Alors, jusqu'à notre prochain rencontre qui pourrait aussi bien être dans deux jours ou deux semaines ou même deux mois!

Go Well sweet friends.

Love

Trust in yourself

At the moment I'm a little lost for words …

A rare occurrence, I assure you, so make the most of it ;-)

(My father used to say I could talk under water with a mouth full of marbles)

It appears that some of the fog clouding my decisions has melted away with the last of the snow. To continue homeschooling or not to continue homeschooling. To blog or not to blog. Which end of my art project to get off the ground first and how much extra sleep deprivation I will  need to pull it all together. Whether or not housework should be counted as an issue in all that...

Trust in yourself

Apologies for the bad scan. I haven't had time to download photos of any new pieces. Scanning's quicker. 

Trying to cut corners

A special friend dropped in for 10 days just when I was looking for direction.

Some early morning meditation by a log fire.

A few sessions watching 'time management' videos on YouTube

Some 'concentric circles' practice for (re)defining clear objectives

AND EVERYTHING WILL FALL INTO PLACE

Trust in your Self. 

And everything will fall into place

Acrylic, Ink and an interesting piece of metal as a makeshift tool.

I won't be back for another couple of weeks.

There is much work to be done :)

Blessings to one and all

Coming or going?

It feels a bit like a hurricane has passed over La Rivière since my last post, leaving me quite breathless. I'm not quite sure whether I'm coming or going.

photo from here

In any case, in a couple of hours I'm definitely GOING - taking off to Wales again for another retreat where I'm hoping to find myself before I return to France!

In the mean time, I thought I would give you a bit of an update as to the multitude of things that have been going on in since August 22, including, but not limited to a little splashing around with paint ;-)

First of all there was Beaker's 50th birthday bash to prepare. Yours truly being responsible for catering and decoration. My new studio was requistioned as an emergency food storage unit so I gathered the troops and we spent a couple of days cooking up a storm.

(click on the photos to enlarge them)

The boys looked after turning the house inside out … Literally!

Wine, champagne, food… Talk about the fall of Rome! 

But I'll spare you the boring details :)

What next? 1) Chickpea's 12th birthday sleepover and more cooking/no sleep. 2) A pitiful start to the school homeschooling year that has been put back to my return. The messies are shaking in their boots of course. 3) Trying not to waste the truckloads kilos of tomatoes wonderfully kind friends have been giving me by cooking up relish, sauces and ratatouille…

4) A touch of calligraphy to calm my frazzled nerves…

… with a little colour to brighten up the impending autumn

It's now 8:24 am and I've been sitting here since 7am. 

If I don't shower I'll  never make it to the airport by 10am.

The chutney is still cooking on the hob.

There's no time left for me to make anything else, not even conversation.

Much love and see you after the 17th

I'll be a year older by then, 

and hopefully graced with enough wisdom to start doing less!!

On ne diminue pas le bonheur...

... en le partageant

Buddha

En attendant la reprise de mes pinceaux adorés... 

DEMAIN!

je jette un coup d'oeil dehors

et je retrouve toute l'inspiration qu'il me faut ;-)

Cette semaine, un peu plus de calligraphie 

à partager avec vous...

Did you know... ?

“In the artist of all kinds, one can detect an inherent dilemma...

the urgent need to communicate and the still more urgent need not to be found.”

  Donald Winnicott

I found this very touching and pertinent quote HERE 

while on my virtual travels, 
discovering calligraphers far and wide.

My other secret is this:

I love CHOCOLATE !

For more arty secrets... go see Seth at the Altered Page!

Secret Truths: Taking a Leap of Faith!

A couple of days ago I had a discussion with a very charming and talented man about where I might best be classified when describing my blog. This was a particularly revealing exercise - to me none the least - defining where I should best be put. It consequently lead me down a stream of thought that will take you all the way to my secret at the end of this post (scroll down if you like to read the last chapter first ;-).

In that one simple question I realised that I was all over the place, and always have been. That is what is quintessentially me. Right from when I can first remember I have rarely felt at place within just one group. As a little girl I would ride horses barefoot and bare back, then dress up in frilly dresses for birthday parties. As a teenager, I would play 'real man's' rugby with the same boys who would take me to the cinema and very gallantly treat me as a lady after they had just plastered me into the dirt 2 hours before. My friends have been, and still are from various walks of life, and widely differing 'social circles.' I love all people: they fascinate me, where ever they are from, and whatever they do.

I am therefore equally as comfortable abseiling down a cliff face at 5am with 3 other tired adventure racers ...

... as I am at a cocktail party with UNESCO delegates in the middle of Paris (although I may admit to a slight preference for the cliff face... ;-) Ditto for sitting on the floor by the fire reading with my children or quietly and patiently practicing my calligraphy on a stubborn piece of wood. I am at a loss to separate these parts of myself from the whole. They are all equally and truly moi!

Amongst all of that higgledy piggledy, there is one fine, but very strong, common thread that links my life and my art: Words.

Words that inspire to move on, move up, change, accept and have courage to seek truth and perservere against the odds.  Words that have inspired me, have inspired others, will continue to inspire... hopefully even you, my cherished reader! You can find out more about my thoughts on that HERE - and I do hope you go there as it is a subject that is very close to my heart. It perfectly describes my initial goal when I started this blog and remains to this day my primary objective, wherever else all of my meanderings may take us on the way...

And this. This leads us to my secret...

When I first started learning the art of calligraphy 5 years' ago it was in order to be able to write a book for my children and make the appearance as pretty as the content itself. Five years ago also I was just starting out selling the pretty objects I was making by hand to decorate houses, such as these...

(By the way, these are not actually mine but my best friend's in Paris. My photos burnt in our house fire and, as she taught me to make the same things, she has graciously let me use her photos.  When she starts her blog of her new beautiful things, I will give you the link!)

But it wasn't enough - there was something missing. So I got to the point a year ago where it was time to use the techniques I had acquired working with wood and designing lighting, together with my calligraphy, and my convictions.

Ahh the convictions. They are the key.

They are encapsulated in the phrases I heard as I was growing up, and that have had such an enormous influence in carrying me through those difficult periods in life that we all face, regardless of who we are, what we do and where we come from.

I had to get them down. They bubble out of me of their own accord. For they are not mine to keep! They belong to each and every one of us...

And from there followed, as a sort of natural progression, the idea of selling my work. One cannot create so much and keep everything now can one? Stocking things goes right against my personal crusade against clutter (which itself is hardly compatible with my love of flea markets, I know)!

So, here's my secret... Here I go ... I'm taking a deep breath ...

... Early on in the month, I started up an Etsy store. (Phew, I got it out!)

And I have since been too petrified to tell any more than a mere few about it. It's far easier for me to rappel down a 100m cliff face... Or speak out to diplomats about women's education...

The Reason it's so difficult?

Because this time - I'm selling ME! Not just part of me.

It's time to put those words into action ... and believe,
in myself this time.

I hope you will accompany me.

Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come ...Victor Hugo

Well, the secret's out and I admit I feel somewhat relieved!

Now, don't forget to pop on over to see Seth tomorrow for more Sunday secrets !
Then see you later on tonight for, The Paris Episodes!

Ange

PS. Sooner or later I might get sorted out and have two blogs - one for art, one for life. For the moment the two are still inextricably linked and I can't quite define where one stops and the other begins. In the mean time, please bear with me, all of me...

The Marathon Awards or 7 things you (never) wanted to know about ME!

  Upon my return from Barcelona I was amazed (and pretty chuffed) to have received a Kreativ Blogger award from Julie at BeingRuby. Julie thinks she is the boring workaholic and that Ruby is the adventurer... But Ruby would be nothing without the hardworking Julie, with whom I share a love of adventure and far off places. I also hope to acquire her photographic talents by osmosis some time in the near future. In any case thanks Julie, and I look forward to sharing many adventures with you - which you may wish to opt out of once you have read the "7 things about me" part below ;-)

1) I'm an incurable optimist. I am incapable of seeing problems until I'm so deep into them that I am farrrrrr up the creek in the proverbial barbed wire canoe. Had  I been on the Titanic, I would not have seen the danger until I found myself floating in ice cold water clutching for dear life onto a piece of drift wood. And then I would surely have been rescued and taken it home as a reminder of my great adventure, to paint on.

2) I have been told that I could sell ice to the eskimos. This is probably true, as long as it's not my ice, and I like the said ice. I can however, staunchly defend, coach and 'sell' any one of my friends or their products. This is one of my more redeeming features!

3) I am a smiler. I really do believe that Laughter is the Music of the Soul so Yes! Definitely a smiler! I thought I never frowned, until the other day at my yearly dermatologist check up when it was politely suggested that I botox into oblivion the unsightly frown line just between my eyes.  Ahh - the joys of aging in a plastic society! Oh well - at least I don't have some sort of obscure skin problem to cope with...!!

4) I have soooooo much energy that I believe it has become my moral obligation to my family and the entire Earth in general, to take Dr Jekyl mummy out for a run, bike or rockclimb at least 3 times per week so I don't turn into Mr Hyde too regularly.

5) I absolutely detest cabbage (unless raw) in any form. This did not prevent me from reluctantly accepting 8 dinner invitations during my first year in Paris to enjoy 'home made' sauerkraut (choucroute) because I didn't have the heart to say no once I heard, "You don' like cabbage? Tha's cos you no taste my Maman's Choucroute."

6) For my 30th birthday in Paris I had asked for nibs, ink and paper from all my friends in order to begin to learn the art of calligraphy. I ended up starting 5 year's ago in Toulouse and cannot imagine ever leaving my lessons with Anne and 'the group' on a Thursday morning.

7) Before my 40th birthday - I will set up a fair trade project with Tibetan and other Asian minority women's groups. Every decade needs its corresponding goal!

 Now, it seems that I must share the good fortune, a bit like a fortune cookie, and pass the Kreative Blogger Award on. Sooooo these are the people and their blogs (other than Julie's) that have the most inspired me since I fell into blogland...

Lulu@ Earwig Sandwich

Leeann@ Fabulously French

Deb@ Kickcan&Conkers

Sabine@La Marquise des Anges

Judy@ A NewYork Magpie's Eye

Small Footprints @ SmallFootprints

NM@ 5 Minutes Just for Me

Wow - now that was a marathon! If you got this far down: these are my wishes for you too!