ARTIST with a YOWZA SPIRIT

Art is Long; Life is Short...
and so, in the true Yowza Spirit of this blog, I will invite
the people I meet, the places I go, the adventures I experience,
and the AHA! moments life brings to be my siren for my
ART and my WRITING.
Here's to the ride.

www.susiekellyflatau.com

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Calling the Circle


"Passion"
2012

In 2003, I experienced the beauty, the 
wisdom, and the joy of participating in a women's retreat held in a serene space in the Hill Country of Texas.  Our weekend of self-reflection, circle communication, personal creative writing, and so much more was led 


"Spirit of the Blue Hole"
2012


"Stairway to Heaven"
2012

On a personal level, much of the energy generated during that gathering arose out of the spiritual discussions and activities along with the shared ideas and questions generated from one of Ms. Baldwin's published works, "Calling the Circle"

In Ms. Baldwin's own words, when a circle is called, 
the collective energy of the gathering 
"grounds the universality of circles past and present 
and brings this lineage into modern application 
that teaches readers the essential infrastructure 
to call the circle at home, at work, and in community settings."

Circles.
"Rising from the Deep"
2012


This morning, I embrace quiet time to reflect 
on the stories and the power and the presence of circles 
in my life and, now, in my art.  

"The Return to Earth"
2012


The questions are endless, but a few stand front-and-center.  Are the Circle-Strokes on the canvases birthed subconsciously?  What Universal Energy moves my spirit in such circular motion?  Are the back-stories behind the circles that dance upon my canvases part of my very own larger-than-life Circle Story? 

"Dancing the Sardana"
2012



The symbolism of the circle is universal; it is sacred and divine.  From our own eyes--orbs through which we see the world--we observe the moon, the sun, the stars, the planets.  With our hands, we pick up a stick and draw a circle in the earth to communicate without speaking, to illustrate the idea of cosmic unity.

"Weeping Moon"
2012


As I contemplate many of the works I have created, 
I become aware of the precious nature of circles. 





I only need to research its symbolism, and I fall deeper and deeper in love with the beauty and the unspoken messages of the circle.  




"Fade to Black"
2012

And so it is that on this winter's morning, I sit deep within my own private circle and send to you ripples from my art, from my heart. 

My heart is wide open as I share this gallery walk.

"Heart Wide Open"
2012
"Entering the Spirit World"
2012

"They say we have been here for 60,000 years, but it is much longer.
We have been here since the time before time began.
We have come directly out of the Dreamtime
of the great creative Ancestors.
We have lived and kept the earth
as it was on the First Day.
All other peoples
of the world
come from
us."

Aborigine Elder, Australia
"The Spirit of One"
2012


In-Joy, Susie