Trust the Sparkle Within

Sweet Surrender… for me means trusting my own voice, hands, head, and heart, the sparkle within.  As I turned 40 last week, it also means trusting the ‘saging’ process… that I am enough, able, beautiful and worthy.  I really enjoyed letting go (of judgement, control, expectations, criticism, etc) this week and playfully painting.  Finger painting on my 40th birthday seems like a great way to stay young at heart. 😉 Actually, I’m extremely grateful that I made it to my 40th birthday!  There have been several ‘close calls’ over the years that could have been the end.  I’m glad to be going ‘over the hill’ – it’s supposed to be easier on the way down, right?! 😉

The February lesson for a course I’m currently taking with dear Alena Hennessy is about surrender.  I’m loving the free flowing creations that I’m making inspired by her prompt:

I wish I could better capture the sparkles from the very fine glitter (fairy dust?!) that adds a special touch to the originals.  These are from another set/day:

These are the lovely layers (which are still in progress) that I made having finger painting fun on the actual day of my 40th birthday (I share more photos more often on instagram if you’d like to follow along there):

I accidentally had one of the boards turned the wrong way for the built-in hanger that these art panels come with (already cutout on the back).  At first, I was a bit annoyed, but I took a deep breath reminding myself to surrender and trust, and turned it the correct way for it to hang. Then, I saw the faint whisper of a cocoon and butterfly once it was turned to the proper orientation, and I was grateful! <3  A butterfly emerging seemed a lovely symbolic image for a birthday painting. 🙂  I haven’t decided if it’s fully finished as is (I’m loving it!) or if I might still add some sparkles or other details.  It seems to be telling me to ‘trust the unfolding’ so I’ll add that message. <3

I’m making many of them available in the Loving Rd Redbubble shop and some of the originals are also available for purchase (ready to hang on 8×8 or 4×4 Blick Art Panels – email me at lovingrd@yahoo.com).  I might have to get the stardust one printed on a pillow for the daybed that is going to go in my creative space (which is finally transforming a bit from the unfinished space in the basement).  Yay! 🙂

While the basement space is being finished (walls, ceiling, floor, etc!), I have limited room and materials to create so I’m back to editing videos for a new mini-course project: a ‘saging’ elderly portrait.  I wanted to acknowledge and appreciate the beauty of the elderly and give something with deep gratitude for the blessings in my life.  This project will be available free (as a gift) to any that choose to receive it.  I’ll send an email announcement once the editing is complete and it’s available (you can join the Loving Rd address book here to receive notification).

<3 May we celebrate life and trust the sparkles within. <3