Sometimes you just can't wait...

While I truly love making art, and see a strong connection between art and magic, I want to be clear that you don't have to spend a lot of time or have maximum artistic skill to make magic happen. Sometimes, you just can't wait and need to get the energy moving now -- even if that means working with what you have.

I have been on low ebb pretty much since the New Year and that means while there's been some art (mainly devotional art), there hasn't been much magic. I didn't even do my traditional tarot reading for the year! But last night I had a wonderful dream and woke up with renewed energy and purpose. Today it was clear that I needed to get some energy moving right now. This was the result:

Sure, parchment and dragons' blood ink are great. Casting circles and waving incense can be useful. And I would never argue with creating beautiful and magical artwork. But sometime what you really need is a ballpoint and some index cards.

These are some of my personal sigils (created with my basic methodology) but charged quick and dirty with a lot of emotional intensity. They also feel more immediate, like their half life will naturally be shorter than a major work. Until then I will ignore them intently.

If there's something you need to get moving in your own life, I encourage you do to the same. Make a start, however quick and raw, and don't wait.

Best laid plans...

Well, the past two weeks have been very challenging, with me being quite ill while also dealing with a mass of critical household and non-household work and coordination. Interesting timing in that I was expecting to leap forward with all great enthusiasm into my art and craft after the new year lull, only to discover myself barely making it from day to day. This sort of thing requires ruthless prioritization and culling of daily activities to manage. There was some on-the-fly self-focused healing work, but nothing artistic I can show. The worst part was the itch to create, that I didn't really have the energy to spare to scratch. I suspect the buildup may propel me into some work now that I seem to have passed the bump.

In the mean time, this site has proven particularly inspirational: http://pinterest.com/loreliemichaud/sigils/. Note, I'm a little uncomfortable with Pinterest (I don't use it personally) because of the potential to abuse copyright and attribution. This particular grouping seems well-attributed.

Back and Forward

So I'm back from my winter hiatus. Like many people, I get to enjoy a quiet period from Yule to the New Year. The kid is out of school and there's time off to be enjoyed. I always used to have these big plans to make art during this winter break, however despite my best intentions it never seemed to happen. I finally realized that it was my own rhythms speaking and that I needed to time to rest, relax, and work on other important projects (like organizing, planning, and enjoying family time). In recent years I've come to honor that urge instead of fighting against it.

However that means that, with my normal busy schedule rolling full steam again, I have not returned with a mass of artwork to show. Still, I have several pieces that I'm now looking forward to making some progress on, plus a new commission to start. In the mean time I may pull out some of my older drawings to share.

While I feel relatively relaxed about my sigil paintings, I'm highly critical of my drawings and illustrated spells. It often takes me some months to feel confident and comfortable with my completed work. It might be that drawing, while satisfying, feels hard. Painting magic sigils feels much easier, which is good as I need to be in a trance state while working on them in order for them to actually be charged magical objects (instead of odd, non-representational artwork).

As for 2013, I have made the same three resolutions I've made since I became an adult. Each year I work on them and most years I make progress. I suppose you might say these are my life's resolutions and that I will continue working on them for the remainder of my life. In fact, I stopped making any other smaller resolutions because when I make progress on the big three the other issues in my life seem to sort themselves out. At least I'm consistent.