This moonth was an unplanned painting of what is happening as I design the class on journaling with the lunar cycles.  I wrote less, and painted more, my little gurl as she moved through the cycles, unplanned, working from intuitional ranges.  To see them all together tells a story of how the cycle unfolded, painted from my sketches created often at 3am, as I moved through the moonth.  This is one way we will look at the moonth cycle.

I have so much to say about working with cycles, yet as I went into silence for the
New Moon I realized that painting the cycles was completely new to me.
I had a panic and a bit of a nutty when I thought of it.  How to express the lunar cycles in paintings?  I don’t paint ideas, but rather images come to me and then I find out what they are about!
EEEK!
On Rosh Chodesh, I  found myself sketching at 3am that night, a sketch of the Waning Crescent and a Waxing Crescent.

Trusting in the process, she begins with a prayer.

She’s a whirling dervish of dance!

For a few nights, I woke at about 3am
and found another sketch place itself
on my little tiny pad, sepia tones.
By the Waxing Quarter,
I had images of her in my mind, dancing her way through the cycles,
and while no words came to write
toward the  journaling classes,
the fear of not having  any examples of painting the cycles dissipated.
My little girl was back,
dancing herself across the pages.
She picked up the brush!

Dancing with her brush!

She begins to paint, and only time holds her back!

Full moon, the colors are delicious.

Lapis and Prussian night skies,
Caput Mortem moons,
my favorite mixing color,
Quinacridone Gold was her color.
Daniel Smith’s Primatek gemstone
colors puddled on the paper,
Black Tourmaline hills with
Sap Green foothills, and Minnasota Pipestone or Terra Ecola earth colors
mixed with blood-black Hematite,
grounding each image in the earth.

She is pregnant with visions to paint! She sings her joy!

She is pregnant with visions to paint!

This free flowing of ideas made her dance!

As the Waning Quarter approached, I realized I was fine without words right now.  Images were colorful and juicy.
Whatever was going on just below the surface would be written in its own time!

Swamped with work as a conservator,
I kept my head down and stitched stitched stitched.  I gave thanks for continued abilities to bring in a paycheck, especially when a client did not pay on time, very unusual, while keeping an eye out for ways to remove busy-ness from our lives.

My husband loved her best. . . .

. . . and I loved her best!

We go into quiet time, and I said
goodbye to the sliver of the waning crescent moon, thinking of the first moonth in which I painted moons without words.
I was in pain and relative silence this
Dark-of-the-Moon, and more stitching, repairing the tapestry.  I let go of the moonth, asking what is appropriately next to be done.  I may be ready now to start the Moondae Monday Challenge. . . and possibly words will come.  I will see, as this moonth gave me confidence that the images would come and the words will follow.

New Moon.   I had to work today but slept late!  I made choices.  No  meetings.  I needle-pointed, quiet stitches, in-and-out.  No computer work, no chattering with
our work neighbors in the hall.
I planned a slow-roast herbal chicken,
but then it didn’t work out so
we ordered Chinese.  We ate vanilla ice cream over berries for dessert.
I don’t know what the next moonth
will bring, but I know I am taking classes, and so there will be six weeks
of structure there for painting.

One of the first watercolors I really love.

See you during the next cycle.  I continue to prepare for the classes!

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