en en en pt en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en pt en en ca en en en en ne en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en ca en en en en ne en en en en en es en en en en en en en en en en ca en en en en ne en en en en en en en en ca en en en en ne en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en ca en en en en ne en en en en en en en en en en en ca en en en en ne en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en pt en en en pt pt en en en en en en en en
Tags: #janetbalboa, Dartmoor Hares, Devon Hares, Irish blessing, The three hares, three hare blessing, Three Hares, threefold rotational symettry, Tinners Rabbits
Categories celtic design, celtic knotwork, creativity, inspiration, irish, life and death, moon, self discovery, self knowledge
A dull person will suddenly become interesting…
In which we find that one day spent with the fairy folk is the equivalent to the passing of 100 years in human time. Hang out with the faeries at your own considerable risk. I think of another 100 years’ period – the length of time Sleeping Beauty slept after she pricked her dainty yet cursed finger on the spindle. (The humble spindle, the women’s wand, a woman’s highly regarded possession, considered a symbol of contemplation, and of woman’s powerful gift to the family; the art of weaving being equivalent in import to men’s heroic warring in the ancient world) That aside, her father, The King, had all the spindles in the land burned, while in Ireland, the Sidhe, the once mighty people of the Goddess Danu, have been relegated to whimsical faeries who dwell in the Irish Otherworld.
And so, happily ever after, never again can this idle fairy dream-time threaten our reasonable existence.
Walt Disney spoke of the Magic Moment; that eternal second when your heart stands still in absolute wonder and awe. Joyce called it aesthetic arrest. Campbell called it Bliss. You feel it when you’re in love. Religions fight for the right to get you in touch with it. Millions of meditating man and woman hours, currencies worldwide and vast amounts of energy are spent on developing mindfulness. Awareness and Enlightenment are pursued hotly as worthy goals. Creatives search after the Muse and creativity almost religiously. And yet this Mystery, this place of bliss, of Eternity, where time stands still, this space is embracing us, holding us every moment of every day. It isn’t a goal or a destination or an attitude.  It’s just the natural state of being. It just is. Which leads me to wonder…what would happen if my inner critic, who works a lot of overtime, were joined by my inner feminine?
I feel the hundred years ending. The beloved is waking up. She doesn’t look so happy.
And suddenly, magically – you might say ‘in the twinkling of an eye’ –  I sense that my exceedingly dull inner voice is about to become very, very interesting.
Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Categories inspiration, irish, mystery, powerful women, self discovery, self knowledge, women reclaiming power
Roberto (my darling husband) posted my finished picture ‘Banished’ -on FB last night. Which has prompted me to write about it a bit sooner than I had intended.
I usually take time to sit with my work after it’s done. In a way, I meet my picture for the first time in this way. Before, it has always showed up to our meetings in a state of incompleteness. This in-the-process-of-being-finished stage of my art always has a lovely feeling of potentiality and possibility. Things can still creep into the drawing, it is still very much in process and dynamic. When I see my work framed and behind glass, it is finished. Complete. An object now, something I can observe in its final state.
I form opinions, observations, see it differently than when it was a work-in-progress. My work starts with a curiosity, a wondering about something and then over the course of months, I literally draw out my answer. It unfolds and reveals itself to me in the forms and colors and images that present themselves while I work. So I never start with a complete picture- I always have an image to get me started. Then I watch it unfold. I suppose it is similar to when characters begin to perform actions and demand scenes that surprise and delight their parent writers.
It’s because of this that I reflect after the picture is done- what was the answer to that question I had so many months ago? Have I changed to accommodate this answer? I believe with Rilke that we must be able to live our answers – and until we can, be content with loving the questions themselves. Often times the answer comes slowly as understanding born of research, insight and conversations are composted and turned over in my mind.
I am often asked what my pictures mean. And as you now know, they are personal answers to my personal questions. My experience and work with the symbols and images gives them meaning. But because my questions are similar to questions that many of us have, they also have a universal answer – and therefore we share meaning. The meaning resides in you, in how active the same symbols and archetypes that activate my questions, are present in you. Your life experience will bring different interpretations – are these any less valid? Anything that stirs the heart, moves the soul, causes us to wonder is a healing balm in our world of concretized dogma and instant answers.
Learning to trust ourselves fully and allowing our hearts to soar, far out on their strings – or on our sleeves –is letting our vulnerability touch and be touched by the world. We are big enough, encompassing enough, wise enough to enfold ourselves in our own healing embrace. Internally strong we come from our center; our unbreakable connection with the Mystery of our Being as it moves through time and space in the intricate and lovely vehicle called ‘me’.  You. Us. One of a kind magic.
This is what I wrote this morning on the information card I include with all my work. Each card relates to a specific picture. This is the card for ‘Banished’.
banished As a culture, our inner masculine has devoured the action oriented Hero archetype- forgetting that the journey finishes with a return if it is to be a true journey. After the deeds are done, the lessons learned, the actions taken, the hero puts down his weapons, leaves the field of action and returns home- ideally giving back to the world the hard won truths. If everyone is off on this hero quest- who is keeping the metaphorical home fires burning? Who is there to welcome us as we return? We have overlooked- banished- the feminine; the receiving aspect of ourselves. Our inner feminine; the receptive, intuitive, inclusive and mother (an entire half of ourselves) has not been allowed a conscious or empowered place in our bodies or minds for thousands of years. The goal of the hero’s journey is the return – to society, integration, relationship – the world of feminine nature. The achievement of balance between both aspects of our nature allows us to become fully, beautifully, incredibly human.
Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Tags: art, creativity, female journey, goddess, great mother, hero quest, hero's journey, inner feminine, joseph campbell, mary, mother, mother nature, prismacolor markers, prismacolor pencils, women
Categories celtic knotwork, inspiration, irish, life and death, powerful women, self discovery, women, women reclaiming power
it’s your lucky day!
Feel free to share…may your day be full of magic!
Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Tags: Celtic art, celtic artwork, celtic design, gifts, inspiration, Irish, shamrocks, w.b.yeats quote, wb yeats
Categories celtic design, celtic stonework, inspiration, irish, wb yeats
drawing the neolithic way
janet balboa, Anam Cara detail, marker and colored pencil, c. 20014
These things always start off poorly. At this point I’m a bit panicky, because it looks more like a dessert rather than rock.  I stay with it, knowing that if I throw enough color at it, it will be fine. If in doubt, add more. (color, coffee, nutella…)
janet balboa, Anam Cara detail, marker and colored pencil, c. 20014
Getting the lines of ochre and sepia in, and the grey speckles. So far, everything in marker. The inner lines are outlined in black, so the point of this  is softening  up the black indentations and flattening them out visually. Nevermind the resemblance to  intestines. Or worse.
janet balboa, Anam Cara detail, marker and colored pencil, c. 20014
Now. Cover over the whole thing with a white pencil. rub most of the pencil off with a piece of kleenex. (beware the kleenex with the lotion!) then go back over the lightest bits with cream pencil. burnish again: if the kleenex isn’t ratty by now, push harder.
janet balboa, Anam Cara detail, marker and colored pencil, c. 20014
More colored pencil: Add in all those little veins with french grey 90%. Sienna, Light Umber. I speckled the entire thing with warm grey 90%. popped up the white with chinese white. I also added Rust(colored pencil) haphazardly across the top – partly because it gives a look of granite but mostly because I’m never really sure when something is done.
janet balboa, Anam Cara detail, marker and colored pencil, c. 20014
And there it is. A spiral cut into rock. Just like they did it in 10,000 BCE. ;)
Here it is in the overall picture:
janet balboa, Anam Cara detail, marker and colored pencil, c. 20014
Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Tags: 10000BCE, anam cara, claddagh, how to color rock, how to draw triskeles, inspiration, neolithic art, prismacolor markers, prismacolor pencils, rock carving, shading rock, Tree of Life, ygdrassl
Comments Leave a Comment
Categories Art work, artists, creativity, irish, tree of life, work in progress
a rainy day with prismacolors
Janet Balboa, Anam Cara detail, marker and colored pencil, 19″ x 24″ c. 2014
Janet Balboa, Anam Cara detail, marker and colored pencil, 19″ x 24″ c. 2014
Janet Balboa, Anam Cara, marker and colored pencil, 19″ x 24″ c. 2014
A rainy day put to good use. I’m headed out for coffee…and some friendly faces. Bought a new burnisher, colorless. Don’t know if I like it as much as burnishing with a pencil itself, seems to leave   a lot of wax.
Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
Tags: anam cara, artwork, celtic knotwork, drawing, goddess, inspiration, prismacolor markers, prismacolor pencils, Tree of Life, ygdrassl
Categories celtic knotwork, expression, inspiration, irish, tree of life, work in progress
Janet Balboa (#janetbalboa) is an artist, writer and teacher living in the Chicago suburbs. Read more
Follow janet balboa on WordPress.com
Follow Blog via Email:
Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
follow me on Instagram
Congratulations Zoë and Ian!!!!
Here are some of the new additions to this Sundays Farmers Market at The Dole, this sunday, 18th, 10-2!
The Far.ers Market Sunday!
Come meet me at The Dole!
#29 Gilded Lilies finished-
4th Friday at The Dole tonight!!! Great Art, artists, fans, community, wine, etc etc. $10 entry/ fun night OUT!!!