The Lady of Shalott

I’ve been taking these old art postcards I’ve collected over the years and altering them in my sketchbook. “The Lady of Shalott,” is a painting by John William Waterhouse. It was inspired by Lord Tennyson’s poem about a woman who is an artist. She weaves in a tower and lives an isolated life. She can only watch the people living their lives near the city of Camelot. She can’t even look at them directly, only through their reflection in a mirror. Here’s a portion of the poem:

There she weaves by night and day, a magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say, a curse is on her if she stay
to look down to Camelot.
She knows not what the curse may be, and so she weaveth steadily,
and little other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott.

One day she is tempted by the sight of Sir Lancelot who is very handsome. She breaks her spell, and looks upon him directly. The mirror shatters and she knows because of the curse that her time is running out. She takes a boat towards Camelot, but dies before it arrives. Lancelot looks over her tragic death with sympathy.

Lady of Shalott SM Continue reading

Friday = Art!

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I love Tarot Decks. I’ve been toying with the idea of creating a set of my own for years now. This version of “The Star” is from my sketchbook. The Star was my theme for May this year, and it seems that the month of May has slipped by in no time at all. I’ve been so caught up in doing the “life” thing that I’ve had little time to work on my beloved projects. This image reminds me that Continue reading

Friday = Art

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From my sketchbook playdate with myself this week. I am so going to miss Taurus. I’ve always had a resistance to Taurean energy, so this year I really made an effort to heal that internal relationship. Now I am totally in love with it! I’ll tell you a secret, too. My favorite way of connecting with this nurturing feminine earth energy is by lying flat on my stomach and pressing my forehead into the ground. I can just feel all my Continue reading

Patiently Receiving Possibility

patiently-receiving-possibility-smThis morning I am allowing myself to sit still quietly… observing. Watchful like the owl in the night, patiently awaiting an impulse to act. Open to all possibilities, half in dream and half awake, silently shifting between the inner and outer worlds. Surrounded by an abundance of inspiration, I delight in the stillness of my own carefully cultivated patience. Continue reading