By George, I think she's got it!

I have actually reached my stated goal of having these two pieces finished by today!  Unfortunately, the weather would not cooperate, so the photos aren't the greatest, but here they are.

Transformation 41

Ingredients: monotype prints using oil-based litho inks on Rives BFK paper, Caran D'Ache crayons, watercolor pencils, acrylic gel medium, PVA glue

I think of this one as the seed entering the earth, hopefully completing a trilogy with the other two pieces the client bought.  When I posted this piece before, a couple of people felt it could use more "rootiness" (thanks for the word, Don), and I agreed that it needed something on the bottom to balance it out.  I tried about 47 million different things, and this seemed to work best.  Okay, I could be exaggerating a bit, but it felt like 47 million.  I'm not sure I'm completely satisfied with it, but this how it will remain unless/until I think of something better.

 Butterfly Buddha Child

Ingredients:  FW acrylic ink, maps, book pages, chiri paper, watercolor pencil, Caran D'Ache crayons, ginko leaves, metallic oil crayon, metallic paint pen, Rives BFK paper, on Multimedia Art Board

 Butterfly Buddha Child- detail

Butterfly Buddha Child- detail

Sorry about the wonky photos, but I hope you enjoy these nonetheless!

Waiting (The Seed)

One of the primary symbols repeated throughout my work is that of the seed. 

Germination 2 by S. Davidson

I'm sure the connotations are pretty obvious, but especially at this time of year I'm reminded of the seed's message.  All of nature, where I live at least, has placed every bit of its energy and hope for the future inside a magical little package. 

 Nature has complete faith in this tiny, unassuming container of potential.  Doubt does not exist.

But for us short-sighted humans, it's different.  I clearly remember when I learned about seeds.  I was six years old, and we had just moved into a new house.  My grandmother, who I generally followed everywhere, gave me some tiny, funny-looking, dried-up brown things and showed me how to stick my finger into the dirt, put the seeds in the holes, and cover them up.  When I expressed my puzzlement at this, she told me something that seemed absurd to my six-year-old brain:  these little brown things would turn into flowers!  I was skeptical.  I guess, being outside of my very limited realm of experience, this just didn't seem  possible. 

Boy, was I surprised when, a couple of weeks later, these things had turned into marigolds!  This cemented my belief in the powerful magic of seeds, right then and there. 

At this point in the cycle, nature is once again sealing up her little packages of magic, knowing that they will come to fruition in their time. To the universe, waiting is nothing.  For me, it's a little harder, but I'm trying to learn.  I'm planting my seeds, and waiting.  I have to believe that faith and patience will eventually produce beautiful blooms.

 Secret Garden by S. Davidson

The waiting is the hardest part; every day you see one more card.  You take it on faith, you take it to the heart.  The waiting is the hardest part.  -Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Belated Imbolc (She Sleeps...)

She sleeps, perchance to dream of Persephone's return...

I missed celebrating Candlemas (Imbolc) on February 2, but feel I should acknowledge it now. For those not familiar, I'm including an explanation from Barbara Walker's The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets:

"Candlemas was properly considered sacred to women and to the Goddess of Love. Among Celtic pagans it was the Feast of Imbolg, which stood opposite the great festival of Lammas in the old sacred year. Omens were taken on Candlemas Day for the new growing season, especially the weather." This is the origin of Groundhog Day.
Walker also writes, "St. Brigit's (a canonization of the old Celtic goddess Brigid) Feast day was the first of February according to the pagan calendar. It was called Oimelc, Imolg, or Imbulc, the day of union between god and goddess."

Symbolically, this fertilization is considered to coincide with, or represent, the germination of the seed, both literally and figuratively, as well the anticipation of new growth. So come on, people, plant your seeds and germinate some new ideas!