My art studio/bat cave/haven/happy room!!

I finally got my studio unpacked and set up. I still need more pictures and art in here, but I LOVE It!!!!Eventually, I will paint and have more inspiration in here, but it feels like me now 🙂

My window, with a fairy picture, a picture of Mt. Hood from Oregon, a picture of my Emma cat, candles.

Every studio should have a puppy. And a window with snow falling prettily in the background 🙂

Some fairies from an awesome 2008 calendar, some of my inspiration notes, Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. A-frickin-men!

More fairies and mermaids, Make your dreams out of stardust, I’m not like the girls you’ve known, and a collage with phrases like Awaken to your purpose.

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Fish and flying giraffes

Mom! Come quick! There are fish outside my window!!!

That’s nice dear.

Mooooom! I’m serious! There really are fish outside my window!

Alright dear, that is quite enough.

Hey Mom!!! Now’s there’s a flying giraffe outside my window!! You have to come see this!

I have had just about enough of this from you. What have I told you about that imagination of yours? You are going to dream your life away. It’s time for you to grow up and stop this nonsense.

Nobody ever believes me. 😦

For everyone who believes in the fantastical and magical and unlikely. For everyone who dreams and wishes and can see the possible even when others can’t — don’t stop believing. Don’t stop imagining and dreaming and wishing and playing. Just because other people can’t see what you see, doesn’t mean it isn’t true, or that it isn’t worth holding on to.

And when someone tells you that there is a flying giraffe outside their window…take a leap of faith and believe them. Try it, just once, and you might see a whole new world open up in front of you.

Photos taken in downtown Raleigh

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“Yours, Truly”

Truly was born at 11:11 on November 11. She was born Truly Amber Devine, but she didn’t tell many people that. She figured Truly Devine was bad enough. The Devine came from her father, not The Father. She didn’t have much to say about that, as she had never met him. Or them, as she hadn’t met The Father either.

Her mother thought that Truly was a beautiful name, she loved sounds with -ly in them, and she told Truly once that names infuse people with power, so she wanted someone who would always be true. But then again, her mother also believed in television psychics, so Truly didn’t put much stock in that. The Amber part, well, her mom loved crystals and rocks and colors. Truly figured Amber must have been her mother’s favorite when she was born, but she never asked. And she knew that her mother had never once uttered her full name outloud before she was born and realized that she was naming her only daughter Truly Devine.

But Truly figured the name you were born is the name you kept,  so she tried to make the best of it.

This is mostly from a dream and from the early morning kind of awake kind of asleep state I was in this morning.

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The wild side of the mirror

There is a place, deep in the woods, past the bridge sheltered by the tall oaks, past the stone stairs that stretch up into what seems like forever, past the end of all the paths, where no one ever ventures out to. Here, deep in the heart of the woods, there is an ornate mirror standing on its own. It stands taller than a grown man, with vines in gold and copper and leaves in silver running down the sides of the frame. It looks out of place here, but at the same time, it almost feels like the forest grew up around the mirror. And perhaps it did.

For as you might have guessed, this is not an ordinary mirror. It doesn’t reflect back what is visible to normal eyes. Instead, it shows a different side of whatever it reflects.

Dogs that have gone off wondering from home, perhaps chasing a rabbit or following an interesting scent, would not appear as the beloved pet their owners see and know. Instead, in the mirror would appear a wolf, wild, untamed, restless, a fierce, lethal warrior. For the trees that surround the mirror, what is reflected back are trees, but darker, more menacing, leaves that look as though they could cut flesh. And if you keep watching, you see the trees in the mirror pull up by their roots and begin to move off, possibly hunting, or maybe just exploring.

And when a little girl happens upon the mirror, a prim, tidy little girl with her hair pulled back tightly, perfectly into a braid, her clothes neat as a pin even though she has been wandering in the woods for more than an hour by herself, she does not see the reflection she is used to seeing. What she sees looking back at her is a wild little girl, red hair in wild curls and tangles everywhere about her face, with leaves and twigs sticking out here and there. Dirt on her face, clothes with tatters and tears, mismatched shoes on her feet, and a wild gleam in her eyes.

But you might be wondering by now. Which is the true reflection? There is only one way to find out. You have to cross over to the wild side of the mirror.

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Some artwork

I got to playing with paint and color today 🙂

In real life, the color is so much more vibrant and fun, and it has lots of gold glitter on it 🙂 I love it (even though the letters bled a bit)

I’m not like the girls you’ve known — again, brighter, cooler green in real life

And my collage. It reads:

True religion is brilliant artistry deep within

Discover the power of bold inspiration

Yes! Today’s the day to flaunt

Invent your own rules

Simply designed for the extraordinary

What I want is a wake-up call for my inner goddess

For positive effects have a daily dose of fun

Even better, find your inspiration and express your own love

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Some recent writings

Darkness comes rolling in on the wind

and sensible people hide and take cover

but the storm watcher has no fear

she wants to taste the wind

and ride it wherever it will take her.

She grins and waits to catch the storm,

on to her next adventure

— inspired by the way North Carolina thunderstorms roll in

And two things inspired by hiking in the state forest recently:

Just because you can see my roots doesn’t mean they don’t run deep into the ground.

**********

“Try one if you like — one of my pretty mushrooms. Some might give you dreams, some might give you nightmares, some can make you fly and some do nothing at all, but the only way to know is to try one. Oh yes, and one might make you die. Do you still want to know their taste?”

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My Sunday afternoon

crayon, gouache and glitter

I just added in an extra “i” after seeing the photo. Oops! 🙂

Make your dreams out of stardust

And the Flying Mermaid. Her colors are much more vibrant in real life, and there is more sky and more beach in the real painting.

I feel I often get inspired to paint after reading Dandelion Seeds and Dancing Mermaid. Thanks lovies, for the inspiration!

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The entrance to the Unicorn’s Lair

The guards to the Unicorn’s Lair seem inattentive

The sign points the way toward the Unicorn’s lair, and at first glance, everything seems still and quiet. In fact, the only signs of life are the two small cats, one with her back steadfastly turned away, and one who appears to be asleep, curled into a ball, dreaming cat dreams.

But things are so rarely what they seem. The two cats? They have been assigned to guard the sacred entrance because of their sensitive hearing and beyond-natural reflexes. They could hear the slightest rustle or twig cracking from all across the glen, and they could appear at your side faster than the time it takes you to blink. And like most things in the Unicorn’s lair, they have an air of magic about them. They generally prefer the form of house cats, but they can grow to more than 20 times the size you see here, if the situation demands it.

But the cats are not the only guards protecting the Unicorn and her home.

The tree stump is actually a wood fairy, although he awakens only when there is a dire need for him, or if there is a celebration going on somewhere in the glen. Wood fairies do enjoy a good party. The trees that surround the glen can come to life to help defend their Unicorn mistress, although they usually prefer to let the cats handle most disturbances. But the trees have the added ability of looking past your heart, into your soul, and they see your true motivations and your true self. There is no deceiving your intentions when the trees gaze upon you, there is no pleading for a chance to explain or saying that there was a misunderstanding. They see to the core of things, and only the pure of the heart, those who are still open to the magic and light of the universe, only they are allowed into the Unicorn’s most sacred space.

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Why I can’t look up my dreams in a dream dictionary

I’ve posted about my dreams before.

Sometimes, I get entire scenes from stories to write. Sometimes I get a really cool line or title for a story.

Sometimes, I have horrible, awful, violent nightmares.

And sometimes, my dreams are just so bizarre, that I have to think that the little creative people who live in my head have seriously warped senses of humor.

Allow me to introduce you to a dream from the latter category, one that involves the Fitness Shark.

What, pray tell, is a Fitness Shark, you ask?

A Fitness Shark is apparently an inflatable shark — wearing sunglasses, naturally — and once you inflate him, the fun begins. Once inflated, he will begin doing all of these weird, crazy moves (you might want to inflate him in an exercise room, or someplace that is pretty open with lots of space). Your challenge, should you choose to accept, and I hope you do (I wouldn’t want to mess with the Fitness Shark, personally), is to try and copy the Fitness Shark’s moves. Some of the moves involve something that looks like breakdancing, where you start in a one-armed push-up position and have to flip around and land on your other arm. (Note: The Fitness Shark is not for beginners). Other moves involve running around all crazy, as the Fitness Shark deflates and flies around the room, letting out air.

A workout with the Fitness Shark — guaranteed to get your heart rate moving and provide laughter at the same time. Well, possibly slightly terrified laughter, because he is a Shark after all, and you really can’t trust them.

I am pretty sure there would be nothing about an inflatable shark teaching exercise in any dream dictionary that exists. Although, if there is something about this topic, I would be delighted to know what it means.

And remember…always have fun, and watch out for sharks. Water sharks, inflatable sharks, or the “big white teeth of the Sharks that can swim on the land.”

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Find your magic

It reads:

Emerging from the clouds

Stronger

Better

Her own

Magic wand

Possibilities 

Growing  

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