Goodbye 2013, and Happy New Year

Wishing you all the best for the coming year, thank you for reading my posts!

©Kathleen O'Brien, Stroke of Midnight, 24x12", collage

Can you discern the Golden Rectangle and Golden Spiral?

Happy Solstice 12:11 pm EST

I am so happy for the Great Return of the Light. May your days be filled with light and warmth.

©Kathleen O'Brien, Each Day in the Year of the Fire Dog, #327, front

©Kathleen O'Brien, Each Day in the Year of the Fire Dog, #327, back

Tree of My Life

In last week's Winter Joy Retreat I imagined a tree, the soil, roots, trunk, branches, leaves and fruit all representing parts of my life. It was so profound to consider the influences, dreams, ancestry, abilities, accomplishments and write it out, then draw it. I spent 2 days on this, thinking of more things as I went.

©Kathleen O'Brien, Tree of my Life, 22x28",watercolor, pencil, ink

Enjoying the Halcyon Days

Yesterday began the 14 day period known as the Halcyon Days, days of Peace. It is a time when the water is calm enough for the Halcyon bird to lay eggs on it's water nest. I love these days and try to avoid the crazy energy that happens around the Holidays. the solstice falls at the midpoint of these days.

This year I gifted myself with an online 21 day "Winter Joy Retreat" with Cigden Kobu. The theme this year is homecoming. Each day we (about 150 women) receive a joy letter on a topic that threads around the theme. There is a playsheet where we write responses to ideas and questions from the letter. Now on day 15 I can feel an integration happening for me.

One day that stands out is the one we were to think about our values, and what drives our daily and long term decisions. There was a prompt to draw a mandala about that.

©Kathleen O'Brien, mandala of values, details of 16 artworks

Rather than draw I found art that reflected the value and cut a detail of it, added the words. the questions around the border are what drive my decisions.

Next time I'll talk about the family tree...