New Moon in Leo
August 20, 2009
3:02 am PDT

The New Moon (or dark moon) rises at sunrise and sets a sunset. So get ready folks 'cause now is the best time of the month to plant your seeds of intent for the month ahead!

What do Leonine seeds look like? Well, Leos are ruled by the Sun, not the moon and the Lion is their representative animal, ever heard of 'pride of the jungle'? Well, Leos like attention, and in fact thrive on it. Even if you're not a Leo, everyone has some Leo in their chart. So get ready to make an entrance, get noticed and spread some sunshine for all those in need of a little brightening up! Leos are all heart and inspiration so get out the finger paints and the costumes and stir up some drama - create a puppet show for granny, inspire your neighbourhood, find beauty in the mundane and share the spotlight with a friend who needs some cheering up.

Leo Keywords: idealistic, creative, vain, romantic, optimistic, generous, self assured.

This month's featured Leo artists are Angela Hogan in Manchester, England, Katrin and Ina Lerman in Boston, Massachusetts and Shani Neal in Pittsburgh, PA. I felt that their colorful, playful styles worked well together. Lot's o' Leos this month, including Finnish clothing designers, Vaisto!

"September Gold" - Original Mixed Media on Canvas

As a Leo artist, creativity and playfulness are very important to me. I often think the process of making art is very child-like. I love having the freedom to try new materials, experiment, and just ... well, play! I really feel like it's good for the soul. I've always liked the quote "creativity is the freedom to make mistakes, art is knowing which ones to keep".

Leos love luxury, and I certainly find rich colors, fabrics and ornate designs very sensuous! I am also, though not exclusively, very drawn to the typical warm "Leo" sun colours - reds, oranges and yellows - and often use them in my work. In some mixed media work I add bits of metallic gold - we Leos do like a bit of glitz!

Leo is also the sign reported to rule the heart - strangely enough, I have always been drawn to heart motifs, and have been making canvases with repeated heart motifs for years!

"Rose Hearts" - Original Mixed Media on Canvas

I am a painter and mixed media artist living in Manchester, England. I have exhibited in various galleries and shows in the UK and also sell my work online.

I'm inspired a lot by nature, color and texture, and I also love working with re-cycled bits and pieces; I'm fascinated by things that already have a "history", and I love making something new with them!

I seem to be repeatedly drawn to certain subjects - particularly feathers, hearts, Buddhas, birds and trees.

I am also inspired by beauty in unexpected places - the patterns in shattered glass, the cracks in paving stones, the colors of rust. Someone once said that art is making someone see something they otherwise might have missed - I like that quote!

Embroidered crochet felt bangles

In my creative path I am very much a Leo. I am always thinking about new designs and about every little detail even when I should be doing something else; it is very hard for me to pull away from it all. Leos are good leaders and that plays a large role in my life as well. In most of my jewelry designs, I work closely with my sister and she can attest to my being bossy. If I arrange something a certain way, I like it to be done that way, but arts and crafts seldom work out as planned and they do feed on the unexpected. And when you work with another creative person, the outcome can be so much more.

Embroidered leaves felt necklace

So at this point, I am trying to stop envisioning a piece of jewelry from start to finish and just let my sister work on the embroidery and appliqué that she does so wonderfully. That allows me to concentrate on how to combine and arrange everything and allows both of us to have our creative freedom so that we can work together creating a product that we are both proud of and would not have been able to create separately. I am trying to overcome my bossy side and instead focus on feeding my creative energy.

I am not at all a pessimist and I do not like or understand art that is dark and pessimistic. So all of my designs are very happy and colorful - to say the least. I love life and like to celebrate it and I like to brighten up every wardrobe with color and designs that will make you smile.

Shani Neal
ShaniNeal.etsy.com

Treasure Bowls

Leo is all about self expression and creativity, so needless to say, I have been a creative person my entire life. Although the medium that I have chosen to express myself in has evolved over the years, my main love has always remained a constant, color! I have a deep love and attraction to bright and bold colors, and feel the need to marry them together in any way that I can.

Every one of my designs begins with my initial attraction to a particular color that I feel the "need" to make into something. Once I have been bitten by this particular color my process begins to snowball. More colors will come to mind that want to be with the first and then I start to imagine a design. I often feel like this just happens, and I can't think it over too much or it becomes lost.

Fish Clutch

It is said that Leo rules the heart, and when I create I have the overwhelming feeling of creation coming from my heart through my hands. I can also feel and see that Leo affects my choice of designs as well as my color palette. Leos are the rulers of children and I definitely have a childlike spark deep in the belly of my soul and my deep appreciation for childrens art is often reflected in my designs.

Being a professional artist and selling my work just came so naturally to me that I have to assume that it was in the stars. I create so many things that they just have to find loving homes. There are only so many purses that I can shower on my friends and family, if you know what I mean, so selling my build up was the next natural step. As a Leo, the love is in the creation. For me, Heaven on Earth is a room full of colorful supplies!

To pursue the meaning of this month's Leo New Moon in your own life and birth chart please contact me through my website to book a New Moon Reading.

To see other New Moon Artist Posts please click here.