Pisces Full Moon Inspiration

Full Moon in Pisces
September 4, 2009
9:03 am PDT

Tune in to this Pisces Full Moon by spending time alone, as you submerge yourself in deep emotions, explore your spirituality and mystical inclinations and give yourself permission to swim like a mermaid in a sea of color, beauty and divine inspiration.

Have "faith" - a keyword for Piscean energies - it's time now to trust and allow your intuition to guide you into all those hidden places you're just longing to explore.

In honour of this Pisces Full Moon, I would like to share with you the mythical, figurative acrylic paintings of Piscean artist, Emily Balivet who shares with us her own Piscean influences.

Emily Balivet

Sea Sisters - acrylic on panel

We Pisces have an instinctive awareness of higher levels of consciousness. The mind is a playground of daydreams and fantasy where we seek to stretch and broaden our reality maps. Some may meet this need through spiritual devotions, an interest in psychology, or perhaps the study of the paranormal. Others may find themselves using drugs or alcohol. In any case, Pisces enjoy playing with the mind and achieving altered states of consciousness.

For me, this desire manifests itself as hours and hours spent behind a canvas painting imaginary figures and landscapes, and I mean it. If my schedule allows, I will do nothing from morning to night but paint, even ignoring or putting off basic needs such as food or human contact. (It's a good thing I have children or I might just whirl right off into outer space!)

Ocean Goddess - acrylic on panel

I enjoy my time alone painting and sometimes find it difficult to re-enter the "real" world. You see, a Pisces understands that the "self" is simply a mask we put on, just one point in a vast ocean of infinite possibilities. Because life often presents us with the unexpected, we find it necessary to have a variety of masks to use as the situation calls for it. Sometimes I just have a hard time finding the right mask for the day.

It is this elusive, multi-faceted quality of Pisces that makes it difficult to pin us down. Try catching a fish with your bare hands and that's about what it takes to "know" a Pisces. We are ever-morphing shape shifters. Where my art is concerned, this means that I may have several paintings going at once with wildly varying themes. All of my paintings reflect back an aspect of myself, but none are "me". By the time I'm finished with a painting, I've already moved on. This makes it a rare occasion that I create something I'm actually attached to.

Cosma Shiva - acrylic on panel

Of all the Piscean attributes, the one that stuns me the most is the gift of intuition. The core of my art may simply be imaginative play with color and the suggestion of shape, but as the process unfolds and as forms and details are worked in, I'll step back and realize a deep relevance has appeared on the canvas. It is as though each of my paintings is a personal divination, a tarot card of sorts, and often a thrilling psychic experience. I have a distinct feeling that "I" am not painting - that something larger is working through me. Call it the "Muse" or "Totally Other" or whatever you will, I am a devotee to the end!

You can see more of Emily's artwork online at:
www.EmilyBalivet.com
www.EmilyBalivet.etsy.com

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"The Visitors" by Guest Writer Cappy Sue

"The Visitors" by Cappy Sue

I am writing this account some twenty-five to twenty-six years after the event and I give you my word that everything I am about to tell you is the truth.

I was four years of age when I met the visitors for the first and only time. I had fallen asleep while lying down beside my mother during her afternoon nap. She often took long naps in the afternoon while I played on her king sized bed with my barbies and books. Some time later I woke to the sound of talking and thought my mother was awake, but realized that she was still sleeping next to me. I was worried that my father was home from work, and I shook her furiously because I was afraid they would fight. The main issue was that my mother had no interest in being a housewife and my father had no concept of how much was involved in maintaining the household.

While shoving against my mothers backside I heard the voices getting louder. My mother was a notoriously deep sleeper due to her partial deafness and managed to sleep right through the noise. I slowly turned toward the foot of the bed and saw three beings real as could be. All three were bald and rather androgynous looking. They wore long choir-like light, lavender gowns.They were speaking to each other in a language I could not understand. The one in the middle was writing something down and they all carried tools or instruments of some kind. I got the feeling they were doing research. They were neither pleasant or unpleasant to me. They also clearly recognized that I could see them and that I was awake, however they never interacted with me or made eye contact. It was a strange feeling, possibly how an animal might feel during its first day at a zoo.

After staring at them in awe for a good thirty seconds, I turned and buried my face in my mother while screaming and shaking her. Finally she awoke and wanted to know what was wrong and I pointed to the visitors, only to realize they had vanished I told her the whole story while pointing to the foot of the bed where they had first appeared.

My mother calmed me down and reassured me that the voices must have come from the T.V. and that I had probably dreamed the whole thing. When we got to the TV room she stopped dead in her tracks, because someone had turned it off. She got very serious and locked every door in the house, not letting me out of her sight for the rest of the day.

I do not know if the visitors were aliens, angels, or beings from the future. It is also possible that I dreamed the whole thing, but I do know that it opened my mind to many possibilities from that day forward.

My art work (pictured above) illustrates the event from a child’s point of view and the images of the beings are as accurate as I could make them.


More about Cappy Sue:
Well my real name is Cathy but I like to write under "Cappy Sue". I am thirty-one and married to a lovely man and I am a mama to a house full of furry babies. My dreams keep me up most nights and often become stories or paintings. I truly believe that we all make choices, but that some things are pre-destined, and that if we keep our ears open and listen, there is always a divine voice whispering and offering us help along the way.

You can find more of Cappy Sue's artwork and writing here:

www.cappysuecreations.blogspot.com
www.cappysue.etsy.com

To read more metaphysical articles by Guest Writers please go here.

New Moon in Leo Triple Artist Feature

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.

Get Ready for the New Moon in Leo - Finnish Artist Feature


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

New Moon in Leo says "ROAR - Let your inner Wild Woman out to play"!

This month's Leo artists are Hanni and Koshka of "Vaisto" from Helsinki Finland. I love their work and their spirit expressed in a distinctly Leonine way...grrrrr!

Vaisto

We're two Leo ladies with a passion for beauty. We want to give every woman the gift of feeling strong, sensual and beautiful - to feel that little warm purr inside that makes her move with dignity, like a feline.

When we work, we really work hard to hunt down the sweetest zebra, and when we rest it's all about occasionally twitching an ear to fend off the flies.

Our creative process comes in a burst of brilliant bi-polar energy and results in a fat stack of sketch papers, later to be sorted and polished sharp and shiny before the actual production takes place.

"Enigma" - long skirt with tatters - red silk & brown jersey


It's like this: color, shape, lines, tones...our little visual carnivore hearts start beating faster.

Add texture, weight, drape...we're together running for the prey, tiring it down.

And then detail, fitting, final snips...it's there and we're feasting, dancing around the room wearing it, making poses, laughing, taking photos.

The imagination demands to be materialized, there's nothing we can do about it. We walk with the Sun and the Sun shines with us.

"Amazon Queen" halter top & mini skirt



You can find Hanni & Koshka's work online at:
Vaisto-Instinct.com
Vaisto.etsy.com

To see more New Moon Artist features please click here.

Are you interested in how this New Moon might effect your own life in the month ahead? Please contact me through my website for a New Moon Reading.

Full Moon in Aquarius Double Artist Feature

Full Moon in Aquarius
August 5, 2009
5:55 pm PDT

The Full Moon rises at sunset and sets at sunrise so she is visible all night long. The Moon opens up, blossoms and flowers now as we too can express our own unique beauty, illuminating our true purpose in the process.

The Aquarian Full Moon will strongly effect those of you with sun, moon or rising sign in Aquarius so if you're already a little 'out there' then prepare to crank things up a notch! If not, you can still have fun experimenting and tuning into radical ideas, futuristic planning (like way, way into the future - space age style!), getting together with friends to celebrate (internet chat rooms could be zany today), or just plain getting creative and letting loose the unique you that never gets out to play. It's also a good time to brainpick & brainstorm and let impulsivity just plain party crash your day! (Is that even a word?)

I'm getting excited just writing about it, but then again I do have an Aquarian Moon (in the Aquarian 11th house to boot, so no wonder!)

Aquarian Keywords: independent, inventive, unpredictable, tolerant, artistic, eccentric, logical, intellectual, radical, shy, altruistic.

This month's featured Aquarian artists are weaver and jeweler, Leslie Maltby in New England and fabric artist Stephanie Maher in Michigan.

Leslie Maltby

Knitted Silk Sunset Tarot Bag

As an Aquarian, one trait I embody is wide-eyed curiosity of both the animate and inanimate combined with passion and strong opinions. My love affair with fiber began when I was very young in the form of knitting lessons from my aunt and grandmother. I proudly gave scarves, complete with uneven edges, to family members for Christmas. This hobby gave way to poetry, drawing, and writing, all of which I still like to incorporate into my mixed media jewelry.

In true Aquarian fashion, I was struck, as if by lightening, by the urge to knit again in 2001. Going beyond the basic knit and purl, I read magazines and taught myself stitches and shaping. One of my first projects however, was not going to be merely a scarf. In bigger than life fashion, I was going to knit a sweater! Ok, it was harder than I thought, but as is typical of an Aquarian, I was undaunted (aka, stubborn) and simply changed projects to simpler things, gradually working up to sweaters.


I had wanted to weave for a long time but the whole idea of a loom and how big it was, along with the dilemma of where I would put it and the fact that I didn’t know how to weave delayed doing anything about it. First I decided I had to learn to spin. At first glance, spinning has nothing to do with weaving, but it is fiber-related. I picked up a drop spindle and some fiber and attempted, per the directions included, to spin. I repeatedly dropped the spindle. The spindle and fiber sat on a bookshelf for the following five months.

Then I thought, how can I not know how to do this? That’s unacceptable. I love fiber. I spent one weekend at it and was spinning yarn by Sunday.

"I Don't Get It" Necklace


My passion with the universe of fibers exploded after I learned to spin. I am fascinated by all fibers, plant and animal and all the varieties within each species. Almost everywhere I go, I wonder if that milkweed, that paper, those threads from my frayed jeans can be used in spinning, weaving, and knitting. And although I have yet to try many of these, I know the answer is yes. I am passionate about the world of fiber. You’ll recognize this when I can’t stop talking about it and I don’t notice that your eyes have glazed over.

Where I live I cannot have large fiber animals or grow crops of flax or cotton, but I wanted to go yet another step backwards in the process of creating with fibers. I wanted to “grow” my own fiber so I got an adorable Angora rabbit, whose wool I spin into yarn. That’s the Aquarian independence.


I took basic weaving lessons and have fulfilled yet another dream of mine. The world of weaving is endless, with its weave structures and use of color and fiber.

I became fascinated, too, with mixed media when I made all of the paper materials for my wedding last year (see photo top of this post). My mixed media jewelry is evolving and I am letting that take me where it will go. This is the free-spiritedness found in Aquarians.


My challenge this year is to establish a more structured approach to my business. I am easily distracted by my numerous projects (history, genealogy, dyeing, gardening and canning, to name a few!) and my desire to try new ones (“I can do that!” my mind tells me). As outer worldly as Aquarians seem to be, there are still only 24 hours in our day and we still have to eat, sleep, and do laundry like everyone else.


Stephanie Maher

TheMaterialGirl.etsy.com

Thrifted Fabric Totes


I am a forty-one year old single mom of three and as an Aquarian, I live in creative clutter and chaos; I have heaps of fabric everywhere and without help, I rarely have anything organized.

I can't stand to be told what to do so following a pattern is out of the question. I make all my own patterns for projects and I never like to make the same thing twice - it's monotonous for me. Being a giver, I rarely do anything for myself, but am always willing to share my creative talents with friends and family.

I love buying new machines and I own three of them. My favorite is an embroidery machine because it does a million different things and I'll never get bored with that. I'm currently learning applique.


I often wake up in the middle of the night and google something I want to learn to make and then modify it to my own liking. I have only had three sewing lessons and consider myself to be self-taught. I get bored and restless with things quickly and am easily distracted and bounce from idea to idea until I perfect one, so that is why I have so many things unfinished - kind of parallels my life!



For those of you interested in exploring how this Full Moon might effect you and for a look at the entire month ahead I offer a Full Moon reading on my website.

Would love to hear your Aquarian comments if you got 'em!

To connect with more Full Moon Artists please click here.