Below is a post I made on FB around Winter Solstice. I just came across it today, and found it to be very pertinent to the mood of this afternoon, as some long awaited rain finally pitter pattered its way down onto our rooftop in Santa Cruz.

Let the creative fires run ablaze in the hearth of our hearts…

Solstice Greetings:

I hope you are all enjoying the arrival of winter, complete with the warmth of community and love shared indoors. Once again, my favorite time for rich reflection is here, and stepping into projects that are ready for some serious focus and depth. This season nourishes what has been at rest inside the eye of the lustrous swirl of summer, now reaching beneath the surface. What is dormant? What requires a moment of stillness to dig deep beneath the rustling, peering into our daily routines, turning the leaves and mulch? Persimmons are ripening in the dead of cold. There is never an instant where the sweetness and succulence of creation is left without rhapsody.

Between a long breath and last night’s dream,
The wisdom of another kind is gleamed:
The kind that only winter brings.

 The One Eye Love

Introducing: Avatara

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av·a·tar

the descent of a deity to the earth in an incarnate form or some manifest shape; the incarnation of a god.

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~*~  This is my newest addition to the Family  ~*~

THE ORIGINAL PAINTING IS FOR SALE

{9″x12″ acrylic (no airbrush) on canvas panel}

Prints (on paper or canvas) up to 24″x30″ are available.

Contact me for further inquiries: ishkanexus@gmail.com

Infinite Love ! Infinite Joy ! Infinite Light!

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~*~ How it all Happened ~*~

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The concept for this piece was originally inspired by music. I drew a sketch of this face while attending an amazing Middle-Eastern music performance in Mendocino last August. After some time, I decided to paint it. I rummaged through some old canvases, and found one that particularly captured my attention, a canvas panel on which I had drawn (back in ‘07) many overlapping circles with a compass (i.e. The flower of Life). I hadn’t seen it for a couple years, and well, as any artist might relate, there is a time and place for every vision! I immediately converged the face I had drawn into the Flower of Life image with pencil.

I worked on it almost everyday for an average of two hours or so over the next two months, allowing the Holy Trinity of Purple, Gold, and Turquoise to do their dance. These colors hold a very magical vibration, and just happen to make my favorite analogous color scheme. I wonder why.  As I always do, I sat with this new creature for sometimes an hour or more before or after a painting session to simply absorb guidance and clarity. I prayed often, asked for Divine Inspiration, and continually surrendered to the flow of creation. And, often I would see the painting start to glow, with all the colors, shapes, light, and shadow taking on an incredible brilliance of their own.

When the piece was almost finished, I moved my easel (with the painting on it) to another room as to not be in the way when other people came into the dining room for breakfast (which also happened to be the room with the best lighting). I sat there in the dim light, in meditative communion with the piece, and it came alive once again, only this time the name Avatar came through at that moment. I exclaimed, “Avatar! It’s Avatar!” to my beloved in the next room, and he yelled back, “Avatara!” and, well, that completed the transmission.

Sometimes, finding the words to try and describe what I experience making this art is like trying to dig a hole in the ground with an egg. That feeling arises that there’s only so much I can say in “regular” writing, and then pure poetry is best. As difficult as the description of “my” creation/process may seem at times, I know there is great value in doing it anyway. It is my humble attempt to share what I’ve found, and be as transparent as possible. I want to engage with you in a conversation about what is happening.

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Avatara is many beings, encapsulated in a flash of 2-D. She is feline, fractaline… She is the form/formless expression of Third Eyesight…focus, intention, clarity of vision, and COURAGE. Some people are disturbed by Her presence, and I wonder if perhaps they are afraid of the intensity and depth in which Avatara peers into their very soul. She is pure beauty. She is the aspect of shamanism that dives into all that is, knowing that no matter what She finds, it all comes back to Source. Look into Her eyes, and be transformed. Open your third eye.

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My Indigo Nature allows for me to discover the essence of all that is in many ways. I feel things. I sing with heavenly choirs. I dance the dance of many archetypes. I see the Star of David when I close my eyes during a really good hug… I hear angels speak to me when I ask for their help… I make art in the only way that true inspiration brings, allowing the creation to move in a way that I am simply “discovering” it. It’s not always easy, and I don’t always understand or feel understood, but I know that inner smile that emerges when my art comes out just right. I know in my heart that all souls, no matter our origin or role in the universe, are here to share our brilliance. Through whatever unique medium, messages from Spirit sift through the layers, and there is that knowing inside when our truth is at hand.

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May we all experience deep gratitude for each moment, and act from this place.

I hope this message finds you well, and I wish many many blessings to you in every aspect of life.

May we all find happiness and the causes of happiness!

In Love,

Ishka Lha

The Miracle of Creation

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I am {continually BLOWN AWAY!!} (by) the miracle of Spirit’s infinite BEAUTY.

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Everyday, we uncover worlds upon worlds of ephemeral joy and despair; and, everyday, we have the opportunity and ABILITY to find acceptance and appreciation of ALL that is. How incredible is that? How absolutely MIRACULOUS is that?

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The presence of angels in my life is palpable. Their wings, my wings, engulf every cell of my being, and propel me into the greatest depths and highest heights within a single point of my third eyesight. There are prayers and visions, welcoming gestures, the most glorious of surprises awaiting our every small step into our true nature. The ground may come crumbling down, but when we choose unity, the heavens open up below our feet. Notice the grand horizon, join hands with others around you, and move into the breaking dawn.

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What word beckons you to live in complete alignment with what you were born to do?

What people tell you to NEVER STOP doing whatever you are doing because it

makes the world smile?

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May we all walk with the utmost appreciation for life. May we savor every moment, in all its grandeur and bittersweetness. May we celebrate the blossoms, and weep for the dying, and may we all realize the middle way. May we all see the humor in every situation, and remember to laugh in the face of chaos, chuckle at our own attempts to grasp the ungraspable. May we contemplate our death with an eye of knowing that to run is futile. One of the greatest mysteries of life is not just something that will take care of itself, and yet, it will, if we take care in noticing it.

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What are you eager to share? Don’t hold back! Even when every bit of fear is screEeaming for recognition, don’t give in. It is our divine BIRTHRIGHT to shine. We were born to shine shine shine. Even if it may feel lonely to be so bright at first, don’t worry. Others, like moths to a flame, will come rushing in to join in your melody with the utmost exquisite harmonies.

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The heart is all there is to pour ourselves through….

Hello Friends,

Today is the day of my birth, and I am happy to be alive. 

I’m all nestled into one of my favorite cafés on the coast, catching up on e-mails and birthday wishes, and reflecting on my time here on mama earth. I just came across a newsletter  from a very inspiring artist named Shiloh Sophia McCloud. I’ve known her since I was a little girl, and I remember how much I admired her beauty and passion for life. Shiloh is an incredible artist, and continues to show me how to live my dreams. Her monthly art newsletters are sweet nectar.

Today, she brings us an invitation to the creative process, an invocation of joy through artmaking.

 The blank canvas is indeed an invitation. Painting is medicine. I like to get lost in the details. It’s the intricacy that sets me free, and I am propelled into a state of meditative calm each time I sit down with a piece.

Anyway, I would love to share what Shiloh wrote about approaching the “Blank Canvas”… It is a journey! And one always worth taking, no matter what the “canvas” is… for painting, for writing, for singing…. enjoy.

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A Blank Canvas is a Door

by Shiloh Sophia

An Initiation in Paint – Approaching the Canvas

When approaching the blank canvas imagine that it is a door.
A portal of possibility in which only you hold the key and the magic words which grant access. A cosmic opening which is beckoning you to enter.

Consider that what lies just beyond that white space might just be the stuff of miracles.

The empty canvas is used by the Muse to terrify, entice, compel, repel and shake us in our boots! And often, faced with it’s blank face, we turn back.

But not today.

Today we choose to enter the unknown, to answer the call which silently and powerfully transports us from this present reality into non-ordinary reality.

Now be brave and lay aside:
what we think we know
what we are sure we don’t
and we might just experience something close to bliss.

We may find that, Yes, mind can quiet, even without being a yogi or meditating for years…

Pick up a paintbrush and empty your fears into a palette of infinite possibility. Postpone inviting that familiar critic to tea, (the muse won’t have any use for her rough medicine today.)

Tears may come…and if they do let them fall onto the canvas.
Terror may come…and if it does choose it’s color carefully and watch as each stroke transforms and moves.

Love may come, and if she does, let her have her way with you,
don’t hold back, or shield your heart from her powerful strokes.

How long has it been since we burned with passion?

How long have we waited to make our mark on canvas or page,
holding oh so many stories inside.

Today approach that blank canvas  remembering it is not about being good or pretty.

Today be a willing fool for creativity.  And at each moment surrender.
surrender. breathe. surrender. breathe.

Self expression is the key to unlocking a life,
not just the white door of your canvas.

Self expression is the you that lives inside
being invited into the world of form…

Just see what will happen, if you let yourself out in full color.

Unconcerned with blend, contrast, perspective or perfection.
Let this be one of the places in your life where your fear and your magic mix – POW!

That giant brush in your hand wreaking havoc on your old ideas –
WHOOSH!

And creating space for something entirely new to emerge:
YOU, in living color.

Shiloh Sophia

You can find Shiloh’s original post at: http://ourladyoftheredthread.com/2010/10/28/a-blank-canvas-is-a-door/