Art is Nature, Nature is Art

Danxia Landform,  Zhangye, China

'The mystery never ends, it cannot end. That's why it is called a mystery. It cannot be known ever. It will never become knowledge, that's why it is called a mystery; something in it is eternally elusive. And that's the whole joy of life. The great splendour of life is that it keeps you eternally engaged, searching, exploring. Life is exploration, life is adventure.'
OSHO

This week I was introduced to the Danxia Landforms in China formed from red sandstone and conglomerate. 100 million years ago this area was a huge inland basin. Water carried silt from the mountains and in the high temperatures and arid conditions, the sediment oxidised. Danxia means 'red rays of the sun' and I was amazed and full of wonder to see these vivid colours in the natural world. I could not believe how similar the colours, patterns & flow are to encaustic artwork. Here are some examples from the Oracle of the Bee oracle cards I am creating at the moment and Essence reading paintings I have been creating in readings with clients.

If this artform is speaking to your heart you are welcome to join us in an encaustic workshop coming up on Saturday, 14th April. See you in the MYSTERY.

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Koala Love

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Scotty the Koala

On Monday Tony and I travelled up to Mount Baw Baw to visit the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter and deliver the generous donations you all contributed at our Koala Meditation night. Colleen and the koalas thank you! Tony and I fell in love with them all over again and Tony now has a koala named after him! You can have a look at the incredible work Colleen Woods and her volunteers do helping to rescue, heal and release these beautiful koalas back into the wild at her website: www.samthekoala.com.au. Or you can jump over and say hi on their Facebook page: Unfortunately these beautiful creatures are now more in danger than ever before, every little bit really does help - sponsoring a koala costs just $40. And there's nothing better than koala love!

The Three Bears

Tony and Molly who climbed up Tony's leg for a cuddle - Tony definitely has the touch
Molly cuddles
The enchanted pool where the platypus live - the energy here was magical
Human-sized wombat burrow / temple
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New Autumn Classes & Workshops

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Serpentarium by Patricia Ariel

Hello Beautiful People,

Autumn is already bringing so many changes for us all and my deepest wish is that we can move through this time of growth with ease, grace and flow. Just like a snake shedding the old skin, we are all evolving, becoming the new self sometimes just through the simple action of acceptance of who we truly are and have always been. Tony and I have been so honoured to be a small part of the huge transformations that have taken place in the circles held this year. The energy is deeper than anything we have ever felt in all our years working together and it is a beautiful and humbling experience to be able to hold the space for such beauty & growth. I have great hopes for us all in these profound times.

As the work has deepened so much we have felt called to hold smaller classes in sacred space and we will be holding all circles after this week in our personal studio space. I am very excited about this as the energy has been gathering and building in this space like a deep well and this extraordinary painting 'Serpentarium' by Patricia Ariel will be taking pride of place in our studio as we all open up to our full potential.

If you feel called to deepen connection to your spirit at your own personal pace in a warm and respectful group of like-minded souls, these are the Autumn Classes still open for enrolment.

Oceans of love, Julia & Tony

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Fire Drummer - New Moon in Aries

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New Moon in Aries today - can you feel the shift in energy? Hopefully for many of you who have been feeling exhausted, this shift will herald a week of excitement & rejuvenation as the Aries New Moon builds in FIRE power. One way that I love to build energy and connect to fire is by drumming. How exciting is this incredible video of Faroe Islands musician and singer,  Eivor Palsdottir - she is a wild embodiment of the energy of an Aries New Moon!

 

Here is the drum that I love so much - she is my Otter Drum. There is nothing like playing a drum created with your own hands - your own essence. Tony and I created our shamanic drums with the amazing Judy O'Donnell, wonderful water-woman and drum-maker who has sat and worked with shaman all over the world.

And we are honoured to have Judy visiting us here in Melbourne on Saturday, 28th April to hold a Drum-Making Workshop. This is so very special and we only have 3 places left in this workshop. Tony and I will be holding Full Moon Drumming Circles after Easter and so if you feel called by the drum - this workshop will give you everything you need. You will be amazed at what you can create with your hands and your spirit. Your drum becomes a dear friend, a living breathing companion to your own natural rhythm. So please get in touch with us as soon as possible to secure one of the remaining spots. All you need to do to reserve your place is pay $100 deposit with the rest of the amount owed on the day of the workshop.

Tony and I will be holding new drumming circles after April so - let there be drums! Julia & Tony

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Accepting the Light and Shadow at Autumn Equinox

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Preparing the Waters at Autumn Equinox

Today at around 4.15pm we experienced the exact point of the Autumn Equinox. We sat on the line between light and shadow when both day and night were at exactly equal lengths. If only we could always sit so comfortably with our shadow nature as our light. Tonight I am preparing the mineral spring water collected from wells in the Wombat Forest for shamanic balancing sessions this week and for new essences that I am calling Aura Veil's - we are losing the need to always shield and block energy, instead I prefer to use the essence of the stone Kyanite to keep our own energy strong and authentic with a veil of water to purify & illuminate. The powerful Kyanite stones were found by my dear friend Martina of Nature's Art Melbourne in the desert of the Northern Territory and are known to hold no energy but their own - I love to focus on this essence as I prepare the water.

Here are two gifts I received last Friday and they are wonderful examples of light & shadow moments happening within minutes of each other. I took the first photograph as I sat on Williamstown Beach talking to my grandmother Cassie & thanking her for the gifts she has passed to me. I am told that my grandmother knew things before they happened, that you could not tell her a lie and that anyone with a problem would find their way to her kitchen table where she would sit with them & listen. My grandmother died while my mother was pregnant with me & so we never got to touch in the physical but I feel her around me, teaching me more and more each day. As I thanked her, this beautiful crow flew slowly around me. In the distance you can see two black swans (totems for Tony & I) and a large ship - I saw this as a symbol of my ancestors and their journey across the ocean from Ireland. The message I received from the crow was: 'let go, go slow, be simple and free' - and as I sensed this message I could feel my whole body & heart becoming lighter.

And on the way home I passed by an opshop in Williamstown & saw this wee treasure sitting in the front window. I call her Our Lady of the Opshop! A gift from my Irish Catholic granny for sure and it had come all the way from Lourdes. I was delighted to get home and find that everything worked perfectly including a little wind-up music box that tinkled as the lights twinkled!  
And so here is my goddess of the healing waters, aglow as I prepare and pour tonight. Perhaps it is time for us all to stop looking for what is wrong or right, and accept that everything just IS as we ARE, a beautiful dance of light and shadow. 
Oceans of love, Julia xx

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Autumn Equinox Balancing Sesssions

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We are approaching the time of Autumn Equinox (Tuesday, 20th March exact at 4.15pm), this is a time of balance, when day and night are again equal. In Melbourne, Australia the Indigenous name for this season is Iuk - Eel Season, one of the seven seasons for the Kulin People. It is a time when the eels are ready to harvest, when the Manna Gum is flowering and Lo-An Tuka, the Hunter (the star known as Canopus) can be seen almost due south at sunset.
In the last 2 weeks I have spoken to many clients who are experiencing a great tiredness, for some it is frustration or irritation. I feel this is part of the shedding we need to experience to embrace the very different and evolved energy of 2012. To help integrate and activate the sacred energy of the Autumn Equinox I have created sessions incorporating Tarot Readings & energy healing using the newly created & activated Daughters of the Well Essences. In these 1.5 hour Balancing Sessions we will focus on creating a balance between our inner world and outer world (our night & day), to let go of anything that no longer serves us to create an opening of energy to feel into and embrace the new.

In this time of the rise of the Divine Feminine & changes in the earth our auric fields are becoming more sensitive and we are feeling much more. It is important in this time to be keeping our energy clear & flowing and to make sure that we are not  picking any negativity from people & events outside of ourselves. In these sessions we will be working with Daughters of the Well Aura Mist to clear and cleanse your personal auric shield & you will receive a gift of your own bottle of Personal Aura Mist to take home with you - a new lovely smaller bottle that can be carried with you.

If you feel called to experience a Balancing Session & activate the healing of the Autumn Equinox I will make a time for you.

Warm wishes, Julia

Autumn Equinox Balancing Sessions:  Including Tarot Reading, Shamanic Sound and Water Healing,  Using Daughters of the Well organic plant and natural spring water essences, essential oils & unctions  (Includes a gift of your own personal Daughters of the Well Aura Mist)

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Behind the Veil - Daughters of the Well

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After having a wee break from making our Daughters of the Well water & plant essences I have felt the call of the water again and on Monday Tony and I made our way down to natural mineral springs wells in Wombat Forest. I was so happy to be in this beautiful forest again, it is always so calming and full of wild birds. After asking the water & spirits of the land to welcome us we drank from the cool sweet healing water and drew what was needed for the essences.
We then made our way to Trentham Falls and noticed that after a dry spell the falls were a lot lighter in flow. For the first time we were able to climb into the mouth of the waterfall and enter the cave behind to sit and look through the veil of water as it fell.  This has been a wish of mine ever since I saw this waterfall years ago and I was over the moon. As we watched the dancing water sparkling with light I became entranced. I had a strong memory of doing this many times before...
We will have all of our new plant & water essences infused with healing energy, the protective stone essence of Kyanite and pure essential oils by the Autumn Equinox next week. If you are interested in experiencing this waterfall energy and would like to purchase from this first batch Daughters of the Well for 2012, just let us know.
Waterfalls of love, Julia & Tony

Three lovely daughters
Infusing the water with sunlight  
Brambles full of wild berries on the walk down the mountain

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Full Fathom Five - Exploring Blue with Encaustic Art

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The Eye of the Sky - Encaustic Art: Oracle of the Bee 2012
Oracle of the Bee 2012 (Copyright J.Inglis)
Today I am meditating on the colour BLUE as I prepare for our next Encaustic Art workshop (painting with beeswax). The colour Blue is the theme for this step into the living breathing moving art medium that I associate so much with liquid energy and the element of water. And so it has led me to dreaming of all of the ways the full spectrum of this colour inspires me.  As a child I spent most of my time gazing at or into the sea. A favourite pastime was to drift into reverie in the enormous rockpools off the coast of Catherine Hill Bay or to lie in the dark and cool sea caves of Caves Beach and watch the sea swirl in. Blue is often used to represent the colour of the unconscious, dreaming, a colour that creates a sense of calm and peace. Blue is also the colour connected to the Third Eye Chakra and is beloved to the Ancient Egyptians and many more of the ancient Mystery Schools. 
Encaustic literally means 'to burn in' and is an artform that blends pigment with beeswax to create luminous paintings that never fade or lose their vibrancy. It is believed that this ancient art form was created by the Greeks who painted portraits & famously, masks to adorn mummies in Ancient Egypt - found intact & unblemished when they were discovered. The Ancient Greeks were also known to paint large blue eyes on the front of their ships and sea vessels in encaustic wax to ward off any evil - I love imagining the sight of those ships heading out to sea.
Here are my Full Fathom Five Blue inspirations today:
1. Photo taken on our honeymoon inside the Grotto Azzurro in Capri, Italy on - this image is not retouched in any way, these luminous blue waters look very much like the 'inner light' we create when painting with wax.

2. Julianna Barwick: The Magic Place - Blue music and otherworldly watery places.


3. The Piano by Jane Campion - the will of nature versus the will of man. Diving deeply into this film at the moment. Jane Campion has mentioned that the blue light in this film was to represent the unconscious, the deeper world within.
4. Twin Peaks by David Lynch - I have always loved the mood & blue glow of this series, where dreams and reality merge into one.

5. The art of Marc Chagall - here are his incredible stained glass windows.

Details: I'll Be Your Mirror - Encaustic Oracle Art Workshop
Saturday 10th March 10.30am - 1pm
Williamstown    $45

Oracle of the Bee 2012 (Copyright J. Inglis)