I swear we have all been groomed since Kindergarten to have that back-to-school mindset come September. Time to knuckle down and study something.
I've been studying QiGong. I took an online webinar on the Swimming Dragon form of QiGong and loved it. In QiGong, the dragon represents, among other things, transformative energy or Alchemy. Fitting, eh? Dragon helps us to transform the ordinary--the mundane--into the extraordinary, so we connect with a sense of awe, wonder, and wisdom. Like cooking...taking separate ingredients and transforming them into a soup. Like painting...taking separate colors and transforming them into an image.
September's print offering is The Stag. The magnificent Red Deer is Europe's version of the Elk. This print is available in both 11x14 and 8x10 sizes. The original is 11.5 x 15 acrylic on paper.
Over on Instagram (and our Facebook page), I am challenging myself to post a sketch a day. I need the discipline (a back-to-school knee-jerk reaction, perhaps?,) plus it's a wonderful way to wake up each morning and sketch critters while I sip my cuppa jo. Using my iPad, iPencil, and the Procreate App, I can sketch, ink, paint, and work with pastels. I could, in fact, create all sorts of paintings and have. Only...it's an app. It's completely virtual, and I miss the hands-on alchemy of my tools, so I don't use it that often. But I am now... at least for this month, and, fingers crossed, it will become a habit, and I will make these daily posts become daily postings! Here's the Instagram link: https://www.instagram.com/alchemyranchstudios/ and here is FaceBook's: https://www.facebook.com/AlChemy444 should you want to check up on me.
We hope you are all staying safe and somewhat sane. It's okay to be a little wacky-but-pleasant. These times seem to call for that, methinks.
HERE'S MR. AL WITH HIS NEWS...
Whenever we knock, it's unknown if anyone's home. We wait, intensely listening for any sound of movement.
For Huldufólk Haven, it's much the same. We patiently wait for the door to open!
And one day...it will. As they say, patience is a virtue.