Midwives and Magic

Those of us who attended Artella's WildChild Wisdom Weekend a week ago are still reeling from the amazing time that we had together. It was a wonderful journey through time, friendship, and creativity. We'll be posting photographs and stories on the Web site soon, so that you'll be able to share in a virtual retreat experience.

One woman called the retreat "a birthing experience". She said:

"I was drawn to come to the WildChild Weekend because I wanted to let the little kid inside me play. But the experience ended up being more about birth than about childhood. My creativity has been re-born and in the short week since I've been home I've literally given birth to so many ideas. I guess they were always there but now they are seeing the light of day."

With the birthday celebrations of Artella and Benevolent Planet this week, I'm aware of how important it is to honor the birthings of our creative projects. Here are a few suggestions of ways that you might honor the "birthday" of a creative project:

• Buy a beautiful candle to keep in your creative space as your "birthday candle". Light it each time you begin a work session on your project.
• Send a birth announcement to your friends, announcing your new project (You might want to send our "Baby Dreams" eCard, shown on the right of the second row on http://www.artellawordsandart.com/free-ecards.html)
• Ask a handful of friends to contribute a small amount to your to your Birthday fund, and buy something special for your project, i.e., a journal, new file folders, etc.
• Take yourself on a Birthday adventure outdoors. Pick up items that catch your eye – a leaf, a shell, a lucky penny. Put them in a special place, where you can cherish them as birthday gifts from the Universe!

THIS WEEK'S ART-SPLASH & BIRTHDAY CONTEST

Yes, it's TRUE! This week we present is our 100th Art-Splash! It's called BirthWings and you can view it at http://www.artellawordsandart.com/artic100.html.

To celebrate three amazing years of words and art, we've put together the "Art-Splash Birthday Bash", where you go on a scavenger hunt to find clues hidden in the 100 Art-Splashes in the Art-Splash archives!

Go to http://www.ArtellaWordsAndArt.com/birthdaybash.html, where you'll find the list of Scavenger Hunt questions and full instructions on how to play, and the prizes you can win. Play the game to take a fun trip down memory line, and perhaps to be inspired with an Art-Splash or two that you've never seen before. Happy hunting!

Finally, I'd like to express my thanks, on behalf of all of us at Artella. YOU truly make Artella what it is: a rich, compassionate community whose collective creativity keeps soaring to new levels and touching people all around the world! Thank you, and Happy Birthday!

ART TIP OF THE WEEK!

Why should babies have all the fun? Give baby blocks an artful makeover! Go to a craft store and get some unfinished wood blocks and decorate them in any way you please! Use rubber stamps, paints, fabrics, fibers, and more! Create sets with matching themes or color schemes. Add alphabets to spell out artsy words. For inspiration, take a look at these sample photos from a class taught by Michelle Ward (one of my favorite artists), which incorporates wax on wood blocks.

WRITING TIP OF THE WEEK!

If you are working on characters in a short story, novel, or even a character-based piece of poetry, for an interesting twist on your characters, try writing about the occasion of their birth. How long were their mothers in labor? What quirky things might have happened? What did the birthing room look like? Who was present? Paint the scene, in all its detail. You may never end up using this information, but it does present a unique biographical angle that often is overlooked, and could even uncover some subtle information related to character patterns or traits.