What would you like to cultivate?
What would you like to prune or weed?
(Let’s have a jacaranda-coloured post, in keeping with the season)
The Seven Trees of Us
Sally Swain © art
very mixed media on a small strip of paper
I ting a Tibetan bowl and lead a guided contemplation for the six women participating in the Art Garden playshop.
We sit with four elements that potentially nourish the self-garden.
Soil
What’s your ground? What helps
you keep in touch with your physical self; with the world? What helps to bring you present and in touch?
Sunlight
What’s sunny in your life? What beliefs help you? What ideas or practices let the light in?
Rain
What waters your heart? Fills your bucket and keeps you replenished? How do you rehydrate your spirit?
Other living beings
Who or what is your community? Who or what supports you? How do you stay connected with others in healthful, growthful ways?
The six wonderful women
an Art Garden creation inspired by jacaranda and simple paint chip cards from Bunnings
create
detail of a participant’s Art Garden creation – a sweet cat appears amongst the flowers
their artworks;
November flowering jacaranda colours of purple and green remind an Art Garden participant of suffragettes and women’s rights
each is immersed
an Art Garden participant experiments with thick silver paint on black paper in a Celtic design
in divine play
See the strong, resilient plant life surging forth despite the creative tangle in this Art Garden participant’s artwork?
in her own way.
an Art Garden participant’s creation –
You can be deep in contemplative thought, yet live lusciously with the wilds inside
I find myself tuning in to them and doing my own little Response Art painting. What appears via acrylic, watercolour and white gel pen is the current Art Garden. It’s the one in the room – The Seven Trees of Us.
Each has her own initial. Each is a unique individual plant, yet we are more connected than we think. Our roots gently intertwine. Our leaves are embraced by the same swathe of sunlight.
The Seven Trees of Us
Sally Swain © art
very mixed media on a small strip of paper
Thank you, fine folk, C, C, K, M, M and M, for your authentic creativity and for permission to share details of your artworks.
Other Art and Soul Space Response Art-icles are here.
And you? Oh blog reader?
What grows in the garden of you at this moment?
It doesn’t have to be pretty. Some plants are spiky and mean. Some soil is smelly and dense.
Pray tell…
with love, art and soul from Sally
Art and Soul Space 
What a beautiful art garden. My garden is cultivating silence, in this sense from Latin silentem (nominative silens) “still, calm, quiet,” present participle of silere “be quiet or still”.
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Beautiful, Gallivanta. I wish to cultivate You in your You-niverse.
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