Autumn Equinox 2015

The need to pause, reflect and give thanks has always been important to me. Taking time each quarter of the year for ritual or ceremony has been a major part of my life for many years. Time seems to whirl by and  my mind chatter often repeats not enough not enough you need to .........  and the list is endless not only from my own life but what the over culture seems to add we must do. 

I have always been an observer of nature and love to watch the wheel of the year turn and see the changes each season brings. They follow unseen  signals and signs and provide such different beauty with each season.  

I find it not only comforting to pause and celebrate at  the beginning of each season but also take the time to plan,give thanks and bring all of my scattered parts back together to move forward. What needs mending, what need renewal, what needs putting away.

 I have been given the opportunity to share my Autumn Equinox Ceremony with you  at The Crystal Voyage in Tacoma WA. If you happen to be in the area the details are below

Autumn Equinox Celebration & Ceremony 2015

 At Crystal Voyage

  Thursday September 24^th, 2015          6 to 8pm

 It’s time to clean out, clear away and give thanks for your summer’s bountiful harvest. As well it is time to bring you back in to balance as the days and nights exchange places and prepare for the going with as we enter the colorful time of autumn.

Peg and Gwen Gyldenege invite you to join us this delightful journey of self exploration and celebration o  one of the four seasons.  For the past 37 years they have been learning, communicating and creating a bridge of spiritual guidance with members of the third kingdom this includes, Faeries or Sylphs, Undines, Salamanders, & the Gnomes, Elves and Dragons on the land they call the Misty Valley. The time has come to share these ceremonies with the world and bring together those who share the dream of making our part of the world a better place.

Join us for an Autumn Equinox Ceremony with the Fae, nature spirits and devas and other entities from the third kingdom.  We will begin with a guided Meditation and end our evening with an earth weaving.

 Please bring the following items

1.       Bring a small vial of earth from your favorite place for our earth weaving

1 oz is great.  A small container with a lid ( such as a pill bottle or small jar) will be just right as You will be taking home your portion of mixed and blessed earth

2.      An item to give away from your own 2015’s summer’s harvest.

What did you set your intentions on this summer? Was it your garden, or creating art or collecting seashells? This is a small gesture to show gratitude and share your creation with someone else and must be a tangible item

3.      Your favorite rock or crystal to reenergize on our Autumn Equinox Altar

We will have autumn equinox altar will be set up with a space for your own items to help assist and absorb the energies at this special quarter of the year

4.      Bring a sheet of paper listing 3 things you are grateful for from this summer season.

We will be sharing these to help build and strengthen our energies with the help of our third kingdom co-creators. 

Cost is $30.00 per person

January Full Moon # 8

Hello dear readers and fellow artists!

For the final full moon exchange I had myself.  Every time I looked at the two spaces all I could see was a little creature sitting & gazing at the stars or swinging or doing something, but always sitting between the two spaces as though it was one complete space.  So as I've learned, rather than fight the visions that you're seeing, trust them and go with them.

I've learned the best place to start, if your piece will involve sculpting, is to begin with the sculpture itself. The rest of the details will take care of themselves once the sculpture is done.

So I found the color liked. Blue seemed to suit the thoughtful posing I saw the character in. I curled his toes and helped him sit gently on the ledge.  The drippiness of this particular clay lent to him naturally turning his head as though he were listening to something. 

I tried out a few backgrounds to see how I'd like them. Then I sat back in my chair across the room to see what that gave as an effect to the whole tray as well as just that little area where he would be.  Unfortunately this first set of the backgrounds just didn't quite do the trick.

But he needed a little something more... He just felt so bare.  And he was beginning to feel more like he was part of the stars,  like a little being that had come down from the stars. So I gave him a crown of stars made from some star shaped sequins.

After basking in the warm glow of the oven I gave him a little paint. I thought having a background with lines as well as stars would be fun, having lines looking more like astrological symbols and charts. So I used up a piece that I had already folded into a box (marked with sharp lines) and fit it into the new spot's shape. The background is actually made from colored pencil and is very similar to the one I made for the pink moon several moon exchanges back.

Meet my star being.  He watches over and listens.  He is ready to offer any advice you might need. He encourages us to gaze upon the stars and listen for the answer.

Thank you all for a lovely experience. I have learned a great deal and enjoy getting artwork from each and everyone of you.  I feel like I've made large strides as an artist. It's because of the project that I feel confident in my sculpting skills again. Thank you Peg!! 

November Full Moon #9 - Gwen is Inspired by Turn of the Century Architecture to Create a Cantilevered Buck Patronus Sculpture

Turn of the century Pacific Northwest Architecture is my muse for the November Moon Little Alters Exchange.  I enjoy studying & observing architecture. Even took the architectural walk through downtown Seattle, thanks to Peg, with the former PMC Guild. I'm always inspired by how artistic each angle is and how photogenic buildings are.  

B.P.O.E. Building in 2013. A Bit rusty, but waiting for McMenamins to spruce it up.  Photo by Gwen Gyldenege Copyright (c) 2013 all rights reserved.

The building and buck over the entrance in the above photo inspired this "Harry Potter/Prisoner of Azkaban Patronus" style deer to be sculpted in polymer clay as a cantilever sculpture. Both the deer and cantilever sculptures are a first for me. 

If you'd like to read more about how I used paper clay, polymer clay, dylusions inks, acrylic paint pens, and went about securing such a heavy object in cantilever (90 deg from the flat surface of the background) and find some links on the research I did, please head over to my blog for full details: 
http://www.calmundertension.com/1/post/2013/12/allowing-architecture-to-inspire-polymer-sculptures-for-the-little-alters-november-moon-exchange.html

October Full Moon #10: Gwen's Silly Skeleton Watercolor

Skeletons, skeletons, skeletons!  I love to draw cartoon skeletons doing funny things!!  Are you inspired by day of the dead? By Halloween? And by silly skeletons?  Ooo, ooo, I am!   And that’s just what I ended up making this moon for the Little Alters project. 

Kimberly Kostal is the recipient and I know how much she loves skeletons.  In fact, last moon, she tried to make one for the alter for me, but got stuck. So, I was excited when inspiration began to strike. Little did I know, I’d hit some rough patches that would hold me back and delay my progress.

Below is the quick sketch I did of the skeleton I planned to create.  I thought I'd be making a bah relief (think embossed or carved effect with paper clay on canvas). But, my body and the universe had other plans and my idea totally changed.  Or so I thought.

Do you find that when Halloween and Dia De Los Muertos time comes, you feel like the world has slowed to a near halt?  This year I feel more in tune with the natural world. This means that my life is naturally turning introspective, the same way the earth is quieting for winter, and creating art is not as easy as other times of the year.  

To read the rest of this post and see final photos, please visit Gwen's blog: 

http://www.calmundertension.com/1/post/2013/11/silly-toon-skeletons-inspire-my-october-moon-alter-piece.html

September Full Moon #8 - Gwen Gyldenege's Dried Up Paint Bits

This month, I send to Nancy. I hope you like these wee little guys!

In my last 2 posts, What Can You Do with a Zip Fizz Tube? and Creating Art from Acryllic Paint that Dried in Your Pallet, you know that I poured out a bunch of fresh and expensive paint, then promptly forgot it and wasted all that colored goodness. In an effort to recover what was lost, I created art for the September Full Moon alter space for the Little Alters exchange project. 

I started with the dried up bits in the pallet you see below and went to my sketch book.  As I was pouring over a lovely strawberry balsalmic martini, I worked with opposites {Dried:Fluid, Useless:Purposeful, etc.} as a way to show that what was deemed trash could actually be discovered to be fun and playful.  

My vision (sketched below) is that out from the pallet where you see the paint actually stuck to the plastic, there's this Mary Poppins Carpet Bag like space where something pops out of nothing.  The paint boys would pop up wearing the dried up paint as hats or even as bum covers if they fell into the paint and got stuck there until the Artist left the studio. 

  

Images copyright (c) 2013 Gwen Gyldenege. All Rights Reserved.

 

I sculpted the guys in 2-part epoxy, then decided to cover the shortened zip fizz tubes with a thin layer of epoxy too so I could paint them.  Then, I attached their dried-up paint hats exactly as I found the paint.  Last, I covered these guys in more than 10 layers of paint, mostly Michael deMeng style but totally focused on matching the paint color of their hat. While they are all a bit redder than I'd choose, their hats were the best dried up bits that resembled a hat. 

 

Images copyright (c) 2013 Gwen Gyldenege. All Rights Reserved.

 

Paint boys, Left Over, Forgotten, and Dried Up, I love you guys!

Images copyright (c) 2013 Gwen Gyldenege. All Rights Reserved.

More of Gwen Gyldenege's work may be found at  http://www.calmundertension.com and http://shesethegoldenegg.com

AUGUST FULL MOON #7 Gwen's Oracle Deck of "What If’s"

I, Gwen, took 2 calligraphy classes from Caitlin Dunden and observed that many calligraphers write on top of water colored paper.  I like using new techniques each moon and was excited to introduce watercolor and calligraphy to my contributions for Little Alters.  I would create for Marilynn only 1 card with the words “What If” and a simple, elegant border surrounding, no flourishes.  Then, I’d provide a story of what if’s that might hide behind it in the space. 

I thought it would be fast and simple to make. 

I worked every day on my calligraphy – learning to spend 1 -2 pages on just practicing letters before starting anything.   I stumbled because my body was healing, which meant lots of sleep and not enough time to create.  When I did create, nothing, I mean nothing, would come together like the vision that came to mind.   When the full moon came along with our little alters deadline, and then it went and yet still nothing would come together, I thought, “Should I give up? Should I say Sorry I’m not going to make it. And Cry Uncle?” Not finishing felt like letting Marilyn down.  Even though, there are times when it's really ok to say - I just cannot pull this together, I still felt like I was letting the whole Little Alter's team down.

I had a sense, a teeny, tiny, constant feeling to keep going. Even if all I was doing was to practice my calligraphy.  So, I would pick up the pen and write my what if’s.  If you’re familiar with Abraham Hicks, then you may have heard of the “What If” game, where you dream up your amazing life by asking “what if…” followed by stating a piece of the amazing life you dream of having.  I would like to be there, but I’m not yet in the phase of, “Oh I deserve this awesome life, so I’m dreaming it and I can really see it happen”.  I’m more at the phase of belief/dis-belief.  One my consider it, between cautious optimism and pessimism.  Before I can climb the ladder to enthusiastic belief, I need to explore the previous areas.  Sometimes, when we are low or unable to let go of fear, that means, vocalizing and acknowledging deepest fears.  Other times when we’re not so deep in the world of fear, but not quite yet wearing our rose-colored glasses, that means wondering if it could really happen.  And so, my What If’s live in that middle purgatory or middle earth.

• What if Amazing Things Happened? 
• What if he chose me? 
• What if I was loved? 
• What if I let go? (Oh my God I don’t know if I can do that!)
• What if my dreams came true? 
• What if I didn’t have to live like this? 
• What if I could? 
• What if I did?

One of the days I was writing my what if’s in hopes of creating my final alter project, I fell into deep anger and unhappiness. My What if’s landed in that dark, murky pool of fear and anger.

• What if I stopped talking? 
• What if I stopped communicating? Would anyone even care? 
• What if I didn’t try, didn’t care? 
• What if it never happened? 
• What if others stopped pressing their guilt on me? 
• What if I never made any new friends ever again?
• What if I never felt happy again?
• What if I was always angry?
• What if I hated everyone and everything?

And… that sort of helped break me.  Of course, there were lots of tears – anger, frustration, fear, sadness, loss, humiliation, confusion, and hurt.  Ok. So what if it didn’t get any better than it is right now? Ok. I’m there. And as Reba says, “When you hit rock bottom you’ve got two ways to go, straight up or sideways.”  I skittered sideways for a while. That was ok, but definitely hard.

And then, something magical happened about 4 days after the full moon. 

To continue reading, please visit the rest of the post on my blog: 

http://www.calmundertension.com/1/post/2013/08/little-alters-august-moon-my-oracle-deck-of-what-ifs.html

June Full Moon #10

"Dude... Give 'em to me, I'll clear your obstacles. No worries man." -- Ganesha 


I sculpted this wee art doll from polymer as I continue to work with and meditate upon Ganesh. He is known as the Remover of Obstacles with the head of an elephant and body of a man. His legend is quite interesting. 

In this 4" tall version of him for the Little Alters 2013 project, he is happy, at peace and holding the rudraksha seeds, in a golden offering bowl, their natural blue form he was given by as an offering from visitors who wish his help. Thanks to all the instagrammers who visited the Kauai Hindu Monistary and posted all the gorgeous photos. Without those, I wouldn't know of the rudraksha seed existence or know that there were such brilliant blue pods out there! 


May Ganesh bless all who see him and help the Lynn H. who is getting him in this full moon's exchange.


Light and Love,~GG~

MAY PINK FLOWER MILK MOON #6

Hi Kathy & AlterMooners.  :) This is Gwen.

This month I created a hand using techniques I learned in a class taught by  Deb Wood on A for Artistic, "Sculpting Feminine Hands and arms".  

 

I added a sleeve, hand sewn from left over material I used to make my clown pants and floral skirt so that this alter would carry a little bit of me - bright and tropical color choices to remind us of the more cheerful side of life.  To read more about how I created the tea cup holding arm, please click on over to my blog: http://calmundertension.com/blog.html

SEED MOON 1

The Pink Moon by Gwen Gyldenege

More can be found on http://calmundertension.com/blog.html

It's alter time again!! 

This month's full moon is known as the seed moon or pink moon. For some reason, I've been struck by the glory of a moon dressed all in pink. See it gets the name pink from the ground phlox that blooms this time of year. And this is one of my absolute favorite times of year to photograph. I love gardens in spring. I grew up playing among the azaleas, Andromeda, bluebells and daffodils. 

Sweet Ruthie by Gwen Gyldenege Clematis by Gwen Gyldenege

Coral Azalea by Gwen Gyldenege

I love the way the earth smells when she's laughing in flowers. Persephone does leave a glorious and fragrant wake as she returns from Hades. There is nothing like the delicious smell of blooming azaleas, Andromeda  and clematis all mingling with rhododendron an the warmth of a sunny spring day or lingering upon every dew drop following a gentle spring rain.

The images you see before you are a several photographs I took in one of my favorite gardens.  If you play in the garden, you'll find magic & faeries among the bright blossoms & rich evergreens or deep underneath the cascading blossoms of the Andromeda bush.

Purple Azalea by Gwen Gyldenege

What I find fascinating is how different the scents are from each of these flowers.  The clematis really smell like chocolate.  The andromeda like a heavy, syrupy honey, and the azaleas are sweet and bright, like a sibling to the summer trumpet vine or the springtime honeysuckle found enveloping every early spring night in Kansas City, Missouri as the days heat wanes and the earth sleeps. I would love to travel the world as spring comes alive in every place just to experience the scents.  What would it be like to be right smack in the desert when all those cactai burst open?  Or how about standing in a Moroccan garden among the roses?  Or sipping your morning espresso beneath an arbor crafted of gardenia? It'd be quite a glorious hedge.  What other amazing scents could you discover?  If only to bottle these and wear them.  I would definitely wear scents of Azalea, Andromeda, or Honeysuckle.  

Andromeda by Gwen Gyldenege.

Tulip tree by Gwen Gyldenege

Andromeda by Gwen Gyldenege

Tulip Tree, Evergreens and Spring Sun by Gwen Gyldenege

Wow, glancing over this post, I love how colorful it is.  And, I realized how truely me it is!  I love it!  Color is a wonderful thing. I lived in a land of grey once and now choose to live in technicolor how ever I possibly can.

Back to the moon. When I began sculpting, I didn't intend her for the Alter project.  After last month, I decided I'd just play a little and if it worked out, great. If not, then I'd have a fun art piece and I would have taught myself to sculpt a face in paper clay.  I've done quite a bit of sculpting with pottery clay, sculpey and fimo, but paper clay seemed too soft.  With inspiration and courage found from classes with Michael DeMeng, Clarissa Callisen, Patricia Hedegaard and the Halloween book by Mr. Glitterville, I embarked upon the journey.   

Well, it was a bit soft. But, I just kept playing and out came this magical moon face.  Then, instead of keeping her just a full moon, I decided that I wanted her to represent both the full and the crescent moon.  She could be waxing or waning, depending on which side you observe her.  I gave her a long pointy nose and a very pointy up-tipped chin.  I tried the pressed in eyes like shown in Glitterville, except with mine, I added them with flattened circles of of clay and created eye sockets, just in case I wanted to add a glass eye.


Then, after bone dry, I began painting. Thank God I'd been through Michael DeMeng's classes where I learned his layering techniques to achieve the most amazing painted surfaces.  It was not easy to grasp how many layers go into a surface to achieve depth.  And, might I add the patience one really needs to have.  I do like the look, but often avoid it because I run out of patience. Well, fortunately, I happened to find an extra dosage bottle of art patience in my medicine cabinet. For this moon alone, I believe there are ~ 7 layers just for the main color.  Then, there are many more layers in the eyes, lips, etc. The nice part about layers is if you don't like the look, paint over and start again. There are actually green, blue, purple, pink, and many other colors in there.   The more I painted her, the more she felt like an Italian clown, part of the Pagliacci or even a marionette. I think my style is beginning to emerge. How lovely!

I couldn't let the moon go up without a rich and colorful night sky behind her. While resting from a minor injury, I picked up my colored pencils. Had such great fun with them on the shrinky-dinks, but haven't found the look I want on paper.  I really like a layered, depth, but didn't know how to create it.  So, off I went in search of tutorials from the great world of bloggers. Not many, but I found one that showed putting red behind blue and blue behind red. Huh. It looked weird on it's own, but I figured it would be interesting to try in my favorite colors - pink and aqua.

I started playing with the colors at hand. I was tickled to see the rich sky colors I could create. Just like so many nights I've tried to photograph, but my camera just won't pick-up.  Oh glory me, this is really exciting. Now, I have a way to create night skies.  I've been dreaming of this. And, all because I sculpted this moon, and just played really, do I know a new way to make a magical scene. LUCKY ME!

Snow Moon 7

This moon, I was inspired by the cheerful reds & pinks of Valentines,
and the moon some call the Rabbit Moon.  I sculpted this bunny of
polymer so that he could easily fit on a wee ledge. I've never really
sculpted a bunny or animal before this. And I find my sketches of them
to be primitive. I have a difficult time properly understanding &
proportioning their shapes. So I was delighted at how excellent this
sculpture turned out. The ears are my fav!  The "Love Me" came from a
mini box of really great chocolate frogs I received as a gift.  And
last, the pièce de résistance, the miniature banner of washi tape
flags.  To make these 1/8" - 1/4" wide flags I used the width of the
washi tape itself as half the height of the flag. Then to ensure I had
a tiny enough width to allow for lots of flags over a mere 3", I cut
strips that were ~ 1/8" or so by 1/2" (width of washi tape). The
result? A magical, miniature, banner of flags fit for even a Lego guy
to hold! Yay! I love it, just like the words say.

Gwen Gyldenege