Wood burning: 'Fear Not the Cycle'

I finished this wood burning today, I have been working on it for about a month and a half. It has a Hindu story behind it and a personal one.

In progress.

ABOUT SHIVA'S NATARAJA:

Shiva is one of three main gods in the Hindu religion. Each of the three perform a task in the cycle of the world, Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the maintainer and Shiva is the destroyer. This wood burning depicts a classic pose of Shiva, he is performing his 'dance of destruction' or nataraja. He is destroying all evil in the world so that Brahma can remake it. Shiva's outward facing palm is a spiritual gesture or mudra called abhaya which translates to 'fear not'. Though Shiva is destroying the world he is telling the people of the world to 'fear not' because the world will be remade and the cycle will begin again. 

MY MEANING: 

I learned this story in an art history class in college and it stuck with me. I find this image inspiring not in a religious context but a secular one. To me it means that there are ups and downs in life, hard times and great times. If you are in a difficult period then have hope because the cycle will start anew. 

In my life I have been in a cycle of change. I move to a new place and it is hard to get readjusted, find new friends and start over. Slowly you get acquainted with your surroundings and life gets easier. Then, the once new place is now home, life is easy and comfortable. This cycle keeps spinning and this image reminds me to embrace all stages of the process.

Flashback: Sketches

I have been trying to scan my older sketches so I have a document of them. We move a lot and things tend to get lost or damaged and this way I will always have them. Here are a few I scanned today. They make me remember how fun sketching is, I haven't done enough since I graduated.

My husband, Peter

My sister, Mallory

Cheers Card

This was my first time using this set, it was too fun!

New Screen Printing Kit

I first tried screen printing in college and the idea of owning my own kit has stuck with me since then. It's now four years later and I finally have a kit of my own! I didn't want to jump into buying a screen printing kit because I wasn't sure how much I would use it, I didn't want to spend the money and have it sit in it's box. So for four years I have been stenciling shirts instead. Because I haven't got sick of stenciling yet I decided that it was time to 'move up a level' to screen printing.

The screen with the image 'burned' onto it. This was a very messy process, which is one of the reasons I was hesitant about getting the kit.

First impression, not a good pull but still interesting to look at. :)

What the design is supposed to look like. This was a great practice run because now I have a reference for how small I can go with the shapes of the image. I am so excited to try it again, I just need a new design and something to print on...

Two New Cards

Here are two cards I made last week:

New Painting: Cucumber on Orange

I am so happy with my newest painting! I have been wrestling with  this new style for about a year and I am finally there... well using it to paint fruit and veggies at least. It's a small painting, 12''x16'', in acrylic. This one makes me jazzed to paint more. 

Two Recent Cards

Here are two cards that I've made recently. Looking at them know I realize that they sort of have the same color scheme, I tend to use brown a lot. I think it's my favorite background color because it's so neutral and natural. 

I think a different ribbon on the top one would have looked better but I didn't really have anything and I didn't want to wait and finish it. The need for instant gratification sometimes stops me from carrying on with a card and making it 'perfect'. Sometimes that's what I need, just to finish the thing and move on :) 

Hershey's Bar T-Shirt 'Wrap'

I got this idea from a booth at the CHA convention. I changed up the wrap design and made my own template, I've attached it for anyone who wants to make one of these. The ribbon loops under the candy so that when you pull the ribbon the chocolate slides out! I love this idea and I'm going to try it with some different types of candy, we'll see how it goes. 

I can't figure out how to attach the template to this post... You can kind of get the idea of the shape, but if you want the real size template just ask me and I'll email it to you. Does anyone have any ideas on how to post this differently?