Thursday, September 15, 2016

Peaceful morning

Took a peaceful walk before yoga earlier today.. this is not a bad place to spend your morning 😍💖☀️


Lotus Mandala



This lotus mandala is ready for a new home! 12x12" canvas, acrylics and mixed media.

one of a kind! $100


#art #artistsofinstagram #artwork #artforsale #forsale #lotus #mandala #painting #oneofakind #ooak #square #lotusmandala #lotusandbliss #lotus+bliss #bliss #instagood #instaart #instaartist

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

be the good



Believe there is good in the world. 
(there is. it’s you and it’s me. let’s go do good.)

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Self - love

I am free to love who I am. And so are you. So what are we waiting for? Let's do this.


Saturday, September 3, 2016

Work in Progress

A lotus mandala painting in progress, complete with positive affirmations ✌🏻️💕


Thursday, September 1, 2016

Creating Peace

I create peace in my mind and in my heart.

This is the affirmation I painted into today's art work. 


Thursday, August 25, 2016

Honor Yourself

Be as intentional about the information that you consume as you are about the food that you put in your body. They both matter a lot, perhaps more than you think they do. Pay attention to how you feel when you read certain things or listen to things. Don't engage in conversations about subjects that will only upset you. Unfollow people if necessary. Enforce boundaries. Say no to things that you don't want to do, or to people you don't want to spend time with. Let go of things that don't serve you. Listen to yourself. Honor yourself. Let your soul breathe.

This right here is my lesson to myself for today, for this week, for this month and year, for-freaking -ever and ever, amen.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Some of my earrings are on their way to Texas! They may be in a boutique near you soon! 


Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Evening runs are my favorite. If I can see a sunset over some water, my day is complete. 



Sunday, August 21, 2016

Spectacular Sunset

Last night’s sunset was spectacular. One of these days I will head out with my good camera and lens just to capture the sunset, but for now all I had was my phone shooting from the passenger seat of a moving car. 


Sunday, August 14, 2016

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Art Journaling

A fun page from my art journal. Today may or may not be spent painting 😍🎨💅🏻💕


Friday, August 12, 2016

Morning mantra

Morning mantra:

"You are either now here or nowhere."
~Baron Baptiste 


Thursday, August 11, 2016

Galaxies

Working on painting a galaxy inspired mandala and loving how it is coming along!! 😍


Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Bees

"and to both, bee and flower, the giving and the receiving of pleasure is a need and an ecstasy."
~kahlil gibran 


Moving and Rebranding :-)

I am working to rebrand myself from Waterwaif towards Lotus + Bliss, but I do still own Waterwaif! I had a couple friends ask me about it recently and yes, I will still keep it for beachy jewelry (that is how it all got started anyway!). But most of my new designs will be done for Lotus + Bliss

And just in case anyone is in the market for some waterwaif jewelry, I marked my entire etsy store down 25% as I am slowly moving it over to my other website. I am soo excited!!

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Foodie Freak?

You might be a foodie freak if produce delivery day is your new favorite day! 😍
I can give you a referral code if you want to try #spacegirlorganics produce delivery next week!!


Monday, August 8, 2016

Little Birdie

A little birdie told me someone would like this necklace.. so I made a few of them. Coming soon to lotusandbliss.com! 💕💖


Mud Wrestling

Happy birthday to my childhood partner-in-crime sister! I totally think we had the right idea back then, so let's mud wrestle again today to celebrate. I love you!!


Sunday, August 7, 2016

Pretty Little Flower




No filter.. just a pretty little flower growing in the middle of nothing and nowhere that made me smile.

Saturday, August 6, 2016

I Am a Work in Progress

Sometimes I am afraid of letting things go or afraid of being bolder, so at those times I make myself do it. I slap on bolder paint, I cover up parts that I am attached to, I go darker than I am used to. Still a work in progress, every day.


Thursday, August 4, 2016

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Yoga Necklaces!

I made some super cute, simple and minimal yoga necklaces, coming soon to a studio near you! If you want one, let me know! 


Tuesday, August 2, 2016

The Little Things

Bliss can be found in the littlest things some days. Today, I'm grateful for Anaya Coffee, a tiny local coffee shop in the arts district, and doubly grateful that they offer almond milk for their coffee. Ahhh, bliss.


Sunday, July 31, 2016

Breathing Together


Breathing together
of all things
I find myself
awakened
revelling in every drop
of anticipation
dripping wet in the ripe, rich fruit
of life
flowing
effortlessly
into the unexpected joy
of being alive.
~Mary Oliver

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Lucky





This week is all work.. but it's a little bit about bliss. If you're lucky enough to love what you do, you're lucky enough.

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Go In and In...



Go in and in.
Be the space
between two cells,
the vast, resounding
silence in which

spirit dwells.
Be sugar dissolving
on the tongue of life.
Dive in and in,
as deep as you can dive.
Be infinite, ecstatic truth.
Be love conceived and born in union.
Be exactly what you seek,
the Beloved, singing Yes,
tasting Yes, embracing Yes,
until there is only essence;
the All of Everything
expressing through you
as you. Go in and in
and turn away from
nothing that you find.

~Danna Faulds
(photo credit to Loren Posca at The Yoga Garden <3)

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Introducing Lotus + Bliss


This new name and shop and re-branding of myself is part of my journey. I am working towards becoming a yoga teacher, and in the process, I am discovering so much about myself. 
I'm a yogi, a runner, an artist, a jeweler, a photographer. 
I like to describe myself as a visual poet, a space holder, and a moment collector. 
A light chaser, a soul seeker. 
I'm a reader, a tree hugger, and a vegan animal lover. 
And yes, I married a music man ♫

My re-branding is in progress! After agonizing for a couple weeks about the name, after miles and miles of lists and notes, it finally came to me as I found myself painting a lotus a few days ago. I don't know why I agonized for so long. It's really simple, and simple is good, and I am happy, and simple and happy = bliss.



Introducing Lotus + Bliss. 


Saturday, April 16, 2016

Super Simple

Keeping it super sparkly, super delicate, and super gorgeous today with this 14k gold gemstone necklace. 


Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Supporting Friends

I bought this amazing piece yesterday from my friend (and sometime teacher Tammy Hennessy). I love it so much and can't wait to hang it!! 
(Her pieces would still be a bargain at twice the price, so please check her out if you are looking for a piece of art and you can tell her I sent you!!)


Sunday, March 27, 2016

Serenity

I worked on several different paintings today and kind of felt cranky about them, so I sat down and painted some serenity into my life. This Buddha isn't finished yet but I needed it!


Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Note to Self

Usually when we say we can't do something, what we mean is that we won't do something unless we can guarantee that we'll do it perfectly. 
But no! The bad shit is NECESSARY! Anything worth doing is worth doing BADLY! And once we accept that things can be worth doing badly, our options widen. "If I didn't have to do it perfectly, I might try..."


Sunday, February 28, 2016

The Gunslinger

Spent a good 15-20 minutes trying to convince Luke that he should read The Dark Tower series today. I did not succeed in that quest but along the way I met my old friend nostalgia, got super excited about the story again, and so here I sit, cracking open Book 1 for my 4th trip into that world. I can't wait. 




Friday, February 26, 2016

My Vision Quest

Last weekend I went on a Vision Quest with artist, teacher, mentor Whitney Freya at my local home away from home art studio Art More Place.. the entire thing was just so magical and amazing that I have been trying for a full week to come up with some words to describe it.. any words.. I just can't do it.


I finally just decided that none would be right. To meet Whitney is to fall in love with her. To paint with her is to learn to fall in love with yourself.



I do not have good words to describe any of this. But I will try to show you the steps I took on my canvas along the way..



The first layer was all water. Beautiful blues and purples and teals, around and around in a flowing circle, om symbol at the center. I joked that I could take it home as is and hang it up because I loved it, but also said that I couldn't wait to paint over it (thank you 30 day painting challenge!!)









Layer 2 started with a glaring orange sun stencil which then became yellow and orange and reds all over, continuing in the round, circular pattern I'd started on layer 1. I added black arrows as marks and wrote blood & fire in large bold black letters. This was my invocation of the fire element (and also my 90s Indigo Girls).






Of course I couldn't wait to cover all of this up again!! I next drew circles everywhere and then surrounded them in white, added some black and gray circles - this was my air layer. I then started to turn the painting into an elephant. God, I wanted an elephant so bad! It just wasn't happening, no matter how hard I tried or hoped. Then I hoped she could be a deer.. She wasn't a deer. Others suggested a fox, maybe she could be a cat? I added some more black arrows around and around while I hoped and waited for some guidance, maybe some divine inspiration. Finally walked away and quickly looked back at my canvas and realized she was an aardvark. FINE, she can be an aardvark. This was the end of Day 2, and we left the studio for dinner, and I left an aardvark on my canvas.



Day 3 - I woke up down, headachy, sad, not really sure where to go with my painting or if I'd even want to, which was so unlike the energy I'd had and felt the day before. I moped around a bit, and Dave even said "Isn't this the opposite of how you're supposed to feel? Aren't you missing the entire point of the workshop?"

I finally decided to just get in the shower. While in there, I rememered the Rainbow Warrior card I'd drawn the day before - Active Wisdom - which mentioned that I need to calm my reactive energies. I had wanted an ellie SO BADLY that my reaction to that want was to be down about what DID show up. As I washed my hair I thought about what an aardvark means as a totem or spirit animal - the answers lie beneath, right? Keep digging, right? Thinking about it I realized that I hadn't invoked any element of earth at all. I'd forgotten the original flow and energy of my round, circular pattern. Realized I'd used almost no green. I'd forgotten all of those arrows I'd drawn around and around.



Suddenly I had an idea of where to go .. serenity. 

Calm the lotus mind. 

Round and round.

Like a drishti.

A yantra.





Thursday, February 25, 2016

Hooray for Elephants!

Day 29 of my 30 day painting challenge- painting on the same canvas every day for 30 days- and an elephant appeared for me!! 🐘

I had an elephant right around day 7 or so and it was so hard to let her go, but I trusted the process and let her go.. and good thing I did because it made room for this one to show up!!


Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Siren Song

Siren Song- this delicate teal mermaid necklace is brand new to my shop today. I am definitely going back to have to make one for myself, too!!


Thursday, February 18, 2016

Morning Pages

Day 40 (I think?) of morning pages.. Journaling 3 pages every morning, every day, for the duration of The Artist's Way workshop. Today is the day we get together, though, and it is always, always awesome.


Wednesday, February 17, 2016

The Artist's Way

I am following The Artist's Way as a weekly group meeting at my favorite art studio. Some weeks are harder than others.. 
This is Week 5 - this week's chapter of The Artist's Way is promising to be difficult for me. Or perfect for me. One or the other. Or both. 


Thursday, February 11, 2016

A Long, Slow (Run?)

What do you do when you are signed up for a race but you haven't done any training at all for it? You have fun with it! What do you do when shit starts hurting? You go slower and have fun harder. It helps to have these 2 awesome guys by your side though, I'll tell ya!!
(Ran the Melbourne Music 1/2 Marathon last Sunday side by side with my husband and my brother.)


Friday, February 5, 2016

Good Karma

A: Cute shoes.
B: Good karma.
C: Both. 

The answer is C. Totally in love with my new shoes. The style name is called Good Karma and they are completely cruelty free. 


Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Wordless Wednesday

Reviving this theme.. Love doing it and seeing it and letting the pictures speak for themselves. Took this at sunrise during my morning run. 


Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Graffiti Peacock

I did a bright yellow and red graffiti painting the other day, and today decided to turn it into a peacock. I am part of a 30 day challenge- every day we paint a new painting. Totally in love with how fun this one is!!


Friday, January 29, 2016

Should I Start Blogging Again?

Looking at my blog, I realize how much I've missed it. I quit smoking in June of '13 and it looks like I couldn't keep up with blogging during that crazy mental time, and then before I knew it, I'd accidentally fallen out of the habit of blogging. It's been almost 3 years. THREE YEARS! 

Asking myself if I should start blogging again, but you know, if I have to ask, I think it means I already know the answer to that!! 

Here's to setting new habits and rituals and reviving my blog. I've missed all of you!!