sans cheese, sorcerers & weddings.

our villa in spain is, decidedly so, alive. particularly at night, it creaks and makes mysterious noises which make me wake up and worry about burglary. so far, it's simply the villa, making small talk with its neighbours, no burglars have been encountered yet, luckily. :)

i am reading 'the host' by stephenie meyer (from the twilight series), i'm enjoying it, she's dealing with some really interesting concepts; two minds living in one body, shades of violence and the relationship between strangers.

my dreams are vivid and complicated. i do intense nvc mediating in my dreams, one night, i mediated between a "wicked" sorcerer and a school boy, it was a success. however, last night, i dreamed that a girl wouldn't get out of my seat, and after many non-violent attempts of talking to her, i dragged her out. ha. i noted in the morning that that which was lacking in my attempts was; the intention to connect.

baby is really busy, particularly at night. sometimes it's as if he's trying to get out, and i tell him softly; 'not for a while yet, you must grow still, little boy, august is your time'.

yesterday, it rained. it was ok though; andy, hugh and myself took car trips to the local area. we braved our way into benidorm against all our primal instincts; it wasn't as bad as we feared, we also went to villa joyosa and calpe.

today is a cheese-free day. i've been overdosing on cheese way too much. most of what i've eaten here has consisted of; chips, crisps, cheese, bread, more cheese, more bread, almonds, pineapple juice and watermelon, oh and i had two days of gumball eating as well. so today i'm laying off the cheese (and gumballs), i'm gonna turn into a gouda chunk one day, or; will give birth to one.

i notice that the concept of mother's day annoys me. not so much because yes; it's a hallmark holiday like valentine's etc, but mostly because i think mother's day implies that mother's don't get celebrated on other days and they should be, but not just mothers; fathers, daughters and sons, as well. the very fact there is mother's day implies neglect on other days; i'd like to address that.

my mother never wanted us to celebrate mother's day and i think i'll continue that family tradition.

andy and i have decided to get married (this was decided about a month ago already). before anyone jumps up and down with joy and excitement; i don't do weddings. well, that is; i attend friends' weddings, if they're special, but i don't have my own. i know some people might colour me terribly unromantic, but i just don't see the point of spending a stupendous amount of money on 1 party. i've never liked it and still don't. andy and i are getting married for practical and legal reasons, it shouldn't cost us more than £40. i'm really not judging anyone who does like big weddings, their own or others, i just really want to warn people that; no big party, or even a wedding invite will come your way. sorry to disappoint. andy and i have always maintained that; "we are married every day"; ie: we celebrate our love every day, it's never not special. making it into a binding thing is not more of a declaration of our love, it's merely a practical & legal declaration of our love.

when i'm not lying by the pool reading books or doing art, i play peggle or ricochet on my trusty laptop. after finishing most of the challenges in peggle, i'm now obsessed with ricochet and the awesome balls it can produce; acid ball, sticky ball, bomb ball, multiball etc, it's a highly satisfying game.

last night, hugh and i watched a bit of eddie izzard. i was reminded by how much i enjoy taking the piss out of life.


♥

ps. my favourite new drink is fanta lemon with lots of ice.

viva espagna!

so! OLA! we're in spain, all went well, airport navigation, flight, getting to the INCREDIBLY beautiful villa! (it's in this beautiful secluded area, the house is HUGE, the weather is amazing, not too hot, not too cold, it's super quiet and just stunning, the house is much bigger than i thought it would be, with a big beautiful garden and swimming pool, amazing!)

can't be long, but just wanted to say hi and ola and tell you how amazing it is!

an awesome way to celebrate my bday!

no internet access nearby though, so won't be around much, probably checking in on emails every 2-3 days or so!

oh, before i left, i worked until 3am to get this art video up before i left:



and this is the painting that was created in it:







hope you're all ok! remember, no internet access so won't be responding any time soon!

xoxox

awesome art journal workshop registration now OPEN!!

i'm soo excited! hope that some of you can join! x

~REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!! ~

Awesome Art Journal Workshop
Art Journals are magical places where all judgements fall away! Your Art Journal is a place where you can create without inhibitions or fear of 'doing it wrong'. Art Journals are not for making 'perfect' art (what is that anyway?), they are for soul expression, a space for you to be, to express, create, to heal, to laugh, to cry!

This course will do just that; help you express your soul in creative, expressive and outrageous ways! For more detailed information about the course, pls download the course outline and material list HERE.

How to sign up and what happens:

1. Pay your course fee ($65) by clicking on the 'buy now' button - but make sure to write in the email address you want to sign up with (or have already signed up to the network with):

Pls enter email address:

Or by sending $65,- to my paypal account: tamara[dot]laporte[at]gmail[dot]com, making sure to let me know in the comment section which email you'd like to sign up with!

Pls note: if you don't have a paypal account but you do have standard credit cards like mastecard/ visa card/ swift etc, you can still pay via paypal as a guest, you too should click on the 'buy now' button.

If you don't want/ can't pay via paypal and don't have any major creditcards, pls private msg me so we can work something out!

2. I will send you 2 emails, one is an invitation to the workshop, the second is an email with a welcome pack pdf.

3. You need to accept my invitation to the group (follow the links in the email and make sure to click the YELLOW JOIN NOW button at the group page).

4. Voila! You are a member!

If things are confusing and you can't figure things out, pls email me on tam[at]willowing[dot]org. Or check out the FAQ page over here: FAQ

Workshop 2 - Awesome Art Journal
This course will run for 5 weeks with a full length video (approx 1hour) & pdf file per week!
Course skill level: beginner & intermediate
Course fee:$65

Course outline

**pls note that course themes or techniques could be slightly adjusted throughout the course, the above is a guideline only.

DOWNLOAD SUPPLY LIST HERE.

Videos can be downloaded throughout the 5 weeks, don't worry if you're not available on Monday's; all videos remain online for the duration of the course and some time thereafter.

Your pdfs will contain technical guidance on the techniques that have been covered in the videos.

This course will not focus on learning 'how to draw', although I am likely to cover a few basics of drawing as well. I will cover 2 art journal techniques per week (approx 10 in total), instead of covering a healing theme separately, it will be woven into the creation process.

Note: once you have paid and signed up for the course, you will be
sent an welcome pack which lists materials and other details of the course.

Pls enter email address:

www.willowing.ning.com

painting for graeme

so i made a custom painting for a man called graeme who is suffering from lymphoma. pls watch the video, and while you do, send healing energy into the universe so that graeme, perhaps, may receive some of it? some of you may remember that my brother was misdiagnosed with lymphoma in april last year, we went through hell for 2 weeks (he was basically told he had it 100% certain only to find out he didn't; he actually had the epstein bar virus!!), anyhoo, i feel for graeme, like i feel for anyone who is suffering a great deal, so any healing vibes/ energy/ prayers for him are greatly appreciated.












oh and this makes me so happy:

i am life

artsy things

quick sketch for a commission that i like:



&

a slide show of the course art work created by my students during the 'world of whimsy' course! :) awesome no?

baby belly baby LOVE! :)

hee, so i have the fetal heartbeat monitor and of course HAD to film and record the audio! :)

so if you want to hear our baby's heartbeat and see my incredibly bulging stomach watch this vlog video (no worries, nothing squeamish or scary, other than a big bulgy stomach, some gel and too much noise, but definitely a heartbeat!):





and here some photies of the ever-growing stomach:

♥

mother and child