30th March

Piratical!

Not sure about this one, maybe something inside is about to mutiny! Or at least burst into pirate speak or take to talking to parrots. A little surly but with other worldly, sea-green eyes and a kind of feathery familiar spirit. I am feeling a bit besieged by a number of jobs that are backing up on me, and Easter is already here, bar the chocolate. Arrrr... shiver me timbers me hearties, there be dragons here!

13th March

Moonlight

Entranced by the beauty of the heavens and moonlight on a calm sea, a quiet moment of contemplation for a creature at one with the elements and herself. Time to breathe and be, enjoying being in the places we find ourselves and appreciating the beauty of our environments is so easily left out of our busy lives. Even a few moments last thing at night with your feet in the grass and your head tipped back to look at the sky can make an otherwise mundane day end with a touch of magic.

7th March

Following the Shoreline

I often have flying dreams, and often imagine what it must be like to be a bird aloft in the wind. Following the shoreline is a good way to find your bearings in a strange place, and I love places where different environments merge, places of change and transition. Looking down on the world from a height gives you a completely different perspective too. I always enjoy these dreams from the sensation point of view, and there is always something to learn from to take back into my waking life. You don't have to follow any of the accepted rules and wisdoms of the world in your dream life and the symbols are all of your own creating - a wonderful creative opportunity to play.

10th February

February's First Mermaid

The first mermaid for the month! Mermaids seem to be one of my enduring interests. There is something about being able to manage to live both under and above water and yet being unable to get beyond the edges where the sea and dry land meet, that captures my imagination. There are so many stories around mermaids too. The beautiful but treacherous mermaids that lure sailors to their deaths, the little mermaid who forsakes so much for the love of her prince, the poor creatures paraded at freak shows in the circus sideshows of yore. There are flesh eating creatures with pointy teeth and nasty appetites, and beautiful undersea princesses with mother of pearl palaces and magical powers. Mine are creatures of the outdoors, decorative, pensive, and very tactile. All that water streaming past their skin and wind blowing in their hair, sometimes free in the ocean, and sometimes dreaming on the shore. Creatures of warmth and coolness, night and day, air and water, soft skin and scaly, shiny tails. Creatures full of contradictions and beauty, movement and calm. There will be more of them! 

23rd January

By the Sea

I took myself for a wander along the shoreline at Sumner yesterday afternoon despite the grey, showery weather. I walked across the expanse of beach to feel the touch of the ocean on my feet and found, to my surprise, it was quite warm. I enjoyed the lack of people about and the salt in the air as I walked, looking out to the horizon and up into the sky. I think this picture comes from there, with an added dimension of warm sunshine, and a sense of the life above and below the waves.

14-1-10

Feeling the Wind in your Hair


I love the feeling of the wind in your hair and the smell of the sea. Something within me calls out for the salt sea air and the sounds of the sea birds. If I am away from the sea for too long I start to feel all stodgy and hemmed in, as if there isn't quite enough air to breathe, and no space in my head just to experience being. I get so busy being busy sometimes that I forget the need to breathe, take a pause and just listen, feel the air on your skin, the wind in your hair, and be.

11th January 2010

Sea Sprite


We spent yesterday driving up the coast and visiting a few of the little settlements that we haven't seen before. It was a gorgeous day and the sea was a deep aquamarine colour under a windy blue sky. We stopped at the river mouth of the Hurunui and admired the way the water from the river mixed with the ocean. The view at the end of the road was straight down a huge cliff - remarkably with a vertical wooden ladder down to the beach below. Spectacular and very wild. We also found the Napenape road which took us for a long meander, eventually right along the edge of the stoney beach with waves pounding a matter of metres away, and a glowing white cliff face at the end. Magical place, and well worth the trip. Gore Bay was also beautiful, with quite a few baches, and more spacious houses, built under the shadow of cliffs, and just across the road another wild and stoney beach - with a few brave kids jumping in the waves. Loved it. So, my head is now full of sea and sky and wind - and apparently a sea sprite has found her way onto my paper!