Change is a Part of Life...

 One side of Blooming and Planted, shadow flip doll by Sam Margarette, created during the Fall 2020 session of Befriending Our Shadow

Considering Change...

Sometimes change​ brings joy and at other times, it can be a bumpy road...We have been and are still going through a very difficult period throughout the world and specifically here in the US. The work that I do in my studio and in the workshops that I lead constantly reminds me of the need to turn inward towards our inner guidance, towards those places of solidity and groundedness, as a way to navigate times of accelerated change like this. 

Below and above you can see one of the amazing dolls created in the most recent Befriending Our Shadow course, by a young doll artist, younger than the women who usually participate in my groups but I think this artist is an old soul. She found ways in her doll making to process challenging experiences and to give herself a talisman of hope and inspiration. Below I share a peek into a large doll that I have been working on along with the Befriending Our Shadow workshop, in this case, taking a look at the state of the earth, the ways in which the earth itself must befriend her shadows. 

And over the years, I have contemplated the cycles of life in nature as they correspond to the cycles of life for us as women. Just as the seasons cycle from the newly budding growth of spring, to the fullness of summer, the ripening of fall and the dormancy of winter, we as women go through our own seasons. These cycles have been celebrated for ages , going back to the pagan times when seasons were marked by additional intermediate stages in addition to the seasons as we know them. We are approaching one of those intermediate markers, Imbolc, on February 2nd, the midway point between the winter solstice and the start of spring. This is a time of the very first buds, making their way out of the snow. And in a way this also celebrates our own tentative first steps into the new year. I am offering a workshop Tending Your Inner Garden: Imbolc Celebration, as a way to mark this milestone. 

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Winter 2020 Befriending Our Shadow Showcase: Doll Artist Sam Margarette

I'm so very excited to start to share with you some of the truly amazing dolls that were created as part of the winter session of Befriending Our Shadow...This one is entitled "Blooming and Planted" and is a shadow flip doll by Sam Margarette. 

She says of this doll-this is one side and above is the other, "The halo wound up turning into a bit of a wreath with the leafs and flowers, kind of turning them into Spring and Fall spirits (which wound up working perfectly with the rest/rebirth theme), and being more Circle of Life than I expected. Each of them has a pocket on their skirt to hold any notes or reflections I'm worried about or aspiring to, kind of like sending little prayers out to the Universe; they're my little messengers."

This second round of Befriending Our Shadow met for two months, from October to November, meeting in small groups over the course of the two months and creating their dolls as a way of diving deep into their psyches to explore their shadows. 

It was an honor to be able to work with this brave and creative group of women and I will be sharing some of their dolls over the next month or so. I always find that I learn so much from this process, right along with them and I am grateful  for that. 

The next round of Befriending Our Shadow will be coming in the spring, either mid-March or the beginning of April. I am making some significant changes to the materials that I share as part of the class and some changes to the structure of the program. Each time I offer it, I also learn more about how best to offer it. So I appreciate your patience if you are on the wait list. 

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What's been happening in my studio...

After the Befriending Our Shadow winter session ended in November, I took the opportunity to dive back into my studio for a while during the months of December and January.  Here is a hint of one of the biggest projects that I was able to finish before the end of the year...

This image is a peek at my latest large flip doll, entitled The Living Earth. the Nuclear Light side. In this doll, and in conjunction with the Befriending Our Shadow class, I explored our relationship with mother earth. I envisioned the Nuclear Light side of the doll as a vision of the earth beset by too much light, too much activity and energy. The other side, which I will share soon, I called the Healing Dark, is about the way in which the darkness, the deepest ocean, the night skies, the deepest forests and the parts of the earth that still have darkness, can bring healing for all. I will be sharing more about this doll over the next month. 

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