Whirl and Wonder

Whirling with wonder

Dancing with paint and brushes

Inspiration flows

One thing leads to another . . . when I set out combining Rumi and art journalling as a Lectio Divina practice, I had little thought about it going ‘somewhere’. In true coddiwompler fashion, I set out with purpose to no specific destination, yet threads come together and the next thing I knew I was energized and inspired to create!

I’ve had four square pieces of Aquaboard for a few years now, have no recollection of who gave them to me or where I picked them up, and hadn’t felt drawn to them as a painting surface until now. When the inspiration came, it came with a desire to try something new, so out came the Aquaboard as well as a pad of Yupo paper and I painted with wonder and surprise at how much I enjoy the Aquaboard! It absorbs fluid acrylics and india inks in a way that retains their luminosity while also allowing for wiping away of areas then layering while still retaining lumos . . . the Yupo paper is trickier and asks for more experimentation to get it to really sing.

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  Aquaboard

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  Yupo

Above is Aquaboard to the left and Yupo to the right . . . I’d love to know which you prefer! The Yupo is challenging me to play with it some more though I’m not ready to invest in alcohol inks quite yet, which seems to be the medium of choice for Yupo. I will definitely be painting on Aquaboard again.

I ended up painting all four of the Aquaboards, and have listed them at my shop, as I do most of my works that are not gifted or in my art journal. One of the things that I love about creating is sharing what comes to life; sending creations to other places where they (hopefully) give joy and plant seeds of love where they land! If they interest you, visit my Etsy where I have assorted sales on everything through December.

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“The Light that is life to the wise the eyes of the week cannot endure.

The fire for melting iron is not suitable for cooking apples, they need a gentle heat. But these flames are too gentle for the dervish, who, like the iron, draws willingly that fiery heat onto himself.  Bearing hardship, happy and red, he goes straight into the heart of the flames setting his whole being ablaze.

He is the heart of the world, for the theater of God’s action is not the body but the heart.”

selection from Maulana Rumi’s Masnavi, translated by Maryam Mafi and Azima Melita Kolin

🧡🧡🧡🧡