links on the side: Karen Zuegner on Radiant City

I’m away on vacation until August 27th. During this period, I’ve arranged for several guest bloggers to visit. I’ve long wanted to feature some of the talented people whom I’ve linked to on the sidebar of this blog.

Next up is Karen Zuegner, a painter, cellist and travel enthusiast extraordinare. I joke (but with good reason) that Karen has the best travel karma. She somehow manages to find and stay at the most amazing places—French villas, Venetian palazzos, and five star luxury hotels, all for much less than you’d think. France is an especial passion for Karen and has inspired many of her paintings; her last trip abroad inspired this travel blog and a website about luxury hotels.

Karen’s created this stunning slide show to share another one of her great inspirations: New York City. It’s a real work of art which features some of her art.

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It’s a great honor to guest blog at Art and Words. I’m a fellow artist and cellist and have been friends with Kris for many years. I’ve lived on the Lower East Side of Manhattan for the last 16 years in a wreck of a loft that has astonishing, gorgeous views toward the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges.

This short slide show has some of the moments I’ve captured over the years and also some of my work that has come from window gazing.

all images 2007 © Karen Zuegner. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

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Goddess Inspiration Oracle: the Muses

I’m away on vacation these next two weeks. For this period, I’ve banked up a few Goddess Inspiration Oracle posts. More interestingly, I’ve arranged for several guest bloggers to visit to share their wisdom.

I’ve long wanted to feature some of the talented people whom I’ve linked to on the sidebar of this blog. If all goes as planned (thank you, Wordpress!), you’ll be reading some wonderfully inspiring posts from writers Elizabeth Genco and Ellen Dreyer, and artists Lisa Hunt and Karen Zuegner during my absence.

I’ll be back from my travels on August 27th. This year, we’re visiting New England and Montreal -  not as exciting as last year’s trip to Greece, Turkey and Italy, but probably less stressful for a toddler and her parents.

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KEYWORDS:
the arts
science
creativity

Invoked by poets, artists, and musicians, these nine nymph-like goddesses presided over the arts and sciences in the world of the ancient Greeks. The Muses offered their supplicants the purest form of inspiration—literally infusing spirit into creative works to animate them.

Though their parentage is uncertain, most stories hold that the Muses were the daughters of Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory, and Zeus. Originally there was only one Muse. Over time, they grew to number nine goddesses, suggesting the expansion of their powers. Each of the nine Muses concerned herself with an area of art. The power of the Muses still exists today, though mainly in our language. When we are amused, we are reminded of the charms wielded by these graceful goddesses.

Text and art adapted from the Goddess Inspiration Oracle, published by Llewellyn Worldwide. All content © Kris Waldherr 2007. All rights reserved.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Draw strength from Diana, the beloved Roman huntress. Channel your anger wisely with help from the Hawaiian fire goddess Pele. Consult Anuket for prosperity. The Goddess Inspiration Oracle makes it easy for women to tap into the sacred wisdom of these powerful deities.

From Abeona to Zhinu, eighty goddesses from across the globe are represented in this deck. Each card features a striking portrait of a deity, her attributes, and a message inspired by her unique story. It’s an ideal instrument for creating affirmations, sparking creativity, gaining fresh perspectives, and uncovering insights related to health, love, creativity, motherhood, and other issues specific to women. The guidebook offers in-depth descriptions of each goddess, keywords associated with her, and practical suggestions for working with the cards.

Purchase now.
Learn more or try a free reading.

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getting ready

Right now, I’m tying up a lot of loose ends on the New Book before we leave on vacation next week. It’s a somewhat intense period, since I don’t want to miss any details.

I’m getting close to completing a book design dummy, where all of the art and words are roughly drafted in. Next is filling in all the research that I still need, so I can expand and finetune my draft. I have a large pile of books next to my work area to make my way through. It’s fascinating reading—easy to lose myself it in. That said, there’s a part of myself who stands aside as I read, unwilling to get too carried away as she mentally making notes for what will be eventually woven into the book.

Because I finally signed the contract for the New Book last week (yay!), I feel a little more secure about revealing its subject matter. With this book, I’ve shifted my passion for mythology back to my other love, women’s history. I’m writing about queens and other female regents, many whose reigns ended not-so-happily: Anne Boleyn, Cleopatra, Caroline of Brunswick. The stories I’m including are darkly fascinating, funny as well as heartbreaking. I really see them as parables for the ways women in power are treated, for better and worse—and they’re especially appropriate now that we have a woman running for the White House here in the United States.

(A publishing side note: contracts can take a while to arrive—this one took almost three months, between agent and publisher revisions and so on. You might be wondering why I was working on the book before signing a contract. Well, my agent had a deal memo in place, a sort of temporary document with the terms for the book contract already spelled out in detail. So signing the contract was a bit of a formality, though it’s important for both legal and financial reasons. After all, the book advance does’t get paid until the contract is signed!)

While I’m away, this blog will remain active. I’ve banked a few Goddess Inspiration Oracle posts to go live in my absence. I’ve also asked a few guest bloggers to stop by—I’m very excited about this!

I’ll write more about the who and when in a post before my departure.

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defining moments

Now that I’m in the midst of the New Book, it’s been harder for me to splinter my attention into blogging. I’ve continued posting my Goddess Inspiration Oracle countdowns each week, and some posts on publishing. But I’d like to share more than these bare bones.

I’ve been thinking lately about defining moments. (Maybe this phrase should be written with a capital “D” and “F”, to underscore their importance.) My life lately feels a bit like this right now. For the most part, things are in a welcome state of peaceful equilibrium, like the Balance card in the Goddess Tarot. I tell myself to remember this peaceful state and to cherish it. Having sold the NB, watching my daughter grow up into a beautiful little girl, feeling connected to a supportive community around me — it’s all good. I want to capture this defining moment, like a snap shot to be pulled out of my memory at will.

Though other defining moments I’ve experienced haven’t always risen out of contentment, they are equally important to me. They’ve helped me to figure out exactly I am, what my path should be. We all experience these moments, these quick-brilliant flashes of mythic living that illuminate our lives. What’s tricky is to recognize them for what they are before they fade into yet-another-detail to be cataloged.

One true story: I think I’ve mentioned in the past here that I lived for a year in England after I sold my first book. It was one of the most magical years of my life — it was the first time that I was able to devote myself entirely to art. And I was living in one of the most beautiful places I’d ever seen, surrounded by intensely creative and gifted people.

Sometimes it was hard. Even with a book contract, I still worried about making a living and whether I’d be able to sell future books. I also worried that my art would be beautiful enough to move people as I’d like it to. Would I’d ever be able to reach the artistic goals I yearned for? I pondered this intensely, wondering if I’d chosen the right path. Art can feel like an indulgent proposition, when so much of the world is in trauma.

And one day, the answer came to me when I least expected it.

Of all places, it was on the Underground, London’s equivalent to the NYC subway system. I was in London to show my portfolio around, in hopes of alleviating my ever present “can I make a living as an illustrator” anxiety. Though the Underground was crowded, I managed to score a seat — much welcome, since I was tired from walking around the city all day. I settled in, keeping my eyes low and body tucked tight, to avoid any contact with strangers.

Suddenly, I heard a woman’s voice. “You must be an artist.” Sitting next to me was a middle-aged woman, neatly dressed in business clothing. She continued, “I usually don’t do this, but look at your hands — they’re so long and graceful. You must be an artist.”

Stunned, I nodded yes.

The woman said nothing else to me during that crowded train ride. But what she said was enough.

And what about you? What defining moments do you value?

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Goddess painting of the day: Hathor

Last week when I recounted my recent trip to Brandywine, I did not mention another stop we took along the way. And it was a wonderful one!

We were fortunate to obtain tickets to the highly popular Tutankhamun and the Golden Age exhibit at the Franklin Institute. It is from this exhibit that I draw inspiration for today’s Goddess painting of the day, Hathor.

Hathor, as the goddess of beauty, prosperity and all good things, was honored as the Golden One — an appropriate title for a deity concerned with the good life. She was usually depicted with the form of a cow, which is how she is presented here. Her traditional rites often included libations of milk offered to the fertile soil. In this particular painting, the god painted her side is Anubis, who serves as the gatekeeper to the heart; Hathor is invoking him with her magical sistern and chants.

This art excerpted from a painting (below) that I created for Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt, a book recently published by Inner Traditions. I used watercolor, gouache and pencil to make it.

The other gods and goddesses in the painting are Wadjet, Anubis and Set. This particular composition was seen in a vision by Linda Star Wolf, who authored the book along with Nicki Skully; I tried to hew as closely as possible to Star Wolf’s description, which was divinely inspired. Ancient Egyptian art was also an inspiration — I did my best to respectfully incorporate its traditional imagery.

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