Looking back at 2019: Establishing an art practice

Posted on December 9, 2019December 7, 2019 by Modern Gypsy | 5 Comments

Unlike in previous years, where I tried and often failed to stick to a formal art practice {like aiming for a finished piece of art each day or trying for a set number of pieces each year}, this year I decided to let my art practice be organic.

What the past few years taught me is that art – and indeed creativity – is cyclical. There are months when I am much more prolific than others. There are times when I get obsessed with a certain style or a particular art supply. And there are times when I don’t pick up the brush as often, and that’s ok!Continue reading→

The 2020 book bingo reading challenge

Posted on November 28, 2019June 30, 2020 by Modern Gypsy | 85 Comments

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” ― Groucho Marx

Of course, these days it’s not only the television that distracts us. There’s Netflix and Amazon Prime and all the other streaming channels, as well as the access we have to the world wide web right at our fingertips.

But Marx was on to something. Despite the world of information we have access to 24×7, nothing beats the knowledge you gain when you take the time to lose yourself between the pages of a book.

And what better way to commit to spending some quality time with a diverse range of books, than to sign up for a reading challenge? So here it is – the 2020 book bingo reading challenge!Continue reading→

November 2019: Tarot spread for the new moon in Sagittarius

Posted on November 25, 2019November 24, 2019 by Modern Gypsy | 11 Comments

The November 2019 new moon falls in the sign of Sagittarius. The freedom loving Sagittarius archetype is in a constant search for inspiration, new avenues of exploration, and adventure. This is a sign that gets bored of the status quo easily, and needs the rush of a new quest to keep them on their toes.

Spiritually, the Sagittarius archetype teaches us to cultivate our own personal relationship with the divine. Contrary to what most religions and a lot of spiritual teachers say, you don’t need an intermediary between you and Source/God/the Universe. You have that connection available to you at all times. Learning to tune in and trust that connection is where a lot of us seem to stumble, though. The Sagittarius archetype teaches us to trust that things will work out and that there is always a higher purpose behind everything that happens in our lives.

Continue reading→

On my art table: Angel’s Wings + dreaming an impossible dream

Posted on November 21, 2019November 24, 2019 by Modern Gypsy | 12 Comments

Are you afraid of your dreams? Those big dreams and desires that seem to come out of nowhere and spill into your journal. The ones that seem to come from an expanded state, but that make ‘little you’ want to retreat into your shell because it seems TOO BIG and TOO IMPOSSIBLE a dream to achieve?

Yes, those ones.

The ones you won’t tell anyone because it makes you uncomfortable to even hold the dream, and you’re convinced that you will be laughed out of the room if you state it aloud.

I had one of those impossible dreams…it sneaked into my morning pages a few months ago…and it made me gasp aloud. I felt that beautiful expansive energy of the dream for a fleeting second before Prissy Missy, my inner critic, jumped in and said NO!Continue reading→

Art Bundle for Good #4 is Here!

Posted on November 14, 2019November 14, 2019 by Modern Gypsy | 7 Comments

The Art Bundle for Good #4 is now on sale! And I’m SO excited to be contributing to this bundle, alongside some of the stalwarts from the world of mixed media arts. I’ve purchased ecourses from a lot of these folks in years past, and have learnt SO MUCH from each of them!

This is an amazing opportunity to get 98 art courses worth a whooping $4,000 at one low price of $97. If you do the math, it works out to less than $1 per ecourse, and you’ve got to admit that’s an absolute steal {even when you convert it to the Indian rupee}!

Resources run the gamut from painting, watercolour, calligraphy, and drawing, to mixed media arts, creativity, and more.Continue reading→

November 2019: Tarot spread for the full moon in Taurus

Posted on November 11, 2019November 11, 2019 by Modern Gypsy | 4 Comments

The November 2019 full moon falls in the sign of Taurus. The Taurus archetype is grounded and steadfast, calm and composed, firm and also somewhat stubborn. This is a sign that is practical and earthy, and is associated with material pleasures, desires, luxuriousness, and abundance.

Spiritually, the Taurus archetype teaches the principle of belonging through presence…our presence as sacred human beings…honouring the body temple…honouring the flow of life. This can be difficult given the society we live in, which praises the hustle over reverence and treats time as money rather than a finite resource that should be used wisely in the pursuit of the things that give us meaning.Continue reading→

Art Bundles for Good giveaway: win $4,000 worth of art courses!

Posted on November 7, 2019November 6, 2019 by Modern Gypsy | 5 Comments

I’ve spent most of October busy either painting or writing furiously in my journal. There have been a lot of difficult questions that I’ve been grappling with, around my art, the 9 to 5 job, about sustainability and legacies, and about what I want to create with this one beautiful precious life.

One thing that is clear to me is that my art practice is central to my well-being. In fact, I would go so far as to say that a regular creative practice is key to dealing with the stress of modern day life.Continue reading→

The ultimate planning system for creative rebels

Posted on November 4, 2019November 3, 2019 by Modern Gypsy | 26 Comments

I have a secret to share: I have tried – and failed – at almost all the productivity and planning systems out there.

I am in awe of people who can schedule their time and plan out their days almost to the last minute. All the BuJo mavens, Pomodoro ninjas, Getting Things Done (GTD) warriors. The ones who make SMART goals – or any goals! – and ace them.

In fact, I’m pretty sure that when the productivity gene was being handed out, I was fast asleep.

Or maybe, like my father would say, I’m simply the rebel without a cause. Show me discipline and routine and I’ll show you anarchy and chaos!Continue reading→

October 2019: Tarot spread for the new moon in Scorpio

Posted on October 27, 2019October 27, 2019 by Modern Gypsy | 6 Comments

The October 2019 new moon falls in the sign of Scorpio. The Scorpio archetype is known for its intense power and its ability to transform, much like the butterfly emerging from its cocoon, ready to fly. The Scorpio archetype isn’t afraid of the birth-death-rebirth cycle, for it is only when parts of us die and are reborn that we can fully transform.

So perhaps it’s not surprising that spiritually, the Scorpio archetype teaches us to surrender – to align our human will with divine will. It teaches us that sometimes – dare I say most often – our human trials and tragedies have a higher purpose. They are not happening “to” us but “for” us. This is not always easy to live or to understand, especially when it comes through trauma. And yet, on the other side of trauma there is a deep transformation that we can access as we start to step out of the story and step into acceptance and find the medicine in that trauma.Continue reading→

Art journal with me: Mixed media florals

Posted on October 17, 2019October 16, 2019 by Modern Gypsy | 8 Comments

I’ll let you on on a little secret today. I suck at painting flowers. Much as I love them, much as I admire floral paintings, I am just not very good at painting flowers.

And still, that is just what I am sharing today – my attempt at painting fun mixed media florals in my art journal.

I’m using a journal I made out of a shopping bag, so all the pages already have some color and collage on them, just waiting for inspiration to strike. {You can see a snippet of the creation process here.}Continue reading→