Art of the Month: September

When I thought about featuring an art piece of the month way back when, I thought it would be a good way to showcase what I've done and keep me motivated for future projects. But since I haven't been what I'd call prolific with art for ages it has changed somewhat for me. Art in my life right now is many things. Colouring/drawing shapes and objects for Kyan, making food look decorative or laying out a table with flowers and dishes. My mind and my heart find art in every little cranny of our home and outdoors in some unlikely places as well. And this monthly feature is becoming somewhat of a motivation for me to finish new projects and take small snippets of time each month that I would otherwise use for something else and use them for my own little projects that mean something to me.

With that in mind I offer you this months endeavor. An autumn goddess. I found her at the thrift store last week. My friend Heidi found one years ago and dressed her up for her kitchen goddess. And a few years after that she found another one that she dressed up for another wonderful friend of ours. It was my turn to find mine. I decided to give her a autumn theme so she won't be out all year but because she's a straw lady she just felt like autumn to me. Slowly over the years I have been building up seasonal/sabbat related decorations. Putting them out for their seasons makes them special and helps to break up the monotony of looking at the same decor for too long.

So here she is before as I found her. A little the worse for ware. Country kitchen style with some faded fake leaves, faded dried flowers, worn out cinnamon sticks and a skirt of eucalyptus.



And here she is now. I gave her a bouquet of flower seed pods and dried lavender in a checked fabric. A silver crescent moon on her brow, a multicoloured beaded necklace and a juniper berry sash with a beaded counterpart. And I repainted her shawl so that it was brighter.

She's on our mantle now watching over the autumn bustle of our days. Classifying her as art is perhaps a bit of a push, but she is this month's small space of time where I was able to create something just for me. And for now I'll call that art.