Guest Blogger Kathryn Letson // The Top Ten Things I am Grateful for as an Artist.

Kathryn and I met in a yoga class on our adjacent mats at Metamorphose Yoga in Kauai.  In that moment, I felt a total kinship with her upon our first Ommmmm that day.  When I learned that Kathryn was a fellow artist and designer, I was lucky enough to be able to visit her Art cottage studio and even pick up some of her By the Sea Company merch!  I love my butterfly dress and aloha pom-pom organic sarong, and of course, a few organic gauze market bags.  I was so inspired by Kathryn’s vision, our conversations about being artists and her highly creative, diverse collection of handmade goods and artworks.  I also was so happy to be able to participate in the Kilauea Art Walk with her!  Kathryn, you are a beacon of beauty, creation and light!  Shine on sister, and mahalo ke akua for sharing your art and gorgeous gratitude list with us!

1. I am grateful beyond words for the natural beauty that surrounds me. I create in a tiny Art cottage perched in the jungle of Kauai, Hawaii. Tropical fruit trees, a vegetable and herb garden are at hand, plus the majestic rainbow eucalyptus trees standing tall in my yard. I am immersed in nature, with birds singing, roosters crowing and trade winds gently blowing. The shapes and colors inspire me daily.

2. I’m grateful for my conscious awareness, which directs me to create messages of positivity and enlightenment, with uplifting visual cues.

3. The ability to invent and create freely, without limitation. I left corporate America 10 years ago and my healing journey began. I am successful at running my own business as an Artist because I don’t listen to negativity. Everyone will have an opinion about what you are doing; what others think does not affect me. I am strong yet flexible in my beliefs.

By the Sea Company kantha on the rocks

4. Imagination is the BEST nation! My imagination and creative impulses are the driving force in all I do.

Current projects include:

Just a Thought, daily inspirations for living, set to release in 2016.
The Hawaii Coloring Book, release date, January 2016.
An illustrated book called The Heart Farmer, for all ages, because the world needs more love!
I dreamed of a game for therapists, woke up and created it . . . “the feeling better game.”
Participation in Art Tribe Kauai. (A group of us create beautiful weddings by the sea in the Hawaiian islands, including beautiful decor and amazing handmade flower leis and haiku).

Running my own fair trade company for organic home goods: www.bytheseacompany.com

5. My ability to help make the world a better place by spreading positive messages and teaching people art, especially those who think they are not creative. Everyone is creative! Some people have been told they are not good at art—it may take time and practice to find out what inspires you artistically.

6. Working with indigo and color. Indigo is one of the oldest-known dyes. It is pure magic to work with! The color starts as chartreuse and changes right before your eyes to navy . . . truly wonderful to work with such amazing techniques.

7. I am so very grateful for all the support I receive from the community, their participation and encouragement for my sharing of creative projects.

8. Random acts of kindness. I have always been a giver;
giving is the gateway to abundance and it feels so good!

9. Winsor & Newton paints and Copic markers, Berol Prismacolor, organic dyes and really, really fine papers!!

10. Divine guidance. I am divinely guided in all I do. Source works through me. When I create art, source is with me, guiding my mind. I am grateful for my personal spiritual alignment which allows me access to the universe and brings forth global messages of positivity and higher knowledge.

p.s., Everyone who comes to visit my Art cottage is asked to draw a 5-second bunny. This has been a tradition in my house for many years and always a great laugh!!

Living on the Edge

Kathryn Letson was born and raised in Minnesota, where she spent time in the city and the woods. She went to Parsons School of Design in NYC and graduated with a BFA in Fashion Design, going on to work at some of the most well-known Design houses in the world. After traveling the globe as a Corporate Trend Director, she become a mentor at Parsons, an illustration instructor and a global speaker in the Fashion industry as an expert in textiles.

Kathryn moved to Hawaii to make her dreams a reality. Now creating Art and textiles from her home office in Kauai, her life is focused on sharing knowledge, creating new concepts to better the world, and serving others through Art. What could be more powerful? Your imagination is the engine that runs your life, and Art is a direct pathway into your imagination. Kathryn lives life with love and gratitude.

www.bytheseacompany.com

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Awaken Your Heart, Nourish Your Spirit

“Art has the Power to Heal.” ~ Lórien 

 As my friend Choury says, “the awakening process requires letting go and takes time but well worth it!”.  My spiritual journey certainly has been a process of discovery and I have experienced several awakening experiences which have certainly taken time and letting go.  What I do know is that it has has all been worth it and as I continue on this journey of awakening, I have learned that nourishing the Self plays a big role.

What pray tell is nourishment and what is nourishing to my Spirit, to me as the whole BEing and how can I provide this nourishment to myself, thus to others on a consistent basis?  These key questions guide me on my quest of self-fulfillment and self-love.  Many of my teachers in this life have expressed this vital element of nourishment in a variety of language and methods.  For example, as a Raja yoga practice, I was taught that nourishment takes the form of self-remembering that I AM a peaceful soul, my true essence is Eternal, Immortal, Light.  Cass Phelps of Awake One shares that nourishment comes in the form of discovering one’s gifts, receiving those gifts and then sharing them with our world.  As a student and teacher of Reiki I have learned that nourishment is received as embracing the Reiki principles:

The secret art of inviting happiness
The miraculous medicine of all diseases
Just for today, do not anger
Do not worry and be filled with gratitude
Devote yourself to your work. Be kind to people.
Every morning and evening, join your hands in prayer.
Pray these words to your heart
and chant these words with your mouth
Usui Reiki Treatment for the improvement of body and mind
The founder , Usui Mikao

And, so as I continue on in awakening and nourishing, I have opened my personal journey up in offering my gifts and inquiry through my art and teaching.  In 2012 when I was making my career transition and launching my professional art career and new website, naturally the tag line was, “Art to Awaken Your Heart, Nourish Your Spirit“. This came through very organically for me as I was “brainstorming” this and creating my new material.  Two years later, I am happy to offer classes and workshops with this theme and focus.  It is a very rich topic for me, one which I explore daily through my art making and creative living as an artist and educator.  I am pleased to announce my public workshop event on June 8 at the Temple of Light in Southern California where we will explore this topic together through painting and community.

On May 3 at the Temple of Light, I will be giving a brief talk called “Awaken Your Heart, Nourish Your Spirit“, at the monthly Holistic Health Fair in the Crystal Cave 1:50 – 2:20 pm.  I also have a booth at the fair where I will be available to chat and am offering my fine art gift items and original paintings.  I am also happy to offer a promotional price, even below the Early Bird Special for those register for this workshop event with me at this event!  Looking forward to seeing you there!

Thank you for reading and I invite you to share your contributions via comments and connections and would love to hear from you via this blog, my face book page, or email lorien@lorieneck.com.

In love, gratitude and beauty…

Personally Experienced and Recommended Resources

Temple of Light

An amazing and unique center offering a host of services to spiritual seekers and holistic healers in South Orange County, CA.

Quantum Meditation and Transformation

Choury DeVelle Bsc, CHt., NLP is a great life coach, healer and practitioner of his craft.

Awake-One

Cass Phelps is an amazing individual and his inspired body of work and offerings have been a phenomenal resource for me! His work is comprehensive, relevant and rich…I am eternally indebted to my teacher Cass.

The Power Path

The monthly forecast from these amazing folks is an invaluable tool.

Reiki

Reiki is a simple, natural and safe method of spiritual healing and self-improvement that everyone can use.

Raja Yoga

Raja Yoga meditation redefines the self as a soul and enables a direct connection and relationship with the Supreme Source of purest energy and highest consciousness.

www.lorieneck.com

The divine is not something high above us.
It is in heaven, it is in earth, it is inside us.~  Morihei Ueshiba

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Why is Art Healing?

Water IV 48 inches X 60 inches Mixed Media on Canvas ©LE Fine Art

My relationship to art and healing is complex and textured with many personal stories close to home as well as those from my professional career.  In my experience, my spiritual evolution is in direct relation to my artistic process.  My self-expression has morphed in its form, yet the reliable resource has consistently been a source of resiliency, growth and ascension to this day.  My artistic process has served me as an outlet moving me from hope to despair and back to hope again throughout my life.  And, my art “products” have served as a living document reflecting my upward spiral.

My exposure to the arts began from birth really, as my father is an active fine artist thus I grew up in a household that supported and fostered both art making and an appreciation for the arts.  I was immersed in a creative atmosphere and was given active permission to “play” in the arts.  My sister was an avid artist and it was through her creating of art that she was able to cope with the pain and suffering that she endured through a terminal illness with grace and ease.  Her fragile life is a strong testimony to the healing and liberating power that art carries.  Art continues to be a central resource to my family’s healing, grieving and transformation from a tragic loss.

As an arts educator for over 14 years, I personally witnessed a multitude of what I call “transitions in consciousness” within the thousands of students that I was able to reach.  My art classroom provided a safe container for their artistic expression to flourish and heal/relieve the suffering from loss, disease, grief, poverty, social injustice and other life threatening situations that many of them faced.  Time and again, it was self-evident that creative expression through the arts provides solace, an inward refuge and for many hope through a shift in awareness and perception.

Overall, art is a potent path of healing both as a practice and a profession for me.  Art, creativity and healing are to me synonymous.  Art is the glue of the Universe and provides a nourishing space for the Soul to rest and take refuge.  More than ever, art and the artistic process serve as the means for the evolution of human consciousness and planetary healing.

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