Happy Roman New Year!

Home Sweet Home -- Longing for Winter's End           ©Andrea Hathaway

In ancient Rome, New Year's was celebrated on March 1st. Their 10 month calender ended in December and the two months we know as January and February were known as the Monthless Period. A time when nothing grew and families stayed close to their cozy hearth and home. So, on this, the ancient day of starting anew, I choose to renew my commitment to this blog and to making new art to showcase here. Expect new things coming soon!

Divine Feminine

Goddess Within (intaligo, aquatint, watercolor, collage) Andrea Hathaway ©2012

I believe in a God, I pray to a God, but I feel a profound hope and love for a Mother God. A Goddess who protects the divine feminine within myself. The great bearer of life which carries me and defines me rather than merely creating me and setting me free.

I am very interested in the divine feminine and how it relates to my place in this world. Religiosity aside, I believe that women have a divine spark in them that is separate and different from men. Primarily, it manifests in a woman's ability to bear children. I cannot bear children. It is a source of sorrow for me. Adoption and fostering are of course options, but I am not entirely committed to taking the risk of fostering a child and adoption is incredibly expensive.

Does that mean that I as a barren woman forgo the divine feminine within? I don't think so. I believe that my art and my creativity are just as relevant a form of creation as bearing children. I choose to believe that the pull to create and make art is that divine feminine made realized within me. I expect as I continue down this creative path, there will be more art depicting the Goddess I believe represents my creative soul. The sacred that calls out to my heart.

All the Pretty Colors

Orange Thread                                              ©Andrea Hathaway 2012

I have only ever stole one thing in my life...

Two of my most favorite places in the world are the paint chip aisle at the hardware store and the thread aisle at the fabric store. There is something about the multitude of variegated colors that calls out to my heart and speaks of endless possibilities...

I must have felt this same attachment as a child.  When I was three my mother took me with her to the local Hancock Fabric store. The call of the thread aisle was more than I could bear. The beautiful colors sitting right there for me to touch and feel—hold in my hand. I don't remember which color caught my fancy that day, but I know that I got as far as being strapped into my car seat before my mom noticed the spool of thread I gripped in my hand. I remember crying and digging in my heels as she tried to make me go into the shop to confess my crime. I must have been so embarrassing, because in the end she just ran in and put the spool back where it belonged and we went home.

Luckily for me, paint chips are free for the taking. I get my fix for colors I can hold in my hand every time I go to the hardware store.

Finding My Art...

"Embraced by the Moon"                                    © Andrea Hathaway 2012

It's been a long time since I actually painted, or did anything that could be considered art. Sure, I made a few stained glass pieces. Which, I suppose you could call art. But, truly spending time in the process, feeling out what I wanted to say... Painting... Drawing... Creating... Hasn't happened. Not since I started graduate school, four years ago. Not since I graduated from graduate school, two years ago. It has weighed heavily on my heart, this period of artistic nonproductivity. It made me jealous as I read the many artist's blogs I follow. It made my heartache when suddenly Pinterest became the social network—pushing amazing art across my screen. 

Then, through the help of a dear friend and mentor, I was able to proudly proclaim my internal artist. I embraced the artist inside and accepted my responsibility to create art. During our conversation, my friend asked me: "If you were to make a piece of art right this minute what would you do and how would you do it." I immediately thought of a watercolored night sky, the moon and trees. This is the piece that came from my conversation with my friend. This is the first piece in my journey to reclaim the artist that I am.

Taking Flight

Inspired to write my "heart declaration" on my hand.
I AM... a WRITER, ARTIST, POET, MAKER.

I have started and stopped several blogs over the years. I have grand plans to share my art, my life, my thoughts. Unfortunately, I loose momentum somewhere along the way. Or, the fear creeps in... that voice that tells me that what I have to say is irreverent and offers nothing to the world. Or, the fear of being vulnerable, of sharing too much. Of not being able to take back the parts of myself I lay bare on the page. Whatever the reason, suffice it to say, that I have failed blogging more times than I care to admit.

So what is different this time? This time I have Kelly Rae Roberts and my fellow Flying Lessons classmates. I took the leap and joined Kelly Rae's last ever Flying Lessons online class. I have met so many wonderful friends and sisters-in-spirit. I can feel my soul opening up to the possibility that is waiting for me to grow wings. I am willing to embrace the idea that my art, ideas, and thoughts are not for everyone. But... they are for someone... someone out there is waiting for me to begin my journey so they can begin theirs. I have been inspired by so many, and in turn there are those waiting for me to inspire them.

Thank you for visiting. I hope that you have found a place to inspire your heart.