Spiritual - Raine Dawn Valentine

This has been by far one of the most dynamic and intense moments in our lives.

Drawing out every emotion and every trigger from our darkest parts.

We are finding ourselves reacting to things at such a raw level.

What do we do in these moments? We dig deep, look deep, and pray. Pray to our Gods, pray to our earth, pray to ourselves… where is the peace in the unknown? How do we get there when everything is dark?

Hope. We have to keep faith that this trial is a blessing in disguise. That what comes from this will be the most beautiful gift you have ever received, and never could have imagined.

Grace. We have to find gratitude in every breath. Deep breaths into self, and full breaths out, releasing all that is not for our highest good. In the moments where everything feels like its too much… like we can’t go any further, the universe always sends us a sign, a gift.

The other day I went for a walk through the woods here at Burns Valley Herbals and Retreat. I have been finding this week to be particularly difficult to navigate through my emotions. The unknown is nerve racking. Except for when you find the gift in it.

On my walk I came across a dead red-tailed hawk. The bones and feathers showed themselves to me, as I asked for clarity. I was gifted the skull and feathers, as a reminder of my role as a leader.

The Hawk represents a messenger in the Native American culture. It often shows up in our life when we need to pay attention to the subtle messages found around us, and from those we come into contact with.

The hawk’s gifts include clear sightedness, being observant, messages from the universe, guardianship, courage, wisdom, illumination, seeing the bigger picture, creativity, truth, experience, wise use of opportunities, overcoming problems, and focus.

The hawk is a bird of the heavens, arranging the changes necessary to prompt our spiritual growth. When accepting its presence in your life, you will be asked to surrender/give up anything that doesn’t honour the integrity of all life. Although hard work is involved, the rewards to be reaped are great, far outweighing this.

This was SO the message I needed to hear… the universe always provides when we are open to receiving. I am ready to focus on creating sacred space for self exploration through creative expression.

And so with that, I present The Gift.

migwetch.

NAEA in NYC

This year I attended the 2017 National Art Educators Association Convention in New York City. I have attended this convention more than a few times and every single year is amazing. Not only do I take home lots of art goodies, I take home new ideas and inspiration for my teaching.

Aside from attending a fabulous convention, I am blessed with opportunities to visit different cities and make friends with people from all over the world! There are so many benefits from attending the NAEA convention!

There are always awesome pre-conference workshops to attend, so I arrived a day before the convention started to attend the Journal Fodder Junkies workshop! Eric Scott and Dave Modler are two very talented art educators and wonderful people. I really enjoy seeing them every year, and following their artistic journeys! This workshop was a great opportunity to explore materials and learn new techniques for journaling.

I was blessed to stay at the Warwick hotel with a few of my colleagues and other amazing art educators! We had such a fantastic time learning and exploring NYC! My dear friend Linda made us beautiful friendship bracelets and took us on a perfect tour around the city. It was Saint Patrick’s day weekend so we ate lunch at an Irish pub called the Pig and Whistle. It was delicious!

I was able to be a vendor at the Artisan Gallery this year. There were many amazing artists selling their works! Its so awesome seeing art educators with their creations, very inspiring.

There were 7,000 attendees this year at the convention, the most ever! The exhibit hall was packed! This year, the hall was divided into three sections which I feel made it a lot easier to navigate around all of the people! There were wonderful make and take learning stations and many new art supplies to experiment with… and a few famous people I had to take photos with ..

The middle school round table session was one of my favorite sessions. We were able to see 7 different art educators and learn about their favorite art unit and receive resources.

My most favorite part of the weekend was the Caucus on the Spiritual in Art Education Issues Group studio event with Peter London. This was EXACTLY what I needed. The whole weekend was not only a great professional experience, but it was also very spiritual and eye-opening for me on a professional and personal level. The session was a hands on experience that allowed the participants to open up and see art education from a more holistic perspective.

the work on the left was how I was feeling in that moment, and the work on the right displayed the best I hoped for the future.

Peter London discussing how we see people from their appearances, but when we see people from their art we are getting a truer sense of them.

The last night I was able to meet up with friends I made back in New Orleans in 2015, when I attended my first #K12ArtChat on twitter! I simply love these beautiful souls, Matt and Laura Grundler. If you are on Twitter, you should check them out!