Do you believe in midnight voices?
Lost in the dark; an echoing ritual call
A speaking vision commands
“Trust!”
“Create!”
It is easier in the midnight light,
The hazy fuzz of sleep still clinging to dreams
With sideways thoughts
Doubt dissolves
So we can dance and paint.
Original is Available $149
Limited Edition Prints are Available $49
The sky is not falling.
The world rotates,
or revolves,
in a quiet grind sticky with prayer-prints.
In a pleaded-on galaxy,
the passion-folding universe is empowered by requests upon planets.
We are rivulet of wants,
Torrents of wishes and desires,
Dammed by rocky fears,
Worn down by time.
Original is Available $219.99
Limited Edition Prints are Available $49.99
Really, you don’t have to wear a necklace. Most of the time, why worry about it? It isn’t an essential and most of the time, they are for people that are into fashion trends and style magazines.
But a necklace isn’t always about style or trends. Instead, a necklace can be about inner beauty, strength, and courage.
There are times when self-expression is a necessary luxury and peace of mind, like settling the nerves of an upcoming public speaking engagement, garnering courage to ask for a promotion, vulnerable moments when a little pop of color brings much needed cheer, or a gentle reminder in troubled times that this too shall pass and is an opportunity to grow. There are times when a necklace expresses, grounds, reminds and protects you. And you deserve it.
A necklace can speak to and for you. Only you know when you look at it and say, “Yes, this is me! It is about me!”
That’s why I paint these watercolor necklaces; to connect you to the truth of you when you need it; everyday, some days or on special occasions.
Which one expresses you? Shop my Jewelry Store Here.
I start with pure intuition, inspiration and high quality watercolors then let these paintings emerge from the paintbrush and intention. The result is a unique little painting that sparkles like a jewel and tells a story that, I believe, will connect with just the right person. The essence of that story is captured with a short original poem that I write and deliver with each one.
Believe me, I don’t finish a painting, unless I think it is perfect, even if it means waiting again for another dot to dry. When I reach that moment and I’m sure, I begin to frame them in glass, name and sign them, and seal them with a durable diamond glaze. The complete process can take 2-3 days with many settled moments waiting for paint, glaze and glue to dry in between.
The best part is when everyone comes together; a painting, a poem, a watercolor necklace find the perfect person who cherishes this piece of art as truest self-expression.
Which one expresses you? Shop my Jewelry Store Here.
My bestselling watercolor necklaces are completely unique. No two are alike and no painting is ever copied. Once the perfect necklace is in its owner’s hands, that necklace has found its soul mate. If you think you’ve found yours, believe it. It was made for you.
I offer a 100% money back guarantee, if you aren’t satisfied I will refund your money or exchange it for the right watercolor necklace for you.
Shop my Jewelry Store Here.
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There are people that are always giving. The kind of person who stops what they are doing and very gently focuses all their attention on you, because, you are there, and obviously important. That kind of full service attention is special and rare. It is expressively loving. These people are always curious. Flowers are always beautiful and time worthy, the birds, even a common finch, is interesting. A book arouses their interest and they begin to read it… right now. A restaurant, a new local discovery and adventure or faraway travels are compelling too. These people are open about their experiences; ugly, dark, complex, beautiful and true and they are kind with how they give these stories to you and for you because our stories really are our gifts to people. They practice compassion, not perfection, to self and others.
The world is lucky for the many people here like this.
I had a person like this in my life at a pivotal time. She was a lovely neighbor and my first close friend outside of my generation. A grandmother to my daughter’s best friend and old enough to be my own mother, but a far different history than mine. She had an artist soul, loved nature, worked steadily for the environment and loved her family so gently it felt fierce. I admired her character and her spirit. She aged well and unlike many, she wizened as she aged.
Then she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and slowly moved more inward, not less kind or compassionate, but her fight and temperament made her more intimate about how she shared herself. Death is a burden to all who love the dying, and the dying feel this, heavily.
She loved that we were moving to Costa Rica. When we came back last Spring, I saw her briefly and she was kind though withdrawn and tired. Then last August she died with her family nearby. I heard the news from Guatemala at the time, and cried a few times. I learned that death makes me homesick. Shortly afterwards, I booked tickets for us to visit Seattle in December and here we are still, happily.
I had the opportunity to stay in her house for a weekend recently and at first I resented the memory of her. It made me sad and restless. I felt like I didn’t belong there. Then I let it wash over me. Her house is so full of her spirit. The art on the walls, the books, the office space and the magnificent garden are all whispers of her. I want to be a 70 year old like her.
Her partner encouraged me to go through her art supplies and take what I wanted. She would have wanted someone to have them who loved art as much as she did. I do not know if I loved art as much as she did. Really. But I am honored and humbled to have her art supplies now. I will be lucky if I walk a similar path as her legacy. I will think of her with love as I paint.
The light is luminous
The sky restless
Her damp cold will seize your bones till you tremble.
And this truth:
It is so good to be home
In a wet
Umbrella-less
Rainbow Cuddle.
Original is Available $149
Limited Edition Prints are Available $49
This year, my Mother’s Day gift to myself is to run the Color Run with my 11-year-old daughter. Together, we will run 5 km while being bathed and showered in all forms of rainbows and unicorns. She rolls her eyes at me and I’m excited. I know we will create a memory that will last our lives.
Memories are the greatest gifts.
I want to be an excellent gift giver and memory maker, even on Mother’s Day. It is a joyful act to create memories with soul. It is personally fulfilling to be a not-perfect-yet-considerate memory-making gift-giver than to shove a last minute card at someone – which of course I’ve regretfully done too. So, for Mother’s Day, I’m actively giving to myself and daughter because it gives back to me in joy and goofy memories of rainbows and unicorns.
Let me be clear, when I talk about gifts, I mean what you give yourself as well as others. Don’t sell yourself short here.
There is also a firm line between a soulful gift and stuff. A joyful gift feels meaningful, like a little lost piece of personal puzzle snuggling tightly back into place. (I’ve always wanted to do the Color Run.) A thoughtful and meaningful gift can become a life-giving vein that nourishes your relationship for a lifetime; a precious memory. In contrast, giving stuff is just stuffing; empty, fluffy, squishy and eventually squished – for everyone.
Personally, I like gifts that are a little off center, create connections and have built-in adventure. They make me giggle and are sticky memories. For this, if I am the giver or the receiver, I faithfully return my heart, my loyalty and my love.
If we all gave this way, all the time, it would change the world or maybe just your community.
With that said, here are some fantastic memory makers that nourish souls, create memories, and connect. I hope they will inspire you.
It doesn’t get much more soulful that the 12 week course and book The Artist Way by Julia Cameron. This workshop and the book its based upon take you on a gentle journey into your creative soul to awaken and recover your creative spirit. I read this book almost 20 years ago and it inspired me to paint. I just completed this workshop this month and it was so worth it, again. It has helped me develop my painting and business practice in Seattle despite a not-so-perfect-life-or-circumstance being here. If you or someone you know whispers about a desire to have more creativity in their life; to be a writer, a dance or painter or just want to change their life, this workshop is transformational kick start. I recommend taking the class together too.
http://www.seattleartistswaycenter.com/classofferings.htm
A dear friends once said “Love is… Wine.” How could you disagree? Throw in a little travel and I’m in heaven. For the month of April Vin Wine and Events will create a custom Washington Wine Tour for only $15 and then its only $25 after that. The owner, Carolyn Holt, is our favorite wine person in Seattle. She will take all your preferences into account you get the chance to not just sample the increasingly well regarded wines of Washington, but truly experience them too.
http://vinwineseattle.com/vin-tours/
My husband and I have been rock climbing for 15 years and I think it has saved our marriage more than once. Beyond being good for marriage, a little adventure and facing my fear is a quick route to happiness. I love the feeling of accomplishment when I have completed a difficult climb, it is excellent for confidence and a sense of accomplishment. More, I love the outdoor adventure and bond that climbing has given my family. Climbing is what we do together as a family, an excellent memory maker. The people at Vertical World are friendly, knowledgeable and always keep safety first.
http://seattle.verticalworld.com/
Flora Bowley is one of my favorite soulful artists. On her amazing website, she offers In-Person Workshops, Online Intuitive Art Classes, Painting Sessions and more for a variety of budgets and means. For her, painting is not just product, but a spiritual and permission-giving process that can transform your life. You don’t have to be a painter to try out her techniques. You don’t have to want to be a painter either. But painting could just be a means to unlocking a creative spirit and give you the courage to change your life.
www.florabowley.com
Danielle is my giving soulfully guru. Her site is full of wise and stimulating blogs and videos that offer new age counter-spiritual wisdom. The mostly free content is an ultimate gift for unlocking some of the wisdom you didn’t know you had. I love many of the audios and her free e-book Fight for your Joy. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on her new upcoming book White Hot Truth and rereading Firestarter Sessions or picking up Desire Map is a great idea too.
http://www.daniellelaporte.com/
Of course you don’t have to buy a memory. Make a song, a poem, a story, a skit, a painting. The real point is that the intentional heart, novelty, adventure, message and love is there to create connection and memory. My favorite memory of our goodbye party in Costa Rica was of the three kids, standing in our pool, who unexpectedly serenaded us with Count on Me by Bruno Mars. I mean, come on, it was a beautiful goodbye never to be forgotten.
In peace and given soulfully. Love.
Marika
PS: What would you add to this list?
Freedom is an equation of less.
Be active
and subtract, block, erase, dam, limit and constrain
then harvest more.
Freedom is shackled by
boundless time,
endless decisions,
overcompensating supplies
and superfluous choices.
Freedom has nothing to be free of in a black hole of too much.
Creativity lies in
simplicity
attention
and deeply in a loving act
especially when it is really, really, really, hard.
It is another humanity;
Inhibit decisions, get light, limit choice and shackle time
and
Flow
Grow
Create.
Original is Available $150
Limited Edition Prints are Available $50
As two extremes collide,
there is a moment of complete collapse,
where everything contrasts in sudden bursts and flashes.
The heartbeat of swinging extremes,
an attack, a rejection and yet undeniable.
This truth must be integrated too.
Two opposites merge
because they are the same.
Paradox is our birthright.
Watercolor 12″ x 16″
Contrast and Frequency is Available $150
Limited to 25 Edition Prints $50
email: marika@marikareinke.com
The deepest understanding we can gain of ourselves is through loving others. To be clear, I mean the simplest and most difficult kind of love, the one of no conditions. As I learn to unconditionally love my community the more I discover fundamental me.
It is a puzzling phenomenon.
Community determines identity, bares emotion and uncovers our greatest potential. Our layered and textured relationships can slow time down and birth our deepest joys and bleakest frustrations. Either way, we transform as we collect little soul-pigments of those who enter and paint another layer of our self-portrait.
Identity is embedded in our community; our history, our transactions, our touchpoints and failures define us. When we interact, we become the only us, not individuals, and so different from any other. We reflect each other like light beams on waterdrops, ever-changing and shifting. Never still as stone, we are unfixable.
It is in our chemistry.
Community has an undefinable magic. It connects people across time, life and space. We travel within it without moving, carried forward by love, family, friends, day-to-day acquaintances and even enemies. We call the members “mine” but they are really we. Among others, without words or even eye contact, I am still connected to a life force greater than myself. I do not exist otherwise.
Community is our always changing life-portrait, not just of I but all who pass in life or death, love or fear, curiosity or shame.
What does community mean to you? Leave a comment below.
The original Community is available to purchase for $4999, please contact me for details at marika@marikareinke.com
Here is your chance to own a limited to 25 edition print of Community. Your custom order will be signed, dated and customized with a limited edition certificate of authenticity. Community will be scanned the week of April 17th and these special prints will be available to ship the week of April 23rd.
Have you noticed when you truly pay attention time slows down? Time really is a giving and generous ally.
For example, when I paint for a set time period, time slows down. The structured time forces me to focus, every moment is precious. I dig in and move with the process. It kick starts flow and I surprise myself. During these periods, if you ask me what time it is, I have no idea. If you ask me to speak, I can barely use words. I’m in a worriless timeless state. Time is helping me along, giving me as much as I need while I work, but only as I stay focused.
I’ve noticed this when I belay my husband as he climbs. One time, I could tell my husband was going to fall. He was grappling with the holds in a steep overhang, almost at the top with a long but very safe fall. I braced myself knowing that if he fell, I could expect to pop up off the floor from the force of his counterweight. When he fell, I took a breath and… I waited. It was three seconds, but felt longer as I braced and then popped lightly into the air. I was astonished by time’s flexibility and give. Time gave me everything I needed to make sure he and I were safe.
As I work on my Artist’s Way class the phenomena continues. This course ultimately focuses us on paying attention to ourselves, our creative process, our blocks, reflections and actions. Every week, when I think about how I’m going to check in with the group, I’m surprised. So much change and growth happens in a week during this astonishing class. I used to think weeks past by in a flash. In reality, every week is long for all of us when we pay attention. But as I work on me, time slows and gives me space to process.
Consider this astonishing phenomena: The more you give to Time, the more she returns herself, plus some.
I’ve never given it a thought before. Thank you, Time.
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