“The creative process in all its many forms is the key to emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing.” Janet weight reed
My hummingbird imagery symbolises the unseen and intangible in our world. Just because we can’t see or touch something doesn’t mean it’s not there or is having a profound effect on our lives.
The Aboriginals, Native Americans and many other indigenous peoples around the globe have a deep understanding of our spiritual, physical, social and cultural connection to the land. They believe all of life as it is today, human, animal, bird and fish is part of one vast unchanging network of relationships. They understand fully the importance of land management towards our health and overall wellbeing.
Crickhowell Wales – watercolour- the continual flow of Mother Nature. 
It seems that many people today, young and old from all sectors of society, are experiencing physical and emotional illnesses and distress. Given our fast pace of life and that so much of the world’s population is now plugged into technology of one kind or another, is it any wonder that our collective senses are being deadened?
In this fast watercolour sketch from Portugal last October, everything within the image is interconnected. There are no starts and stops…no beginning and no ending, rather a continual flow.
Feeding our senses by spending time in the natural world, is healing. However, like all good medicine, it needs to be enjoyed on a consistent basis.
Many have forgotten the simple pleasure of sitting beneath a tree and how restorative it is. 
I have been listening to a radio programme about the power of the placebo…and how it has been shown time and time again to cause a sense of wellbeing even though the recipient is fully aware that they are taking a sugar pill. This has everything to do with mind, body connection.
When we immerse ourselves into the creative flow, our minds are taken into what I call deep time. A place that is totally different from our clock watching, rushing to the next appointment type of time. An intangible sense of calmness and wellbeing ensues. We return to what we were designed for – being part of nature and engaging our senses.
Portugese children on Armona Island playing with shells….
Trying to exist in this brave new world and finding a space for creativity, in all its many forms….might for many sound impossible.
I have raised a family and worked all my life and like most people have lived through some very stressful times. I have learned that if I simply stop….and give myself some soul food each day, I am immediately calmed and feel a sense of well being. Soul food time enriches and supports everything else we need and have to do in life.
It costs nothing. It doesn’t mean major life changes. It simply means addressing the part of ourselves that is in desperate need for daily food and nurturing.
Brecon Beacons Wales 
From Buddhist Offerings….
‘We see that life, composed of this mind and body, is in a state of continual constant transformation and flux. There is always the possibility of radical change. Every moment – not just poetically or figuratively, but literally – every moment we are dying and being reborn, we and all life’
Since I first wrote this post we have all experienced a radical change.
The Coronavirus Pandemic has given us all, individually and collectively, time to re think our lives….and hopefully learn what is important and what isn’t.
Janet 🙂
After working with a group for the first week, fellow artist and good friend Bonnie Halsey Dutton 
watercolour
I With its courtyards, communal areas and excellent studio space, plus shops, cafes, markets, Lagoon all within a few minutes walk from the school – plus of course the wonderful Margarida and Joanna who take care of all our needs….what more could an anyone wish for.
The studio. 
The 150 year old Olive Tree that meanders from one of the courtyards up through the three levels of the school. You can see the blue of the roof top pool through the tree. 
watercolour
This has been one of the best years I can remember. I have visited places, friends and family I love and along the way enjoyed wonderful conversations and much laughter. I am so grateful for this moment in time and that I have been able to focus on what is truly of value in my life.
I posted these two photographs of my wonderful Grandmother and her Great Granddaughter, my daughter, because they show so clearly that within a relatively short period of time…..how our world has changed. How the lives of women have changed…..
When I went through my Aunt’s papers, I was delighted to find that her passport only expired last year – which means that she renewed it when she was 86. She also volunteered helping ‘old people’ when she was in her eighties and early nineties. What an inspiration.
All of life in interconnected. Mother Nature and the Magical Hummingbirds remind us of this as they work together rather than in opposition.
Most cultures teach us that safety is found in separation and disconnection.
Mother Nature has given us the perfect example of what happens when we respect the laws of interconnection and also what happens when we don’t……..
My Life as an Artist (2) 