Equinox Meditation and Creation

Equinox Meditation and Creation

Renew, Rebirth, and Rejoice!
Community Hour at Nurture ~ Growing Families and Community.

WHEN: Sunday March 20, 11am-12pm
WHERE: Nurture at 1614 NE Alberta

The Spring Equinox is the beginning of the astrological new year when the sun enter the zodiacal sign of Aries and begins its 12 month cycle around the wheel of life. It is a time when day and night are balanced, lending you extra support from the cosmos and the earth, to begin again in a state of perfected harmony. It is a time to create and bring form to your dreams and rejoice life anew.

Mychelle Moritz, Art Therapist and Couselor, along with Elaina Beam, Spiritual Guide and Astrologer, will come together to offer an hour of Meditation and Creation to welcome the coming of the new and rejoice in the birthing of the season.

Please bring a pillow or blanket to sit on, a friend, and a symbol of growth or rebirth as an optional addition to the fulfillment of your experience.

This is an open no fee event. For more information contact Elaina at 503.290.8851

May the Blessings of Divine be yours…

Community Mother Art Tree Project: Collaborative Mural part 6

The 6th painting in the mural was created by artist, landscape designer, and expecting mama: Alissa Hartman. Alissa creates indoors and out. Her beautiful artwork is currently gracing the stairwell at Nurture and is for sale; stop by and see her work. Outside, Alissa creates magic in landscapes throughout Portland through her business, Seed Landscape Designs.

Community Mother Art Tree Project: Collaborative Mural part 5

Where were we? Oh yes, the fifth piece!

The fifth piece to be featured (by the way, these are not being featured in any particular order) was created by Sally Peters. Sally is the founder and director of Speak Artloud, an (amazing) innovative social-profit organization that uses the arts to empower women and improve communities. On the Speak Artloud blog, Sally writes about her connection to art:

I do not consider myself an artist (I know, I know – we are all artists) but I do know that having art in my life makes me a better person.

Art helps me to better understand the world, others and myself, and art helps me feel connected to something larger and completely individual and unique all at once.

I do like drawing with pastels and making collages, I can get lost looking at art books and visiting museums feels like a sacred activity. I also really enjoy movies, theater and music.

Community Mother Art Tree Project: Collaborative Mural part 4

On to the next three pieces from the mural!

This fourth piece was created by Amy Watson founder and director of Whole Mama~Whole Child. Amy is a joyfully married mama of three young children; a chiropractor for moms, babies, and kids; and a free-spirited gypsy at heart.

The Last Leaf

(I took this picture at an angle because it has a glossy finish. I wish my photographs of these paintings were better, then you could see the beautiful flecks of gold in this painting. You will just have to see the mural in person when it is up!)

Community Mother Art Tree Project: Collaborative Mural part 3

Collaborative projects bring several people together, and as the coordinator of this project I have the honor of connecting with each artist personally. I made a few new friends and was able to see friends whom I had not seen in awhile. Although I have had contact with Crystal Burgoyne via Nurture forums, I did not have the pleasure of meeting her in person until this project provided a reason for getting together.

Crystal Burgoyne is a mother of two young children and a multimedia artist. I would like to add that she balances, with such grace, motherhood and her passion for creating art; she is an inspiration to me as I work to find a balance between the two in my own life.

Community Mother Art Tree Project: Collaborative Mural part 2

The second piece featured from the mural was created by Vicky York. Vicky is a veteran provider of new mother/infant care as a lactation consultant and postpartum doula. She was the first postpartum doula in Oregon! She has served more than 600 clients as a postpartum doula in Portland, Oregon, since 1992. Vicky is also a sculpture artist who creates figures, baskets, rattles, lights, wall hangings, and more using sea kelp. You can see some of her work here. Vicky had, by far, the most challenging medium to work with for this project!

Community Mother Art Tree Project: Collaborative Mural part 1

Inspired by the film screening of Who Does She Think She Is?, nine women collaborated on a 9-piece mural. Each of the nine women are quite busy, yet determined to create more time in their lives for art. Each woman who participated in this project committed to complete one piece of artwork, using media of their choice, with the only guideline of staying true to the minimal, central outline in order to preserve cohesion among the pieces.

The mural is a patchwork of beauty simultaneously symbolizing community and individuality. Each piece is strikingly different yet together they form an integrated portrait of strength. A tree was chosen as the theme for this mural because of the rich metaphor that trees hold: family, roots, growth, fruit, life, seasons, strength, nature, shelter....

Over the next two weeks, I will be sharing each piece one at a time with you, culminating with the mural assembled in all of its glory (please forgive my lack of photography skills).

I struggled with the decision of which piece to feature first, determining where on the tree to start. I have decided to start with the heart of the tree, the center piece, and then work my way around from there.

The center piece was created by Renita Christle Gerard:

I create because I have to. Something within me isn't happy unless I'm creating something be it a special meal, a painting, singing a gift for a friend.

I love trees and the spaces between the branches as well as the textures of the bark. The bark picks up colors as the light changes so trees are a ever fascinating subject.

Who Does She Think She Is? Screening Party this Saturday!

Screening Party of Who Does She Think She Is?

October 23rd at 1pm!

Please join us.

We will have a community art project for those who are interested.

About the film:

In a half-changed world, women are often forced to choose: Mothering or working? Your children's wellbeing or your own own? Responsibility or self expression? Who Does She Think She Is?, a documentary by Academy Award winning filmmaker Pamela Tanner Boll, features five fierce women who refuse to choose. Through their lives, we explore some of the most problematic intersections of our time: mothering and creativity, partnering and independence, economics and art. Along the way, the film invites us to consider both ancient legacies of women worshipped as cultural muses and more modern times where most people can't even name a handful of female artists. In the end, the diverse women in the film demonstrate that our creativity and our caregiving are not mutually exclusive, but deeply connected. In fact, their co-existence might just be the key to finishing the job.

International Plastic Quilt Project

Nurture is joining the challenge to avoid single use plastics for 1 week by participating in the International Plastic Quilt Project#E82010. Any plastic that makes it into our lives during that week we make into an art piece that will be added to the quilt and displayed during First Thursday in the Pearl District.

Who will join us?

Join by registering at the International Plastic Quilt Project page (by October 17th). Make sure you list Nurture for the group, and then send an e-mail to us info@nurturepdx.org to let us know that you will be participating. Bring your artwork to Nurture on October 23rd at 12:30pm (right before the Who Does She Think She Is? screening); we can get a group photo of all of our pieces, and then I will deliver them to Create Plenty by the due date (October 25th).

Nurture is a gathering of families, wellness professionals, and community members who are coming together to promote the wellness of growing families and community. We believe that families are healthier when they are informed, connected, and empowered. Healthy communities grow healthy families, and we are working together to enhance the existing resources in Portland, OR.

We are participating in this project because we are concerned about the amount of toxins that our children are exposed to through plastics and the impact that plastics have on our planet. By decreasing the amount of plastics we bring into our homes, we are decreasing the exposure to those toxins and working towards eliminating the "need" for plastics in this world. This project is a great first step!

The International Plastic Quilt Project opening in Portland will be on November 4th.

THREE WAYS MAKE A STATEMENT ABOUT SINGLE USE PLASTIC

Hey Nurture Community, let's come up with a cool group project to participate in this exhibit. We could do something specific to family-life...

Connect with others around the globe and participate in the International Plastic Quilt Project (IPQP) as a 1-Squaremaker, 2-Challenge-Taker or 3-Change Creator!

You may participate in one of three different levels ranging from creating and submitting a square to the nearest IPQP exhibit, making a square while taking a plastic-free challenge, and/or organizing a local group. Groups are forming in Portland and Lincoln City, Oregon, the San Francisco Bay Area, Mexico and Kenya. Details, including entry forms and work from previous exhibits, are online at www.LNPB.org. Entry forms and small support fee due March 15, 2010. Email cheryl@createplenty.org if you have questions. Families wanted!

LNPB is a campaign of the non-profit organization Create Plenty (www.createplenty.org), an organization dedicated to increasing the production and consumption of more local products, reducing waste and creating plenty! "Think Ahead, Leave No Plastic Behind."