March review and April beginnings....

The photo above is the art I completed in March (not all shared as full posts on the blog yet). As well as this personal art, I also completed teaching an Intro to art journaling class. This was 5 weekly sessions of 2 hour in-person classes and while very rewarding, resulted in less art time for me due to the preparation involved. On the plus side, I had fantastic feedback from the work we did there with the possibility of continuing with a regular monthly lesson from May. Here are some photos of my students' work ♥

Unfortunately, we also had the shock of the mosque shootings in Christchurch last month. There were outpourings of love and solidarity across the country, and I managed to make some art as part of my process of dealing with the feelings that came up for me

As the month progressed, I had to remind myself that small steps still = progress.

I continue to keep a record of what I read and watch

I began a new online class with Alisa Burke

and I finished my Inner work journal that I began in January so it lasted exactly a quarter of the year.

This week I'm beginning a new Inner Work journal 

I'm trying to motivate myself for the new season and plan for the coming month with an emphasis on reflection and self-care. It's interesting that I looked back on my post for April last year, and felt similarly called to rest and attend to self-care. A work-mate gave me a lovely card last week that will live in my journal as a reminder that I am appreciated. 

April signals that we are heading into Autumn. I am always really sad to see Summer go and my wish as I did my February review was that we continue with days of warmth and sunshine afternoons through March. I was lucky and we've had many really warm and lovely days. The chill is starting to make itself felt in the early mornings and evenings now - we finish daylight savings tonight.  
I love Juliet Batten's books about the seasons. I talked about her book "Celebrating the Southern Seasons" HERE and I've recently purchased "Dancing with the Seasons" which celebrates the cycle of the year and ways of embracing those changes as part of your own personal growth and development. Check out her blog HERE. I'm finding it personally difficult to be heading into Autumn and darkness when many of the art bloggers I follow are in the northern hemisphere and moving towards spring hope. These books help ♥

On the bright side, we have school holidays in another week (which means 2 weeks of more flexible time for me and a chance to spend time with some loved people) and basketball season starting on Thursday. I hope you are able to find something to celebrate in the weeks ahead, and that the new season brings new motivation for your creativity. I'd love to hear what you've got planned for April.