SoulSpeak Studio ~ where the Wild Things! hang

My home and workplace sits between two bays on Gabriola Island. Recently renamed Gabriola Sands, it will remain forever in the hearts and vocabulary of Gabriolans simply as "Twin Beaches." From my kitchen  table or my office area I look out through the trees to Pilot Bay. From my studio or bedroom, Taylor Bay is my view.
In the summer I work outside. Some days I sit overlooking my rockery,

often I'm in my rocking chair on the back porch where most of my supplies are kept. 

But more and more often you'll find me on the beach listening to the sound of the waves, basking in the sun, hanging out with the Wild Things!

 

Wild Spirit…Dancing ~ how the Wild Things! came to be...

Seeking refuge for my health, I moved to Gabriola Island
in the fall of 2004.

In the quiet of winter I finally heard what my body

had been desperately trying to tell me for a very long while ~

that it was time to let my life be what it wanted and needed to be…

I knew inherently that I would heal through my creativity.

Too ill to work as an Intuitive, too tired to write, or paint,

I returned to my one constant throughout the years…fabric art.

As the figures began to emerge,

each and every one of them was dancing…

Caught up in this dance was the spirit of friends & strangers alike ~

clothing was kept aside at our recycling centre,

friends sent packages of threads, beads, charms, and yarn scraps,

neighbours unearthed old earrings,

my mother sent broken jewellry pieces from Ireland,

people at get-togethers raided their closets,

and a wonderful graphic artist friend designed my labels.

Everything was either recycled or donated…

~ Heartfelt thanks to everyone ~

These figures came together in the spirit of healing,

are inspired by the spirit of Gabriola, and celebrate that

Inside each and every one of us,

there is still a Wild Spirit

…dancing

Remembering who we are...

Their history is seeped in the dark recesses of time ~

They began life with their roots entwined with Mother Earth

and were nurtured as the sentinels of harmony and peace

amongst all living things ~

But humanity in time forgot all of its wisdom

and in its ignorance began to purge the Earth of its values ~

Until almost nothing remained ~

And so the Wild Things were sent forth 

to intermingle amongst humans to nurture them

and remind them once more of 

who they are deep down inside,

and to share with them an ancient and timeless remedy...

that of love, freedom and pure joy ~

For as we remember who we truly are,

wild spirits one and all,

our future as a human race and that of our Mother Earth

is destined to thrive ~

because inside each and every one of us there is still a

Wild Spirit ... dancing