Lily Diamond . Bear Road Barn . Watercolor and Gouache 

I love barns.  This quonset barn is one of the most unusual I have seen. It really is silvery gray with crayon pink trim, a color cousin to the oleander blossoms which move in the breeze with the palm fronds.  I painted the background landscape with bright, yet gentle hues, to evoke the JOY I feel when I go by the property.

Lily Diamond . Bear Road Cottage . Watercolor and Gouache 

Looking at the stonework in this neighborhood is one of my favorite pastimes. There are many walls made of the local stones from the river bottom, but this is the only stone cottage around. I painted it from across the street, in between a cactus patch and a grape vine.

Lily Diamond. The Caretaker's Garden. Oil 

An old green chair sat outside my studio door.  It was falling apart, so it wasn't nice to leave it in such an inviting spot.  I decided I had to paint it, along with the caretaker's straggly garden, the carob and the mulberry trees, set against the stone walkway.  I added the stone wall, because I LOVE STONEWORK.

Bringing a Blessing to Your Wealth Corner

Feng Shui Wealth Corner Blessing #2

Gouache and Acrylic on Canvas Board 11 x 14

by Lily Diamond

DESCRIPTION:

In an emerald green bamboo forest, a waterfall flows over a rocky shelf, into a lotus pond. A gold arowana fish, symbol of prosperity, leaps out of the water. On a bamboo branch hangs a bundle of three gold coins, Chinese token to increase wealth. This painting is meant to be placed in the Wealth Corner of the home, office or studio, to work as a visual magnet to enhance prosperity to the owner. The Wealth Corner is located by standing with your back to the front door entrance (inside). The farthest left corner is called the Wealth or Prosperity corner.

"Gouache?", you say… It's a medium that has been around for a long, long time.  Some describe it by saying it's like watercolor, only opaque. Ancient Egyptians created a form of gouache by binding pigments with honey or glue.  During the Middle Ages, gouache was used on illuminated manuscripts.  I just discovered that Matisse was fond of gouache. :)   The gouache in this painting is from the Holbein Artists' Gouache series.  I started the painting by covering the canvas with a coat of Dioxazine Purple, a pigment which is so rich and deep, it's almost black, if used solo.  Black is one of the colors associated with the Wealth Corner, as are blue, green, brown, and gold.  The colors derive from those of the "Wood" element, which means the energy of green, growing trees and vegetation. The Wood color is a blue/green, almost a teal, "Qing" in Chinese, which represents dragons scales.  The "Water" element is the "Mother" of Wood, and so nourishes the growth. The Water element color is Black (really a deep, dark inky blue), to represent the depths of the ocean.  That's the reason why water is often used for a feng shui "cure" of the Wealth Corner.  All the "goldfish" family fish are considered to increase wealth, so that's one reason, aside from their beauty, they are so popular.  The numbers, 1, 3, 8 and 9 are numbers for increase, so there are three lotus flowers, one arowana fish, three coins, eight large bamboo stalks with one smaller stalk (making a total of nine) which holds the bundle of three lucky coins.

When enhancing the Wealth Corner, keep in mind that "Wealth" doesn't just mean financial wealth, it means whatever makes YOU feel prosperous!  

Cianna - The Angel of Creativity

Cianna - Angel of Creative Power

Colored Pencil and Watercolor on Paper - 2014

Open your heart and call on this angel for a spark of inspiration and she will assist you. She may guide you through past experiences, awakening a new insight which leads you to begin an artistic project. She will assist you in sustaining your focus. Purple energy heralds her presence, yet as she takes on human characteristics you'll see her bring forth a rainbow of colors. Here she is depicted with the heart, throat and third eye centers, to emphasize her deep compassion, power of communication and vision. Cianna projects red, orange and yellow as well, to let you know she'll help boost your physical energy, support a healthy flow of emotion, and heal self-esteem issues.

History:

I kept noticing a lot of purple energy in the room during my meditations, and also when I was working on a piece.  Then I started catching glimpses of a being that appeared to be an angel.  As she was around me more often, it became easier to "see" her.  I felt guided to draw her as a way of acknowledging her assistance with my art and her powerful positive presence which seemed to give me more energy to continue and complete creative tasks.

In meditation, in answer to my questions about her, she told me I could call her "Cianna" and that she was an angel of creative power.  I told her how grateful I am to have her companionship and beautiful energy in my life.  She is an angel who will help whoever calls her to them, with their sincere desire to make their creative efforts come to fruition.  If you purchase a print of Cianna, you may want to put it in the Helpful People corner of your dwelling.  As you are standing inside your doorway facing in, just to your right is a spot to put symbols of Helpful "People." These helpers can be personified symbols of Spirit/God, like statues of Buddha, Jesus, Mary, or Durga, and they can also be your Animal Spirit Helpers.  

I moved my original drawing of Cianna to the Helpful People area last night, and today I recieved a message on Facebook, that a print of her had been sold! Thank you, Cianna!

Prints available at Society6

Journey to Japan - Pine Spirit

Pine Spirit of Japan, Watercolor and Colored Pencil on Paper, 2014

On March 15, 2011, four days after the tsunami hit Japan, I joined a monthly gathering of healers. I suggested that we journey to Japan to offer our assistance, and everyone agreed with me. The group leader instructed us to travel there individually to seek permission to give healings, and each of us did so. As soon as I stated what I wanted to do and that I sought permission, I found myself on a mountain top in Japan, speaking to the "Spirit of the Pine Trees." He drew me to him, far from having to ask permission, he was seeking me out. He told me that the pine trees were sending out prayers form the mountains to assist with the disaster taking place in Fukushima and surrounding. He asked me to go up to Griffith Park near my home, sit with the pine trees, and offer prayers from there, and also to grow pine trees from seed. This painting shows the Pine Tree Spirit as he appeared to me, with an owl in his branches, a fox in his roots, a single crane beside him, and babes taking shelter within his trunk. The Japanese Shinto "religion" was adapted from the Chinese, and is more of "A Way of Life" than a religion. The "Kami" are animistic -- sometimes humanlike, and associated with forms of nature. I mention this, because, at the time of my shamanic journeying, I did not consciously know about them. The Pine Tree Spirit is clearly one of the Kami. I added the crane because cranes, usually shown in pairs are for longevity, as are pines. The dire situation with the nuclear accident at Fukushima, followed by the earthquake and tsunami have set the fate of Japan on a precarious course, so I used only a single crane. The crane is holding an amethyst in his beak, representing access to visioning through the third-eye. The fox is Inari Okama, an androgynous Kami plays many roles; sometimes identified as being a food goddess, sometimes as an old man, and sometimes as a bodhisattva (enlightened being who assists humans). The owl may be a messenger of doom or a symbol of hope.

The Pine Tree Spirit gave me his blessing to assist, and I soon found myself in the wreckage by the sea. This is the first painting in a series.