In 2022, I was a recipient of a CASP grant through Orana Arts and Create NSW, which enabled me to embark on a community arts adventure and create a vessel for the community of Wellington in NSW.
Much like it's sister project, vessels of creative connection, the focus is on encouraging public participation and contribution, however, this vessel remains in one place and collects stories, in any shape or form, from the residents, all about their personal connection to place.

During regular visits, I explored Wellington and surrounds, mapping out my own personal journey and connection to place through the natural environment, research and by meeting and talking to locals. It was certainly a wonderful way to discover the town and gave me plenty of time to consider and reflect upon what place means to us individually and communally.

As the vessel slowly gathers stories, I can only hope and imagine the rich connections that will grow and piece together, a bit like a patchwork quilt!


Wherever you are in the world, what is your connection to place?
 
How would you describe where you live?

Let your senses guide you: looks like, smells like, tastes like, sounds like, feels like?
 
What are your favourite places?
 
What is the colourscape?
 
What natural elements stand out…native flora and fauna, symbols, totems?

How does it make you feel?
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What emotions does place evoke for you?
 
How did you arrive there?
 
If you gave a visitor a guided tour, what would it consist of?
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Everything has to start somewhere & this not so little book is the first in a series of handmade journals on a journey!  ​
It was made for the #areyoubookenough monthly book arts challenge & in the process it has turned into a new adventure! 

I am sending handmade themed​ books out into the wild, inviting people to respond to the theme with a creative contribution, then reminiscent of pass the parcel, the books will move on to someone new.   As their pages are filled, they will slowly find their way back home and become part of an exhibition, which I envisage for late 2023.

Some time ago, a friend & I discovered that we were musing on a similar theme, the power of words, so we decided to work together. It is a long way off yet but I know it will be amazing.  We have exhibited together in the past and I feel our work and energies blend harmoniously. 

​The vessels project will be a part of that.  I have been wanting to do something more interactive with my book art and these travelling books decided now is the time! In saying that, there is so much inspiration behind this idea like @thesketchbookproject #1000journals by @someguy.is as well as a long list of books I've read and good old #bookcrossing.

Yesterday I handed the first book, black & white over to the first contributor!  How exciting, yet letting go is nerve racking!  It is part of the process that I have to trust will unfold organically and I can't wait to see the results when they begin to trickle in. 
I hope you will follow them with me on Instagram and Facebook  #vesselsofcreativeconnection maybe you will find one?!

If you would like to know more go to www.metissagesdecoeur.com or email me at [email protected]

P.S #vessel2weathered is almost ready to go!  

Just this week I had questions about reversed cards. It's not so surprising to learn that everyone has their own approach to reading tarot and this includes reversed cards. 
Some like to shuffle them any which way, I tend to shuffle and present them in such a way that a reversed card is kind of rare, as this is how I was taught and what feels right for me. 
In saying that, there are no hard and fast rules.  Cards are chosen and we read them in the way they reveal themselves to us, looking beyond the literal for meaning within and beyond the obvious.
​Often the first thought is the right one, sometimes the obvious one is too!

​The imagery of the swords can feel dramatic and daunting.  This suit represents thought processes, intellect, reason, difficult or challenging situations or states of mind, stress, over analysing...and yet, all of this leads to growth and development of the conscious mind.  Things are rarely what they seem and if we tend to look on the dark side of things, there is always an equal and opposite light side in the balance.

Upright, the ten of swords is in turmoil, the pressure is on whether literally or figuratively, the energy is forceful.
​Reversed, the energy feels more grounded. The weighty hilts are poised as if in stand still or balanced negotiation, determining the clever way forward.  The tension is still there though there is room for thought and beneficial progression, which is promising with 10 representing the end of a cycle, completion and ending.