Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Art Dolls /Stick Dolls : copyright Wilma Simmons  I confess to being a fan of Angry Birds and challenging myself to a game of Angry Birds Ham'O'Ween will be about as far as I will go to celebrating Halloween here in Australia. However it did start me thinking about how birds became associated with this celebration with its Celtic origins. I can understand spiders, bats and even black cats  and wolves associated with spookiness, but birds? Halloween Art Tag :  copyright Wilma Simmons  It appears that the black raven has long been considered rather ominous, in spite of  a harmonious history of sharing the environment with human beings. Associated with wizards and witches,  the raven supposedly inherited some secret powers " to carry magic across long distances  and collect secrets to bring back .. . " (from natureworldnews.com)   Add this information to its throaty  territorial "kraa" call and scavenger habits, it is no wonder that th...

Art Tag 2012 - Wilma Simmons January 20 is Penguin Awareness Day - a great opportunity to learn about and appreciate one of the few natives of Antarctica. Spend a little time learning about them.... a pictorial book or internet site is fun. Perhaps watch a documentary of these cute and popular, grounded birds?  Today is  also a time to wear black and white---penguin colours. However, wearing a tuxedo in their honour is optional. It is also popular today to tell a penguin joke or two, but  I think it is worthwhile considering what wisdom can penguins impart to us?  1. EMBRACE CHANGE While gradual change is easier to process, sometimes change comes suddenly and unexpectedly. Instead of shedding feathers here and there, penguins molt all at once and must stay on land for two to three weeks as their new coat grows in. If life brings you sudden change, embrace it, give yourself time to process, and get ready to return to life renewed and restored. 2. B...

" Some people make a difference, some people make you different" - Saleem Sharma make a difference to  have  an  effect   It is  exciting  to do  something   that   really   makes  a  difference  in  your   community.   People   don't   realize   that   their   vote  can   make  a  difference. Usage   notes:   often   used  in  the   form   make  no  difference :  It  makes  no  difference  to me if  the   game  is  televised  or  not. See   also:   difference ,  make Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms  Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003. Reproduced with permission. from http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/make+a+difference Can someone else really make you different? Or is it that some peopl...

Everything has beauty but not everyone can see it. .. Confucius

"Wise Words Wednesday" is a new idea for my blog... I will still be posting my regular updates about my art work, but this will be a little extra post now and then.  I have been collecting wise sayings for a few years and wondered why I haven't shared them. Many of them have been included on wooden tags on my message stick dolls, but most of them are just written in a notebook. Here are today's wise words featured on this message stick doll, designed for Christmas. ' “Peace is always beautiful.”  ―  Walt Whitman ,  Leaves of Grass      tags:  peace ,  poetry Read more quotes from  Walt Whitman   (from www.goodreads.com)