creativenachos.com Blog

Breakthrough

Original Painting by Natasha Reilly, Copyright 2011

Discomfort. Ask any person who has taken one of my classes. Ask any friend of mine. Ask anyone who knows me. I firmly believe that discomfort leads to growth. But when the talented and incredible artist, Hali Karla creator of Lily Wheel Slide, approached me to be a part of her Artist/Healer series I balked.

Artist? Healer? Me? Surely she had me confused with someone else. But she somehow convinced me to do an interview. I wish I could tell you how many times I “thought” about creating the video and then stopped. My middle name could easily be procrastination. But this wasn’t a simple case of procrastination it was a protest in fear – yes fear. I was scared I had nothing of value to say until one afternoon when I got ripping mad at myself at said – DO IT! I started the camera and what happened has changed my life in ways I’m STILL discovering.

Even when things went awry mid video I did not stop – I couldn’t. For I had stumbled upon truth buried deep in my core that flooded my entire being. I felt the joy, sadness, happiness, fear, elation of being human and I began to see exactly whom I was but what’s more I let YOU see who I am. I hold absolutely nothing back – not one thing.

Though it scared me MORE THAN I can ever express to share this, I did. I sent it to Hali and I am so happy that I did. I feel like I’ve opened myself to a new adventure. And so I would like – although it still makes me want to puke on my shoes – to ask you to visit Hali’s beautiful site and view this video.

To view it simply CLICK HERE. Please feel free to share, I did!

All my love to you, always.

If you feel inspired, please share a story of when you scared yourself and found immeasurable beauty!

This painting was born from words. I began to hear these words so I started to write and before I knew it I had a Blessing before me. I was stunned. As I read through the words I’d written I started to see colors and immediately broke open my paints. This is what was created when I listened to that intuitive voice within. It does not belong to me – this I know. For it was simply for me to create.

The Dancer of Creative Eloquence

Original Painting by Natasha Reilly, 2012.

Blessing of the Dancer of Creative Eloquence

May the creative flame that burns within you build to a bonfire and light the world around you.

May the colors that have been swirling within burst forth from the depths of your soul.

May the love you feel in your heart wrap around you and all who you encounter.

May you breathe life into the dreams that whisper to you in the dark and electrify the night with colors unseen.

May your ideas blossom like wildflowers and inspire others to cultivate the hidden wildness within the soul.

May you dance through life with a heart of an adventurer, the bravery of an explorer, the eloquence of a dancer, the passion of a lover and the belief of the stars and the Moon.

-written by Natasha Reilly, 2012.

This painting is not for me. It is for YOU. If you would like to purchase this piece, please Click Here.

“Then There Was Chaos” – an original painting by Natasha Reilly 2012

We all know how crazy life can get, especially as a parent. I wrote the following to a fellow Mom who was having one of those days. Between work and children, she felt her life was just not her own. Humor. Humor helps us ALL get through. Share this with a friend because you never know when someone really needs a laugh!

Top 5 Signs Your Life Has Been Hijacked

5. While on a Skype call with a client, you respond, “Ok now what is that word I so love to hear?” A question you normally ask your children when you are looking for them to say “Please” and you realize have just suffered a massive brain fart. Thankfully though said client does not have children, she does have a sense of humor and proceeds to laugh for a long, long time.

4. While taking a shower, wee people enter the bathroom, throw open the curtain and oblivious to your nakedness and horrified expression they proceed to ask you to help find their jewelry and small cars.

3. Around 3am you wake to the sound of meowing and register that it is a cat. Thing is, you do not own a cat. Struggling to open your lead lids, you discover that your 21 month old son is awake and moving through all the animals sounds he knows…Moo that’s a cow Mom, Baaa and so on.

2. When the children are finally asleep, you move to the kitchen excited to dive into that decadent chocolate treat you saved for yourself like a reward for surviving another day only to find most of it has been eaten and what is left has small prints in it like elephant tracks in the jungle. You contemplate crying.

1.After getting everyone ready to go out, you check and double check that you have everything so as to avoid potty accidents or meltdowns. Yes, you have it. You are on top of your game again. You usher the natives out the door, close and lock it only to discover – you’re not wearing shoes.

-Written by Natasha Reilly

The whole balancing life thing we do is NOT easy. So,breathe deep and belly laugh until you cry and plan a MASSIVE “Take Back Your Life” party that includes eating chocolate and drinking champagne !

How do you find yourself when you get lost?

In honor of National Poetry Month, I wanted to share some work that has inspired me to dream, love, think, and live out loud. The following poem was written by an exceptionally talented woman who I’ve been lucky enough to work with in class and privately. There is such unforgettable beauty in this raw, unedited work as unedited pieces always nuggets of gold that can be grown and that was the case in this work as it led to a series of gorgeous pieces.

This piece is filled with such an expansive vision of faith and life. Each word works to create images filled with colors not only found in the world but also within the soul. The ability of this writer to find connection on both a human and spiritual level is an unparalleled skill.

Please join me in celebrating to work of Emily.

Original artwork created by Emily

Kaleidoscope Heart

I am an explorer of the landscape of my heart.

Be brave, look inside and see…

The land of my heart

Surrounded by razor sharp boundary lines

Painful reminders to others who dare to enter,

Who try and fail.

Ground scattered

Battle scarred and wounded

Debris from fighting, lost and won

Dig just beneath the surface

With desperate fingers and searching eyes

To find colours in all their rainbow glory

Deep in the earth

Placed in love before creation

Foundations for a life well lived.

Lakes of sorrow, full of silver tears unshed.

Each has a tiny boat,

With a single wooden paddle

To venture on the mirrored surface

To feel the water, to feel the tears

A journey of untold challenges

A journey not yet made…

Forests of blood-red anger

Dark, menacing,

Powerful tree silhouettes that banish the sun

Shadows of a soul that I don’t want to be

Walk in fear

Turn and run away

Just in case…

Delicate frightened hopes

Painfully precious and heartbreakingly fragile.

Hidden in secret dream boxes,

Buried deep in the garden of unspoken wishes.

Hidden but never forgotten.

On the beach of memories there are stones.

At a distance they look like a natural landscape

Sweeping from the cliffs to the azure ocean.

But get close

Hold a stone and see…

Each one carries a remembered moment

Carved into the cold surface by time.

Some stones fit perfectly into the hand that holds them

Memories of love and peace, joy and good times

Adventures bold and glimpses of eternity.

But hold others and they hurt

Cut and bleed

Sharp edges, damaged corners and broken dreams

Pain and loss never far away.

On the hills in the distance are houses

Family resting places

Homes of safety for those who have battled past the boundaries

Found their place in this land of my heart.

Each house painted a different colour

Shining hues of rainbow passion for the people who walk with me

People who stand by my side

People who I would sacrifice my life for, give this heart of mine.

Love

In the air, as natural as breathing

It floats on wings of peace

Released to fly

Freedom

Given to the hearts of others.

And yet…

So difficult to hold onto,

Difficult to keep in the land of my heart

Slips away when I think about me.

And in the centre of this secret land

Protected

Surrounded by the angels of light

Shimmering in the white heat of glory

Pouring kaleidoscope colours with every beat

Is the heart that I was made to be.

That is where I must travel

That is the heart that I want to find

That is the place that I want to be…

Sometimes it is so hard to believe that it is really there.

-Written by Emily

Tell me, what about this work touched YOU?

Is there something holding you back from loving with everything you have, dreaming bigger than you imagined or living the most beautiful life you can? What if you just let it all go and gave it – the person, the dream, the life – everything you had without fear?

This video was inspired by a magazine that I believes truly seeks to empower and celebrate women,

Wild Sister magazine.

I was deeply honored to have a piece, The Truest Kind of Beauty, in the April issue, an issue that is celebrating 30 Days of Beauty.  It was one of the most honest and raw pieces of writing I’ve EVER shared and I want to share it with the world!

From Lori Portka and Rachel Awes to Tess Marshall, the women featured in this issue inspired me in more ways than I ever dreamed possible – truly. These are women you will want to know!  Each one looked at beauty not from the perspective of an advertiser telling us what we need to fix but instead from the heart of a woman with the ability to really see the beauty that exists in each one of us. It was about declaring ourselves one-of-a-kind beautiful sisters!!

I invite you to purchase a copy of Wild Sister and not just because I have an article in it – though I would be tickled to have you read it. I truly want the world to read my honest thoughts. But I ask you to buy it to experience these women and let each one, including Editor-in-chief Jen Saunders, inspire you. You will read it and find new inspiration and I promise you, you will feel more connected to a growing tribe of women who are filled with rich, juicy goodness they make life brighter. For they know what YOU know in your heart – BEAUTY resides on the landscape of our soul and radiates outward!  It will be $5 well spent!

Please click the link below to purchase your $5 copy!

Let me ask you, what makes YOU beautiful?? I’d LOVE to hear from YOU!!

And so I ask are you ready to play with words and color, poetry and art journaling and all sorts of wonderful art materials and kindred souls with WILD ABANDON???

21 Secrets is NOW OPEN!!!

To sign up, click the icon below:

Original Painting by Natasha Reilly, 2012

Restlessness recently grabbed hold of me. It lifted me up, tossed me about and blindfolded me. Unable to see I started to worrythat I was not really “living” life. I worried that people around me were making memories while I just floated around in nothingness. Then, one evening I started to write. Fast and furiously the words flew out of me and then I could see nothing but color. I meditated on those colors for awhile before coming to the page to release them. As they fell from my fingertips so, too, did the restlessness and I realized in creating – in releasing what is within me – I am living and living out loud. And in doing so, I am connecting with all those I love – is there a better way to live?

What makes you feel alive?

Transition

Original Painting by Natasha Reilly 2012

I wish I’d taken photos of what this painting looked like when I started. It was “nice,” dare I say, “pretty” and I hated it. I fought with this painting like we were prize fighters in a ring. It called for paint – fine I lay down the paint. But then it wanted me to drip color – why? I refused and it screamed. I dripped paint. Then it wanted the dripped paint to be moved around with a baby wipe – what?? You just had me do ALL this work to wipe it away?? Screw you! I thought. But eventually it wore me down with its painful stare and I wiped. White. Let go! GO WILD! Unleash! Use white paint and write on me like a wall with graffiti. I heard it again and again and finally came at it with the white paint and went crazy till sweat dripped from my forehead and I sat back with it for a long while. Tired and spent, we just looked at one another.

I let the painting sit for a couple of days and as my head began to fill with visions of more paintings, I realized that this painting was a transition. I needed to break through more barriers within so that new works could be born. This painting and the ones to come all make me uncomfortable because they take me out of my comfort zone – whether through color or composition – and challenge me.

I am in the one of the most challenging places in my life – ever. There is no area of my world that is not undergoing some sort of transition and so I’ve come to love this work because it – like what I am facing – is challenging me to be the best possible person I can imagine. It’s challenging me to be more raw and honest than I have ever, ever been. And though I still put up a hell of a fight, somehow like Spring blossoming, I’m learning to be open to what is growing and will be born.

Gavin.

Gavin is a young boy who creates some amazing pieces of art. He wanted to share some with all of us so I am sharing a Christmas tree picture he created in December for his Mom. I LOVE the swirls of colored lights and the rich blue background. I know his Mom loves this and I have to say,  I LOVE it too!

Leave a little note for this young, talented artist whose bravery and heart inspire!!