Food for thought

The very beautiful and talented Nic Hohn, who I recently met in person at the Creative Soul Retreat, always has such deep and meaningful words on her blog (as well as beautiful art) and they always get me thinking. This week she had a post about our inner critic, which got me thinking about my art and how I never think what I create is good enough. I always wish I could draw or paint better ... or I wish I could take beautiful photographs like some of my friends, that I could use in my art ... or I wish I had photoshop and knew how to use it so I could alter photos the way I want ... or I wish I could have my work published and recognised by others ... so many wishes and when I think about it, so much time wasted on having unproductive thoughts like this. So I've decided that for the next week I'm going to observe when my inner critic rears its ugly head and a self-limiting thought enters my mind and I'm going to consciously turn it around ... take the oppositive view of it ... create a positive re-action to it and see what magic can (hopefully) happen! So watch this space ...

We had a visitor to our property yesterday, which nearly got run over with the ride-on lawn mower ... a little turtle (there is some debate in the household as to whether this is a turtle or a tortoise and I'm in the turtle camp!). He was a little scared with 5 of us crowding around and picking him up, so he stayed safely inside his shell for a long time, but as soon as he thought the coast was clear he scampered off into the overgrown bush as fast as his little legs would carry him ... what a highlight. We also had 3 kangaroos come visit, which we haven't seen around in a long time, but as soon as Beau caught site of them and started barking, they were gone quick smart ... I doubt whether they'll come around again knowing there's an active dog on the property.

Here's the turtle checking things out still safely tucked away in his shell.

and he's off ... they're pretty fast when they want to get going.

UPDATE 21/04/09: The lovely Pam's husband Barry, has advised that our little friend is a Freshwater Queensland Tortoise (and not a turtle ... what do I know, hey!). They swim, walk on land and have webbed feet, whereas a marine turtle has flippers and swims and can walk up beaches to lay their eggs.

This is a picture of a kangaroo in our backyard from sometime ago ... they definitely come up close and it was nice to see them return after quite a long hiatus of late.

To finish off, here's my latest creation for last month's Scrapbook Cupboard ATC Swap with the theme Ancient Civilisations. I decided to do Ancient Rome and started off with a map of ancient Rome that I covered in crackle medium with sepia ink rubbed over the top of it to highlight some of the cracks. The next layer is a rub-on I created of the Colloseum, then a Roman and a border made out of old Roman Coins. The final layer has glass shards added to the border that I stuck down with PVA glue. Most of us were a bit late getting our cards in this month and I plan to have my "Clown" themed one's due at the end of this month in on time.

"An individual's self-concept is the core of his personality. It affects every aspect of human behavior: the ability to learn, the capacity to grow and change. A strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success in life."
~Dr Joyce Brothers, Psychologist and Author~