For Current Updates

For current updates on design and life please find me on Facebook/colettegeorge It has become painfully apparent there are not enough hours in the day to complete design jobs and fulfill other familial commitments and keep a regular blog moving along.I enjoy creating blog posts and sharing from the heart so perhaps there will be time in the future when this can happen once again. I thank all who have stopped by and wholeheartedly encourage those interested to connect via fb.

trying it on

Soon I'll be embarking on another creative venture- another medium actually. Feeling excitement growing as I think about it!

But, just for fun sharing this one bit of inspiration I came across the other day and gussied up a tiny bit a
few moments ago. Please to enjoy :)

Wear it well

2012! Already!!

Thank you for visiting. Trying to keep up with so many online platforms it became very clear an enormous simplification needed to be made. A single site seemed to be the best answer. Most of my work can be found on Facebook. There you will also find the links of others featuring my work and perspective. copy & paste https://www.facebook.com/colettegeorge

Digital takes a holiday

After much consideration I've decided to take a digital holiday. Supporting so many digital platforms has led me to this decision. This blog has been taking a hit for quite some time as I've multiplied efforts to enhance and evolve Cathedral of Dreams's online presence on many other sites and platforms. I'm happy we've been able to create connections thru these other sites but I'm also super excited to have time mapped out to create like in the old days- without technology. (Ok, I can't stop using email, or texting with clients and friends- it's just not feasible, and frankly, without it I might just wither away.) At the end of this v short video is my email address. If you'd like my cell number for texting just email me. (New friends... sorry you're walking straight into this.) Can I just say the thought of this version of a digi fast is both terrifying and incredibly liberating. I encourage anyone dealing with increasing tech angst and frustration with ever changing rules of engagement for various sites and platforms, babysitting continual privacy breaches etc. to do the same.

Adored

Currently working on...

Cathedral of Dreams is now on Flickr as well as YouTube. Actually, we've got two accounts and are now in the process of bringing new content and previously featured designs and photos together. Colette George is the previous account and is still up. There are lots of pictures there that haven't made their way to this blog so I encourage you to come over and take a look.
CODreams has also joined the group The Everyday Studio - please be encouraged to join us. New pictures are posting often, along with YouTube videos, so stay tuned.
Happy weekend to all.
Colette and CODreams


Manifested

Cathedral of Dreams youtube channel

Please to enjoy: Holiday decorating and other instructional craft design and decorating videos are being uploaded to our new youtube channel. Will let you know when other videos that have been promised become available on other sites as well. click on the above post title
"Cathedral of Dreams youtube channel" and it will take you right there.

or copy and paste in your browser bar:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ColetteGeorge?feature=mhum

Coming Home for Christmas

Van Morrison - Carrying A Torch

Thankfulness

After these several months of quietude it's time I begin blogging again. Only this morning did I feel the actual surge to begin sharing. I've thought of many blog posts, subjects and bits and pieces of my life to share but so many seemed so inconsequential in light of what's been happening in the lives of my son and his son's life, that to share seemed a waste of time to write and to read. It just didn't seem right somehow. I've been conflicted about my silence but also holding the knowledge of my circumstances as validation. Many know that my son has been involved in a custody suit. Our grandson's well-being has been the cause of deliverate focus and attention. There are things yet to be determined but we are excited and confident a reasonable outcome is in the offing. The final custody court date, unless settled beforehand, falls on the date of my fathers birthday. In January. A paternallly good sign. I'm in a state of thankfulness after being in warrior mode, ever vigilant in these last several momnths watching and waiting. Being a grandmother under these circumstances has not been easy but many many others face very very hard situations as well. I will be more transparent about the struggle offering things I've learned thru this process to those that may be encountering similar circumstances in the future. Still, there are things to concern myself with in regard to our grandson's care so I know I will be posting with infrequent regularity. But, I am thankful. Yes, so thankful. I can tell you this. Hold on. Hold on, God loves you and is faithful to his promises. Stand on them. All will be well.

Bed to Bloom

Cathedral of Dreams: Crackle baby!

Cathedral of Dreams: Crackle baby!

Cathedral of Dreams Cortona with Lisa Bebi

LEARN DEEP FISSURE CRACKLING IN ESCONDIDO this Sat May 22. I can't help but think of cathedrals when I think of Italy and Europe. Their crumbling and aged walls are inspiration for much of my work today.
Icon interior paintings are created by Lisa Bebi in her notorious paintover method. She will teach you how to transform pages from magazines to create painterly art, how cool is that!!

Here are just a few examples of saints representing our alter ego sainted selves.

St. Rita- "She believes the best in others" "St. Lucia brings light to the darkness"

Crackle baby!

In ESCONDIDO May 22 I'll be showing crackling and lots of other aging effects using advanced formulas. this Sat. May 22 from 12- 3:00 as here is a project from the Italian workshop with Lisa Bebi and myself in Sept. Check out the fissures- Love em! In Escondido I'll be showing crackling and lots of other aging effects using advanced formulas.
This is a rarely held workshop and will benefit those who want to take their artwork and collage to the next level. Before unseen techniques will be taught.

Design Techniques and Applications: Escondido Class

SEE ABOVE for crackling effects added to Escondido class.
For Escondido students here is more information regarding the upcoming class at the Escondido Art Gallery (EAP/EMG) May 22nd, 12-3:00pm. 262 E. Grand Ave. 760-480-4101 Below are just a few pictures of the many techniques we'll be convering. Come prepared to learn lots of very cool and brand new techniques.

For Escondido I've added one additional and a very special technique: my much requested "DEEP FISSURE CRACKLING!" tech. You won't want to miss this one- worth the class alone. This Escondido class will be a preliminary preview of my special technique to be taught in Italy with Lisa Bebi in Sept 2010.

Below are a few pictures showing just a few of the other techniques to be shared in Escondido. (I simply have to get better about getting pictures!)

Most techniques are from my published designs. Often I'm asked to teach these and I'm happy that my schedule is now allowing me to do so. I'd like to say a big Thank You to Lisa Bebi for introducing me to Renee Richetts of Escondido Arts. I'm honored to meet and share with the talented artists in Escondido.

Here are the techniques to be shared: "PEELING FISSURE CRACKLING!"(ADDED for Escondido)"Packing Tape Transfers", "Paper towel & Wet Copy Transfer" "Magazine Solution Transfers" "Aging Photo Techniques Transfers", "Edging & Rubs", "Easy webbing", "Texturizing with dimensional mediums", "2nd, Generation Transfers, Linen fx" "Gel medium as use glue &", "Aged Mrror Effect on Glass","Paint Speckling". Other techniques and aging recipe will be shared if there is time. Students will take home a finished project showcasing techniques learned.

BELOW Packaging Tape Transfer Bird on Paint Speckled background.




PIctured above is Paper Towel Transfer done by Carolyn Ireland.

In this class the ladies decided to make something even though it was a "techniques" class. This piece is using two of the many techniques shown. Packaging tape transfer is one, (the bird) the other two shown are a Paper Towel transfers and "Wet Copy transfer"


Pictured below is Pam Landel's work. A fun "Make and Take" using a few of the techniques in class. She liked this class so much she took it twice and wound up with two make and takes. This is one of them.

Click here for link to Escondido Arts Gallery and more about my class

Are you going to be in San Diego in May? I'll be teaching at the Escondido Arts Gallery on the 22nd. It would be great fun to meet you there! Loads of texturing, crackling effects for canvas, various photo transfer methods, exciting Italian workshop effects, and techniques/tips from some of my published works will be shared. You will learn so much. Classes are such fun and we can really get on a roll telling jokes as we work along- might be my most favorite part!
Click on the post title to vist the Escondido Arts Gallery site to read more about this mixed media techniques class.


I love San Diego, there is such a great spirit to the place. I think much of it has to do with the naval base being there. Ted and I have decided it's an all time favorite place to be. People there just seem to be unusually kind, respectful and honorable. I love that! http://www.escondidoarts.org/

Here's To Your Health Baby!

I'm blown away with things I'm seeing in the world today. Never before have I seen such a universal approach to well-being practised with conscious intention. It truly is a new day. There are so many new possibilities. We simply can not estimate the limit of the imagination as a source of healing and hopefulness.

Today the site, Craft For Health, is sharing a story I wrote for them when I was sick with pneumonia. Kathy, nor I knew I had pneumonia when she asked me to write. After seeing my Art Saves story on CRESCENDOh Kathy felt compelled to request a story. I guess the relevant content associated with Art Saves does lend itself nicely to Crafting for Health. I would like to share with you this link. See how I, as a creative, coped with this unexpected debilitating illness. click on the sidebar or above, the this post title itself (in pink)(Here's to your Health Baby) for story.

I will write more on this subject later. There were tremendous imagination insights that came with it.

Walk a mile in her shoes

Men dressed in red high heels walking for a mile? Quite a sight, I assure you. A few days ago in honor of battered persons everywhere, there was a rally and (well, lets loosely call it) a "march" depicting the plight of women enduring abuse. Seeing the first few men arrive, then others approach in high heels was so comical. They'd teeter and sink into the grass as they hobbled along. All the while smiling and being great sports and feeling embarrassed but resolved. All of us bystanders enjoyed seeing these men trying to stablize themselves as they made the incremental stilted movements toward the courthouse steps to kick off the rally. Every woman knows the pain of walking in high high heels and it did us good to see men trying to navigate their paths. These shoes were already on too long, though incredibly, not near long enough. There was a mile to go yet.



One by one they gathered. One by one they made their way to the steps. Rows of men, in high heels is quite a sight. quite a sight indeed. These were brothers, fathers, friends, and, yes, spouses. I delicately add "spouses" knowing you can imagine the lovely spouse of one who has been abused in her past and has had to suffer right along with her through the grief and healing process. In my vewing, I began to see the real picture. I began to see the hidden pain. I began to see the message in it's fullest realization. Men imploring, imploring. "Please, please, not my daughter, not my sister, not my mother, not my friend. I will do anything to prevent this. I will make myself look silly, I will allow myself this humiliation, my effort to support, comfort, uplift, console, to endorse, and generate awareness for her plight."

What beauty. I have never seen more beautiful legs in my entire life.

Walk a mile in her shoes, they did. And they've got the bandages to prove it.

Destination Spring

Spring! The colors, the vibrant and energetic possibilities renew the mind and enlarge my imagination yet again. Gray matter infused with color, doesn't that seem perfect?


Do you ever wonder just how little we use our imaginations compared to the innate, resident possibilities?

Here's what I'm saying. Let love be the driver.

Broken Wag

The other night I awakened to the sound of our dog Pearl whimpering. Soon it became apparent her tail was droopy and she was in some pain. Driving that late hour on the Internet highway revealed she has what's called "Broken Wag" I found there are several contributing factors creating this condition, one of which is overwagging! It seems to happen to labs mostly, and other sporting dogs. A buffeted aspirin was the easy remedy and it seems to behelping quite a bit. She's getting better.

Double entendre isn't lost on me however. My pneumonia is going away but some days it really doesn't seem to have changed since before beginning my round of antibiotics. Other days, I feel entirely normal making it perplexing when I relapse. I AM grateful for the knowledge I've gained thru it. My biggest lesson is: sometimes doing for others holds them back, while also causing injury to ourselves. God bless the broken wag.




-- Post From My iPhone

Lamp Shade

Often as we go along a darkness will settle that we just didn't see coming. Ageing brings with it it's own set of issues but coupling that with the dynamic of caring for aged parents life can get really difficult and stay that way for longer than we can guess. During these times finding time for self care is the last thing we feel we can actualize. Some years ago my mother was diagnosed with a very serious terminal disease. It wasn't easy meeting my own needs during the time when my mother needed me so very much. I stole time away for myself when I simply couldn't go another step. In retrospect both of our lives would have been more peaceful had we asked for more attendant help sooner.

When we did get care, we both began to feel better, calmly, and immeasurably better. The ship of ourselves, after being whipped around and floundering on the sea of change and concern, found itself calming and righting itself. It's ok to ask for help when you're feeling overwhelmed. In light of love, I highly encourage it.

Font of Blessing

Strong Champion! For this comfort, see,
The whole world brings her thanks to Thee;
And once we, too, shall raise above
More sweet and loud the song of love.
-exerpted Ere Yet The Dawn Has Filled The Skies Hymn

Wrapped up in a Promise

"Live in the present and forgive your past" So full of promise, isn't it?


On the backside of these little candy wrappers are sweet promises, many of them quite extraordinary. I saw these (ate these) and saved many as a great alternative to actual copper or gold leaf for projects.





Continuing on with the collaborative collage canvas (posted below on Mar. 25) the first promise pulled from the pile was the one I used. Without hesitation. Juxtaposing the past and the present is at the heart of my existence right now.

Easter promises new life, a future filled with hope and assurance. All of a sudden, the past is easy to let go of when I see solid ground ahead. I am not left alone, I am tenderly cared for and loved fiercely through outrageous acts. I'm held so close to something larger than myself. May you be richly blessed in all the ways that love manifests itself to you.

Library: The Sacred Experience

I believe libraries are sacred spaces. Embracing knowledge, experience, and imagination is divine. Amy Hanna recently posted a link to a fine New York library along with her Art Saves story. This gorgeous patinae environment with wood paneled walls, savory surfaces and textures welcomed you to insert yourself into this other world of quiet, calm and exhilaration. I couldn't help but smile, once again, to come home to begin writing about something and simulataneously find an associated story shared somewhere. It's a connected feeling. The library is one fine institution with many ardent admirers.


This connected feeling began from the time I would run about a mile to catch the book mobile in another neighborhood. Oh my goodness, the excitement was more than I could contain when my mother would casually mention-

"you kno-o, I think it's the day for the Book Mobile.. .?"

She'd then turn to see my backside springing out the door. There were times I'd be huffing and puffing climbing up those bus steps pleading within my spirit to the mobile librarian- "please don't say it's time to move on, pleeeeeease." I don't think I was ever turned away without being able to quickly fish through to find something. God bless the librarians. Each and every one.

Reading these books created a little wonderland filled with experiences I could never invent. It was amazing. I was reading everything I could get my hands on. I was learning about other worlds,, horse and animals, other children with vastly different lives, and then eventually, young ladies in complex scenarios, the angst of coming of age, men in war, crimes and punishment, and historical biographies.
If it wasn't nailed down I was reading it. I would read a a can of hair spay if that's all I had and, I did. I was pretty content, and grateful to read a dictionary at times when there was nothing else new to read.

When push comes to shove, it's all about love

When push comes to shove, it's all about love, in any possible way it manifests in each of our lives. Love is everywhere and in everything right where we are.

I try not to get bogged down in the process of Lent but my nature, being what it is, seems vulnerable to it this year. My life seems to mirror the seasons, and this season of spiritual renewal with all it's subsequent deaths and resurrections, is no different. Soooo glad Easter is near. I can feel the beginning of a shift.

+ Aspiring to a birds eye view is to rise above and make small life's niggling negatives. I have created more sorrow for myself when allowing thoughts of pettiness to creep in. This isn't to say we aren't allowed to defend ourselves, if necessary, or become angry. Not at all. (In fact, learning how to properly and powerfully manage our anger is great thing to learn.)

Easter is considered a highlight event for the church, Christmas running neck and neck. This holiday and lenton season embodies the full story of a traditional faith, the need, the sacrifice, the gift created as a result.

May your week be blessed beyond imagination.

Regarding Comments

I was told there have been problems commenting on here. It's all fixed now. I'm really bummed about this but a good number of you have been stopping by my facebook page, and I do appreciate that! Love to get feedback. I was kindof suspicious something was amiss when my story ran on Art Saves and there has been increased traffic on here as a result. Comments are encouraged and always welcome.

On a similar unrelated note a special shout out goes to my friend Lola Morales. She has helped get my google reader feed back on track. I am so grateful, thank you Lola. Lola has a really great site I'd recommended along with my Art Saves Story on the crescendoh site (www.crescendoh.com) called Sacred Curiosities check it out:
http://sacredcuriosities.wordpress.com/

Duirwaigh Studios! Click here!

Here is one of my most favorite sites for one of those days when you feel like just curlin' up and gettin' cozy. Savor, enjoy, dream. Have a great weekend everyone.

Collaboration

Kimberly Santiago, new book coming: "Collage Playground" North Light Books, F + W Publishing, due Fall of 2010, is collaborating with other artists on a project called "Differing Similarities". She has sent some of the things used in this piece and I'm adding things of my own as I go along. You can visit her on her blog here: She's on facebook, that's where we met, so be sure to friend her- and she's kind. Always a nice thing! find her here http://kimberlysantiagoart.blogspot.com/
This is the beginning of our project.



Here is another picture of just starting on a project.

Art Saves! Click here to read my story

Unconditional stamp of approval

Making a spiritual gift can be so simple. It just needs to come from the heart. These little wood rounds were collected by my dad when he worked at the local sawmill. They're just stamped and then attached by adding a bit of fun-tac to their backs. Fun-tac is a sticky adhesive substance, similar to gum, and is removeable. These are then pressed onto my cabinet edges.

Here is another fun thing I like to do that visitors seems to think is as inspiring as I do. Inside a beautiful picture frame place a printed loving verse. One year for Thanksgiving I placed the words "thank you" inside the frame and have never removed it.

Saying thank you often is one of the most powerful things we can do in our lives. When we finally realize we lose nothing by giving away our gratitude our lives become a piece of art, a masterpiece of goodwill and grace.

And, because kindness and thankfulness are closely linked, you can visit this link to create wonderful downloadable projects from Kind over matter. These wonderful people have taken it upon themselves to promote kindness whenever and however possible. I love that. Be sure to check them out here

http://kindovermatter.blogspot.com/

From lack to surplus in one fell swoop

This beautiful necklace came to me recently from my very sweet and unbelievably talented friend, Tonia Davenport. She is one not afraid to share her heart and many people are blessed because of it.

The black velveteen cloth with the bird and inscription on it was a gift from my dear friend Laurie Cleveland. This friend is known for her thoughtfulness and compassionate ear. With beautiful things given by beautiful friends such as these it's not hard to feel thankful, in fact the feeling of love associated with these gifts can be overwhelming.

But, once I heard advice that if you're having bad dreams and are awakened in the night simply begin to think of what you're are thankful for. For a time after my mother became sick I was having bad dreams. I'm ashamed to admit it took a few nights to come up with 10 things...but it wasn't long before there were countless things to be thankful for, and I could go and on. The power of thankfulness is amazing. I am a lucky person because I am thankful. And, you are lucky too, or you can be.

Melody Beattie beautifully writes: "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow."

We say Art Saves! What Say You?

Here's a little picture taken by Jenny Doh of Crescendoh recently at the CHA show in LA. Art Saves! And HOW?!

Minding Hope CHA 2010

This is a picture of Jenny Doh and I from CHA last month. Jenny is the founder and president of Crescendoh, an online media publishing company with Crescendoh Radio & TV coming.

A large part of Crescendoh is Art Saves, for which I am a Curator. My story will go live on the 22nd of March. I will be sharing my story of how art saved me and I'll also be sharing sites that I've found useful and inspiriring in design or lifestyle, or both.

There are many wonderful elements to Crescendoh and it's a really fun and inspiring place to visit. www.crescendoh.com Jenny's heart comes through again and again as an advocate for the less fortunate and disenfranchised. (Be sure to check out the many wonderful products for sale with generous portions going to charity.) You won't be dissappointed, I promise.


Special thanks to Dorie Barrett for taking the picture.

Easy Tiger, it takes two

Sometimes this is just how it feels. There is a sweet but oh so lonely sadness to this song. It does seem to hit the nail squarely on the head for any one of us at some point in our lives. Loneliness is a common problem. This became so clear to me recently after being removed from my safe little world of ease and comfort while watching my son and his significant other break up. The fact that our 2 yr old grandson is involved has been heart wrenching. I've been finding that processing an avalanche is just plain hard work. Perhaps there have been some missteps along the way. The transformative power of the imagination, not only for the joy and enrichment of our daily lives, but also for the creation of large miracles is something so accessible and yet, at times can be damn elusive.

Imagination's free wheeling ways are an absolute must for miracle building.

A man filled with angst and deliberate defensiveness is powerless to make miracles until a place of faith, in the midst of the storm, can be accepted and claimed again. Fractured from the fall...it does seem as if we're called, by and large, to overcome our fractured spirits. Faith is the main, necessary ingredient. But, grace is also a necessary ingredient. Grace proves itself as forgiveness for anything, and everything.

Creating a more loving relationship with others (albeit eventually) we may need to be healed. So, there is a decision to be made. Shall I walk on water and believe? In other words, am I going to believe, in spite of the unhappiness I know I can be capable of?

Can I surf the tide of recriminations and sadness to see a way to the other peaceful shore? It takes two.