Category Archives: Other art related things I am doing

Imke Rust – Wieviel Namibia steckt in ihrer Kunst?

Imke Rust – How much Namibia can be found in her art?

Last Tuesday was one of those nervously exciting days… I have been invited for an hour-long interview on Deutschlandradio Kultur. The interview forms part of a series called ‘Im Gespräch’ – I would translate it as ‘In Conversation’. Interesting and inspiring people from many different backgrounds are invited to share their thoughts and experiences during these interviews.

Imke Rust busy making the SubRosa Artwork. Photo by Steffen Holzkamp (c)

I felt so honoured and grateful that they have invited me! And at the same time, I realised how big this is, and how much I want to make it count and how scared I am of me messing it up.

Even though I have talked publicly before and believe that I am usually faring quite well, nevertheless I still get nervous as hell. Fortunately the preparations team was super and the interviewer, Britta Bürger, was awesome and I felt safe and welcome.

Once my nervous coughing subsided and we were on-air the time passed so quickly. Before I knew it we were done. It felt as if I woke up from a dream, but have totally forgotten what it was about, except for a faint, very vague memory.

I only arrived home late that evening after a busy day in town. When I switched on my computer, I was overwhelmed to see so many emails of friends and strangers congratulating me and commenting on the interview. I was even more overwhelmed to see that almost 400 people have visited my webpage and clicked through many different pages. Wow – this was an absolute sky-rocketing record for me.

I am so grateful that people have listened to my interview and felt it was interesting enough to find out more on my webpage. Thank you!

For everybody who missed it, if you are curious to hear me talking about my background, Namibia and my art, you can still listen to it on the archive page of Deutschlandradio Kultur, by clicking on the link below. Sorry, once again this is only in German without any translation.

I have had several requests to have my webpage and blog in German. Strangely my German writing is not as fluent, even though it is my mother-tongue. And as much as I wish I could share everything in German too, I just do not have the time to translate it myself or the money to pay for somebody to do it for me. Maybe one day I can change that!

Ok, here is the intro to the interview.

Die Namibierin Imke Rust steckt schwarze Rosen in die Wüste, klebt Regenwolken auf Felsen und lässt Plastik-Goldfische in Eis-Bächen schwimmen. Häufig sind es symbolische Kunstprojekte, mit denen die Künstlerin vor der massiven Umweltzerstörung warnt, die Namibia durch Uran- und Phosphatabbau droht. Sie ist die Nachfahrin einer weißen Missionarsfamilie, die in das damalige Deutsch-Südwestafrika auswanderte.

Click here to read more and listen to the interview.

Klick hier um weiterzulesen und das Interview zu hören.

We are talking more about this artwork: Coat of Arms by Imke Rust

We are talking more about this artwork during the interview: Coat of Arms by Imke Rust

Learning From the Ancient Rainmakers

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The world is in upheaval.

Do you also feel a sense of helplessness and anxiety, when you turn on the internet, radio or television, only to be bombarded with daily increase of violence, war, terror, poverty, sickness and disaster all over the world? And in addition to the world news, do you feel a rise of death, tragedy, disease and problems within your personal circle of friends, family or acquaintances?

Crying Oryx (Acrylic & charcoal on canvas) ©Imke Rust

Crying Oryx – an artwork I painted last year in despair over the lack of proper social care in Namibia. (Acrylic & charcoal on canvas) ©Imke Rust

I do. And I have started to avoid the news as much as I can, in an effort to prevent myself from becoming depressed and sad. To escape the feeling of being so powerless about what is happening in the world, far away and sometimes really close-by. But I keep wondering if blocking out what is happening is the answer? Is it right to try to ignore what is happening in Syria, the Ukraine, Irak, Central Africa etc. ect.? And how can I possibly help somebody, even closer to home who is struggling with cancer, with depression, lack, fear and so much more?

The answer is probably different for everybody, but I have come to this:

We are all one

That is my believe. And that means, if something happens to any being, it happens to me. So yes, what is happening on the other side of the world IS affecting me (if I watch the news or not).

But turning that thought around, it also means, that what I am doing, feeling or thinking, is also affecting the rest of the world. So maybe, if I focus less on the negative and instead try to increase the positive vibe, inspiration and love, it can help everybody everywhere. If more and more people will do that, it will spread… Remember how it only took one best friend or one great teacher at school, to turn your life around? And once you felt empowered or loved, suddenly you could be a blessing to others around you, too?

Where can I (can you) be that one special person that makes a difference in another’s life?

Live in the here and now

What can I do right here and right now to help? I realised that I might not be in a position to stop the Ebola virus or the wars raging in the world. And I most likely cannot heal a sick friend or bring back a lost loved one, but I can give a smile to the person on the street, support my friends and family with some practical stuff, emotionally or spiritually and approach everybody I meet with respect and kindness. I can be the rainbow in somebody’s cloud and a sunbeam in somebody’s dark day. I can offer some inspiration, some light-heartedness and some alternative perspectives. There are many small (and bigger) things I can do to improve somebody’s life in the here and now. That is what I want to focus on, because I believe that is the most effective and useful, which I know I can do. And for those who are not here, I can offer a prayer and beam over some positive energy and love.

Mostly, let us help where we can and not worry about the stuff that is out of our reach. While we pray for peace in the world, let us remember to act peacefully and lovingly towards our neighbour, the cashier and the beggar you are passing in the street.

The outer reality is shaped by my inner reality.

Yes I do believe that, and even if it is often difficult to grasp, I feel its truth in my life more and more with increased awareness and time.

I would love to share a little story which I found doing research on the old practice of rainmaking. It made me think and remember that this is probably one of the deepest secrets to understand when making rain or trying to change the world (or your life).

Cloud experiments by Imke Rust (Acrylic on Paper)

For a long time I have been experimenting with different aspects of ‘making rain’ as a way to understand reality, spirituality and how and if we can influence what is happening around us. Here are drawings of raining clouds. ( ©Imke Rust, Acrylic on Paper, each 29 x 21cm)

There was great concern in a small village as the rains were not coming. Without the rain in due time there would be no harvest and they would not survive the harsh winter. The rainmakers they sent for created elaborate ceremonies, but without success.

Finally they remembered an old man living on his own high up in the mountains, who could possibly make rain. The sent for him and he came. He was asked what he needed to make rain and he asked for a small hut outside of the village and that the villagers would bring him a bowl of rice everyday and place it outside of the hut. ‘That’s all?’ they asked and he affirmed: ‘Yes, that is all.’ He walked through the village and then left. It took three or four days and then it finally rained.

When the man was asked, how he managed to create the rain, he answered:

‘When I came into the village, I saw that you were not in harmony with each other and with nature. So I have asked myself where there is disharmony in myself. I sat quietly with this question and returned myself to order and harmony. Through this (my) harmony, nature could remember its own harmony again, and it could rain.’

The original story, in German, was written by Harald Jordan, Orte der Kraft, and found at http://www.news.ita-est.de/der-regenmacher/ .

So, I am trying to live a harmonious life, to be in peace with my immediate surroundings and myself and to help where and if I can. And trust that the rest will have to take care of itself somehow, especially if there are more and more people who are willing to spread good energy through their own lives in their own ways and means.

How to (not) get rid of old T-shirts

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Hand-made T-shirt Yarn Carpet 1 (Detail) © Imke Rust

Hand-made T-shirt Yarn Carpet 2 (Detail) © Imke Rust

Finally we have an Internet connection at our new home. We have been camping here since the beginning of the month, while renovating. Everything is full of dust, but slowly things are coming together and on Sunday we will move the rest of our furniture and stuff here.

The move forced me into a new hobby (lets see how long it lasts…).

My husband wanted to use the move to get rid of a whole bunch of old t-shirts… and I know that this is exactly what one should do when moving. But…

As many of you already know, I find it difficult to throw away things, especially if there is a slight chance that I can reuse them in some different way. I must pay tribute my mother and grand-mothers for early inspiration to do this. And all of them were practical women and I am grateful that I have been able to learn and receive this gift from them, too. I also am grateful for my dad, who is an engineer and farmer, and who always knows a plan to make my ideas workable, when I am at a loss. So I am bowing to these wonderful people with this post and work.

I knew that I could not just keep the t-shirts, without having a convincing plan for them straight-away and putting it into action soon. Fortunately I remembered that I have seen a tutorial on the internet, about how to make yarn from old t-shirts. And saw a lovely crocheted round carpet on Pintrest, which I wished I could get for our new house…

So re-purposing became a plausible plan with which I could convince my husband to hang on to the t-shirts.

Preparations: Rolls of T-shirt yarn © Imke Rust

My father’s mother taught me to crotchet when I was about 4, and since then I have never touched a crochet needle again. In fact, I disliked needlework so much, that I fought for my right to rather join the boys in the woodworking class – and succeeded, becoming the first girl in Namibia who was allowed to do woodwork at school. (Yes, till that date we had gender specific classes at school.)

Humble beginnings © Imke Rust

My sweet mother-in-law bought me a crochet needle, after I told her about my plans and that I did not know where to find one. So in between the hard physical renovation work I started to crochet…

First completed carpet © Imke Rust

Second carpet (in progress) © Imke Rust

…and I am having so much fun, that I am already busy with the second carpet, recycling my own old t-shirts.

And we are so much looking forward to using them in our new house!

Hand-made T-shirt yarn carpets (one still in progress)© Imke Rust

Wishing you all a wonderful and inspired weekend!

Imke

Post 101

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When I pressed ‚publish’ on my previous post, I got a note from WordPress – where my blog is hosted – telling me that it was the

* 100st blog post*

I have written.

Wooohhhooo! I almost cannot believe it!

I must say, I enjoy writing for this blog so much! I only post when I feel I have something to share and not by a set preset schedule forcing me to post at a regular interval. So every post is written with love and joy, and I am excited about sharing it every single time, otherwise I would not post it. And yes, there are a few texts which I have written, but not posted. I was not totally happy with them, so they either were deleted, or saved to a special folder for possible later corrective surgery if there were elements in it which I liked or felt are important.

I am so grateful for all my wonderful blog followers who keep coming back, reading and commenting or liking what I write and share. If it were not for you, it would be no fun and would make no sense to keep writing and posting.

So here is a big roaring

Thank you!

to you all!!!!

Thank you for being a witness to my art, my ideas and my life. It means so much to me!

You probably did not expect another blog post so soon, since I told you last that I will be moving and busy. I just felt the fact that I have just posted my 100^th blog, needs some celebration and I might just forget till the next time I can post again… So I have written this post earlier and could schedule it to post today. (WordPress is kind of cool with such things.)

Here is to celebrating 101 posts!

Sometimes I enjoy putting on my panther ears and some facepaint, and for this celebration it seemed perfect.

And while sharing my little private celebration picture with you, I thought of sharing some more interesting information about me, which you might not know. I am working on another business idea and have been setting up a webpage for it. As I find the ‘About’ pages of artists and people often so boring I wanted to come up with something different for that page.

I will not tell you about the business at this stage, as I hope to do a proper launch soon, but I will share with you the one page which is introducing me. It is called: I am.

**********

I am

I am Imke Rust – the artist and creator of your personal Intuitive Art Elixir.

And, YES I am also

a rainmaker in training
an artist in love with ideas and concepts
inspired by possibility and wonder
intuitive, creative and solution orientated
a romantic spirit in awe of the mystical and spiritual dimension of life
as well as a practical realist and sceptic with an eye for detail
sometimes a little bit goofy

I believe in

the power of gratitude
the goodness and beauty of this world
magic, miracles, totems and spirits
the creative process as a healing and transformational force
efficiency and practicality
being responsible for my own happiness
… and chocolate when all else fails.

I love

my husband and my family
darker shades of pink, like fuchsia and magenta
the Namib desert
being creative and daydreaming
uncovering deeper and alternative layers of wisdom, connections and patterns
inspiring and thought-provoking conversations with friends
researching and musing over the connections between different believe systems, traditions and alternative healing methods
solitude and rest, lots of rest.

I feel really passionate about

living an inspirational, abundant and beautiful life.
shining a light and being of service to make this world a better place.
helping you getting in touch with your own wisdom, creativity and intuition.

I know

That there is always a way.
That art and ritual can be a powerful healing tool.
That ultimately all is love.

And some more worldly information:

I was born in Namibia. Love made me split my time between my home-country and Berlin since 2010.

I am an award-winning artist with a BA degree in Visual Arts from the University of South Africa. I have exhibited extensively in Namibia and internationally in solo and group shows, won several awards and stipends and been invited on residencies. I also have been a curator at the National Art Gallery of Namibia and co-founded and managed an extensive art and cultural exchange program between the partner cities Berlin and Windhoek, running over several years.

Want more of the nitty-gritty? Then click here for my official artist CV.

************

Ok, that’s it for now! Hope to hear from you and to be able to post again soon. If I am not replying immideately to your comments, please have some patience, I am probaly busy renovating or unpacking. Or going for a walk through the forest… but will reply soon!

I love you all!

Times of Change

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Recently sold artwork (via my Facebook artist page) Mixed media on 170m/g2 acid-free paper, A4.

Untitled (Blaue Kudufrau) – Recently sold (via my Facebook artist page) Mixed media on 170m/g2 acid-free paper, A4.

Social media is awesome!

But also a bit complicated… There are so many easy ways to share my arts and ideas with friends and strangers, connect and get feedback and interesting conversations happening. It is also a challenging world to navigate, as I post on this blog, on Facebook and sometimes on Pintrest and Twitter. And I post very different stuff depending on the general idea of what a blog or a Facebook page is used for.

I realised that many people who follow me on Facebook, miss out on my blog posts and my blog readers do not get to see all the art which I post on Facebook…

When somebody mentioned to me that they love to see much more of my art, I realised that in my blog posts I focus mainly on ideas and concepts in my art. On Facebook I try to post an artwork or sketch per day (except weekends), with brief news or info. So there you see what I am up to much more regularly. Yet I also know that many people are not on Facebook – and I totally understand you.

I love making art and being creative as a way of life, but just as much, I love sharing my art and ideas with people. I hope to inspire, to bring happiness and joy, to provoke some new and different thoughts or alternative perspectives. With that in mind, I am considering posting more often to share more of my art and thoughts, maybe in occasional shorter, news-style posts. I am still not sure how exactly I can and want to do this best and ensure that it is still lots of fun and interesting for you, without becoming too much.

The best way to find out how things work best is to try it. So I guess I will just slowly feel my way forward and would love to hear your feedback.

Recent Art

As I have just mentioned, I regular post new art on my Facebook page. I enjoy the immediateness of it. FB followers see the image in their news feed and can press the ‘LIKE’ button when they enjoy what they see or they can easily leave a comment to which I can reply. And recently the fact that more people see my art there has led to increased direct sales.

Always be your imperfectly perfect self... Acrylic and pen on the back of a discarded Toffifee (choclate) box... approx. 15x15cm

Another work which was recently seen and sold via my Facebook artist page: ‘Always be your imperfectly perfect self…’
Acrylic and pen on the back of a discarded Toffifee (chocolate) box… approx. 15x15cm

Facebook is also the platform where I share experiments, sketches or little projects which will probably never see the inside of a gallery, a frame or somebody else’s house. I might consider to share some more of that on my blog in future too.

Here are some recent images:

Magic Sticks. I bought myself some funky new colours and had some dried rose stems which needed some love. This is the result. (Posted on FB on 17th of July)

Just finished this one… no title yet.
Mixed Media on 170g/m2 acidfree paper, A4 (Posted on FB, 12 July 2014)

‘I just smell that this is going to be an awesome week! – Can you smell it too?’
Pencil sketch from my sketchbook, posted on FB on 21st July 2014.

New Moon – New Beginnings

But before you expect a whole lot of new posts in the next few weeks, I have to tell you, that it might still take some more time before changes to happen. Because we are moving!!!

We have bought a little house in a little village just outside of Berlin. The house is really sweet, but even better: it comes with a beautiful garden (with a very own cherry tree!) and a lovely outside building and garage, which we plan to convert into a studio. Another absolute bonus is that the area is really pretty awesome and idyllic. There is a large forest just 100m down the road, the Havel river meanders past about five-minute walk into the other direction and there are several pastures for horses in between. We are so excited! And cannot wait to finally get the keys at the end of this month and start moving in and doing some renovations.

I have the feeling this move will be the start of a new magical time in our lives. I cannot wait to be closer to nature again, see how a desert girl can adapt to the forest and real running rivers, picking cherries and planning my own herbs and vegetables again!

Depending on how soon we will have our internet connection installed there and finished the move and the renovations, I will probably write the next blog from our new place, sitting under a tree…

Here is a sneak preview of our new place and surrounding area (click on the thumbnail image to see a larger view):

Our new home!

Surrounding area

The Havel running past close-by

The garage doors, leading to my new studio and will hopefully soon be replaced with glass doors to let in more light.

This is the inside of my future studio, with a view onto the garden.

Such beautiful flowers in the garden. But also lots of herbs and berry shrubs are already there!

The house is heated through an ancient oil heating central ‘Kachelofen’. That will be adventorous, and I hope I won’t freeze.

Our very own cherry tree – well, ok, we will share with the birds and the squirrels…

The back garden with outbuildings which will turn into our studios.

Wishing you all a great start to this new week! May the new moon energy fill you with wonderful energy!

Rainmaking Experiment #3

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Notes – Rainmaker Experiment #3:

Finding the rain inside of me

23/01/13 – Farm Otukaru, Namibia

A hot day – dry earth, clouds on the distant horizon and an empty dam. Ideal to start this experiment.

Be.
Rain.
Have the intention.
Imagine.

Have fun.
Lighthearted play.

Notice.
The bringer of rain.
The wind.
Swaying my body.

Recognize it everywhere I look.
My blue toenails like large water drops.
The butterflies…
The clouds on the distant horizon.

Blue raindrop nails and butterflys attracted by them...

Blue raindrop nails and butterflies attracted by them…

Feel the heat.
Be grateful for it.

Touch a tree. Climb it.
Touch the earth. Caress it.

On my favourite tree – in awe how they survive through so much dryness and still have grey-green leaves.

Looking down at the earth…

Touch water. Play with it.
Throw it into the air to create drops.

Happiness.

Throwing water drops…

Use my fingers, dipped into water
To paint raining clouds on rusted surfaces.

Drawing water

Rain cloud painted with water on a rusted drum. drying quickly.

Use a stick to draw a raining cloud
On the dry sandy road.

Believe.

Rain cloud drawn onto dry earth with a stick

Notice how I sweat.
Being in touch with my own wetness.
Be grateful for the water inside of me.
Pouring out.

Take a cold shower,
A cool, wet relief.
Closing my eyes,
Imagining the cold water as rain on my skin.
More gratefulness.

Drops start falling outside.
Finally.
Rain.

Finally it is raining

Today it is raining in Berlin. The rain reminded me of my rainmaking experiments in Namibia. I always wanted to share the notes and pics I have made of this experiment, but the time never felt right. So, sitting with a grey sky and the sound of rain outside of my window, I am enjoying the memories of some time gone by and sharing them with you!

This also links up nicely to my previous post about rituals, explaining how the ancient rainmaker or shaman would connect with the spirit of the rain through a ritual.

Today I am grateful for the rain and joyously breathe in the fresh, wet air!

About Abundance

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Do you ever long for more abundance in your life?
I do.

Imke Rust Tree Glow
When I struggle with really grasping a concept, really feeling its truth in my body, then I try to look at it from different and unusual angles. Usually I stumble onto something that helps me to understand.

In this case, I looked at it in two different ways:
I looked at the word.
And I looked at my environment.

Abundance.
Abound dance
Ab bound dance ab(away from) latin
Away from – being bound
Bound by what?
Spellbound?
Bound by the spell of scarcity.
So dance away from the scarcity spell!

Good Riddance!

Long ago somebody told me that the phrase of ‘Good Riddance’ actually stems from an old tradition of dancing when something has left your life or you want to get rid of something: a good rid-dance.

So dancing to break the spell and bring abundance into your life and dancing to rid yourself of things that you do not want in your life anymore…
So let’s dance and keep dancing!

In German it is called Überfluss.
In a way it is very similar and gives additional clues.
Keep flowing.
In the flow.
Over flow – move flowing-ly. Dance. Water. Move.

And then I have looked at the environment.

I grew up in a desert environment.
Desert is THE epitome of scarcity.
Of death, starving, limits, dryness…
Of barely surviving.
Backing down to the barest minimum.

Now I am in a lusher environment.
With forests nearby.
Forests are THE epitome of abundant life.
Of life, growth, exuberance, lush-ness, humidity, flow.

So lets dance the forest…

Dancing up a forest (Imke Rust)

I have to admit, that I have written this several weeks ago, and just found it yesterday and decided to finally share it. Mostly to try to cheer myself up, to rid myself from my fears, from the pain that is keeping my body from dancing and my soul from believing in abundance…

The following would be a truer depiction of my current state:

Detail of a painting (Acrylic on Canvas, Imke Rust)

I guess sometimes, we need to entertain the words, thoughts and images of a more positive state of being to try to get us back into that state. 🙂

Wishing you a beautiful, overflowing and abundant weekend!

The Rise of the Phoenix

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Peacock Medicine by Imke Rust (Ink on paper, 20x20cm)

Many old traditions believed that a person is guided and protected by specific animals throughout their lives. Not only the American Indians had totem traditions, but all over the world people believed in the power of spirit animals.

Some of you might already know from my last blog post, I have been doing an online ‘Totemic Arts Apprenticeship’ course with the wonderful guide-ess and teacher Emelie Archer Pickett, discovering my totem animals and how to work with their lessons and ‘medicine’ in our lives. We cannot choose which animal will be our totem animal, they choose us, according to our life lessons which we need to learn.

Believe in totem animals or not, I really think that at least considering them and their messages in our lives can help us find alternative insights and solutions to problems and added wisdom. Long before I have heard about totem animals, I often looked at my cats and thought: what would they do in this situation? (Usually their advice was to lie in the sun, stretch and roll over occasionally, watch the birds and most importantly: stay calm – unless you are hungry, in which case you go eat and then return to the sunny spot – a huge life lesson for me!)

Ok, now I have found out that we have a foundational or main animal as totem, supported by a whole gang of 11 other animals. There are many different views about this, so just stick with me on this one.

I call these animals my gang or circle, and the leader is a rather shy, sometimes grumpy black leopard…

During the course I found out that the peacock is a possible member of my gang, too. Sometimes we have resistance towards certain animals, or we wish for other animals that are not part of our totem make-up, ’cause they seem so impressive. So even though some of the teachings about the peacock resonated with me, I was not really convinced. Resonance to anything is usually a good sign that you are on the right path and to start further investigations.

Or you can just ignore it totally. Which is what I did.

Some weeks ago, I felt stuck in a certain situation in my life and I looked to my black leopard for help, but as usual the shy lady was withdrawing into her cave instead of coming out and being fierce (which is what I hoped for from my totem or power animal). But I learned that black leopards are pretty elusive and misunderstood… and well, they are the smallest of the large cats, so they might sometimes really be safer off in the cave or on a tree. (You can see a picture of her snoozing in her cave here)

Ok, I could not tempt her out of that cave and I had to go my own way. Which lead me past the communal rubbish yard. In the corner of these eyes I noticed a large frame in between the bins.

I just looooove old, discarded stuff like that. Cool stuff which one can possible re-use or recycle, and so I went for a closer look. It was an original oil painting of a peacock. The painting was in a perfect condition, just the frame was damaged on one corner. (At least it seemed that the leopard has lend me her eyes to easily spot the prey.)

A peacock… well, well – animals have strange ways to make themselves noticed in your life. And as an artist, I could never ignore a painting like this!

Found Peacock Painting by S (or V?) Wolters. Undated

So I rescued the peacock and painting from the dumpsters and took it home, knowing I will now have no excuse to not look deeper into this totem animal. I also wanted to share my findings and excitement with the fellow tribe of people who are doing the course with me.

When I opened up our Facebook group’s page, the first thing I saw, was a picture of a peacock with the person who posted it saying: I just found out that my totem animal is a peacock – any other peacocks out there? And while I was writing about my experience, another person also shared that she found out the peacock is one of her totems. Three peacocks in one day… not bad. I just love considering this to be signs from the universe.

What is a peacock’s medicine you might want to know?

Here are some teachings: For one the peacock most resembles the descriptions of the phoenix, so it is considered a symbol of death and resurrection. The Peacock can also help you on your spiritual Path, and breath new life into your walk of faith and they can increase your self-esteem levels.

The bird is a symbol of integrity and the beauty we can achieve when we endeavor to show our true colours.

(Showing my true colours is the reason, why you suddenly get to read so much about totem animals and other magical stuff, visions or fun ideas from me.)

Because of the many ‘eyes’ on its tail it is connected to wisdom and vision – i.e. ‘seeing with a thousand eyes’.

Totem fun: Phoenix or the Peacock Eyes. (Ink on paper, 20x20cm. By Imke Rust)

Totem fun: Phoenix or the Peacock Eyes. Not exactly a thousand eyes here, but a start… (Ink on paper, 20x20cm. By Imke Rust)

You can connect to or use this animal medicine through meditating on the specific animal, wearing or surrounding yourself with images or objects of the animal or its colours, paint them or alternatively incorporate their lessons in whatever way makes you happy and feels right to you. There are no rules.

Even though most of the peacock lessons resonate with me, one stood out: the rebirth or phoenix aspect. Why? Since this bird (painting) got rescued from certain destruction, risen from the death and now has started a second life in our kitchen. A real phoenix!

Now he is playing with the other members of the gang, adding its strength and beauty to the mix. 😉

More totem fun (Imke Rust, Ink & watercolours on paper, 20x20cm)

Connecting the Dots

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I am on a mission to connect the dots of my life to finally figure out some important things. As part of that, and for some fun learning, I enrolled into an exciting course learning about totem animals and how they can help and guide us in our lives.

The course gives so much food for thought. Even though I initially I enrolled in the hope of ‘just some creative fun’ to add spice to my serious soul search for deeper answers, the course has completely drawn me in and provided such a lot of serious and exciting insights.

Between happily jumping into the fun world of the animals and wonderful kindred human souls who are part of the course or tribe and drawing back in resistance to so many different issues, I have managed to delve deep and hold on to this crazy ride.

I am trying to really let myself go with the flow and allow things to happen. And that is what I want to tell you about.

Black Leopard. Sleeping

Ok, so my main foundational totem is the black leopard. I guess I need to write much more about that at another time, but now I am onto something very different and more immediate. I had been thinking about how the leopard pulls its prey into a tree, to keep it safe from other bigger predators. Two other totem animals of mine move into trees (or live there) for safety.

Then it struck me, that I had a vision about myself as a tree two days ago and because it was so striking I made a small painting in my sketchbook about it.

I felt as if I was a tree growing from the top downwards, with the bottom trunk and roots missing.

The tree could not bloom or produce leaves until those parts eventually grow and connect it with the earth and its nurturing soil and water, its hold and steadfastness. A place to be.

Floating Tree (quick sketchbook drawing)

I took a photograph, in order to be able to share it or continue working on it in a digital format. When I downloaded it, I realised that there were still a whole bunch of other older photographs I have taken, but not downloaded yet…

Interestingly they were mostly of trees – treetops in the mist and a wire baobab tree that we got as a gift for our wedding. And of the bottom of my coffee cup, where the residue has left…. You guessed it: the shape of a tree floating in the air.

Coffee grounds in my mug: can you see the floating tree?

Wire Baobab Tree from Namibia – another photo found still on my camera

My favourite tree is the Baobab. So I looked up its symbolism. Its protective, nourishing and healing and can survive in harsh climates, because it stores water in its trunk. It is also a symbol of strength…

It is also known as the ‘upside-down tree’ – according to myth, the gods planted the tree upside-down in error.

Which reminded me of my initial version, of the tree growing from the top to the bottom and also about something I created just over a year ago, when I felt depressed and generally pretty lost:

Sometimes the world seems upside down

These are so many dots connecting and I will have to ponder about the lessons that entails. So I decided to write it down. While writing, I thought I could just as well post it as a blog. I thought that this is probably a bit too spiritual and way-out for my main art blog and I decided to post it first on my Baobabs, Magic and Art blog. And then it struck me that even the title of this blog adds another dot to connect to the mystical tree…

And it led me further to another poem and image, which I had made and posted on there in June last year:

Trying to grow new roots
In a foreign land
With my feet on unfamiliar ground

Trying to become grounded
Return to the earth
And feel at home

Drawing strength
From below
From belonging

I have no roots
Here
Yet

And hopefully I will eventually find or grow my roots so that this tree won’t be floating around in uncertainty anymore, but will find its place and grow into a big nurturing, protective, creative and healing tree. 🙂

Wishing you a beautiful start to the week!

How to bring more love into your life

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We all long to love and to be loved, but so often we forget that there is more to love, than the romantic love between two people. So I would like to share with you my ways of bringing more love into my life:

Be Love (Photograph & Text by Imke Rust)

#one: self-love.

If we cannot love ourselves, how can we possibly know how to love somebody else? So the best is to start a love affair with yourself right away. Just treat yourself the way you would like to be treated. Take yourself out to dinner. Give yourself a hug. Forgive yourself. And start laughing with yourself about your latest mishap, just like you would if it happened to your best friend, and you would like to make him or her feel better.

#two: love for another. any other. every other.

When you can feel and express love for the sunshine that tickles your face in the morning, or the beautiful shape of the tree on your way to work or for the stranger that moves slightly to let you pass, then you will soon realise that love is all around you.

#three: love to create.

We are always busy creating something. We are creating our look, when we get dressed in the morning. We create when we prepare a meal or arrange the stuff on our work desks. Celebrate these creations and create with love. And while you are waiting for the bus, you could quickly stack a few rocks onto each other, arrange some twigs into a beautiful shape or create love in any other way that gives you joy.

…but the easiest way is to be love.

Be love in every moment, every action and every thought! Just ask yourself: what would love do right now?

Just be love and the universe will love you straight back! I promise!

NOTE:

For those of you, who wonder what this post has to do with my art: Everything.
Creation is love (see #three) and I have started to allow myself some more self-love (#one) to let go more and more the restrictions and limitations which are prescribed by society and to rather listen to my heart. I want to be an artist on my terms. One that shares not only the ‘masterworks-in-oil-that-are-acceptable-to-be-shown-in-the-gallery, but who shares who I am as a full being. A multifaceted being, with my humour, spirituality, other interests, worldviews depression, fears and silliness.

I have freed myself of the restrictive and limiting terms ‘visual artist’ or ‘environmental artist’, ‘painter’ etc and dared to call myself what I truly believe I am: Multi-Passionate Creative Being.

I have also made a new little side note to explain to new-comers to the blog what it is about and what to expect. Have a look at the top right corner of the blog page.

Creating is one thing, but I would love to share the whole palette of being creative and being me with you. That way I hope to spread more of my love and me-being-love with you (#two).

Thank you for being there and reading my blog. Thank you for your support, comments, likes and appreciation of my art! 🙂

I love you!

PS. I do not consider myself a photographer, but I am also quite chuffed with the photograph I took of the flowers, so I just had to show you!

Imke Rust – How much Namibia can be found in her art?

We are all one

Live in the here and now

The outer reality is shaped by my inner reality.

The move forced me into a new hobby (lets see how long it lasts…).

So re-purposing became a plausible plan with which I could convince my husband to hang on to the t-shirts.

Wishing you all a wonderful and inspired weekend!

When I pressed ‚publish’ on my previous post, I got a note from WordPress – where my blog is hosted – telling me that it was the

*** 100st blog post***

I have written.

So here is a big roaring

to you all!!!!

**********

I am

Social media is awesome!

Recent Art

Facebook is also the platform where I share experiments, sketches or little projects which will probably never see the inside of a gallery, a frame or somebody else’s house. I might consider to share some more of that on my blog in future too.

New Moon – New Beginnings

Finding the rain inside of me

Drops start falling outside. Finally. Rain.

Do you ever long for more abundance in your life? I do.

Good Riddance!

And then I have looked at the environment.

I call these animals my gang or circle, and the leader is a rather shy, sometimes grumpy black leopard…

Or you can just ignore it totally. Which is what I did.

The bird is a symbol of integrity and the beauty we can achieve when we endeavor to show our true colours.

I am trying to really let myself go with the flow and allow things to happen. And that is what I want to tell you about.

I felt as if I was a tree growing from the top downwards, with the bottom trunk and roots missing.

It is also known as the ‘upside-down tree’ – according to myth, the gods planted the tree upside-down in error.

#one: self-love.

#two: love for another. any other. every other.

#three: love to create.

…but the easiest way is to be love.

* 100st blog post*

Drops start falling outside.
Finally.
Rain.

Do you ever long for more abundance in your life?
I do.