Sonja Rue
this liquid present
My dad wants to write a book with me. My dad is a writer. My dad was diagnosed with dementia 5 years ago. He wants to make light of it,...
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I’m grateful for my creative spirit who often swoops in and hands me the right tool at just the right moment.
She can tell when my well is drying up, when I’m almost lost, when I’m close to going numb.
She entices movement by making all sounds into music.
She hands me the blank notebook, the new paints or the camera and tells me to get outside and pay attention.
Creativity: the drawn - out - journey prints available - inquire
In the beginning
by sonjarue 15x21
the voices flower
by sonjarue 15x21
movement creates movement
by sonjarue 15x10
In the beginning
by sonjarue 15x21
1/7
This series began itself. I was practicing my drawing skills...
dimension, gesture, and shading.
I began with an angle of the body, a frame of movement, a pose.
As I drew each image the series began to emerge.
Characters of creativity - stages in the process - vibe of my art journey.
They speak for themselves and I'm sure there are one or two in between that will still emerge.
My creative spirit is a moving target, she has a will of her own.
She speaks in a few languages.
Sometimes she is blind, sometimes she sees across form and genre to embrace a feeling, sometimes she is stuck for weeks.
Sometimes she can be flighty, fickle, overly deep and sappy.
Other times she says it just right and I chill out for a bit.
Sometimes she is a task-master, sometimes an indulgent grandmother or a rebellious teen.
My favourite is when she just plays, when she could be any age....
she just delights in the world and laughs at herself and shares as best she can from day to day.
Her main tool is deep listening ...full presence, freedom of heart, attention
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When you recognize me, it makes me weep.
As if all the doubts of my existence were fairy tales.
And you are reality, the way you hear me under the noise.
My whispers become footfalls, when we walk together
through chaos...away from all possible endings
These are places I might have disappeared many times over
Yet when you find me.... eyes bathed in watery refractions,
almost lost in all the senseless movement...
The void forms pictures
Of solid things
Landscapes
The beginning of a world
The beginning of home
The scent of soil and memories
drawn out jouney
in no time at all
In no time at all - guided journal prints available - inquire
When I put a frame around the tiniest details I am making a decision to focus, zooming right in and saying
“I am getting really close to this moment so that I notice the beauty that emerges from the simplest things everyday"
Things you might just brush to the side normally…
Like this branch that the rain clung to when it fell and how the sun is shining at just the right angle to make the droplets gleam…and how I am here to see it, standing at this height, looking up at the perfect moment.
Focus is a choice, so is zooming in to look more closely
I noticed moments of perfection consistently lining-up before me, as if everything had come together to create my appreciation, to create my love for the world.
The direction my energy goes is what will grow inside me and what will eventually surround me.
I want to be surrounded by hopeful new life,
by full-bloom confidence, the unapologetic spills of colour, the turning leaves, the seed harvest, the inner wisdom,
the cover of winter, the days of digesting creation ,
the blanket of sleep, the deep cycles.
This is where I found I belonged, simply by paying attention.
To me plants are like gestures, they speak of a certain feeling, or remind me of a moment from the past, or simply fill me with wonder.
Each page of this guided journal features an everyday, simple act of beauty, a moment of natural perfection, and a poem..
As within, so without....
Micro-Macro - seeds and raindrops echo the shapes of the cosmos
Whole universes reside in each cell.
dandelion puff drops
by sonjarue 15x10.5
line of drops
by sonjarue 15x10.5
seed pod winter 1
by sonjarue 15x10.5
dandelion puff drops
by sonjarue 15x10.5
1/21
As you are guided through the seasons with these closeup images of change and renewal, you are invited to meditate on your own tiny moments of daily perfection.
What simple, yet new-to-you act of beauty can you notice today?
What is the focus? Can you write about it?
Or create your own simple art piece to represent the energy of the day.
Let it be spontaneous and intuitive!
If you would rather contemplate and create using the images on each page spread that is what they are there for.
Maybe just a sentence or a simple pattern is enough.
It is about pausing, noticing, taking in and then expressing.
It is a flow, a cycle, like the seasons.
There is a container to guide you, yet there is endless freedom of interpretation within each image.
heart forest mind field
heart - forest - mind - field - (in process) prints available - inquire
Maybe I'd be famous
graphite and black ink 10x7
chosen kin-flower
by sonjarue 9x12
Maybe I'd be famous
graphite and black ink 10x7
1/2
This project really was about the process.
Also I was practicing my pencil-shading techniques and learning more about creating dimension with only graphite and the texture of the paper.
What emerged are these flower creatures with their catch-phrases.
They are lessons, gifts, surprises and descriptions of moments of freedom.
This series is built on moments witnessed, time stolen, surrender and awe of the little things.
It is about connection, reflection, playfulness and exploration.
These images were created as I slowly (over years) adapted from city life
to my new life in the mountains.
The layers I shed over those years allowed me to uncover a different set of truths than the ones on display in the city.
I slowed down, listened to the quiet, listened to the people discussing soil, animals and rain.
I let my pace match the seasons and my tasks match the weather.
I learned to take my time and notice the small changes, or new growth in the garden or a different slant to the light.
In this noticing I craved being able to express with the same freedom as nature, to let the weird and wonderful emerge.
To find the non-verbal stories of my experience.
So I gave myself permission to experiment.
Everyday I would come up with a phrase or saying for the day, just whatever I was feeling, or what popped into my head, and that's what I would draw.
I tried to stay open and not have any expectation or agenda, just the feeling of the phrase, the energy of the day.
I tried to tap into the way I would draw as a child, not thinking of an audience or even a finished product.
this liquid present
This liquid present - art book and blog
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