My Gypsy Soul

so…another morning filled with altering

a photo. it's wonderful to be able to play

in a virtual studio.

to begin i opened this image (found on pinterest)

in icolorama…changed the style to tensor and

adjusted the exposure...

to get this:

took the above image to brushstroke app

and applied illustration a5:

i cut out the background with eraser app

and layered it over a photo of a green..

graffiti covered wall with the exclusion

mode selected to get the pink/purple color.

this was done in ps cs5 to get this result:

next the image was blended with the first

alteration in image blender app:

i finished by opening the above picture in 

icolorama and changed the effect by adding

noise which softened the look. in the form

mode i applied a mirror effect to flip the

image to get the end result at the beginning

of this post.

Warrior Child

i carry her with me

this warrior child

seeker

gypsy

girl

we are one

i'm not so different from that child

still a warrior

wild of spirit

filled with wonder

feeding my soul 

 forest

creek

field

least used paths

  being still

watching

listening

seeking

always seeking...

Lift Your Eyes To The Stars

children need someone who will love and comfort

them…be there for them…a safe place to fall.

growing up without that in your childhood creates

a builder of walls…carefully constructed around the

heart so the hurt is kept at bay. add in an artist's

soul…a gypsy child…traveler…wanderer…the

one who never fit in…and the wall inches higher.

journaling has become my therapist of choice…

a place to exorcise all the ghosts from my past.

brick by brick the wall is tumbling down…

brick by brick the heart emerges to the

whispered words…

"lift your eyes to the stars…child…

and know you are loved"

The Seeker

More iPhoneography for you…

I shot this yesterday using Camera+ while

my grans were hunting Easter eggs then

opened it up in Pencil Camera and played

around with the filters until I got the look

I wanted. Easy peasy…..

Raw image:

and my sweet boy….

Raw image:

the pull of another world...

"if i find in myself desires

which nothing in this world can satisfy...

the only logical explanation is

that i was made

for another world...."

~c.s. lewis

feeling the pull of another world

pulsing through

my gypsy

soul....

consumed by silence.....

i have spent this last week consumed by silence. i sometimes wear silence like a shield.....i've found that most people recognize it as such and will honor the unspoken request to be left alone. these are the times that i fight the voice whispering in my ear to flee....where to...i haven't got a clue.....just that i need to go...away.....alone....searching.... for what...again....not a clue....just....something... always the seeker...filled with a wanderlust so strong that my body aches....the gypsy blood pulsing through my veins like a madness....seducing me to forsake family and friends to seek some higher life...

i become introspective during these times....devouring books by the dozens...looking for answers to my unknown questions....i anesthetize myself with alcohol.....overindulge in foods....self destruct....self destruct....self destruct....until i wake up shaking....bleary eyed....weak.....to a new day....and the sun is shining......and i'm still here.....where i'm expected to be. i'll rise....put on my mask....once more....quell my gypsy soul...and return to the drudgery of being my unauthenic self......

each time i resist the call.... i fade a little more.....dimmer...and.... dimmer...extinquishing the fire of my soul....bit by bit...knowing in my heart that if i don't feed that fire...then...one day... all that will be left will be charred...blackened pieces of who i was supposed to be....

and to that woman i want to say.......forgive me.

my new bracelet

i got my new bracelet today.......woooooooo hooooooooo! i found an artist on etsy that makes custom order bracelets so i placed my order and looky here...................don't ask me why the darn picture is vertical instead of horizonal.............i uploaded it twice and it came up like this both times.....but maybe you can still see

it says: earth my body, air my breath, fire my spirit, water my blood.....with justjody and gypsy charms.

love it........love it..............love it!

check out cindy's etsy shop here.

my gypsy soul

from as far back as i can remember i have felt the pull of the road. i have always dreamed of leaving....even as a small child. i don't know what pulls at me or where i'm supposed to end up....the feeling's just always been there. i suppose i was born with a gypsy soul. i've never been content to stay in one place for too long. lately....it's like a lover's whisper in my ear....beaconing me to some far away place..... high up into the mountains.....to hear the waves crashing on the shore.....across the sea to all the wonders that await there....i've thought of all these places of late with a longing so keen that it aches. "there is something in october sets the gypsy blood astir, we must rise and follow her; when from every hill of flame, she calls and calls each vagabond by name." - william bliss carman