Oh ... and before I forget, I just recently joined facebook after a year of telling myself that I would not. I thought it would be like myspace, but to my delight I discovered that it was not. I find the site to be quite enjoyable and a very quick and simple means to stay in touch with my wonderful friends, fans, and associates.

If you're a member, why don't you look me up (I'm Michele-lee Phelan) and say hi :)

It often strikes me how life can catch us up and carry us along like a river in full flood. That is how it seems to be for me of late. Since submitting my first contribution to the wonderful faezine.com, I seem to have been swept up in a maelstrom of activity - I have been both delighted and afraid on a recent bushwalk, I have made several forays into the realms of photography and photo-manipulation and have discovered that I enjoy both very much, I have reworked two of my tarot cards, have written the meanings for the many of the major arcana cards, and have written a notepad full of notes on the minor arcana. Oh, and I finished the first draft for my book, Dreams of Magick.

I have been working on my book now for almost a year, in between working on the artwork and text for the tarot, several commissions, and the final artworks for the now published, Mythic Oracle. To come so close to completion is both a delightful and cruel. Delightful, because it is alway fulfilling to finish something in which you have invested so much time and effort. Cruel, because there are always the inevitable requests for changes by the publisher, and those changes mean more work on a project that you had hoped could be put to bed at last.

I am currently making those requested changes - the cover artwork I had selected was not quite what the publisher had in mind, and so after sending them several new options, some painted and some unpainted, one of the unpainted was deemed to be more suitable and I have spent a good deal of the last two weeks working on it with great care so it is as close to perfect as possible. I am, so far, really quite captivated by it. It will be one of my best works to date and captures the direction in which my art is now going.

Once the painting is finished, I will turn my attention back towards the changes that still need to be made to the text. I don't mind making them as I know it will result in a finished product that I will be very proud of for both it's beauty and content.

But the simple truth is that while I am making those changes, my attention is somewhere other than here. I must be getting old *laughs at self* as I am discovering that I am simply not as mentally limber as I used to be. I've always been quite skilled at multi-tasking, but the older I become, the more I realise that I can only do two or three things at a time, not half a dozen.

So, I just wanted to stop in and say hello to everyone, and let you know that you were in my thoughts even though I have been silent. Soon the flow of the river will slow to a gentler pace and I will find it a lot easier to stay afloat.

Title: Pan's Rose Garden II
Size: 8.5"x11.5"
Medium: Acrylics
One of two illustration for 'Messages From Nature's Guardians' written by U.K. "fairy and Elemental Expert" Fiona Murray.

Too many times I have read that in order to be happy, we must accept and embrace who we are - our strengths and our weaknesses - and yet often in the same 'acceptance' message we are given a grand list of things we should and should not do, aspects of our self that we should try to change and behaviours we should avoid. We are told not to be aggressive, controlling, passionate, or competitive, or judgemental. Instead we should exist in a world where we feel unconditional love for others. We should be gentle, be kind, be understanding and compassionate.

But tell me, by avoiding, by repressing and by changing who we are to fit this mould of gracious spirit and beauty, are we truly being accepting of our self? Are we truly loving our self by allowing others to label aspects of our individual personalities as good or bad? Or are we once again listening to another outside source who seeks to tell us how we should behave and live? Do we change because we truly want to or because someone in a position of standing tells us that we need to? Do we accept our true 'self' warts and all, or do we change who we are so that others find it easier to accept us?

To walk a path of honesty one must be true to one's self. To change who you are, to avoid or repress aspects of your nature is to live a lie. Yes, we all have within us the ability to do harm to our self and to others, but by truly accepting our weaknesses we also take responsibility for them. What we do with them is our choice.

It is better to know yourself intimately, to understand your nature in all of it's beauty and ugliness, and to change destructive behaviour into constructive behaviour; to utilise it in a manner that improves who you are as a person. Anger can be used to create beauty, aggressive methods can be used to bring swifter resolution, especially in healing, competitiveness can be the fuel that helps you achieve a goal, judgement can keep you safe from harm, control can help you focus your talents and achieve an outcome. Only one rule should be adhered to - do no harm.

Don't avoid being you. Don't believe that aspects of your personality are weaknesses just because you read it in a magazine or book, especially if those aspects of your nature have improved who you are and your life. Embrace being you. Love being you.

Yesterday I said that Love is something that connects us to the Source, to Gaia, to those around us. But it is impossible to embrace a message of 'unconditional love' for others if we cannot embrace the same message for our 'self' and by allowing others to tell us who we should be and how we should behave we do exactly that.

I'm having a clearance sale to celebrate the beginning of Autumn. Archived artworks are falling in price like leaves falling from the tree branches overhead. The artworks are sourced from my earliest days as a newbie artist through to more current artworks that were archived simply because of the sheer body of works I have painted over the last few years.

While some show the marks of a newbie artist and others do not, all were created with love and are seeking new homes with those who will love them flaws and all. If anyone has any questions or would like to see close ups of the individual artworks, just contact me and I will organise a viewing by email for you. Artworks will be sold on a first in first served basis and removed from the page once they are no longer available.