I've been working on tiny paintings for awhile now- the ongoing Journey Totem deck ones, and my daily meditative and plein air pieces and it's making hungry to paint bigger, braver and more complex paintings on everything I'm discovering about myself and what matters most to me.

I've been saving the blank wall above our bed in our bedroom for a someday-maybe painting, and recently, I felt called to create a large piece (at least 3' x 5') in oils to celebrate the upcoming 10 years (!!) since we joined our lives together on a dreamy hilltop wedding.

It will be my most ambitious piece to date, weaving our love, entwined lives, personal symbols, roots and dreams into one meaningful tapestry painting.

The creative process began with pulling together a soul color palette for the tapestry painting, Sibella Court style, taking cue from the pieces of art and bedding in our bedroom that are meaningful to us, gathered through years of treasure-hunting on travels, flea markets and thrift-stores, including a gift or two.

This is followed by collaging (in the project sketchbook) favorite paintings and images that evoke the mood I'm looking for in the final tapestry painting. From there, our soul colors emerge as if by magic!

The beautiful part about working on this project is that in essence, it's a personal myth-making process of understanding our symbolic life as inspired by our shared love for nature, which binds us soul-deep. Some nature totems are easy, they've been part of us forever, some are buried beneath the surface and need a little unearthing, shaped by the activities that define who we are, individually and together as a tiny family.

I'll share more about this myth-making process in the next part of this series, including some of the study paintings and sketches that have begun to emerge.

I'm curious, if you were to tell the story of your personal or family journey through a painting, what would it look like? What mood will it be in? What are your soul colors?

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this Family Tapestry Project series next week, where I'll share more of the actual myth-making process.

In the meantime, stay enchanted and always be exploring!