A path scattered with promises

Once upon a time guest series with Sara Naumann

Friends, it's been a few weeks now since the summer break is over and the kids are back to school, and I am amazed at how truly at home I feel in the studio now. I have moved into this new space, Body and Soul, and every morning I walk up the stairs with my cup of tea, still hot because I just can't wait for breakfast to be over to get up there... I'm back on track! Painting away, experimenting, letting things happen and evolve and surprise me, and having fun with it all! Talking of experimenting, you're in for a treat today because it's time for a new Once upon a time guest post! Meet the lovely Sara Naumann and her Serendipity story, where she shares her thoughts and a few creative experiments. And if you feel like trying out new techniques and letting your inspiration run wild, I invite you to stop by her website and Youtube channel: Sara has some very cool art tutorials in store for you!

Once upon a time, a woman walked along a slender green path scattered with promises…

" I've always heard that when you find a feather, it means you're on the right path. It can also mean you need to lighten up a little and trust that things will be all right (this is a big one for me!).

At the time my toddler daughter found those feathers, our family was going through a lot of change with an international move from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Sopot, Poland. Although we're American, we felt very much at home in Amsterdam. We'd lived there 5 years, and our daughter was born there. Making the decision to move was incredibly difficult (we changed our minds every day, it seemed, for months), although it was ultimately the right one.

Moving anywhere can be a challenge, yet I also love the opportunity to start fresh...to discover new things that are wonderful and amazing and to add to your list of favorites. You make mistakes, you miscommunicate, you get lost, you get frustrated, you are helped by strangers and you discover things you adore. This is true for any big life change, not just moving... I found myself in the same situation after becoming a mother!

So sometimes it's comforting when a series of unrelated items come together in an unexpected and serendipitous way in an art piece. I love the word « serendipity », its meaning and the way it sounds when you say it. It really fits this piece because the assembly was a fun sort of accidental combination!

For example, I played with several paint colors for the background, didn’t like it, and put it in my “for later” box. It wasn’t right for the project I was doing at the time but three months later it found its purpose in this piece!

The tape is an experiment I did with alcohol ink and a “tape lifting” method that also ended up in the “for later” box.

Then one day my babysitter returned from a walk with my daughter and they had found these beautiful feathers. I knew I wanted to use them in an art piece, and it was exciting because I had never worked with feathers before! I picked through my “for later” box and found just the right elements to go with them.

The symbolism of the feathers was very comforting for our family at this challenging time. I really believe our paths are filled with possibilities and promises. Sometimes you know exactly where to go on the path, other times you have to pay more attention to the way the path leads. And sometimes, the promises come in disguise. But if we just march along, we can miss all of the amazing things life has for us right this very second!

What about you? How do you deal with change? Do you have any serendipity stories? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Sara Naumann is an American living on the Baltic Sea, where she writes, designs, collages and teaches stamping and mixed media techniques.

• www.saranaumann.com

• www.youtube.com/user/saranaumann