Welcome to my Wonderland!

I chose a Wonderland theme for my site because I feel like I am skipping down that proverbial ‘Rabbit Hole’ —  I want to take as many people down with me…that sounds rather ambiguous now, doesn’t it?

If you are new here or would like a recap on who I am and what I’m about, I have a new ‘bite-sized’ tour of the site — just let your mouse take a nibble on the cupcake on your left….you will be magically and instantly resized and sent through the internet cable to a page of intrigue, wonder and teapots?

Why Choose Wonderland?

I have been going through copious amounts of re-thinking who I am (haven’t we all?!) and I realized that I am so many things.

I could be described as a practical, level-headed, ‘left brained’ girl (just like our fictional Alice) and on top of it — I am a Virgo (renowned for their pinickity-ness, preciseness and critique — again, another one of Alice’s traits).

Well, I found all these similarities to Alice quite amusing but….

Down The Rabbit Hole

There is a whole other side of me that is revved for creativity, ‘right-brained’ and an incurable dreamer — not to mention a complete nutter too, yup, quite barking mad!

So, in truth, I really cannot be labeled.  But should anyone really you be put into a box?

We are all multi-dimensional, multi-layered, magical beings who can be anything and everything we want to be — at any given time — with the privilege to change our minds at the drop of a (mad-hatters) hat!  It’s called ‘divine birthright’.

One of my favourite sayings from the new Tim Burton production of  ‘Alice in Wonderland’ is this:

Mad Hatter:  “Have I gone mad?”

Alice:   “Completely bonkers. But let me tell you a secret: All the best people are.”

Nicely said!  I think most people are completely bonkers when you get down to brass tacks, we’re just afraid to show it.

Well, not anymore — I simply won’t have it and it won’t do if we are to co-create an interesting new world.  I mean, honestly — have you ever seen a sane mad scientist?  We need rocket scientists (’cause let’s face it, most of us want to traverse the universe at some point in our lives and perhaps throw in a little time traveling too), so needless to say, we need to be off our rockers?  Make sense?  I hope not!

Let your naked, unadulterated whackiness shine through and together we can pierce this veil of delusion, or disillusion, whichever you prefer.

If you think that you are 100% sane, well then bully for you!  Maybe it’s time to change the channel…

Fantasia and Prince Charming — How Wonderland Began

I have lived in a fantasy world most of my life.  When I was young, I would dream of my Prince Charming (the hopeless romantic I was!), then I met and married him.

I dreamed of staying in a little cottage in the woods and I live there now (minus the woods…but there are a few trees…and mountains…and a stream — so that counts!).

I could go on forever but I don’t want to bore you, the point is this:

What you think about…you create!  Ergo, you are in a position to create your own Wonderland — how fantastic is that?!?

Reality vs Wonderland

I wrote a small sub-chapter in my book, Divine You, that went something like this:

“When Alice fell down the rabbit hole, she left her perceived reality behind, and stumbled upon a parallel world with many characters showing her their version of reality in a seemingly bizarre world.  When we fall down this rabbit hole metaphor we begin to see our reality as quite bizarre too — we are living in a world of infinite possibility.”

We can either take responsibility for our lives by actively participating in its desired fruition or we can leave it to chance, experiencing a reality that we feel we have no control over.

Either version of these 2 realities is just your perception of it, so why not choose one that sees you manifest the life of your dreams as opposed to succumbing to a path that leads to your fate?

What Needs Addressing

I want to explore concepts such as:

  • Co-creating Solutions — I think humanity needs creative solutions for changing belief structures and helping each other cross this bridge from an old reality to a new and wonderful co-created paradigm.
  • Reclaiming Your Power — We are in the process of reclaiming our divine power and literally dreaming up our own reality — we are powerful and innovative creators who have pure and unlimited, but all to often, unrealized potential.
  • Having a Ball! — We need to bloody-well enjoy ourselves in this awakening process.  Enough serious, long faces already!.  We are limitless possibility living in an ever-expanding universe — let’s use our God-given gifts and paint this canvas of life red, blue, yellow, green, purple with white polka-dots and any other colour you wish to dream up.

I would like to help you bridge the gap between what you may think of as 3D reality to a world where you are this powerful and responsible creator of your own experiences.

What Have You Got To Lose?

It may not be easy, it may not be quick, your ego may die-hard (possible kicking and screaming as it is brought down) but it could also be the biggest transformative experience of your life and isn’t that what this is all about?

Could it not be that you came to this Earth, at this very auspicious time, to live to your fullest potential and be the very change that you want to see in the world?

It’s your call.  However — nothing ventured, nothing gained and remember, we are going to have fun doing this — enlightenment is not all about fasting, chanting and beating yourself over the head for being a dumb-ass.

What You Will Find at This Site

I want to keep you updated on:

  • Exploring and Practicing New Concepts and Ideas
  • Helping you to Create your Spiciest Version of Reality
  • Pushing Boundaries and Conquering Limiting Beliefs
  • Auditory Inspiration
  • Visual Inspiration
  • Empowering Articles

This site reflects my version of reality or ‘Wonderland’ but I will be over-the-moon if it helps and inspires you to create your own dream-scape world.  What you end up with is entirely up to you — you bold and dashing co-creator you!

So roll up your sleeves and come on a journey with me as we venture into the unknown pure potential of this new and exciting concept.

And if you haven’t signed up to become a member, you can do so HERE (it’s 100% free and you get a great inspirational GIFT BUNDLE too along with a monthly newsletter so you’ll always be in the loop)

If you haven’t taken the site tour yet, then you can do that HERE.

10 Bands, 10 Paintings…Let the Rock Art Begin!

Coming Out of a Black Hole and Having Revelations

Yeah, the global energy of late has been intense.  Making us all bunker down for some quiet time, and if not, forcing you to cease and desist.

Have you been lacking inspiration, creativity or get up and go?  Well, I have.

Hatshepsut TempleThese last few weeks since I returned from Egypt have been damn right frustrating.  I’ve lost my pluck, mojo and anything else you want to call it.

I’ve picked up the paintbrushes and seem to be trying to repeat old patterns in creativity that just don’t work for me anymore.

“It could be realism, abstract, impressionism, crapism or bullshitism…who knows?  We’ll just have to wait and see.”

But this weekend I had a revelation…

Who The Hell Am I?

Yes, that old humdinger.  What can I truly offer the world that is unique and not only that,  stay completely in alignment with who I am?

Not easy and a question I am not alone in having to come up with an answer to — this seems to be the common thread or million dollar question among most people this year, if not this lifetime!

I Am…

I sat down to have some quiet time to reflect and saw a storyboard of everything I have done since I left school.  I know that I am intrinsically an artist, musician and a writer and I have tried to merge the 3 in this website but something still hasn’t clicked into place. In a nutshell, it went like this:The Bends

Above (Photo of our band The Bends taken in 2001)

Cherie playing BassThe Younger Years — Left school and played bass in 2 rock bands.  Last band (The Bends — you guessed it, we were all Radiohead fans…yeah yeah) recorded 2 albums and got some radio play.  After the music scene cooled off and my weariness set in I up and left for the UK.  Photo (right) — in Paris Studio recording our 2nd album.

Travel Bug — In the UK I started painting again.  Got back home, 3 years later, and started painting full-time.

Crossing Abbey Road London

Above — In the UK, at the famous ‘Abbey Road’ crossing, London

Profile PictureDivine Revelations and Ants in my Pants — Started feeling ‘pushed’ to write my book ‘Divine You’ in 2010 and did so, focusing all my energy and attention into getting it published and promoting and blogging, etc.

Footnote — Here I am, having come full circle with all 3 of my major interests but I feel like I need to break free from the confines of every single one of them.  I need to fuse them into a trinity of talents that will truly showcase the uniqueness of my being.

New Realizations:

I am a rock chick, a philosopher, a creative, a free spirit, a wanderer, a listener, an adventurer, a seeker, a trailblazer…so what am I trailblazing?

” I am more than the ceiling limit I have built over my head.”

I feel like at the moment I am trying to conform to the standards of any other self-empowerment writer (who just happens to paint and compose on the side).  No, this is not working for me.  I am more than the ceiling limit I have built over my head.

Major Refurbishing

I am going to be blowing through the ceiling.

My first adventure, that incorporates all 3 of my pursuits, will be to do a series of 10 paintings to my favourite bands or musicians from the dawn of my time here on Earth.

Musical Mural A little background:  I love to turn on the stereo in the morning and blast out my favourite music much to my husbands annoyance.  It just happens to usually be quite loud and obnoxious music for this time of the morning.  However the upside is that this ensures that the car gets washed, or that the lawn is mown (husband seeking refuge outside of the domain).

“I want to be activated into action first thing in the morning — and this plus a cup of coffee seems to do the trick.”

There is nothing like a bit of Airbag by Radiohead to get the blood flowing after a long nights sleep or head-banging your way to the bathroom to get cleaned up to Hysteria by Muse.  Who can’t be put into a good mood when you are listening to Queen’s I Want to Break Free?  Or even better, David Bowie belting out ‘Drive in Saturday’?

Yes, I know, I am a bit odd.  This is probably not the best morning music soiree (I am told this is strictly night-time music) but I simply can’t wait for night-time to arrive, I want to be activated into action first thing in the morning — and this plus a cup of coffee seems to do the trick.

So Where is This Heading?  Get On With It, Girl!

Okay, okay…I love rock.  Yes, oh yes.  So I have selected 10 bands to do 10 painting to.  I want to see what comes out whilst listening to their music.  I hope this experiment will be a visual feast and have no preconceived ideas of how any of it will turn out.  All I can guarantee is that I am going to have fun in the process and do whatever comes to me in the moment that I set aside to paint.

It could be realism, abstract, impressionism, crapism or bullshitism…who knows?  We’ll just have to wait and see.

I will be blogging (obviously) about each artwork and the process (so watch out for Tuesdays art blog).  And will reveal the top 10 bands/musicians that have been the greatest influence in my life in next Tuesdays blog.

So in the words of the famous Monty Python…”and now for something completely different”.  Bring it on!

READ THE GRAND BAND REVEAL HERE

Note to self:  Need to add new word invented in this blog to Wikipedia — ‘crapism’.  Needs no definition either, self-explanatory. Bullshitism seems to be a valid word because my spell check didn’t pick it up.

Share Your Insights:

What are you struggling with?

Do you have yourself all sussed out or are you still in flux about who you really are?

Do you think it is important to align yourself with your core essence or do you think that is just a bunch of crap?

3 Motivational Tips on Getting Back into the Artistic Arena

I am back from my trip to Egypt and what an adventure it was!  More about that on my Thursday blog though.

Inspiration and Chaos

It was a whirlwind of events, inspiration, emotion and culture shock but inevitably, on the plane home, I started processing my experiences and began to drift into the abyss of ‘what am I doing with my life?’.

You know the feeling, right?  You go on holiday and then you have to come back home to the same old same old…

“Go full throttle or go hide under a rock!  Instead of grabbing the bull by the horns, grab it by the balls…more risky but you will get an infinitely more intense reaction.”

Not me!  I made a firm decision not to climb back into my safety box — Oh no!

Time for Change

So what changed?  3 things spring to mind:

  1. More Risk — I decided I needed to take more risks.  So what if I fail, at least I tried!  This can be on the artistic front and dabbling more in multi-media projects;  trying out new techniques and new marketing techniques.  In fact, a few days before I left, a good friend of mine and NLP/Reiki coach (www.soulworks.co.za), did some Reiki on me and said that when she approached my throat chakra, she sensed that I was not sticking my neck out enough.  How right she was!  The trip made me see even more clarity in that statement.  Go full throttle or go hide under a rock!  Instead of grabbing the bull by the horns, grab it by the balls…more risky but you will get an infinitely more intense reaction.
  2. Simplify — My day-to-day life and schedule was a bit ‘all over the place’.  My big toe was in this venture and that.  I needed to get real about my goals and to simplify my agenda.  This took me one afternoon to sit down and write out my new set of goals and ambitions.  Now I have a clear intention about where I am heading and it is much more flexible than my old agenda.  I have a lot more free time to just be.
  3. Be Authentic — Find out what you are about. What sets you apart from others?  What is your true passion?  What can  you do differently?  How can you incorporate all your multi-faceted uniqueness into one ball of creativity?  Brainstorm these questions and come up with your own set of rules for riding out the next wave of your life.  Surfs up!

The last thing I’d like to add is — don’t sweat the small stuff.  We often get so hung up on the finer details of life instead of looking at the bigger picture.

“You will be amazed at how other people don’t really care about your failures, it’s more about your damaged ego than their perception of you…”

Everything will be alright if you are in your integrity and walking your path of power and purpose.  Trust in that and enjoy your life to the fullest.

If you fall off the bike, dust yourself off and get back on again.  Who’s looking anyway?  You will be amazed at how other people don’t really care about your failures, it’s more about your damaged ego than their perception of you, so what have you got to lose?

Finally, what are you doing to increase your creative stamina and keep the flame alive?

Get your lucky-packet of free stuff when you SIGN UP HERE

The Universe is Expanding – Are You?

The Universe is ever expanding and gives rise to new opportunities for creating and orchestrating planetary and galactic development.

So, if the Universe is pushing ever on outward,

why set boundaries for creativity on any level?

Never limit yourself because anything can be achieved if doubt is removed.

The Universe is not set – why should you be?

Pushing the envelope of creative expansion breaks down any illusion of limitation.

Once you step out of the box, infinity beckons your every whim.

Bask in the knowledge that existence is infinite, as are all possibilities.

We create in a field of pure energy potential.

Sign up HERE to receive your gift of inspirational wallpaper designs from my book ‘Creative Expression’

The above quotations and art have been taken from my new table book ‘Creative Expression – How to find your inspiration…’ available now — CLICK HERE.  All the artworks above are available to purchase as prints at RedBubble.

Why I love to paint flowers…

When I paint a flower I feel an overwhelming bliss – an excitement to capture the beauty and magic of what I see and feel when I am in their glorious presence.

I am never happier than when I have a house full of flowers and the scent hangs on the air. Or when I am in my garden just being present with the smell of lavenders on the breeze.

They are my main source of inspiration because I still cannot fully fathom their exquisite beauty. Eckhart Tolle put it in a nutshell when he said that we could look upon flowers as the enlightenment of plants. I could look upon flowers all day and still be mesmerized. They are a true gift to us and to gaze upon their delicate wonder is to look at the unfolding of pure potential.

Here is an example of one of my floral paintings called ‘Red Poppies – Finding Beauty in Chaos’ from my new portfolio book – the original is still available and can be found in my art brochure 2011, which can be downloaded for free (see sidebar or click here to download):

To read more about what inspires me, please visit  or click on the book below – you can view a full preview of the book (preview button is at the bottom of the book icon on Lulu.com).

Art Portfolio - Cherie Roe DirksenSubscribe here to receive my monthly newsletter and free gift or click ‘sign me up’ in the side-panel to receive blog updates as they are released.

Christmas Gift Ideas…Part 2

A little bit of silliness never went astray!

Over the past couple of months my husband and I (no, I am not the queen) have been trying to plant our own vegetable garden.  This is not as simple as it would usually sound as we live near Cape Point and have baboons for neighbours.  And as you can surmise, baboons eat vegetables.

So the plan is to build frameworks with chicken wire around our vege garden to protect it from our hairy adversaries.  A challenge to say the least.

So what has this got to do with art?

Well, during our spates in the garden, we have come up with some witty vegetable ‘catch-phrases’.  I was wondering how to incorporate this new avenue into my art and have come up with a bold solution.

The vegetables have given rise to new unfounded inspiration…(picture opposite – ‘Can you handle me?‘:  Warning!  I come with many different layers…and I can make a grown man cry!!!).  This has led me to create the….*drum-roll*…

The Vege-Tate Gallery

In a moment of pure silliness I invented a joke shop, which I have named The Vege-Tate Gallery, that hosts a number of incredibly cheesy vegetable quotations accompanied by my digital artwork of these tasty morsels.

I wanted to make the designs simple yet effective.  At first I contemplated freehand drawings and then scanning and cropping them into a T-shirt design but decided to go the digital route.

This involved my hand, the mouse and the simple paintbrush program that most Windows packages come with.

I then transfer these crude drawings into Photoshop, where I can put them on a transparent background and ‘clean’ them up.  Finally I add the text and upload it to the site (at the moment I am using RedBubble but you can also do this on Zazzle – see my previous article for all the goodies you can create there).

Voila!

Another gift idea for Christmas in the (shopping) bag…

How can you do this?

If you struggle with the graphics side of things, you can use photographs instead.  Ever taken a funny photo of a child or pet? – well, use that! Everyone has at least one crazy catch-phrase they can use as an excellent and unique gift idea for that someone special.

The wonderful thing about both these sites is you can have the gift sent directly to the person, so it is simply fantastic for those relatives and friends overseas!  No excuses.

Can’t be bothered?

Visit my ever-growing store and have the hassle taken out of Christmas shopping.

This is my first batch of vegetable produce:

Feel free to post some of your creations here for others to see and get ideas from.