Month: December 2017
The Road to Sticciano – My Tuscan Story
About 20 odd years ago when I became fed up with the corporate jungle in Sydney, I took off for southern Spain to stay for a year…which turned into 15. On a whim one day I heard about a woman who did pottery classes out in the campo (bush to us Aussies) and so I thought I’d give it a shot. Little did I know that this would become a lifelong addiction!
Since then I’ve worked out of many studios and had many tutors but it’s only been in the last 18 months that I’ve finally been able to build a dedicated workshop complete with wheel, kiln and everything else that goes with it. The learning curve went from a gentle one to an exceedingly steep one. All good, keeps the grey cells going – along with sleepless nights thinking of glazes and blending them and ‘what if’ on this or
that clay body, etc. You get the idea.
So I thought, I need to fast forward this a tad at my st(age) in life. Enter Italy. I won’t go into detail about how I ended up at Sticciano, a stunning Agri Turismo deep in the stunning Tuscan countryside because that’s another story on its own. But end up there I did and for a wonderful 5 weeks during March/April 2017.
The ‘Sticciano Tuscan Collection’ of Japanese Tea Bowls you see now were created there and most lovingly carried by hand through Italy, Spain, Germany, Denmark and back here to Noosa. Probably some of the most well-travelled Tea Bowls around!
These are totally unique, as indeed are most ceramic pieces anywhere, and I cannot replicate them due to may various reasons. I can – and have begun – however, to recreate using some of the same principles since I returned home a month ago.
The ‘Sticciano Tuscan Collection’ were created from stoneware and fired in gas reduction and salt kilns. They were painted first with coloured slip on the greenware (pre any firing) and then with glaze after the first bisque firing. A second glaze firing resulted in what you see here.
You can use them for coffee, tea, nut bowls – whatever you like! People collect these and in Europe and ceramic artists swap with each other. My tutor, Terry Davis (a very accomplished UK potter living in Tuscany) has a cupboard full and when you go there for coffee, you get to choose which Teal Bowl you want.
Enjoy!
Love and blessings
Glen (0459 343 828)
The Little Goddess Who Followed Her Intuition!
One day a while back I was sitting thinking about how I could tell my story, my story being the journey that began more than 10 years ago with the paintings that created the Sacred Feminine series that then became the (GoddessGuides) Intuition Guidance card deck and on to where I am now, in a not so boring way!
The story begins atop a little Spanish mountain village in my art studio, then went on after creating a dozen paintings for my exhibition in Nerja, Andalusia 2004 and then, with the vision by my very dear friend Michele Claiborne who ‘saw’ me creating the Intuition Guidance card deck from my paintings!
And there was born the Goddess Story! And it’s not finished yet…
So here, without further ado, is the fairytale story of how I followed the signs, guidance, my instincts and passions:
A Goddess Story
Ms Glen Ladegaard
“Once upon a time in a very far away warm land, high up in a rural mountain village, there was a Little Goddess. And this Little Goddess had moved from another very far away warm land to have time to find herself, to work on and tease out her creative pursuits. This she did very well and at the same time, had fun and met some wonderfully interesting people, not to mention getting to know a lot of the local bars and their lovely wines with tapas!
After many years, inspiration, some encouragement and not to mention a little stress (as she had an exhibition looming with no new work to put into it) she found that suddenly, she had created a series of Goddess like images which she decided to call The Sacred Feminine. The exhibition went splendidly and The Sacred Feminine very well received, though few sold. Little did the Little Goddess know that The Universe had other plans for her and her Sacred Feminine paintings. Oh yes they did! A very Divine plan as it turned out.
Some years later, the Little Goddess was divinely and earthly inspired to write some intuitive guiding messages for each of the Goddess paintings. Twenty four paintings and messages later – not to mention many years, a body of intuition cards with powerful and guiding messages was born! The Little Goddess was quite astounded by their accuracy when she used them with other Gods and Goddesses. She was even more astounded as most of the ideas and big vision for these intuition cards, which were to become a compelling self-help tool, had come from many varied others. In fact, the Little Goddess whilst one day giving an induction to a group of other Goddesses, realised that it was almost as though she had been ‘used’ – in the nicest possible way, of course – as a coordinator, a conduit by something or someone much, much bigger than herself.
Thus was born the Intuition Guidance Card concept.
The Little Goddess toiled and worked and market tested the cards for aeons across many distant lands. At times the work seemed too much, the possibilities too overwhelming for one little Goddess and she thought she would just leave it, not continue with the budding of the intuition cards. This would be much easier. But, she realised very quickly, this was simply not an option. When she thought about not growing them to what she knew she was destined to, she felt very sad.
And so she toiled on.
The assistance and ideas seemed to keep coming from many directions. Finally, one day after witnessing the significant encouragement to listen to their inner wisdom of a group of Goddesses working with the cards, the Little Goddess knew what she must do. She had been entrusted with something Divinely powerful and meaningful, to spread to as many as would be open to hear and allow their inner voice and intuition to guide them.
So she crossed a great ocean of water back to that other distant warm land from whence she had come where she then proceeded to launch in earnest her inner voice work amongst its peoples. And the people became happier, more confident, more loving, more balanced and fulfilled in their daily lives. Those that had lost their confidence and self esteem, were jubilant on discovering it again, whilst some just needed to boost it. The people realised how very important it was to awaken and listen to their Selves.
The Little Goddess was very happy. Help and support of all kinds kept being sent to her (and still is) from the ‘Powers That Be’. She realised that when you let go, stop pushing and trying so hard and just relax, be yourself, go with the flow and collaborate with others, all was and is laid in your path. And so she continues with the new paradigm of believing absolutely that when she does what she’s called to do, she is looked after and the ‘Powers That Be’ are actually her biggest collaborators.
And so they/we all are living happily ever after.”
Glen is a passionate artist of female nudes and ceramics, as well as a Personal Growth Mentor for “Women Who Have Everything but still feel Something Is Missing”. She uses the Intuition Guidance Cards as a powerful tool and fast track to your Intuition.