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Cassandra Arnold

Cassandra Arnold

Author

New Lives from Old

April 18, 2020 by Cassandra Arnold Leave a Comment

As we adapt to the reality of our lives with Covid-19 loose on the planet, there are many conversations arising about the opportunity embedded in the heartbreak. 

For many people, the struggle is enormous and I in no way wish to belittle that. But for others, me included, this has become a time of reflection and retreat: a chance to consider what aspects of our lives we want to take forward , and what we might like to change. 

Many people are turning to gardening, both as a comforting activity (did you know bacteria in the soil stimulate serotonin that make us happy?) and as a way to deal with anxiety about a shortage of food.

How about a three foot square garden?

Have you been having similar thoughts? What about your life will be different once the lockdown ends?

Practical Action

A free course on building resilience in your community

Inspiration

7 Ways Dirt Is A Powerful Immune System Booster


If you need some lighter reading right now, my eco-fiction novel The Greenleaf Project set in Australia in 1997 is included in a 20th Century Historical Fiction promotion this month. 

Click the image above to see all of the books included and find one just right for you.

And as a final thought, Spring is slowly coming even here in Calgary. The birds are arriving, nest building goes on, and new life is unfolding whether we can see it yet or not.

Until next month,

Cassandra

PS One of my paintings to inspire you…

The Spring Return

Filed Under: Newsletter Tagged With: garden, immune system, resilience

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cassandra_art_and_stories

33/365 #dailymarksanddrawings.
This was fun, ...

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33/365 #dailymarksanddrawings.
This was fun, feels spacious to me. 
.
#acryliconcanvas #dailyartpractice #mindfulmarkmaking #abstractexpressionism #sketchbook #artexploration #minimalistart #treepainting #treelovers🌳

cassandra_art_and_stories

Sunday afternoon poetry live.
LATHAM'S ...

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Sunday afternoon poetry live. 
LATHAM'S SNIPE 
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This is about an area where I lived in Australia, a Ramsar wetland at one end of the Asian-Australasian flyaway.
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##sundayafternoonpoetrylive #livepoetryreading #livepoetry #naturepoetry #poetsofinstagram #poetsofig #poetrybooks #ecopoetry #poetryreaders #poetrylive #authorreading #lathamssnipe #snipe #birdmigration #migration #flyway #newsouthwales

cassandra_art_and_stories

32/365
16 x 20 inches... going crazy with ...

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32/365 
16 x 20 inches... going crazy with this one! I don't normally use gels and pastes, so I suppose I label this an experiment! 
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#dailymarksanddrawings #abstractlandscapepainting #acryliclandscapepainting #acryliconboard #the100dayproject #the100dayproject2021

cassandra_art_and_stories

31/365 #dailymarksanddrawings
First drawing,...

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31/365 #dailymarksanddrawings 
First drawing,  not exactly Picasso, but I really wanted to pick up my pencils again,  so this is a Zoom doodle, and then I added fire and smoke with my Photodirector app. That was an extra dose of delight!
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#dailypractice #dailyartpractice #dailyplay #creativeprocess #happyartistmovement #pencildrawing #pencilsketch #photodirectorapp #photodirector

cassandra_art_and_stories

30/365 THE END OF THE JETTY
.
Inspired by ...

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30/365 THE END OF THE JETTY
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Inspired by childhood holidays in Orford,  Suffolk.  We spent hours and hours catching crabs with meat scraps on a piece of string, lining them up to play schools... and then  putting them back. 
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Textured paper and charcoal,  kind of perfect. In "Texture for nothing and your posts for free"... and that song is going to be an earworm all day!
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#dailymarksanddrawings #dailypractice #dailyplay #dailyartpractice #the100dayproject #the100dayproject2021 #happyartistmovement #fishinglife #suffolk

cassandra_art_and_stories

Golden hour walk by the river. I'm hoping I ...

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Golden hour walk by the river. I'm hoping I can capture some of that in a painting one day.
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#bowriverpathway #calgary #bowriver #goldenhourphotography #goldenhour #simplynature #naturephotography #riverphotography

cassandra_art_and_stories

29/365 FORTITUDE
That's not a word you ...

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29/365 FORTITUDE
That's not a word you hear very often anymore. When I was a child my favourite author was Violet Needham.  In one of her books this was the password that the young hero needed to remember.  It's not quite resilience, nor is it exactly determination, not even courage, Something like a combination of all of those.  If you need it in your life right now then I gift it to you with this little collage.
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#dailymarksanddrawings #dailypractice #dailyplay #dailyartpractice #mindfulmarkmaking #fortitude #artforsalebyartist #smallworksonpaper #mixedmediaonpaper #mixedmedia #collage
#the100dayproject  #the100dayproject2021

cassandra_art_and_stories

28/364 altered book warm up. THE CITY OF FROZEN ...

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28/364 altered book warm up. THE CITY OF FROZEN DREAMS
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It's a weird narrow format for painting but super fun. 
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#dailymarksanddrawings # #dailyartpractice # #mixedmedia #alteredbook #sketchbook #mindfulmarkmaking #markmaking #storiestotell #meaningmaker #the100dayproject  #the100dayproject2021

cassandra_art_and_stories

27/365 base layers.. I wonder what will happen ...

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27/365 base layers.. I wonder what will happen next! (Actually,  already about the third iteration of this.)
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#dailymarksanddrawings #dailypractice #dailyplay #dailyartpractice #happyartistmovement #acrylicartist #workinprogress #artiststudio #behindthescenes
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