within the circle

moon swirls - jo klima - maps to herself

I’m a little obsessed with triangles, if you didn’t already know that ;) But recently I’ve been drawn to experiment, as part of my crystal project, working in a circular format. Occasionally you do see artworks on a circle canvas or it’s been cropped to a circle shape within a square frame. Does it ever feel a little strange to you when you see that? Most artworks are square or rectangular, but when I see a circle one I always do a double take, there’s just a different energy about them.

The circle is universal, sacred and divine. It’s the shape of the moon, sun, planets and stars. It forms the structure of mandalas, and represents the spiritual realms in sacred geometry. It mirrors our perception as the intricate centre of the human eye. Life is a circle. The circle is infinite.

To me it feels like a portal to another dimension, looking through to another world. Maybe that’s why I’ve been experimenting with them. The crystal project (actual name: pending) feels like my way of looking inside a crystal to discover the spirit within it. Like a little world that has existed for millions of years. What is the energy of each crystal, what does it want to tell me, what can I learn?

circle waves - jo klima - maps to herself

At this point I’m still playing around with materials and textures to feel out which direction I’d like to go with the artwork I create. I’ve begun writing down some little exchanges with some of my crystals I feel the most connected to at the moment including smokey, tibetan and himalayan quartz, amazonite, peacock ore, chrysocolla and aventurine.

What are your favourite crystals right now, and why do you think that is? How do you like to connect with them?

Share

gently learning

owl wisdom - jo klima - maps to herself

Do you ever find you’re putting pressure on yourself to implement and integrate all the spiritual learnings that resonate with you because you think you need or should be further along that you are? I know I sometimes do. Opening up to your spiritual identity, knowledge and experiences is that last thing that needs to be rushed or processed quickly. I do believe in creating a daily or consistent practice but when it comes to your connection with your spiritual self it’s something that will develop over your whole lifetime, not just in a few short years, or within one year.

Sometimes you know what you’re blocking or are aware of a shadow aspect of your being, but find you’re still not being able to fully integrate and let go. I know for myself I do process matters of the spirit slowly. Some things I was reading about and learning two years ago, which made sense to my mind at the time, I’ve only just really begun embodying and living. There’s so much more that I hope to experience and I just find that occasionally I wished things would happen more quickly. I have many amazing friends who are deep in their self and soul work and it’s fascinating to hear their experiences. Some of what they are integrating I don’t know if I’ll ever fully understand or experience, but I am grateful for what they are sharing and hold space for that.

If something I learn is meant to stay in my mind or live in my heart, it will, at my own pace. I hope you’ll give yourself the time it takes for you. I believe you can always have a really strong connection with yourself and your inner wisdom, and trust that what you need to know will always be available to you as you move through this life. The beautiful feeling of living in a way where I follow my intuition and make time for stillness, nature, movement and connection; that just gets more magical and stronger all the time.

If you feel like it’s hard for you to communicate about this journey in a way that makes sense, understand that not all of this even needs to be expressed out loud, if it can even be adequately expressed at all. I am better at making images about how I feel anyway, maybe you are too.

Share

aware of the dark

aware of the dark - jo klima - maps to herself

As Eckhart Tolle says, once you perceive the truth, awaken your awareness, there’s no going back. There is a big shift happening in the increase of people’s own awareness and there are so many really amazing leaders in the world helping with this. Self awareness as well as seeing and caring about what’s really happening in the world is really the only way to change or improve your life or those of other people. With awareness we open up to what’s possible, see that we can go in a different direction, and live our life in more alignment and finding more joy in the present moment.

But there is also another side to it which I’m struggling with. It makes it difficult to understand why some things can happen, why some of our fellow humans can actually do some of the terrible things they do, and why others suffer. They are unconscious, I get it. But that doesn’t make it any easier as a human to accept, and it’s why you see some people such as vegans needing to be forcefully heard in order to help those without a voice.

It’s been almost 3 years since I became vegetarian. And over the last year I’ve started to feel guilt about not being vegan, although I have cut back on some animal products. But it’s not only food. It’s seeing all the other ways you consume or live your life. Where your clothes are from (we all love a bargain but at what cost), the leather shoes, who made your iphone, taking advantage of cheap holiday destinations, or animals used and often abused for entertainment. I start wondering how I am consuming, what would be an ethical alternative, and how can I help with so many injustices going on. My list of things that I’m not ok with is getting longer.

So what’s the best way forward? To still be an active part of our modern society, enjoy life and help where I can? I don’t intend to own a sanctuary for rescue animals, but I support those who do. I won’t travel to countries to film and disclose some terrible places and situations, but will support those who do. But I can’t give to every cause that does work that is important to me, so how do you pick who to support and help?

When you deepen your understanding and awareness of life and become more at peace with certain parts of life, for me it also brings up so much which is the opposite of that. I don’t have any answers here, but I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Share

being in spirit

Inspirit - Jo Klima - Maps to Herself

It’s a little crazy to me to think that now, around three years after I found my way back to making art which had a strong connection with my spiritual growth, I would find myself guiding others along with me. But having just launched my second online art workshop, Inspirit, which I wouldn’t have imagined myself doing even a year ago (I didn’t like being on camera), I am really proud of the internal work I’ve done to get to this point.

I’ve offered many different things in my business in it’s eight years of existing. From branding and web design, web development, design courses, running a design blog, selling digital graphics, selling artwork and prints, experimenting with physical products and collaborating on other products, designing metallic tats and leggings, and other ideas here and there. And there were fun moments in creating those. But there was just something really different in the process of creating these workshops.

I think it has a lot to do with knowing that I have moved through many of my own blocks to bring them to life. I know I still have more blocks to break through in order to bring even more of my best stuff to the world and I’ll keep working towards that. Over the last few months it’s been a big shift to only work on projects that I feel really called to do, not just things I know I can do. The most important factor was making time and space for those to be the priority, which meant saying no to a lot of other requests.

So now I’m at a point where I am pretty amazed to witness me; the artist and the teacher, wanting and helping others to get even a little taste into the practice which has helped me so much over the last three years.

The artwork above is one that I demonstrate in Inspirit, and it’s a really beautiful reminder of what’s unfolded lately and what I always hope to be reminded of in the days, months and years to come.

Share

the crystal project

Fingerprint - Jo Klima - Maps to Herself

I’m embarking on a new heART project that for now I am nicknaming ‘the crystal project’, and to describe it briefly it’s a way for me to work more closely with some of the crystals I’m strongly drawn to and to learn more about my own personal experiences with them, and what they have to share with me.

Shortly before beginning this blog in November 2013 was when I first started becoming intrigued by the power and energy of crystals. This was through receiving a crystal healing which I decided to do because I felt like there were many blockages to what I wanted to create and bring into my life. A lot of shifts took place within my chakras and belief systems, and it didn’t take long for new opportunities and experiences to begin to show up for me. I was given a selection of crystals at the end of the session, and so my curiosity (read: obsession) took hold.

A couple of months later I was travelling in New Zealand and I found a wonderful crystal shop just outside of Auckland. Until this point I’d never really been in a place quite like it before. I purchased what is still my most treasured crystal, a small fluorite point. It’s been with me on every adventure since and recently spent a couple of months down in Canberra with my partner as a nice reminder of home. I still pick out a crystal or two on each trip to a new place as a memento, most recently a Charoite and Malachite stone from New York.

Since the visit to NZ and the discovery of an amazing local crystal wholesaler, my collection has grown much larger. Crystals surround me at home and in my studio, they adorn my body, and come with me wherever I go. But I’ve noticed that with having so many more now, I haven’t developed as close of a connection with a large number of them. Foremost, this project is a way for me to do that. But I have also felt drawn to creating art which reflects what I see as the spirit or world within that crystal. So that is what has led me to ‘the crystal project’.

While I haven’t yet begin working on the final artworks just yet, I am experimenting more with different mediums, textures and marks as a way to find some new territory that may find it’s way into this art project. You never know how some colours or mediums will interact with each other until you play with their infinite possibilities. The artwork above, called ‘Fingerprint’, is one such exploration. I’m excited to work more on this passion project and share more of my stories and discoveries with you soon.

Artwork available as a print here.

Share

connect with divine source

Connect with Divine Source - Jo Klima - Maps to Herself

My second intention for this period between Equinox and Solstice which I picked to demonstrate in Amulet is ‘connect with divine source’. Over the last few months I’ve been hearing and listening to messages I’ve received from my inner guides which has developed into me trusting it even more. I regularly take notice of other messages around me. Like when and where I find feathers, prisms of rainbow light, a new opportunity opening up and moments I feel deep gratitude and other subtle clues.

One of the things I’ve noticed when I’m called to act on something like a particular project, and I feel it’s the right time, is I’ll receive little fragments throughout my day or week without really having to think about or focus on it intently, as long as I just write a note down before I forget it. I usually receive this information like a recording of myself, either as visual and sound or just sound, along with a feeling of confidence in my gut.

These flashes of insight are what I’ve come to act upon when deciding what to do next, and when I follow them they seem to work out well, or I come to understand I’ve had a good experience to learn from. It’s a totally different feeling to trying to make up ideas in my head (of which there are plenty) and something I need to force to make happen. It never really feels right even though it makes logical sense. When I don’t get these insights, it’s usually when I’ve been slack in my art or spiritual practice or just needing to rest and prioritise something else in my life.

As part of my intention I want to take my own spiritual practice deeper with trying different forms of meditation and methods, to see what resonates with me and helps strengthen my ability to receive the type of clarity and guidance I’ve experienced, as well as opening up to new channels of guidance.

Share