I spent much of today working on a new painting titled 'All's Not Lost', which is inspired by the story of Hope the Orangutan. Rescued this week by the team at Orangutan Information Centre, Hope and her baby had been the subject of merciless persecution due to their presence in a palm oil plantation. Hope was badly injured, has been blinded in both eyes. Both she and her baby were traumatised and suffering from malnourishment. Hope's baby tragically died during the rescue operation, and Hope herself is in intensive care, her body riddled with 74 pellets from air rifle shots and suffering from other traumas including a broken shoulder and large, open gashes. Hope and her sweet baby have been in my heart and on my mind ever since I saw OIC's first post about them. As a mother myself, and as a cell in the body of humanity - a species that is capable of such kindness and yet is also causing so much destruction - their 'story' (much as I hate to call it that) is incredibly poignant. It really makes one despair at the cruelty in the world and simultaneously feel anguish that people are placed in a position where the greed of developed nations and corporations drives them to carry out such dreadful acts... I'm not posting the most harrowing images of Hope or her baby in acknowledgement that many of us simply cannot bear to see such disturbing content. They are truly heartbreaking, and those images are burned indelibly in my mind. If you do want to find out more about Hope's story and follow the ongoing efforts to save her, please visit the OIC's Page on facebook or their Instagram. A 3 month-old baby named Brenda by the rescuers is also in intensive care having been confiscated in poor health. I do wonder whether these two beautiful souls will be able to help each other back to health... Once it is completed, I intend to auction this painting to raise funds for Hope and Brenda. All funds raised will go directly towards their care and rehabilitation.
💔 Please feel free to let me know in the comments below or via my online contact form if you would be interested in bidding on this piece, and please also alert anyone else you think might be interested either in bidding or in Hope's story. Watch this space for updates upon its completion and further details of how to bid. #SaveOrangutans #SumatranOrangutans #OrangutanRehabilitation #oic #hope #brenda#orangutan #sumatranorangutan #orangutansumatera
0 Comments
"The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life." - Richard Bach, Illusions of a Reluctant Messiah. This photo of me and Sandy cuddling was taken in 2012, shortly before the fungating tumour that took his life began to develop on his back. Sandy and I were true family, although we were not even members of the same SPECIES, never mind 'blood family'. We both knew it from the instant we set eyes upon each other. And we lived that familial bond every minute, from that first moment of recognition to the moment he died peacefully in the sunshine, wrapped in my loving embrace. Our joy in each other's lives, our respect and love for each other, was one of the most real experiences either of us had ever had. The bond was unbreakable. We readily forgave each other everything and each of us accepted the other unconditionally, literally warts and all. The transformation in this little fellow from being truly loved, respected and enjoyed was astounding. We 'lit each other up' and I will carry that light in my heart until the day I die. Although there is undoubtedly a bond of blood, never allow it to blind you to the family you are related to in heart, soul and spirit, which truly is everybody and everything. And in the moments you meet CLOSE family again - when that unmistakable chemistry and recognition hits - open your heart to that with everything that you are. it's the most powerful experience any being can have - the sharing of a common bond, unbound by space, time, species or any other illusory boundary. Be open. Share yourself. Celebrate that connection. It is as pure and beautiful as it gets here on earth. With love, Jay #love #life #friendship #truth #widsom#richardbach #quote #quotes #meme#shihtzu #dogs #shih #tzu #bemoredog #family "The woo-woo is scientific" - Bruce Lipton Synchronicity 1: The Raven's Gift Whilst I've been going through the mill lately, sweet Raven has had my back every step of the way. Totally unfazed by my 'emotional vomiting', 'oversharing' and occasional deep dives into the abyss, Raven has been sending me lovely things to keep my spirits up and get the message across that 'I am enough', 'Everything is OK' and so forth. One of those 'things' has been a steady little stream of #memes, #thoughts and #inspirational #art from various sources. The image you see here is one such candle in the dark - a piece of art with motivational text from The Latest Kate, whose work I was not previously familiar with... I went to her delightful feed on Instagram and was so impressed that I decided right away to #repost one of her artworks, something I am very judicious about - as creative in your own right, after all, your Insta followers came to see your content, not somebody else's content, am I right? As I scrolled through, watching for resonance, this piece jumped right out at me. You also can see what I wrote when reposting it on my Instagram below: @jaytaylorart #shoutout #repost from @thelatestkate, whose work was shared with me by the light of my life @raven_grymm. Kate's Instagram feed is full of beautiful and inspiring art and wisdom, much of which speaks to those who are facing inner and outer darkness and transmuting turning on the light as best we can. If you head on over there, I'd love to hear which of Kate's Creations speaks to you most right now. I am particularly feeling this one, for reasons that will be obvious to those of you who know me a little bit. It's not just about the image and words on Kate's artwork, though - I also love the quote she chose to accompany it: wise words indeed from Maya Angelou: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” - Maya Angelou For me, this is a reminder that when you interact with other beings, no matter what their age, culture, language or species, they will FEEL you above all else...What feelings will you be remembered by? Are you aware of the feelings you are transmitting? What feelings are you going to remember them by? What's your interpretation? Let me know in the comments below 💖 Synchronicity 2: Spirit Animals As I mulled the reasons for my strong sense of connection to this particular post from Kate, which were multifaceted and abundantly obvious to me, I knew I wanted to reach out and share the photo below right after it, mostly to give some context to the people who started following me after it was originally posted a couple of years ago. Doing so also gave me a platform to express some of the strong feelings and insights that were flooding through me after sitting with Kate's beautiful imagery and the emotions it evoked. Here it is, with the words that accompanied it: Some context regarding my last post, for those of you who DON"T know me a little bit yet...Mister Bird and Sunny... Two of my best friends in the world and two of my greatest teachers. I must be part elephant, because leaving their graves - and those of Milo, Millie, Apricot, Dot and Robert - behind was a source of great pain when I had to leave our former home... But although their bones are lost to me, our love for each other most certainly is not. Although I cannot do so in my physical body, I visit them often whilst sitting in silence, reaching through space and time to sit beside their burial place or hang out with them in the sunshine. They will live in my heart and my memories until I join them in the earth...and until then, I will do my best to embody the qualities they taught me and the lessons we learned together... In a very real way, they are now my #spiritanimals, many of whom surround me with their loving guidance and companionship. Do you have a spirit animal? Can you feel your animal companions around you? I would love to hear your stories about them if you would like to share them here ❤ PS I wanted to post the raw, unedited version of this image but I cannot find it this morning. So the 'glamorous' version will have to do. No makeup but a ton of filters, haha 😗🐓😆 💔 💖 Synchronicity 3: Saint Cuthbert So the same day that I posted the two images and text above, I was reminded (by Raven again!) of how helpful it is to me to sing. We'd been talking about 'scream therapy' and I said that I can't do it - each to their own, but I just can't go out there and inflict my pain upon an unsuspecting natural population. I have tried, but no. Instead, I felt that I should sing - something that brings me great joy and healing. I really felt like singing 'Amazing Grace' all of a sudden! But the acoustics in our new little house are awful... SO I thought I'd combine a walk with a visit to the local church, where the acoustics were bound to be better. Off I pottered, in I went - and as I began singing, this is what I saw. Remind you of anything?! 😁 Obviously, this went straight up on my Instagram feed as soon as I got home! I don't know what the odds are on me happening upon this today whilst looking for somewhere with great acoustics in which to sing Amazing Grace (don't ask!), but I'm willing to bet that they are pretty darned low. I mean, seriously - following on from my last two posts?! Life is about as subtle as a sledgehammer between the eyes or a passionate kiss from a new lover's lips sometimes! Saint Cuthbert's Church with Saint Cuthbert himself, looking perfectly beatific and handsome as can be 😊 Stained glass Protector of animals and birds, silently gazing down at me with similar compassion as I sang my little non-religious heart out, in perfect synchronicity with the flow of my life these past several hours. Life - don't you love it?! What synchronicities have popped up in your life today? Let me know in the comments, if you'd like to share... Thank you for reading this far, if you have! And please feel free to answer any or all of the questions I asked on the original Insta posts, or share anything else that comes to mind. With love,
Jay x |
Jay's Blog
Stream of consciousness ramblings, artings, happenings and brain droppings Archives
June 2021
Categories
All
|