A study on Andy Warhol, a famous Leo Artist

There is one sign that is born to lead and to live life on centre stage and that is Leo. Warhol had the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Neptune and the Ascendant in Leo. 

Leo represents our need to creatively express ourselves and be appreciated by others. Leo represents self-unfoldment & the development of increasing awareness of the dynamics of creative self expression. It represents our Creative Self. 

The Sun is ruled by Leo. Leo represents self-confidence, powerful, sensitive, radiant, warm, loving, dramatic, big-hearted, generous, regal, and thrives on appreciation & recognition. (When we understand the signs, we then develop an understanding of the energies occurring in our daily lives.) 

We can see Warhol magnetized and inherently knew how to be creative & draw attention & how to be of influence (a leader). He was powerful, dramatic, creative, and was always seeking recognition & fame. He was quite sensitive & romantic, too! Falling deeply for a handful of partners throughout his life. 

His artistic spirit was nurtured from a very early age – from attending free Carnegie Museum art classes, to designing window displays for his parent’s grocery store. Warhol won a scholarship to study painting at the Carnegie Institute of Technology, where he graduated in 1949.

Leos are naturally ambitious, as seen in Warhol’s career. Despite the success of his early career as award-winning illustrator for Vogue, Tiffany & Co, Columbia Records + more!,  Warhol wanted to move beyond commercial illustration to pursue his own original work. 

In the early 1960s, Warhol moved to New York, where he coordinated with fellow artists to launch the influential Pop Art movement.

The Pop movement presented a challenge to traditions of fine art by including imagery from popular and mass culture, such as advertising, comic books and mundane mass-produced objects.

Warhol developed the innovative silk-screen printing technique and pioneered the concept of the artist-as-producer and the studio as an art-making factory.

Andy Warhol was a complex artist and leader of the Pop Art movement, whose ability to channel Leo's ambition, confidence and spirit of celebration allowed him to achieve lasting social change in addition to revolutionizing pop culture as we know it.

Do It Yourself (Sailboats), 1962

Rare Photograph of Andy Warhol in a flower field with Flowers Silk-Screen in Queens, NY 1964

Triple Elvis, 1963

25 Cats Name Sam, 1954

Mexican Flowers, 1961

Little Big Forgiveness(es)

Hello Everyone:
..Considering...learning...applying knowledge from our brothers and sisters...each other...humanity.

Rosh Hashanah began a week ago, last Sunday, September 25th at sundown. Rosh Hashanah is the celebration of the Jewish New Year. Blessed greetings, "L’Shanah Tovah!", wishing one another a good and sweet new year.

The past ten days are called the "The Ten Day of Awe", or the Ten Days of Repentance. It is a holy time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The sounding of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah is a loud blast and a sobering reminder that the time is near for the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is this Tuesday, October 4th and it begins at sundown. This sounding of the shofar is a call to teshuvah, which is the repentance and turning back to the Lord.

These ten days are ones of great introspection, heart-searching and self-examination.

The sound of the shofar for the Jewish people was, and still continues to be, a call to examine one’s life, to make amends with all those one may have wronged in the previous year, and to ask forgiveness for any vows one may have broken. Thus the primary theme of Rosh Hashanah is one of repentance leading us to atonement at Yom Kippur. The AT- ONE- MENT many seek.

There is a beautiful quote from the Tibetan that reminds me of the essence of these holy days:"Stand ready and watch the heart....It is not easy to love as do the Great Ones, with a pure love which requires nothing back; with an impersonal love that rejoices where there is a response, but looks not for it, and loves steadily, quietly, and deeply through all apparent divergences, knowing that when each has found his own way home, he will find that home to be the place of at-one-ment." - PT, page page 180

This year the Jewish festivals are in Libra.
In Libra means the Sun is receiving & distributing the Light of Libra. The sign of beauty, choice & of contemplation.

Libra is the sign of contemplation & the sign of making a momentous choice. In this process, beauty is revealed (eventually). Under the Libra Light, we contemplate choices, we make choices, and we are tested by our choices. We learn and experience life through our choices. We are constantly tested, till the right use of love is cultivated. When we develop love, then suffering over choice ends. Then...beauty is revealed. Librans understand this process.

We begin with our intention & prayer. Forgiveness upholds our connection with each other. We forgive ourselves and we forgive others. Eventually, maybe, at some point, we become grateful for those old grievances, a sense of gratitude can bloom. Then...we are transformed. This is true magic.

"This faculty of forgiveness is not a form of magnanimous forgetting or overlooking, neither is it a gesture of superiority whereby the slate is wiped clean. It is the very breath of life itself—the giving of all to all and for all."- ENA page 130

As the sun's light becomes dimmer and dimmer in the Northern Hemisphere and as we enter into the darkness & stillness of autumn and winter, may we be reminded to contemplate and forgive. Standing ready and watching the heart.

How do we watch the heart?

By ardently holding the intention. With this intention and in this stillness with(in) the heart, we listen. We learn the language of our hearts and we develop Right Choice.

In our contemplations & choices, may we be inspired to learn & develop a spirit of goodness, beauty and an understanding of each other.

See you on the other side.

Love,
Lauren

The He[ART] of the Matter

Hello everyone:

I am writing to wish everyone a blessed festival this evening...The Festival of Leo Sun at the time of the full moon. Leo represents the Creative Self and it is ruled by the Sun. Leo represents the heart of the matter as it has a special connection to Sirius. Leo is the Light of the Soul. I am That & That am I. We are creative and loving beings. We become willing....the will to Good, the will to Love. We become will-ing. When we understand this, then...

"Everything around us transforms.
We see that we live in a magical kingdom.
Magical, Magic, Maga- Regulus, the heart of Leo, the star of magic."

- Risa D'Angeles

During my art classes with Amy Schneider, we transform materials into something new. I am learning about transformation in this process and yes, art. What is art? What is beautiful? What would I like to create? It is a magical process.

Currently, I am utilizing the prints (from my printmaking art) and found objects from Amy's artful library in her studio. I am creating little collages & scenes from the images & objects I am attracted to while in her art library.

In this particular process, I am listening and following what attracts me and inspires me and seeing what comes forth. With Amy, we see what unfolds by following what I love, what interests me, learning composition & color, in the process, too. Words and sayings that make me laugh...and fill me with Joy. I am grateful because Amy seems to appreciate my sense of humor so it's really fun when I am learning in the studio with her.

I am inspired by a quote: "Our mind receives thoughts from the Soul and reflects them upon the world of matter."

Amy's library is filled with vintage magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias, nature books, esoteric books, history books, dictionaries, old books, new books, art books, culture books, floor to ceiling of texts. Many of the books are from The Thacher School's library (her daughter, Sara, attended The Thacher School).

In Amy's studio, there is another section of drawers including found objects. What is a found object? Anything one finds...deck of cards, scraps of fabric, charms, string, photographs, old cards, a nail, metal pieces, a feather...Amy's Found Object Drawers include hidden treasures of the most unexpected, yet extra-ordinary things.

Zodiac Series: Aries by Lauren Whitney Glass

**Note: Aries is the first sign in the zodiac and represents the beginning**

Little Thoughtful Creatures by Lauren Whitney Glass

I resonate with artful collage right now because I value and believe we can make anything beautiful. With our hearts, minds, and hands, anything is possible. The deep intrigue comes from the confined resources in the moment...what can I create with only using what is available in Amy's studio?... only using what is here & available now in this studio...what am I going to create?

There is a sense of energizing resourcefulness and curiosity and acceptance in this process- using only the resources provided and the infinite possibilities! This is the power of the Creative Self.

With Love,
Lauren Whitney Glass

May We All Grow, as Strong, Noble, and as Steady as the Hollyhock

Hello Everyone,

I am writing to wish everyone a blessed Summer Solstice today. Summer solstice is when the Sun reaches its highest position in the sky and the day with the most light.

"June 21st is the Summer Solstice, the high point of our solar year, when nature is at perfection. The magical transformation of hard brown seeds into flower and color has culminated. The solstices and equinoxes tell us a story about light four times a year. Light pierced the heart of matter (the core of the Earth) during Winter Solstice, when Earth was in darkness.

At Spring Equinox, the light rose from the core of the Earth and touched the roots with a globe of fire. Now, at Summer Solstice, there is a powerful radiation of released light in plants and trees. Their waving about is actually a movement of ecstasy. Earth is in a state of joy and well-being.- Risa D'Angeles

In honor of nature, I thought today would be the perfect day to share some information about the Hollyhock flowers blooming in Ojai.

The common hollyhock traveled all over the world during the Middle Ages because of its well-deserved reputation of being able to thrive in almost any climate and soil so long as it was planted in full sun. This is still true today. Once planted, the hollyhock will produce many seeds and they will successfully grow year-after-year. Hollyhocks grow tall. The flowers attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds to your home.

I have recently been watching for hollyhocks growing along paths here in Ojai. Walking in the evenings with trimmers & a bag in tow, I watch to see if any of the flowers have dried. I gather the seeds which are in round pods and place them in glass jars. Hollyhock seeds seem to hearkening back to another simpler time.

So I gather the seeds inside the round dried pods.

The flowers become pods, dried pods.

There are so many seeds, small tiny black seeds in round brown pods.

Before the hollyhocks flower, you can see green pods on the stems.

Green before flowering.

I just realized that one can collect seeds from everything.

Especially flowers.

I give them away as gifts.

I just gave some flower seeds to a friend for a her birthday.

I have a special friend in the neighborhood. She just turned 3 years old. I was on a walk with her mother in the meadow where hollyhocks were growing. And the young one asked what type of flower it (Hollyhock) was.

Yesterday, I saw her recently on her scooter with her Father. I stopped to say hello. She remembered our walk in the meadow and I told her that I have been collecting Hollyhock seeds recently. And I would bring some over to her house to plant & she can watch them grow.

I invited her to write stories & illustrate them. Like about walking in the meadow or planting Hollyhock seeds & watching them grow.

Everyone, even little ones, has a story.

And so, may this Summer Solstice fill you with continued Joy and may we all grow, as strong, noble and as steady as the hollyhock.

Sincerely,

Lauren Whitney Glass

Quack, Quack- October 2021

"A Joy in living, a love for all existence- such are among the life long results of a right cultivation of the feeling for beauty and for art."

- Rudolph Steiner

Hello everyone,

I am writing to say hello & share a story about a friend, a family & a duck - for November's creative newsletter. 


Shannon Moeller-Spaulding an Ojai massage therapist, wife, mother of two daughters, Leanne & Rose & my friend.

Shannon and her husband, Matthias, home school their children. I notice I am always curious, inspired, and interested to learn what their family is currently focused on with the children and what the children are learning. Shannon and Mattias both teach the children.

The children study reading, spelling, history, social studies, math, science, English, art, gardening, gymnastics, and so much more!

Mattias, during the summer, was unexpectedly given 12 duck eggs. Twenty-nine days later, on July 16, 2021, Dakota the Cayuga Duck hatched in their home (the other 11 eggs didn't hatch) and a new study for the children began.

Leanne and Rose often study with Dakota sitting nearby. Dakota is allowed inside the home with the family for several hours a day and she also has a special home outside which includes a wading pool. 

Leanne and Rose are responsible for feeding and watering Dakota and cleaning cages. Cayugas love to eat duck grain, fruits, and vegetables. Dakota’s favorites include grapes and tomatoes. 

Cayuga ducks are known to be calm, docile, and obedient which makes it easy for novice duck keepers.


Being bottom heavy, they rarely fly.

As ducklings and while growing up, if handled regularly by humans, they can become quite tame, which means they make good child-friendly birds. Ducks are easily imprinted.


Imprinting is a form of learning in which an animal gains its sense of species identification. Birds do not automatically know what they are when they hatch – they visually imprint on their parents during a critical period of development. After imprinting, they will identify with that species for life.


If young birds imprint on humans, they will identify with humans for life. Reversing the imprinting process is known to be impossible  – these birds are bonded to humans for life and will identify with humans rather than of their own species.


Therefore, Dakota is always seen following everyone in the Moeller-Spaulding family around the house and in the yard.

Cayugas are playful ducks that love human attention. They are fairly active and not particularly noisy. Cayuga's have great ability to show affection, and are very community orientated. They like having others around. 

In different cultures, ducks can symbolize returning to those parts of ourselves or those activities that we feel safe and comfortable doing. The Egyptians were the first to domesticate ducks. The Chinese pioneered the art of duck raising.

All ducks exhibit a grace while on water, and water can represent emotions. It is said that, symbolically, seeing, watching, taming, talking, living and interacting with a duck can help one soothe and integrate emotions (water) with greater grace and comfort.

In astrology, ducks (being a bird species) are associated with the communicating sign and planet of Gemini & Mercury and are thus considered Divine Messengers. They quack/ communicate. 



Attached are some photos I took during my visit with Dakota the Duck & the children. I thought to share with everyone: 


  • Dakota & Shannon

  • Dakota in the Wading Pool

  • Dakota the Duck

  • Rose, Leanne, and myself holding Dakota

  • Me Holding Two Pet Lizards while Taking Notes and Interviewing Leanne & Rose (Multi-tasking!)

  • Dakota Eating Fresh Lettuce from the Garden


May this message tonight inspire joy and gratitude for our animals as they are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, and loyal.

I hope everyone has a peaceful & relaxing evening.

Love,

Lauren Whitney Glass