Beltaine in Australia: A Fire Spell for Becoming

Art Witch Beltaine Altar with Australian Wildflowers

Hello Creative Alchemists,

Welcome. Beltaine is here, that point in the year where spring is at its peak and summer is just around the corner. Traditionally celebrated from October 31 to November 1, this year the exact midpoint between Ostara and Litha falls on November 8, 2025.

Down here in the Southern Hemisphere, we feel it differently, the days are longer, the air warmer, and the city is full of colour. In Naarm, the scent of jasmine still hangs on, while roses start to take over. The veil between worlds feels thinner, but instead of mystery, there’s a sense of life pushing forward.

This Beltaine is special for me, it marks the end of my Wheel of the Year series. From Samhain’s inward turn to now, we’ve gone through each season together, reflecting on how the cycle shows up in our lives and our art. I’m glad you’ve been with me for the ride.

A Brief History of Beltaine

In the Celtic lands, Beltaine signaled the beginning of summer, a celebration of fertility, abundance, and sacred union. Fires were kindled on hilltops across Ireland and Scotland to honour the sun’s growing strength. Cattle were driven between twin bonfires for protection and blessing, and couples leapt the flames together to seal love or ignite passion.

The festival’s name derives from “Bel” or “Belenus,” a god associated with the sun and healing, and “teine,” meaning fire. Beltaine was a time to welcome warmth, vitality, and creative life back into the world.

Beltaine Fire

In the Southern Hemisphere

Here in Australia, we mirror that energy at the opposite time of year, when our landscapes vibrate with life. While the Northern Hemisphere celebrates under May’s soft greens, ours burns gold. Wattles give way to bottlebrush, and the air begins to taste of summer storms. We light our symbolic fires not to chase away the cold, but to honour the rising sun within and around us.

Flowering Gum

Beltaine is not just a date on the wheel, it’s a feeling.

It’s the season when everything swells with potential. Ideas, projects, emotions, all of it wants to move, to bloom, to be expressed. It’s that restless creative pulse that won’t sit quietly anymore.

Beltaine feels like honey on skin, laughter spilling through open windows, music rising from studios and kitchens. It’s the confidence of colour and the audacity of joy. It’s life saying: go on, create anyway.

Other Cultural Celebrations and Observations

Celtic and European Traditions

In Ireland, May Day was the heart of Beltaine festivities, dancing the Maypole, weaving ribbons to honour the spiral of life. Flowers were gathered for crowns and doorways, symbols of fertility and renewal. Dew collected at dawn was said to bring beauty and healing.

In parts of Scotland, people made Bannocks (oat cakes) baked on open flames, offering the first piece to the spirits of nature for protection. In Wales, bonfires crowned the hills, and lovers slipped away into the woods to “go a-Maying.”

Maypole

Other Countries

Across Europe, echoes of Beltaine appear in spring festivals from Germany’s Walpurgisnacht (April 30) to the floral rites of Greece and Italy. Each holds that same heartbeat, celebrating the earth’s aliveness and the sacred marriage of opposites: sun and soil, body and spirit, creation and destruction.'

Walpurgisnacht fire dancing

Kulin Nations – Southeastern Australia, including Naarm

In the Kulin Nations’ seasonal calendar, this time of year is known as Buarth Gurru, the Season of Grass Flowering. The weather is warming, but the rains still visit. Kangaroo Grass begins to flower, and Buliyong (bats) swoop at dusk to feed on insects in the thickening air.

It’s a time of abundance and preparation, when the land hums with renewal. Country is alive, flowering, feeding, buzzing, reminding us that growth is not just about fire and sun, but also about the rhythms of rain and rest that sustain it.

You can learn more about the Kulin Nation seasonal cycle through the Royal Society of Victoria:

Seasons in the Sky

While the languages and practices vary across the five Kulin Nations, the rhythm of care for Country, seasonal observation, and reciprocity remain central. As we honour Beltaine, we can also acknowledge these deep, continuous relationships with land and season, holding both stories in our celebration.

A Fire Spell for Becoming

You don’t need a bonfire on a hilltop to honour Beltaine’s flame.

This simple ritual invites you to work with the element of fire in a gentle, accessible way, perfect for all levels of mobility and energy.

You’ll need:

• A candle (or electric tealight if open flame isn’t possible)

• A ribbon or thread in a colour that speaks to you

• A small object from your creative space—a paintbrush, pen, feather, bead, or charm

• A quiet moment and a willingness to listen

How to Begin:

• Set your space.

• Sit comfortably. Light your candle (or turn on your light). Take three slow breaths and feel your body soften.

Call the flame.

• Gaze into the light. Notice how it moves, never still, never rigid. Let it remind you of your own creative pulse: alive, changing, impossible to hold too tightly.

Weave intention.

• Hold your ribbon or thread and ask yourself, “What am I ready to bring into form?”

• As you tie knots or wrap it gently around your chosen object, whisper your intentions. Each knot seals a promise, to nurture your spark, to create from truth, to honour the fire within.

Close the circle.

• Place the ribbon near your candle or on your altar. Let it stay there through the Beltaine season as a quiet reminder that creation doesn’t need to be rushed, just tended.

Ribbons and Candle for a Fire Spell

Modern Ways to Celebrate

• Decorate your home or altar with flowers, candles, and symbols of union, sun and moon, red and white, flame and water.

• Dance, stretch, or move your body in any way that feels freeing.

• Write a love letter to your creative self, the part that dares to make beauty even when it hurts.

• Spend time in nature: touch bark, feel petals, notice the hum of bees.

• Make or gift something handmade, creativity shared is Beltaine’s truest magic.

•  Share a meal with loved ones or simply light a candle and whisper gratitude for warmth, colour, and connection.

Foods and Feasts

Traditionally, Beltaine feasts celebrated the abundance of the land, fresh dairy, honey, breads, fruits, and greens. Oatcakes, custards, and floral syrups featured heavily, symbolising sweetness and fertility.

Libations and Offerings

Mead, cider, and herbal wines were poured to honour the spirits of the land. Milk and honey were left at thresholds or under trees as offerings for protection and blessing.

A Note for Australia

Our seasons differ, and so do our harvests. Instead of apples or mead, we might offer local honey, native herbs, or seasonal fruit. Use what’s abundant around you, lemons, passionfruit, strawberries, or native flowers. Honouring Beltaine here is about celebrating our spring’s fullness, not copying another’s.

Simple Recipe:

Honey, Lemon & Wattleflower Shortbread - A little golden biscuit to capture Beltaine’s light.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened

• ½ cup caster sugar

• 2 tbsp honey (local if you can)

• Zest of 1 lemon

• 2 cups plain flour

• 1 tbsp dried edible wattleflower or lavender

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Line a tray with baking paper.

2. Cream butter, sugar, honey, and lemon zest until light.

3. Fold through flour and wattleflower until a dough forms.

4. Roll into small rounds, flatten slightly, and bake 15–20 minutes or until golden.

5. Cool on a rack. Best enjoyed with sunlight and good company.

Honey, Lemon & Wattleflower Shortbread

Locally Inspired Feast Ideas

Celebrate the turning wheel with ingredients native or local to your region.

• Grilled peach and halloumi salad with native mint dressing

• Roast pumpkin with wattleseed dukkha

• Lemon myrtle panna cotta

• Native honey and rosemary spritz (sparkling water, honey syrup, rosemary, and lemon)

A gentle reminder:

This feast doesn’t have to be complicated or exhausting. It’s about savouring what’s in season and giving thanks for abundance, not perfection.

Art Journal Prompt

What within you is ready to bloom and what must be released so it can?

Create a page that honours both. Use warm colours, layered textures, and maybe even a touch of gold. Let your marks move like flame, fluid, untamed, alive.

Art Witch Desk with open Art Journal

Oracle Insights: The Flower Spread

For this Beltaine, try this gentle flower spread, a bloom of insight rooted in intention. Lay your cards in a flower shape, with one at the centre and one at the base as the stem.

You’ll pull 7 cards total.

• Card 1 – Stem / Root (placed below the flower):

What grounds me right now?

This is the base you’re growing from. Your current anchor, your stability, or the thing keeping you connected to yourself.

• Card 2 – Bottom Left Petal:

What unseen or inner force is quietly supporting my growth?

This is energy you might not be naming yet, but it’s there, feeding you.

• Card 3 – Bottom Right Petal:

What needs gentle care or protection as I grow?

This is where you’re still tender. It can point to a boundary you need, a pace you need to honour, or a part of you that doesn’t want to be pushed.

• Card 4 – Left Petal:

What lessons or experiences from the past are feeding this moment?

What you’ve already lived through that is now acting like compost.

• Card 5 – Right Petal:

What is currently in bloom?

What is already here, already alive, already happening — even if you’re downplaying it.

• Card 6 – Top Petal:

What is ready to open next?

Where this energy wants to go. The direction of growth.

• Card 7 – Centre of the Flower (final card placed in the middle):

What is at the heart of my becoming?

Core desire. Core truth. Core fire.

When you read the spread, notice the relationship between the stem and the petals. How well is what you’re grounded in, (Card 1), actually supporting what wants to bloom (Cards 5 and 6)? Does something in the Bottom Right Petal, (Card 3), the part that needs care, line up with what the Centre (Card 7) is asking for?

You can photograph or sketch your layout and paste it straight into your art journal. This becomes a seasonal self-portrait.

Beltaine Oracle Insights - Flower Spread

Playlist for the Season

Let the music carry that mix of witchy, warmth, sensuality, and creative release. Think soft guitar, earthy percussion, golden-hour moods, songs that make you want to move, paint, or simply exist in sunlight.

Closing the Circle

Beltaine reminds us that creativity is a living fire; it needs tending but not taming. As the wheel turns and this series comes full circle, may your own fire burn steady and kind.

Thank you for travelling through the seasons with me, from the dark of Samhain, the heat of Litha, to this bright, blossoming edge of summer. May your art, your heart, and your magic continue to grow wild.

Until next turn,

Some of the images used in this post are AI generated and were created by me to support accessibility and my creative process as a disabled artist.

A Seasonal Threshold in Melbourne/Naarm

A garden path in Spring

Hello creative alchemists,

Welcome to this Special Edition of the Art Witch Journal for the Spring Equinox.
Here in the Southern Hemisphere, the wheel of the year turns on Tuesday, 23 September 2025 at 4:19 am AEST.

In Melbourne/Naarm, we feel this shift deeply. The air softens, blossoms spill from branches, and there’s a hum of renewal in the streets and gardens. Wattles have already had their golden blaze, magpies are swooping to protect their young, and the air carries both warmth and the occasional crispness of winter’s retreat. The days are growing longer, the mornings a little brighter, and we find ourselves naturally leaning toward balance, hope, and new beginnings.

The Spring Equinox/Ostara: Balance of Light and Dark

The Spring Equinox is one of the eight Sabbaths on the Wheel of the Year, celebrated when day and night are equal in length. In the Celtic and Northern Hemisphere traditions, this is Ostara, named after the goddess of spring and dawn, Eostre. She was honoured as the bringer of fertility, rebirth, and growth, often associated with hares, eggs, and blossoms.

This is a threshold moment, light begins to overcome the darkness, the fertile ground is ready for planting, and communities historically gathered to sow seeds, bless fields, and celebrate the earth’s renewal. Bonfires were lit, feasts were shared, and rituals often honoured both sky and soil in equal measure.

For us in the Southern Hemisphere, the dates are reversed, but the energy remains the same. Our equinox falls in September, just as the first flush of true spring makes itself known, despite the fact we mark our seasons by the calendar. Trees unfurl fresh green leaves, bees return to blossoms, and the world feels infused with possibility. It is not just a seasonal marker, but a call to balance our own inner light and shadow.

Not Just a Date, Feeling the Energy of the Equinox

The equinox is more than a calendar point; it is a feeling that resonates through body and spirit. The ground feels alive with hidden energy, as though every root, bud, and creature is stretching awake. We may feel restless or inspired, ready to shake off the inwardness of winter. Creativity often stirs here, a desire to begin, to plant new projects, to craft with fresh intention.

It is also about balance, a reminder that light cannot exist without shadow, that rest is as essential as growth, and that our inner cycles mirror the earth’s. This feeling, soft yet powerful, asks us to pause and acknowledge where balance needs tending in our own lives.

Global Equinox Celebrations and Traditions

Across the world, cultures have long marked the Spring Equinox with rituals of renewal, joy, and reverence for balance. Though traditions differ, the themes remain universal: rebirth, fertility, and harmony.

Persia & Central Asia – Nowruz

Nowruz, meaning “new day,” has been celebrated for over 3,000 years as the Persian New Year. Families prepare a Haft-Seen table with seven symbolic items, garlic for health, apples for beauty, vinegar for patience, and wheatgrass for rebirth, among others. Bonfires are lit, people leap over flames to cleanse away the old year, and communities come together for feasting and music. Nowruz embodies the essence of the equinox: leaving behind darkness and stepping into the light of renewal.

India & Nepal – Holi

The festival of Holi often coincides with this season, painting the world in bright colour. It celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, love over division. Participants throw powders of vivid pink, yellow, and blue, drench each other in water, and dance in the streets. Holi is joyous chaos, a breaking down of barriers, reminding us that renewal comes not just in quiet planting but also in exuberant celebration.

Mexico – Ancient Solar Alignments

In Mexico, the equinox was sacred to the Maya and Aztec civilizations. At Chichén Itzá, the pyramid of Kukulcán transforms into a living serpent at sunset, the shadow forming the body of the feathered god as it appears to slither down the steps. Thousands still gather to witness this awe-inspiring moment, a breathtaking reminder of ancient astronomical knowledge and reverence for cosmic cycles.

England – Stonehenge

At Stonehenge, the rising sun aligns perfectly with the ancient stones, and modern-day Druids, Pagans, and earth-lovers gather in celebration. Some drum and dance, others meditate quietly, honouring balance in ways both personal and communal. This timeless monument links us back to ancestors who also watched the skies and marked the turning wheel.

Kulin Nation – Poorneet (Tadpole Season)

Here on the lands of the Kulin Nation, in southeastern Australia, the six-season calendar guides life more closely than imported European models. Around the equinox begins Poorneet, or Tadpole Season. As tadpoles appear in the waterways, life surges with fertility and transformation. This attunement to subtle shifts in Country reminds us that balance is not abstract, it is living knowledge, deeply woven into the land itself.

Across cultures, the message is the same: when light and dark stand equal, the earth is whispering an invitation to honour renewal, balance, and connection.

 A Simple Spell for Balance and Renewal

This spell is designed to be gentle, adaptable, and accessible for all levels of mobility.

• Light a candle (white or green if possible).

• Hold a small bowl of water.

• Whisper into the water what you wish to grow this season, intentions, dreams, healing.

• Pour the water into the earth or a pot plant, allowing your words to root and flourish.

Here, fire and water meet, intention and action merge. Even the smallest gesture becomes a potent act of planting balance within and around you.

Modern Ways to Celebrate the Spring Equinox

• Create a seasonal altar with blossoms, eggs, seeds, or stones representing balance.
  
  

• Take a mindful walk and notice spring’s return, new buds, birdcalls, the changing light.
  
  

• Plant seeds for herbs, flowers, or vegetables, aligning with your own intentions.
  
  

• Journal: What balance do I need? What is awakening in me?
  
  

• Share a seasonal meal with loved ones, the act of breaking bread is itself ritual.
  
  

• Clean and refresh your space, symbolically clearing winter’s heaviness.
  
  

• Bring fresh flowers or greenery indoors to honour life’s return.

Seasonal Altar

Spring Equinox Foods, Feasts, and Offerings

Equinox foods often centre around fertility and growth: fresh greens, eggs, dairy, honey, sprouts, and seeds. In ritual, offerings of mead, herbal teas, or fresh juices are common.

A Note for Australia

Here, our native flora and produce can also be woven into the feast. Wattleseed adds a nutty depth to baking. Finger limes sparkle like citrus jewels. Lemon myrtle lends brightness to desserts and teas. Using local ingredients honours both land and season, weaving old tradition into new context.

Simple Recipe – Lemon Myrtle Shortbread

• 1 cup butter (softened)

• ½ cup sugar

• 2 cups plain flour

• 1–2 tsp dried lemon myrtle leaves (ground)

Cream butter and sugar, fold in flour and lemon myrtle. Chill, cut into rounds, and bake at 160°C until golden. Fragrant and simple, these biscuits are a sweet offering for the season.

Locally Inspired Feast Ideas

A feast need not be complex. Try roasted vegetables dusted with wattleseed dukkah, fresh salads brightened with finger limes, or a platter of seasonal fruits, cheeses, and warm bread. What matters is not perfection but joyful celebration.

An Australian inspired Equinox Feast

 Art Journal Prompt for Spring Equinox Creativity

“What seeds are you planting this spring, in your art, your spirit, your life?”

Explore this visually: draw or collage seeds bursting into shoots, paint spirals of light and shadow, or layer pressed flowers and natural textures. Work with a colour palette of greens, yellows, and pastels to capture spring’s vibrancy. This page becomes a map of your own renewal.

Art Journal

Oracle Insights – 3-Card Spread for Balance and Growth

This spread invites equinox clarity:

1. Where am I finding balance?

2. What seed needs planting?

3. What energy will help me grow?

Light a candle, shuffle your deck, and draw three cards. Take notes in your journal, noticing how imagery and intuition weave with the season’s themes. Allow this reading to set the tone for the weeks ahead.

Oracle Card Reading

Spring Playlist for Ritual and Creativity

Every threshold deserves a soundtrack. This curated Spring Playlist offers songs for ritual, creativity, and daily life, weaving mood, energy, and inspiration. Whether you listen while journaling, cooking, or simply daydreaming by the window, let the music carry you deeper into spring’s unfolding.

Closing the Circle: Living the Energy of Equinox

The Spring Equinox is not just a fleeting moment; it is a season of unfolding. Balance honoured today can ripple into the weeks ahead, reminding us that growth and stillness, light and shadow, action and rest all belong to the cycle.

Wishing you balance, renewal, and creative unfolding this equinox.

Disclaimer on AI Images

Some images in this blog are AI-assisted, a tool I use to help manage energy and time due to chronic illness and disability. All written content and original art remain my own.

Art Witch Musings: Sigil Magic, Scorpio Full Moon and a Creative Descent

A cream-colored desk with an open art journal featuring a white sigil, surrounded by art tools, crystals, and candlelight, evoking the energy of the Scorpio Full Moon.

Hello creative alchemists, and welcome to my 20th blog post!

The Scorpio Full Moon 2025 is upon us, and as always, my full moon report is up over on Facebook under Cycles of Craft if you're craving a deeper dive into the energies. This post, however, is more personal, part studio letter, part ritual space. As we move through this season of descent, the pull to slow down is strong. Samhain marks the beginning of the dark half of the year, and with Pluto now retrograde and Black Moon Lilith both present in Scorpio, it’s no wonder we’re being asked to pause and reflect.

Cuppa and Catch Up

This fortnight I’ve been busy finishing off my pieces for Creativa, my upcoming exhibition with Collective 24. As predicted in the last blog, there were some late-night painting sessions to get everything finished in time, but I’m happy to report they are now ready to be delivered to the gallery this week!

We’ve started promoting the show too, so keep an eye out for it on platforms like What’s On Melbourne. Collective 24 members have also been dropping flyers off to art stores and cafes around town. If you’re not already, please follow Collective 24 on the socials to stay in the loop.

Now that the work is done, I’m taking a moment to breathe. I have some important medical appointments coming up over the next couple of months, and I know I’ll need to pace myself and rest where I can. My body is asking for stillness, and for once, I’m listening.

This Full Moon blog will be the last of the fortnightly updates for now. I’ll be moving to monthly Studio Letters in alignment with the New Moon. It’s not a step back, it’s a deepening. A chance to go slower, but richer. To honour the rhythm of the darker months. To follow my own energy instead of trying to keep up with the pace of the world. It’s part of evolving my intuitive art practice and making room for more authentic, sustainable creativity.

I’ve pulled out an unfinished canvas that’s been tucked away behind my desk for months. No pressure to do anything with it just yet, but I’m enjoying seeing it again. I’m also feeling the pull to journal more, privately, intuitively. A quieter form of artmaking, and one that feels very needed.

Art Witch Musings: Sigils in Art Practice

I often include sigils in my art.

They’re usually subtle, drawn with white watercolour pencil or layered into the underpainting, but they become part of the energy of the piece. A way of weaving intention into the process. This week I made one for the Full Moon using the phrase:
“I release creative fear and express my truth with power.”

Once the letters were condensed and rearranged into a glyph, I sketched it onto the canvas I’m working on. It’s hidden beneath layers of glaze now, but I know it’s there.

Historically, sigils were used in ceremonial magic by mystics and magicians who would encode spiritual or magical intentions into a single visual symbol. These weren't meant to be read literally, but felt or intuited symbols of desire, transformation, or divine protection. Today, they’re often used in chaos magic and intuitive witchcraft as a way of personalising your spellwork. I love that they’re both ancient and adaptable, there's something powerful about crafting a symbol that feels uniquely yours.

If you’ve never worked with sigil magic in art, they’re a beautiful way to combine ritual and creativity. You can write your intention, reduce it down by removing the vowels and repeated letters, and shape what’s left into a symbol. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to feel right.

You can add it to your sketchbook, your canvas, your journal, wherever you create. Let it be a quiet spell, working behind the scenes.

A gold sigil drawn from the intention 'I release creative fear and express my truth with power,' set against a textured, moody background.

Art Journal Prompt

What creative fear are you ready to release this Scorpio Full Moon?

And what truth are you ready to speak with power?

If it resonates, try creating a sigil from your answers and including it somewhere in your art or journal this week. It can be hidden, abstract, messy, or precise. There’s no wrong way to do it, only what feels honest.

This is a deep and personal one. There’s no pressure to share it. Let it be something just for you, if that’s what feels right. This type of art journaling for healing is something I return to again and again.

An open art journal surrounded by paints, tea, and candlelight—capturing a quiet moment of creative magic.

Artist of the Season: Suzy Frelinghuysen

Born May 7, 1911, Suzy Frelinghuysen was one of the first American women to work in the abstract cubist style and one of the few to be taken seriously by the movement during her time.

Suzy studied art in New York and later joined the American Abstract Artists group, working alongside artists like Josef Albers and Piet Mondrian. She brought a distinctly lyrical edge to geometric abstraction, her compositions are bold and architectural, yet there’s a kind of flow to them that draws you in.

She was also an opera singer, performing with the New York City Opera in the 1940s and 50s. For long stretches, she stepped away from painting completely to focus on music. That rhythm feels real to me, the way we move in and out of creative phases. Suzy reminds me that it’s okay to take breaks, to return, to reinvent. That your artistry is never limited to just one form.

I love discovering women artists like Suzy who shaped art history in quiet, powerful ways. They’re part of the lineage I work within as a mixed media artist in Melbourne, exploring themes of identity, voice, and reclamation.

Cycles of Craft Update

Since the last blog, I’ve shared updates on Facebook about Samhain ritual ideas, Pluto retrograde in Aquarius, and Dark Moon Lilith in Scorpio. There’s also a Scorpio Full Moon report going live the same day as this blog.

With so much intense astrology happening in the fixed signs, I’ve been feeling it in my bones. The Scorpio-Aquarius tension is strong in my chart, and it’s asking me to dig deep, to slow down, reflect, and be honest about what needs to be composted in order for new growth to take root.

Even though the blog will shift to a monthly rhythm, there will still be plenty of updates on Instagram and Facebook, especially around moon phases, seasonal changes, and behind-the-scenes moments from the studio. Think of the monthly blog as a deeper exhale. A gathering of threads. A letter from the heart. A continuation of the Cycles of Craft journey we’ve been on for the last 6 months.

Soundtrack for the Descent

If you're like me, certain songs just belong to this time of year.

Soundtrack your descent into winter with these witchy studio tunes. A mix of moody instrumentals, dreamy folk, and atmospheric soundscapes to hold you through the quiet season. Perfect for painting, journaling, or simply brewing a strong cup of tea and sinking into the stillness.

🎧 Listen to the playlist on Spotify

Where to Find Me

I’ll be back with the new Studio Letter for the Gemini New Moon at the end of May. These monthly letters will continue to blend studio updates, seasonal energy, and a little bit of magic, just at a more sustainable rhythm for the dark half of the year.

Until then, you can:

• Catch the full Scorpio Full Moon astrology update on Facebook

• Follow Collective 24 on instagram and facebook for exhibition updates

• And don’t miss: 25% off everything in my Redbubble store from May 15–19

May this Full Moon help you release what’s no longer serving you and remind you of your power to begin again.

A quick note: Some of the images in this post were created using AI tools. As a disabled artist, managing my energy and chronic pain means I sometimes need to find alternative ways to bring my vision to life. These tools support me in staying connected to my creative practice, even when my body needs to rest.

Art Witch Musings: Studio Notes, Magic & Momentum

Hello Creative Alchemists,

It’s the full moon in Libra this week and while we’ve moved our deeper astrology dives to social media, I still want to take a moment to acknowledge the energy of this lunation. Libra brings themes of harmony, balance and beauty, and after the eclipse season, Venus and Mercury retrogrades, this full moon feels like a moment to catch our breath and consolidate all that’s shifted. Keep an eye out on the socials for the deep dive.

Cuppa + Catch Up: Studio Happenings and Collective 24 News

Cuppa Time

Grab your favourite cuppa, light a candle, and get comfy, there’s lots to catch you up on.

Let’s start with the exciting news from Collective 24: we’ve secured a gallery and exhibition dates! We’re beyond thrilled to be exhibiting at Kindred Cameras Gallery in Docklands during the term break, from May 25 – June 3, with our opening night on May 30. We knew this was a big ask, a newly formed collective requesting their own dates from a gallery is not the usual way things are done (typically, galleries give you the dates), but we asked anyway… and they said yes! Not only can the gallery facilitate our requested time, but they also offer a package to curate and hang the show for us. How amazing is that?

This gives us space to focus on completing our work and planning an epic opening night. And yes, it’s fully accessible, which was non-negotiable for us. Accessibility in the arts matters, not just for me as a wheelchair user, but for everyone who wants to create and engage with art.

In light of the exhibition announcement, I’ve stepped up our profile sharing schedule on socials from weekly to daily, so I can start promoting both our artists and the exhibition. Starting next week, we will start taking a deeper dive into each of the artists and find out a little bit more about their art. If you’re not already following Collective 24 on Instagram and Facebook, come join us!

Inside the Studio: Sculpture, Layers + A Juicy Workshop

Back in the studio, I’ve been continuing to explore texture and layers. I made a fun little paper mâché sculpture last week inspired by seed pods, I even shared a reel of the process, so if you missed it, head to the grid to check it out.

I also signed up for a 5-day mixed media workshop with Art of Flow. I know, I know… as if I wasn’t busy enough! But it’s all about juicy layers and mixed media magic, and I couldn’t resist. One hour a day, and by the end of the week I should have a finished canvas ready to hang. Or at least some new techniques and a very messy art table.

I also have one more piece to finish for the Incognito Art Show.

More big news, I’m honoured to share that my “Kintsugi of the Soul” torsos won Round 3 of Violence Prevention Australia’s “Stop it Before it Starts” art competition. Voting is now open for the People’s Choice Award, and I would so appreciate your support if you can take a moment to vote for my work.

Accessibility + Advocacy: Life Outside the Studio

Outside the studio, things have been full on. I’ve had a stack of appointments with my healthcare team and have started seeing some new practitioners. My occupational therapist is doing all the behind-the-scenes advocacy work to try and get me an electric wheelchair, something that would make a huge difference to my daily life and independence. I’m dreaming of rolling down to my local café solo for a morning coffee. What can I say, I’m an Art Witch who lives in Melbourne, it’s the vibe!

Art Witch Musings: Colour Magic + Altar Building

Last week on the socials, we explored Colour Magic. As artists, we’re already familiar with colour theory, but colour has deep energetic and symbolic meanings too.

My palette has shifted naturally with the season, deep ochres, rusts, and warm ambers are showing up a lot. And gold. Always gold. Even when I try not to include it in a piece, it never feels finished until I add that shimmer.

Gold has long been linked to sun magic. It represents illumination, courage, and wisdom. It's also associated with divination, insight, creativity and happiness. In ancient cultures, gold was used in rituals and ceremonies, often symbolising divinity and the sacred.

This week, we’re looking at how building an Art Witch Altar can support both your creative and spiritual practice.

Here are some things you might include on your altar:

• Crystals for creativity (like Carnelian, Citrine, or Clear Quartz)

• A small candle to represent illumination

• Seasonal objects like leaves or seed pods

• A journal or notebook

• Tools you love, paintbrushes, pencils, or scraps of paper

• A tarot or oracle card pull

Altars don’t need to be big or fancy. A windowsill, a small shelf, even a corner of your desk will do. The key is creating a sacred space where you can drop into creative flow and honour your craft.

An art desk with Art Witch Altar items

Art Journal Prompt: Full Moon in Libra

This full moon invites us to reflect on the balance between caring for others and caring for ourselves.

Art Journal Prompt:

What does balance look like in your creative life? Where are you being called to restore harmony, between rest and making, between giving and receiving, between solitude and connection?

Let your page be a mirror.

Art Journal

Artist of the Season: Elizabeth Catlett

Our featured artist this season is Elizabeth Catlett (1915–2012), an African American and Mexican sculptor and printmaker whose work centred around themes of race, gender, motherhood, and resistance.

Catlett’s work was both politically engaged and deeply personal. She’s best known for her powerful linocut prints and sculptures that depict Black women with strength and dignity. Her career spanned more than 70 years, and her art often carried messages of empowerment, particularly for working class women and communities of colour.

Some of her iconic works include:

• Sharecropper (1952) — a striking linocut print

• Homage to My Young Black Sisters (1968)

• Mother and Child (multiple versions)

She believed art should serve the people and speak truth to power, a sentiment that still rings true in today’s world. Her influence can be felt across generations of feminist and activist artists.

Studio Tunes

I’ll leave you with this Autumn Vibes Playlist, a musical companion to this season of slow transformation and golden light.

Crafting Magic in the Mess

As the leaves turn and the light shifts, I’m feeling the rhythm of the season deep in my bones, that blend of letting go and digging deeper. Whether I’m layering gold leaf on canvas or shaping seed pods in paper mâché, I keep returning to this truth: there’s magic in the making, even in the mess. Especially in the mess. Thank you for being part of this creative unfolding, for showing up, reading along, and weaving your own threads into this ever-growing tapestry.

If you’d like to follow more of my daily art practice, studio rituals, and behind-the-scenes updates, you can find me over on Instagram and Facebook at @anges.studio. You can also check out my Redbubble store for art prints and goodies, or dive into more blog musings on my website at www.angesstudio.com. Until next time, keep crafting your own kind of magic.

With love and creativity,