Welcome to the February edition of Highlights. As I began to put together this edition a spectacular thunderstorm arrived over my home. As I cut, pasted, opened and closed files there was lightning flashing through my window and thunder that was literally shaking the house. I suddenly had an image from those old black and white horror movies of the mad scientist racing about his laboratory, collecting vials of potions and flicking giant switches to make his creation come alive, always with a thunderstorm as his backdrop. I will resist the urge to scream "It's alive!" as I hit the "save" button! This month we travel to the Netherlands for both our featured artists. Our featured author, Wesley De Herdt has just had his first book published. His book came about through another passion, teaching the new energy through classes. Wesley is a wonderful example of we can flow from one creation to another. My featured artist embodies this flow also. Marieke Verhoeckx plays with every medium available and embraces the very essence of play.  A younger new energy artist, she has embraced modern technology not just in creating new art but also in using it to share her art with others. I find this just as inspiring as what she creates! We then have a quick look at the Cochrane Town mural project, an amazing collaboration from almost 200 artists. I take up the final part of the newsletter sharing with you some photos I took at a Buddhist temple alongside the words of a Buddhist priest to provide us with a reminder of the power of the Breath.

Featured Author; Wesley De Herdt What areas of creativity do you play with? How and when did you get started? I love to create with all ways of expressing myself from the I am presence 'I am'. I love to make the conscious choice to let them unfold, and in the meanwhile express myself in all kind of ways to move my choices into matter. My field of creativity is wide open and has no boundaries. I am expressing myself in the now moment. I love to play with the many expressions that are coming from me. First of all I am working on a project that is called Pandora’s Enterprises. I see myself as a new energy alchemist or scientist. At this moment I am working with Adamus, Jim and Marcel to create this space where specialists from all sides come together to create new energy science. It is a multi dimensional co-operation, where scientists from the earth planes can do their research on creating new technologies, novel and new materials. I have worked in my life on many layers with alchemy, to expand my consciousness and go beyond matter, to create new energies within it. It is one of my biggest passions on earth right now. And it is also my masterpiece. A masterpiece that is coming from embodying I am all that I am in this body and expressing it on Earth, to be a reminder of my journey on earth, when I am heading into my 3rd circle of creation. I give workshops and sessions in all kind of ways, to play with new energy concepts and to be a full creator on earth. I am channeling the members of the Crimson Council and the Order of the Arc. I love to play these kind of roles, to be a new energy standard and teacher in my own way. I started new energy workshops and sessions in 2003 to do a passion that has lain buried deep within me. It was a blast to see my self in front of groups and for the first time in my life channeling for a group of people. From my birth I am multi dimensional so for me it was easy to do this. I never had any course or whatever. I knew within myself, everything is within me. So why learn on the outside? I had many problems at school, college and university, cause I couldn’t fit in their structures. I waited until August 1999, when AA Gabriel came to me and said to me you have to go that way! It was my journey into the new energy. At the same time Geoffrey Hoppe began channeling Tobias. At this moment I am writing my new book about it,my journey as a Shaumbra from 1999 untill discovering my masterpiece. I love to write. I did it when I was young. I am a story teller. When my cousins stayed with me I told them stories about everything; scary ones, war ones, angelic and fairy ones and sci-fi ones. I had my own dairy and wrote my poems. I really love to tell stories in all kind of ways and from all kind of perspectives. I love life! That is a different story to tell about it, to truly love life at this moment of time and how achieve it for myself.   How did you come to write your book- “Goud”? I had a project with Adamus to do online workshops, to introduce a series of twelve channels to work with creating abilities. So it started as a workshop. Adamus asked me to make a book from it. “Gold, New Energy Alchemy”. It is an amazing book. It is a journey within yourself to stand in your own mastery with new energy tools. Not only Adamus is coming to tell something about it, but also Kuthumi, Miriam, Ohamah and others. For the students within the workshop it was a journey of four months together to fully embody this material. Now it is a book! It is an amazing journey to see how the book has evolved as it now is. I have chosen to do this and let it go to unfold itself. It came back to me to see the layers of my creations. The funny part is the creation doesn’t feel it is mine, but a creation on its own. I have given life to it and let it free. Now it can stand on its own and evolving in whichever direction it loves to be. I don’t own my creations, I just let them go! What are the joys and challenges of writing for you? The joy and challenges are to make space for myself and to be with myself. The challenges are that I forget to make space for myself to write and be with myself to do it. A lot is going on with my life. Everything is changing all the time and my work is expanding all the time also. So the challenge for me is to make space in all the energies that is flowing through me and around me, to focus only on my writing. Now I am writing this book about me. It is a challenge to be with myself, but when it is there I feel the joy of doing it. To write my story in all kind of ways. To take people into my world and let them see through my eyes the world as I see. I write all my emotions, thoughts, awareness, imaginations and so on, to bring people into my multi dimensional worlds. What was it like dealing with a publisher? It was difficult to find a publisher, cause there is a lot on the market in the new age world. So people don’t see the difference between new age or new energy. They said NO a lot! This was for different reasons but I have found one that is going to publish my book. I choose this experience to promote my own work and make my name famous, because a publisher has a nice network to promote my book and myself. I only get 10% of the profit, but I don’t mind. It is my promotion with this book to expand my work. What would you share with anyone about to start a book? Just choose and let it unfold! You can visit Wesley's English version of his site at http://www.bluecrystalrose.nl/Home.html

Featured Artist; Marieke Verhoeckx What are your earliest memories of being creative? I remember myself being creative from the moment I was born. I drew all the time on white paper. The oldest work I have is a painting I made in kindergarden. I framed it and it hangs on my wall now. It’s abstract and colorful. In primary school, during my first years, teachers never liked my work. I didn’t want to draw between the lines. I made “weird” paintings and nothing like the other kids. It took me until my last years in high school to realize what I did wasn’t bad. There I got 'A’s for the work I made. I could have gone to art school but chose a different study. I love to work with people and use creative mediums now as a tool to work with people. You play with so many different mediums. What draws you to play with each one? Why would you one day write instead of drawing? I cannot see the different mediums as separate from each other. In my experience I draw when I write and when I act it’s almost writing a nice story. I choose the medium intuitively. It can be that I just sit in front of my PC and that it’s the easiest to write. When I take my pencils and drawing book with me I will draw more. Coincidence plays a big part in my work.  Every expression is like a picture of the moment. Sometimes it’s caught in paint, other times in sound or movement. It can be as simple as getting new software or downloading the right program to record and edit audiofiles or finding the right fabric or example of a stuffed animal. I love my computer because it’s a tool that has many possibilities. It also depends on my mood. I like to paint when I had to think a lot that day. Than it really makes me relaxed to turn my brain off. What and/or who inspires you? Everything inspires me. I have a kind of way of looking at the world that everything is potentially asking me to play. This can be people, situations, objects, stuff and things. Nothing is just something. I am inspired by many things. This can be the wind, the sun and the trees. I love to watch documentries. I have read artbooks from when I was little. I am inspired by independent people who express their uniqueness. When I sit in the train I can be touched by the way someone moves or sleeps. I am very inspired by cartoons and shows for children. 'In The Nightgarden' from the BBC with a character called Makka Pakka is art and something I came across last month. I watched an episode of Makka Pakka with my mouth open for half an hour. Children's television is most of the time more experimental and out of the borders. I am influenced by childrens television. I get inspired by my dreams. The creations I make are often the first thing that are in my mind when I wake up. Than I only have to record it with a medium. How do you know a creation is ready to be shared? Do you ever keep something just for yourself? In essence every creation is always ready to be shared. Its ready when I have the feeling that I caught the vibe I wanted to express. I always experience my own creation and than I feel if it’s ready, needs some more paint, or needs other words. My first reaction is to keep everything for myself. It takes me some courage to share my creations with the world. When something is ready I get a feeling. Then I publish it on one of my sites.    "Interdimensional Party" by Marieke (2008) I got to learn to validate every expression. I used to have a closet full of writings and little books with drawings that I kept for myself. I learned to share this. It has to do with being a perfectionist. The biggest gift that I gave myself is the gift of unlimited expression. There is no right or wrong in creating. Some things are doodles, some things are created on canvas with expensive paint. Both are valuable. My dearest things are the things I make inbetween creating. They are the things that have no goal in the first place, that don’t need to be beautiful. I keep some creations for myself. When I feel it isn’t ready yet I nurture it. Most of my creations are what I call “little 10 minutes”. I have little patience so when I feel something, have a vision or an abstract feeling it goes like "woesj woesj" and than it’s done. It goes fast and effortless. The difficult thing is to allow the flow to flow, and to take my expressions and feelings “seriously”, to see the gift in everything Is there something you dream of creating? Next to a bookshelf of all my books, creating my own gallery, community centre, theatre and school I dream of creating the colors of heaven. In my imagination all expressions are combined there. Like sounds that have color and shape that moves around. Like a real life 3D movie you can smell and taste at the same time and when you want to touch it, it changes. With other words I would love to create heaven on earth. Everything I make is an attempt to catch that vibration. I feel that all my expressions bring heaven one step closer to earth. Marieke has some amazing sites for you to visit and see more of her art; *De Passiebloem: The fun of interdimensional art and expressions in Dutch   www.lievebeer.moonfruit.com (soon in English) *The home of a very funny bunny!    www.funnybunny.moonfruit.com *Poetic site about living in a new world   www.newchildren.moonfruit.com *The playshop with stuffed animals, art and cards    www.mariken.etsy.com

Mosaic Mural Art Project Artists Lewis Lavoie, Phil Alain and Paul Lavoie in Canada have been organising murals that bring together artists to create in a unique way. Their mural projects can involve over 200 artists who may never even meet each other. Each artist is simply given a panel with a rough outline and color scheme, then they create their own unique art work which is pieced together with hundreds of others into one huge artwork. All artists follow a set theme and recently the town of Cochrane in Canada all joined together to create their own amazing piece called "Trust". As the organisers say it is not unlike life, each artist just focuses on what they are doing and yet it all adds up! To read more about the Cochrane town project and see the individual pieces; http://www.muralmosaic.com/Cochrane.html

Nan Tien Temple Buddhas I recently visited the Nan Tien Temple just south of Sydney. One of the joys of this beautiful place is the myriad of "baby" Buddha statues that are scattered through the grounds. I have shared some of my photos with you here, accompanied by the words of Thich Nhat Hanh, a Zen Buddhist Priest from Vietnam. His beautiful words are a wonderful reminder of the power of the breath to centre us and to connect with our pure feeling state. This state is the key to our creativity and a place all new energy artists know well!      "At the moment of waking up, before getting out of bed, get in touch with your breath,...  ....feel the various sensations in your body, note any thoughts and feeling that may be present, let mindfulness touch this moment,....      ....Can you feel your breath? Can you perceive the dawning of each 'in' breath? Can you enjoy the feeling of the breath freely entering your body in this moment?....  ....Breathe in, I smile, breathe out, I calm my body, dwelling in the present moment, it is a wonderful moment.”

New Energy Dating Site A relationship can be just as amazing a creation as any painting or book. For those new energy artists who are looking for someone to create with there is now a dating site created especially for you. Angel 4 Angel was created as a way for people with a spitual focus in their lives to connect with someone similar. As a special incentive to help you get started membership is free for the month of February (2008). www.angel4angel.net

Thanks for dropping by. Namaste! Read past editions of Highlights HERE