Please, do come in

Welcome to my studio, yes I am aware that this is also a kitchen, lol. It is my lovely kitchen/studio in one. We do have a guest room that we turned into a gallery/studio that I like to do writing and my photography in. Since I am working with resin I like to have adequate light and a larger area for ventilation. My wonderful husband agreed to take some photographs of me in action! He is quite the photographer. He amazes me at everything he does. He really is very talented. What can I say I married a Genius! Today actually marks three years of being together. Three years ago today he asked me if he could have the honor of relationshipifying me on Facebook. It was the sweetest thing in the world. In March it will be one year being married. He is my world, my breath, my everything. I am so very grateful that we found each other. He inspires me in everything I do.

Here I am just getting started by prepping my medium. What is that you ask? Well it’s my dried rose petals I use to create my “Heart Story” pendants.

Here is one in the shape of a heart. I am really having fun. I enjoy creating and making jewelry and art. It does something for my heart and soul that is tough to explain, but I’m going to try in this post. My pendants have been speaking to me in a way lately. (Not literally) I’m an artist but I’m not crazy, lol. More on that in a bit.

Here I am just getting started with the resin. I love the angle of this shot.

This procees usually takes me about 2 hours, including prep time until I am ready to let them cure. Curing takes 24 hours before I can pop them out of the molds.

Working on the first pendant.

As you can tell there is quite a bit of time and work that goes into making my “Heart Story” pendants. I also have to trim, sand and glaze all the pendants, as well as glue on my bails and hand make the custom length satin or suede necklace. The reason I do all of this is because it is my passion and I have a strong pull (a need really) to create art and share my work with others. For me it’s about love, it’s about joy, it’s about helping others.

Here is a pic of the back side of the pendants about halfway through curing.

I am actually still working on this batch right now. Hopefully I will have them ready to photograph and list on my etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/PassionOfLight within the week. I am extremely focused on getting more made so that I can have extra available for when I find the perfect little shop that is right for me and my work. I am also going to try out the art walks they have here in the Phoenix area as well. Really excited and nervous.

So to get back to the pendants speaking to me, I have decided to include a heart story poem to go with each pendant. I hand write the poem and roll it into a little scroll, tie it with a gold ribbon and enclose it in the jewelry box. I feel it’s perfect. When I came up with the name of “Heart Story” pendants, inspired by love. It really just came to me, I didn’t have to think about it, it just came to me so naturally. Like it was meant to be, just as these inspirational poems are coming to me. Each pendant is sharing with me what to say, the poems are flowing freely. It’s funny because I used to have a hard time finding the right words and I wouldn’t call myself a writer before, I always felt like the words were just out of my reach. Not anymore though. It feels really good actually, to have all these beautiful words come to me. I feel that it is a reflection of going through my own healing and how I wish to help others heal too. So in a nutshell what I am writing and creating is meant for others and myself. I think by sharing my passion and art with others I’m helping to heal the world by healing myself, and that feels really good. Excited to share that I have had four sales this month already, I just feel it in my heart that my dream is coming true and everything is lining up perfectly.

I would like to end on two of my favorite quotes, it seems fitting. The first quote is dedicated to my husband.

“To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.”
― David Viscott

“The purpose of life is to discover your gift. The meaning of life is to give your gift away.”
― David Viscott

Well I’ve opened up myself to all of you out there, why? because I’m finally ready to. I’m ready to come out of my cocoon and share my gift with the world.

I really hope you enjoyed seeing me in my studio and learning more about me and my work. I still have so much to share, It’s like a dam has broke loose and I’m finally set free.

Much more to come.

As always, comments and questions are more than welcome.

Till next time,

Lisa

Passion Of Light

Where do you get inspiration?

Have you ever got down on yourself or your work and felt sad, maybe even hopeless? Sometimes if we don’t see what we think we should see we get depressed and feel like we failed in some way.

Not true!

We didn’t fail but rather we are perfecting our work and learning along the way. Life is a journey and adventure, but sometimes we forget this. You never know what’s really happening behind the curtain of life. What is unfolding this very second, but we just don’t see it yet. My suggestion is get inspired and stay inspired. Sure we all have down days but we just need to dust ourselves off and keep reminding ourselves that we can do anything we set our mind to. When you truly believe in yourself and you don’t give up, the world won’t give up on you either. Where do you get your inspiration from?

Is it a book?

Journey to the Heart

A movie perhaps?

Katy Perry The Movie: Part of Me

Music?

Leonard Cohen

For me I think I get my inspiration literally from everywhere. I get it from people, movies, flowers, photographs, songs, documentary’s and so on.

Inspiration is all around you. Magic and beauty is all around, if you stop and look you will see it. If your working on something and you feel sad or hopeless, stop and take a break and do something else. Something to clear your mind and refocus. I think we need to draw in inspiration every now and then. We are like a battery and if we are going… going… going… and always putting forth our energy outward we can sometimes feel depleted. We need to recharge our battery by taking in life, energy and inspiration from the world around us. I won’t give up on myself and neither should you.

You are beautiful,

you are creative,

you are perfect just the way you are.

So go,

go on and shine like the beautiful light you are and show the world who you are.

One of my inspirational photographs:

You can click on photo to go to my etsy shop

“Graceful Orchid”

See you next time,

Lisa Novak

Passion Of Light

What is that wonderful smell?

Ah the smell of home made cooking. To me that’s one of the best things in the world. To create a masterpiece in your kitchen, to smell, see, taste and share what you created is a wonderful thing. Perhaps it’s an old recipe that a family member once made. When that happens you add a whole other dimension to your cooking. I’ll explain what I mean by sharing my recent experience.

So sit down relax and make yourself at home. Maybe even enjoy a hot cup of coffee or tea.

Over the holidays I was sharing with my mom about wanting to get out some old recipes from the garage that my Noni had. My Noni was a wonderful woman, she was a strong Italian woman with a lot of heart, she also had an amazing sense of humor. I was raised quite a bit by her, my mom had a full time job, college and three kids. I got to spend a lot of time at my Noni’s. I loved it there. I felt so safe, loved and comfortable at my Noni’s house. Boy did I love her cooking, you could smell her pasta sauce lingering throughout the whole house. It was intoxicating, something I fell in love with at first smell. There was just something about it that made me feel good, warm, safe and loved. I’ve really missed that smell and her cooking. My Noni passed away about ten years ago. She was born June, 13th 1921 and she passed on September 18th 2003. She lived to eighty three, quite a full life. I was there when she passed, it was really hard for me. She shed one tear when she left this world. I believe it was because she loved life and family so very much. It was the saddest but also the most beautiful thing I’d ever witnessed. You may be asking yourself why beautiful? Well by that time in her life she had Alzheimer’s and was very sad. I knew that she would get to see her parents and family again and start her life anew. She would be free of pain and that made me happy in my heart. She made quite the impression on me. I felt like I lost my best friend and one of the people I was closest to in this world. I also happen to be named after her, quite an honor.

My mom found a ton of recipes in the garage. So many to look through, we spent hours looking through old photos and great great grand parents and so on. Well I was able to take a few pics of some recipes on my phone. We had a great time bonding that night. We made a plan to really take some time out together and go through and find her recipes and try some out together. I didn’t find the sauce recipe that night but what I did find was a sauce recipe from my family’s cookbook. The Valenti family cookbook. A collection of wonderful Italian recipes from my family tree. They have a Valenti Open where they all get together and celebrate and have wonderful food. I would love to go one of these days with my mom. Here is the website for recipes and to learn more: http://www.valentiopen.com/

My husband got me a food processor for Christmas and that was really helpful and made the prep work go super fast. I absolutley love it. This is the one I got: Hamilton Beach

I went and bought all of my ingredients and got started. I will just paste the recipe here from the Valenti link.

(Rose Palazzi)

Another famous version of the tomato sauce recipe for a spaghetti dinner – from the kitchen of Rose Palazzi. Outstanding!

Servings: 4 to 5 servings

Sauté one pound (whole) sausages (hot or sweet Italian sausage) in a covered pot for approximately 30 minutes. No oil is needed, just use the natural juices of the sausages.

Add 1 to 2 cloves crushed garlic and one diced onion to pot. Sauté for a few minutes and when soft, add 2 large cans (28 oz. each) of crushed tomatoes

(Rose recommends Tuttorusso brand!) and one small paste. Add one can of water (from paste can).

Add salt, pepper, Italian seasonings and a touch of red pepper flakes. Simmer for several hours.

—————————————————————————————————————-

You can use more or less garlic and seasonings, it’s just a personal choice.

I made it my own by adding more garlic, about 5 or 6 cloves and I added mushrooms.

The pictures aren’t great because I used my phone and it was at night, but at least you get a little visual.

I have also started eating healthier so I like to use fresh zucchini noodles in the place of real pasta. I love it! My mom got me a Zucchini and vegetable spiraler for Christmas and it’s so much easier with this handy kitchen tool. This is the one she got me: Paderno World Cuisine

I’m gathering my ingredients and my husband walks in and wants to help me by trying out the new food processor. He loved it too, it made food prep actually fun:) Who knew how fun it could be. Once I had all my ingredients in the big pot on the stove just like my Noni used to do. I noticed It didn’t specify the amount of salt. I was trying to decide how much when right there and then I was moved to use the palm of my hand to measure it out just like my great grandfather once did. Then the smell hit me like a flashback and I was transported to another time. A time when family would gather round and share and laugh for hours and hours like there was nowhere else to be but with family. It Was an incredible feeling. I felt like I had my whole Italian family right there in the kitchen with me, my Noni was there too. I could almost here the tinkling of wine glasses and see smiles upon smiles gathered around beautiful food and family. It felt very special, like a link to all my family and they’re family. So even though I couldn’t find the exact recipe from my Noni, it didn’t matter because it was exactly what I was looking for. A way to connect with my family and my roots again. The best comforting home made meal that I really needed. The kind that takes you back… Thank you for the recipe Rose Palazzi!

My Noni was a wonderful woman and she taught me about life, love and family. She was my role model and I looked up to her. Who was your role model? Anyone else have an experience similar to mine?

I would love to hear from you and any comments or stories that you have are more than welcome.

if you like hearing about my life, love, art and everything in between, follow me on my blog to continue in the fun.

See you all next time,

Lisa

Life and getting to know me better

Hello all,

What a nice surprise to already have some likes and follows from my first blog post. Pretty awesome. That made me happy. I am really enjoying this whole blog thing. I think it’s going to be very therapeutic and good for me while perhaps helping or inspiring others as well.

“Celestial Rain” This is one of my abstracts that I shot. A pretty cool bokeh effect. This is listed in my etsy shop. I like how dreamy and whimsical it is.

On New Year’s eve I decided to make some new goals and really accomplish them. One of them was to get my work out there more by going to boutiques and shops to show my jewelry. Another was to stock my etsy shop with my photography and jewelry and start working on getting featured by blogs or magazines to get more exposure to my shop and my work. I need to do more and stop just waiting for things to happen. In the past I would get super sad and depressed after working on my work and not seeing enough happen and then comparing myself to others and feeling like I wasn’t good enough and eventually I would give up for a while. Well no more! I know I’m good enough and I like my work and I believe in myself and my work. The time is now and the only person that can make it happen is me. I also feel that the right people are finding my blog and it’s meant to be, just last night I went to a profile after she followed me and I really liked her blog and felt so uplifted by relating to someone similar to what I’ve been going through. She was so positive and inspirational and helped me to realize that the only way I won’t be successful is if I give up. I am never giving up on my dream.

Here is her link if you’d like to check her out, she’s pretty awesome. http://bricadena.wordpress.com/about-me/

Today I am going to make a new batch of “Heart Story” pendants.

I might just post a pic of me while I’m in the process of making them. To see pics and updates on my work and new listings, like my fb fan page here:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Passion-of-Light-Photography/220260797991972?ref=hl

I’m already having ideas for new blog posts, so excited to share with all of you and connect with people. Message me anytime, I love hearing from people.
Take care and be well,

Lisa

Passion Of Light

Here is a  quote to end on:

“I have come to accept the feeling of not knowing where I am going. And I have trained myself to love it. Because it is only when we are suspended in mid-air with no landing in sight, that we force our wings to unravel and alas begin our flight. And as we fly, we still may not know where we are going to. But the miracle is in the unfolding of the wings. You may not know where you’re going, but you know that so long as you spread your wings, the winds will carry you.”
― C. JoyBell C.

A story with heart…

This is a story about love, a love so profound that it has helped me to love myself and begin to heal.

It all started that one January day when he held out his hand for me. I looked up and saw the sun glimmer in his eyes and a hand that was safe and warm, there was no question in my mind. I reached out and placed my hand in his as we walked down the street together. In that exact moment there was a surge of warmth and love that flowed like sweet warm honey straight into my heart. It felt so familiar like De’ja’ vu. We finally found each other again. The world looked like a whole new place, like looking at it for the first time. That world was magical and it was our world. What I was searching for my whole life came to be and I knew I was complete. I knew deep inside that this was no ordinary love. I knew that this man would change my life forever and I was right. We were married March 23, 2013. He is my soul mate and he helps me in so many different ways. We are helping each other. He helps me be my best self and is teaching me to love and accept myself for me. So very thankful for his love and support.

I have been going through a transformation of healing, from my childhood and my past. My work is a personal expression and it helps me heal, I hope to help others heal too. These heart pendants are a reminder to love yourself, to keep your heart open and to love with your whole heart. To feel and acknowledge all of your feelings. Appreciate your divine beauty on the inside as well as the outside. Sometimes in this hectic life we tend to ignore or neglect our own needs, emotions and our self. This heart pendant can serve as a reminder to take care of what your heart needs. It sits in the perfect spot on your chest, it is comfortable, smooth and lightweight.

Introducing “Heart Story” pendants, inspired by love.

A beautiful resin heart filled with dried flower petals. The petals suspend within the heart. There are no two alike, each one is a unique beauty.

Each pendant comes with a comfortable black satin cord and lobster clasp, measures 18 inches in length. The heart measures approximately one inch in width by about 1 3/8 inch in length including the bail. I can customize the length and or material of cord if you prefer.

Elegant, heartfelt and personal. These heart pendants are perfect for yourself and or as a personal gift to a friend or loved one.

I’ve always loved the beauty of flowers, this way the dried petals can be treasured forever.

* I can do custom pendants as well. If you have any dried flowers that are special to you, message me if you want to learn more.

My etsy shop:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/PassionOfLight

Interested in purchasing my “Heart Story” Pendant:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/175255454/real-flower-resin-heart-pendant-rose?

To contact me:
Lisa.PassionOfLight@gmail.com

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