SpiritMama Flickr pics of Monarch Butterfly Hatching

My friend Waxela owns SpiritMama and sells her creations on Etsy. Like Mambo the Clown, a handmade, 18" one-of-a-kind art doll. She also makes cake toppers and bamboo clothing. I met her years ago at an art and music festival in Ashland, Oregon.

She took some amazing pictures of a butterfly hatching and taking its first flight. Here's what she wrote about her experience on her blog:

"I spent my childhood summers catching insects, frogs, turtles, salamanders, toads, minnows, and the occasional snake. I still have some of that curious little explorer in me, so when I found a tiny monarch caterpillar a few weeks ago I was delighted at the idea of watching the amazing metamorphosis happen before my eyes. I was a diligent caretaker, bringing fresh milkweed leaves to my growing caterpillar every day. The payoff happened on the morning when I woke to find the chrysalis about to break open. I took it outside, and this is what I saw..." - Waxela, SpiritMama

Check out SpiritMama's Flickr slideshow of a monarch butterfly hatching here and her blog here.

Serendipity: Okoboji to Venice

It's a small world. Here's a picture of Nicole and myself in front of my home in Venice. The photo of her fridge shows my magnets and postcard among her treasures there - I'm honored and so happy to create art that inspires people like that. She and her mother used to shop for my Heartful Art at a store in Okoboji, Iowa (then owned by Waxela Sananda who now lives and creates "Spirit Mama" art in Austin, TX).

How we made the connection: One Saturday morning in February, Nicole's mother came upon my art at the Venice Cat Coalition booth at the Venice Farmer's Market. She recognized my cute little inspirational magnets and voila! she remembered where she had found them in years gone by. Fun!

Nicole came to visit her parents a few weeks later and they all (including her father) came to meet me at my studio to buy art, share our stories, and meet the little kittens I was fostering (the 3 tabby brothers). Back home in the midwest, Nicole now has a kitty of her own and she is, herself an artist. We plan to keep in touch on Facebook.

Heartful Art is available in over a hundred stores in the USA, on the internet and also in Femail Creations catalog. Destiny happens. We never know when paths will cross and serendipity lights up our world to remind us ... we are all One.