Amanda Elizabeth Devik

AED ⚡️🤍⚡️

artist, healer, alchemist, poet, lover of life

[Amanda Elizabeth Devik @amanda_devik]

Wrote this one a few hours before the volcano went off and ended up spending the next sunset with
Tutu Pele 🌋 1/12/26

-----------------

I sigh
because I long

to sit
and Share
sunset
and sunrise--

made full
sipping sunbeams
like fishing line
a good catch

watched
not with anyone
entertaining
every one

wounded soldiers
wingnuts
kamikaze
awol

I'll befriend pohaku
under open air
stress less
let go

I'm a soft rock
on a vacant shore
tumbled smooth
kerneled

the front line
is seafoam
the sky
my piece

suns march
with sheets like
floating parachutes
of amber light

explosive eruptions
are far from me
as is sleep
but I'm done fighting

a different warrior
one that no's
with calm, quiet
thoughtful goodbyes

no solace
for souless sleepers
while desires stay damned
by circumstance

I will soak up
rainbow colors
maybe reyes come
offering comfort

so I'll romance the sea
and behold
my own love
at sunrise.

⚡️🤍⚡️ AED

[Amanda Elizabeth Devik @amanda_devik]

Open air painting of episode 40, got to site around 11 and stayed until sunset.

Oil, the one on the right is more expressionist style. #kilauea #volcano

[Amanda Elizabeth Devik @amanda_devik]

Episode 40 #volcano 🌋

[Amanda Elizabeth Devik @amanda_devik]

@Nikwalton_ Happy Sunday 🌌

[Amanda Elizabeth Devik @amanda_devik]

@ArthurShelbyNFT Lots of changes happening ✨️

Hope I'm well too on the other side of it. ☺️💖

Hugs, to the King of Tomato Art.

[Amanda Elizabeth Devik @amanda_devik]

Bisqued and Waiting

For now, I'm my own for safekeeping.
I pray for strength and the words to express boundaries better than casual creations can.
I'm soft and shapeable,
but perfected over time.
I pray for divine protection
And will, that my choices lead me far from
those that might stuff me in a backpack,
loose me in a cluttered car,
scuff my finish,
infuse me with smoke,
sully me with prolonged and improper storage.

To approach Becoming in a way where
I might diminish this brightness with quiet brushmarks
humble yet whole and harmonious
While working on the masterpiece that is my life...
To avoid catching the wrong sort of attention
Is an art in itself.

Even if God could endlessly repair me, neither of Us
would want to repeat
the trials of hell
And the blows of the anvil
Just for the sake of reforging.

But to diminish and cower in fear, it's clear--
I won't
and can't...
I'm destined for brilliance as an ode to that Great Maker
That Beloved Creator
An extension of an essence distilled down to a drop and deposited in this maliable physicality.
To be a perfect expression of transcendant alchemy.

To love the way that God loves
Might blind, but can't hide.
It might fire away the excuses and justifications you lean on to lessen yourself--
By daring to only look at it.

Seeing that light
might make a masterpiece out of you, too.
At 1060°C, evaporating all your impurities
Making you question your insecurities
And their misguided motivations...
It might prepare you to perfectly receive a miraculous coat one day;
a crystaline sheen that protects you from life's nicks and scratches.

Now I sing with a flick and a ting--
A tone that rings through the Artisan's studio.

And await a consonant reply.

AED ⚡️🤍⚡️

[Amanda Elizabeth Devik @amanda_devik]

Rise & Shine

Awaken

The symphony of yardbirds
and the flirtatious sun
greet the windows of this cabin
and my soul
with eyelids' first opening.

I see silhouettes of pioneer trees
Sporting firework flowers
To please passing bees
And my spirit hears the silent song of their beckoning.

Even my body is dewy
Like nearly dry matte paint or fresh greenware
And I meet the day feeling truly new
As that Great Unseen Artisan Master somehow reimagined me.

God dreamed me different today--

There is no bloat of trapped stressors
My cells process perfectly
No atrophy or knot of muscle;
Reponsive fibers release effortlessly.

Every organ relaxing into optimal performance
Every heartbeat pushing warm, clean blood to the furthest extremity
Every breath soft, fresh, deep, and deliberate
Even tendons revitalized and renewed, primed and ready to

Rise

My hair catches rainbows,
Like it was woven on the loom from those rays.
Lavished in Luminosity
I'm dressed in sunlight first.

I stretch to break my fast from movement
I salute Apollo for the assist
With short asanas and a smile
Basking with bare feet on the wood he warmed for me

I settle into receiving morning sounds
And sit with my meditation
Noting that even the mind is perfectly stretched and prepared
The student was gifted fresh canvas.

...

I'm reminded that fine art can only do so much freeze a threat with its stunning existence.
Appreciated by many, coveted by an advantageous few--
It requires multiple layers of security and a small army of stewards and protectors.
Lest it is theived in ignorance to end up at a thrift and fade under layers of dust
Left to reflect under flourescent lighing on linoleum.

Speaking of layers, I make the first strokes on my day, flourish my form into a robe and remember:

I must Rise from the yardsale of my past life,
Maybe discovered by keen eyes, whose wisdom
watches in awe the worth that warrants such wards.
Picked up with hands that show reverence, respect, robustness and with resonable restraint
Remain delicately devoted in care and conservation

It is Source that performs the restorations
And it is undenyable now Who spent the extra time on this vessel
I could never take the credit for how I woke up today
I'm merely a willing apprentice to that Glory, simply learning to

Shine

AED ⚡️🤍⚡️

[Amanda Elizabeth Devik @amanda_devik]

@JohnMayer @deadandcompany @GratefulDead Find a date for RISE yet?

[Amanda Elizabeth Devik @amanda_devik]

When you camp at the ceramics studio because the fire lasts 3 days and your shift is 12a-6a

[Amanda Elizabeth Devik @amanda_devik]

" Draw a circle "

[Amanda Elizabeth Devik @amanda_devik]

Found object

[Amanda Elizabeth Devik @amanda_devik]

Today he had me learning to wedge clay after organizing a bunch of his bisqued pieces. I got everything on the table up onto shelves and got a lot of old art books organized.

[Amanda Elizabeth Devik @amanda_devik]

Landed an apprenticeship at one of the most impressive pottery studios in the area, so that's happening.

[Amanda Elizabeth Devik @amanda_devik]

First pinch pot. I have a clear idea of what I want to do. Brian Bickle ("Bick-Lee") has me on the basics though, not skipping any steps. He's a disabled veteran and an alchemist wizard in his own right.

[Amanda Elizabeth Devik @amanda_devik]

Yes or no?

[Amanda Elizabeth Devik @amanda_devik]

@BlazzordTV Looking forward to your video tings 🤍

[Amanda Elizabeth Devik @amanda_devik]

The women were like the coffee beans. The first merchant was all talk and show, he might as well have been selling snake oil. Those beans are like the girlfriend, a lot of talk but little substance. The second merchant's beans had quality pedigree and were widely known of, similar to the Haseki Sultan. And the beans from the artisan producer were like the Sultan's newest wife, produced with care and keeping quality in mind; stunning in their simplicity and attention to detail.

Character can be judged in a moment, so remember to keep your head.

And original short story fiction
by Amanda Elizabeth Devik

~*~*~*~

[Amanda Elizabeth Devik @amanda_devik]

Here is a tale I came up with this morning when I spilled some expensive coffee beans that were grown here on island. While some of the elements pull from history, it is (to my knowledge) a fictional account.

~*~*~*~

Let me tell you a fascinating story about how character is revealed in a moment.

Murad IV the Sultan was in the process of abolishing coffee from consumption by the common populace. The belief was that coffee was too stimulating and mind-altering to be holy; much like alcohol.

It was during this time that esteemed merchants were touring through the region with the finest goods and wares. And of course they would visit the Sultan to showcase the most quality products.

Even though guards were instructed to sneak out in disguise to behead coffee drinkers in public, Murad IV would still partake in coffee and even alcohol in some social situations. And so when the first merchant came through with beads of sweat and hands shaking as he pulled out a parcel of coffee beans...Murad IV looked at the package sternly before smelling through the cloth bag and softening his expression and letting out a chuckle. "It's ok, but I've had better. Find the merchants with only the finest quality coffee and bring them to me."

So the rookie went out to his network, and soon 3 more merchants appeared.

One of the merchants told lofty stories about the magical properties of his beans. He spoke of their healing powers and ability to provide mental clarity. So showy was his display, you could almost taste sugar. Coffee merchant number 2 highlighted the processing of the beans, and this was a well known source because the processor got beans from all over to meet demand, so there was plenty to supply the palace. The third coffee merchant was quiet though. He brought a small quantity of beans from an artisan grower that used clean growing practices and roasted the beans carefully on site. When confronted by the Sultan, he simply said; "The beans speak for themselves."

"Surely then, this is the finest coffee!" exclaimed the Sultan. He quickly dismissed the pompous salesmen and thanked the rookie merchant who brought his colleagues. The rookie was so nervous that as he was leaving, he bumped into the choice merchant and a sac of coffee opened in his hand spilling half of its contents onto the floor.

Before the rookie could even apologize the Sultan's girlfriend eagerly came and scooped up a handful from the top of the pile on the floor. "These are still precious beans of the finest quality. I can humble myself to drink this, even though it fell to the floor. I will make a good wife."

His chief consort, the Haseki Sultan said "I will have coffee from the sac, but nothing that touched the floor. I know these are the finest coffee beans but I also know my worth.

Then, the newest wife quietly picked up the remaining beans...very tenderly and carefully, removing bits of dirt and hair as she collected them. She said nothing, but her tender fingers were so loving in the way she cleaned them and cleared the floor.

The Sultan watched all of this in amazement and looked at his girlfriend. "This is why you are not a wife. My chief consort knows her worth and would never dream of eating from the floor. My newest wife, she takes care of valuable things and is so affectionate and gentle with everything she touches. But you, you swoop in first like you are owed the best coffee without invitation. You pick up the top of the pile but are too smug to do loving work like my newest wife. Guard, behead this woman for her addiction to coffee. I want her out of my sight!"