<h4 style="margin-left:0px;"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Roboto, arial, sans-serif;">Anne-Grethe loves Nature and art, and is a spiritual seeker. As an artist she works in many media, from photography to collage to sculpture to painting to mural work. She has also been inspiring many children creatively over the years in the Heartfulness Center in the Danish countryside at Vrads Sande, and continues to do so.</span></h4>

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Anne-Grethe Kousgaard

 <hr class="vertical-space1" />
    <h4 style="text-align: left">
      <span style="color: #b75aed"
        >ANNE-GRETHE KOUSGAARD
        <span style="color: #000000">shares her love of both Nature and </span
        ><span style="color: #000000"
          >art in this series of leaf paintings. As an artist sh works i many
          media, from photography to collage to sculpture to painting to mural
          work. Anne-Grethe has also been inspiring many children with
          creativity over the years in the Heartfulness Center in the Danish
          countryside at Vrads Sande, and continues to do so.</span
        ></span
      >
    </h4>
    <p style="text-align: justify">
      When I create new paintings or sculptures, ‘playing seriously’ is key for
      me. I forget everything about art and simply create those conditions where
      I feel totally free and in tune with Nature. Without ambition, I just have
      fun! In these paintings, dried leaves and different handmade stencils have
      been used in many layers. My background as a textile printer comes out in
      this series.
    </p>
    <p><span style="color: #b75aed">www.agkousgaard.dk</span></p>
    <hr class="vertical-space1" />
    <p style="text-align: center">
      <img
        alt="anne1"
        class="has-img-center lazyload"
        src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/anne1_bef7ca4507.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-04T07:22:36.294Z"
      />
    </p>
    <hr class="vertical-space1" />
    <p></p>
    <p style="text-align: center">
      <img
        alt="anne2"
        class="has-img-center lazyload"
        src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/anne2_aba5355188.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-04T07:23:56.279Z"
      />
    </p>
    <hr class="vertical-space1" />
    <p style="text-align: center">
      <img
        alt="anne3"
        class="has-img-center lazyload"
        src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/anne3_f4493b3412.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-04T07:25:11.861Z"
      />
    </p>
    <hr class="vertical-space1" />
    <p style="text-align: center">
      <img
        alt="anne4"
        class="has-img-center lazyload"
        src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/anne4_84296f7231.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-04T07:26:23.150Z"
      />
    </p>
    <hr class="vertical-space1" />
    <p style="text-align: center">
      <img
        alt="anne5"
        class="has-img-center lazyload"
        src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/anne5_0038eee2b8.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-04T07:27:07.310Z"
      />
    </p>
    <hr class="vertical-space1" />
    <p style="text-align: center">
      <img
        alt="anne6"
        class="has-img-center lazyload"
        src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/anne6_3cedbb5514.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-04T07:28:45.011Z"
      />
    </p>
    <p style="text-align: left"></p>
    <hr class="vertical-space1" />
    <p></p>
    <p style="text-align: left"></p>
    <hr class="vertical-space1" />
    <p></p>
    <p style="text-align: center"></p>
    <hr />
    <h4 style="text-align: center">An art essay by ANNE-GRETHE KOUSGAARD</h4>
    <p style="text-align: center"></p>
    <hr />

Leaf patterns

<hr class="vertical-space1">
<p>Is there someone whose face you would love to draw or paint? It can be someone you know or someone you don’t
    know. Either find the person and ask if you can paint them, or use a photo of the person. What matters is that
    the face of the person should attract you in some way, and make you feel something.</p>
<p><img class="has-img-center"
        src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/maja_34b157857e.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-31T07:28:13.882Z" />
</p>
<hr class="vertical-space1">
<p>Look carefully at the face, how it is composed, including all the smaller details. Also, connect with your heart
    and look at the face with a defocused view. When we have a defocused view, we are able to see the full picture.
    To have a defocused view, have one eye turned outside on what you are doing, and one eye inside in contact with
    your heart. Then start your painting or drawing of the portrait. Do not judge your work; just stay openhearted.
</p>
<p><img class="has-img-center"
        src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/potrait2_9c62feeaf8.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-31T07:29:04.816Z" />
</p>
<p>When your portrait is finished, you can choose to ask your art piece: “If you could talk to me, what would you
    tell me?” There is often a ‘message’ in our artwork. It could be something like, “Listen inside,” or “What are
    your dreams?”</p>
<p>Enjoy!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">
</p>
<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Photos and text by ANNE-GRETHE KOUSGAARD<br>
    Painted portrait by MAJA BRUUN-SMIDT</h4>
<p style="text-align: center;">
</p>
<hr>

Making portraits

<p>Right now it is springtime in the northern hemisphere and autumn in the southern hemisphere. In the south, the leaves
    are changing color and falling from many of the trees, as the days get shorter and the evenings cooler.</p>
<p>So it is the perfect time to collect these beautiful colored leaves and press them in an old book for at least a
    week, so that they are flat and ready to be decorated.</p>
<p>Once the leaves are ready, here is one activity that you can invite your friends to do with you. …</p>
<hr class="vertical-space1">
<p style="text-align: center;"><img decoding="async" class="lazyload w-100"
        src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/decorative_leaves_2_59a15ad847.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-04T05:59:50.081Z">
</p>
<h5 style="text-align: center;">Maybe you will also be inspired to write a poem or a story on one of your leaves.</h5>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img decoding="async" width="127" height="32" class="lazyload has-img-center"
        src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/divider_decorative_leaves_2396c1a14e.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-04T06:13:53.466Z">
</p>
<h5 style="text-align: center;"></h5>
<hr class="vertical-space1">
<p></p>
<h4><em>Read the complete article in <span style="color: #bf8f26;"><a style="color: #bf8f26;"
                href="//www.heartfulnessmagazine.com/category/volume2/volume2issue4/">Volume 2, Issue 4</a></span><br>
    </em></h4>
<h4><a href="//www.heartfulnessmagazine.com/subscribe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span
            style="color: #bf8f26;">SUBSCRIBE &amp; DOWNLOAD</span></a></h4>
<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Activity &amp; photos by ANNE-GRETHE KOUSGAARD</h4>
<hr>

Decorative leaves

<p>Next time you are on the beach, in the forest, or by a river, choose some stones to collect to paint with your
    friends or family. Make sure you check that they are not stones with moss, lichen or other living things growing on
    them, as that will disturb the local ecology.</p>
<p>While having each stone in your hand, you can ask yourself:</p>
<p>What kind of stone have I found?</p>
<p>What kind of pattern would be nice on the stone?</p>
<p>Are there some marks on the stone that call for a theme?</p>
<p>Acrylic colours are more permanent than watercolors and Uni-Posca paint marker pens make fine lines very easily.</p>
<p>Enjoy and have fun!</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>
<hr class="vertical-space1">
<p></p>
<h4><a href="//www.heartfulnessmagazine.com/subscribe/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span
            style="color: #bf8f26;">SUBSCRIBE &amp; DOWNLOAD</span></a></h4>
<p style="text-align: center;"></p>
<hr class="vertical-space1">
<p></p>
<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Article By&nbsp;ANNE-GRETHE KOUSGAARD</h4>
<hr>

Painting stones

<p><img decoding="async" alt="dreamcatchers" width="512" height="711"
        class="lazyload has-img-center"
        src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/dreamcatchers1_img_9435a201cc.jpg"></p>
<p>Dreamcatchers have always been used as charms by Native Americans. They are hung above the bed, to protect sleeping
    children from nightmares and instead give them good dreams. The design is based on a willow hoop, on which is woven
    or attached a loose net or web.</p>
<p>Dreamcatchers are then decorated with sacred items such as feathers and beads.</p>
<p>To make a dreamcatcher is a very meditative activity, due to the round shape, and the choice of colours, beads and
    feathers.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img decoding="async" alt="dreamcatchers" width="642" height="813"
        class="lazyload has-img-center"
        src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/dreamcatchers2_img_2115fd10b8.jpg">Here is a list of MATERIALS you can use:</p>
<ul>
    <li>Willow twigs are flexible and easy to shape into a circle that can be bound to hold together.</li>
    <li>Inside the willow circle you make a spiders web with cotton strings in different colours.</li>
    <li>Decorate the dreamcatcher with coloured strings, beads and all kind of materials from Nature, such as feathers,
        seashells, seed pods and pieces of wood.</li>
</ul>
<hr>
<h4 style="text-align: center;">Artwork, photos and activity by ANNE-GRETHE KOUSGAARD</h4>
<hr>

Dreamcatchers

<div class="row">
  <div class="col-md-12">
    <img
      class="lazyload w-100"
      src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/people_of_the_earth_img1_1090db72f5.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-03T06:03:24.929Z"
      alt="people-of-the-earth-img1"
    />
    <p></p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-md-12">
    <img
      class="lazyload w-100"
      src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/people_of_the_earth_img2_e45d49b522.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-03T06:03:58.950Z"
      alt="people-of-the-earth-img2"
    />
  </div>
</div>
<p style="text-align: justify">I am an artist and a spiritual seeker.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">My creative drive is a deep longing.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">
  In art I look for what is behind the outer appearance for what is within
  – a reflection of soul.
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">
  Being born in Marseille into a French and Danish family, I have always
  sought to connect cultural influences in creative expressions.
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify">
  Traveling has therefore been a part of my life ever since childhood and
  still is. The meeting with different original cultures, especially in
  India and Greenland, have been landmarks for me. In both places, I have
  felt a strong connection and the feeling of coming home. In my paintings
  and sculptures I aim to reflect an atmosphere of places and how it can
  be experienced.
</p>
<div class="row">
  <div class="col-md-12">
    <img
      class="lazyload w-100"
      src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/people_of_the_earth_img3_651bda2c2d.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-03T06:04:41.959Z"
      alt="people-of-the-earth-img3"
    />
    <p></p>
  </div>
  <div class="col-md-12">
    <img
      class="lazyload w-100"
      src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/people_of_the_earth_img4_ddad548f5d.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-03T06:05:18.123Z"
      alt="people-of-the-earth-img4"
    />
  </div>
</div>
<p style="text-align: justify">
  At one point, I realised that the inner spiritual journey, for me, is
  far more nurturing than the outer, and since then I have been practising
  heart meditation on a regular basis. I here discover another way to
  return home – a state of being – which is now a focal point in my art
  with portraits and landscapes – the reflection of soul.
</p>
<p style="text-align: justify"></p>
<hr class="vertical-space1" />
<p></p>
<hr />
<h4 style="text-align: center">Art essay by ANNE-GRETHE KOUSGAARD</h4>
<hr />

People of the earth

<h5>Materials Needed:</h5>
<ul>
  <li>1 large round plate around 120 cm in diameter.</li>
  <li>2 or 3 paper or wooden plates, as large as you can find.</li>
  <li>Blue, white and green acrylic paint and brushes.</li>
  <li>Natural materials of all kinds: small and large stones, gravel, soil, straw, grass, moss, pieces of wood,
    plants, branches, sea shells, bones, clay etc.</li>
</ul>
<div class="row create-a-world-our-blue-planet">
  <div class="col-12 col-md-6">
    <img class="mw-100"
      src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/create_a_world_our_blue_planet1_1d24c8e398.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-29T10:11:10.195Z"
      alt="create-a-world-our-blue-planet1" />
  </div>
  <div class="col-12 col-md-6">
    <img class="mw-100"
      src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/create_a_world_our_blue_planet2_c61c0f9140.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-29T10:11:10.102Z"
      alt="create-a-world-our-blue-planet2" />
  </div>
</div>
<h5>Our planet is called the blue planet. Do you know why?</h5>
From space it looks like a blue ball. This is due to the oceans that you find on our planet.
<h5>What else can you see when you look at our blue planet?</h5>
Do you see different continents, cold and warm regions, virgin forests, deserts, mountains, rivers and cities?

Can you also imagine another blue planet: a dream planet that only you know about? Imagine what that world is like.
Now, close your eyes and visualise our mother earth or your dream blue planet. What is the thing that you like most
about it? What would you like to see on your planet?


<div class="row create-a-world-our-blue-planet">
  <div class="col-12 col-md-6">
    <img class="mw-100"
      src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/create_a_world_our_blue_planet3_0ff346b37b.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-29T10:17:08.378Z"
      alt="create-a-world-our-blue-planet3" />
  </div>
  <div class="col-12 col-md-6">
    <img class="mw-100"
      src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/create_a_world_our_blue_planet4_0bfbe35858.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-29T10:17:08.418Z"
      alt="create-a-world-our-blue-planet4" />
  </div>
</div>


Choose a friend or two to build your planet. First spend some time sharing what you would each like to build and how you
see the planet.

Start by painting the large plate blue. Then build up a world together on that blue plate.

Put a sacred place in the centre of the world.

Place stones of all size as mountains and hills. They can be decorated with white paint for snow and green for grass.
Place moss, gravel and earth, and trees. The sea can be a blue painted bowl with water in it.

You can make small animals, humans or any kind of creature for your world, and choose where they should be placed.


<p class="text-center my-5">
  <img decoding="async" alt="spiritual-stories-for-children" width="500" class="lazyload has-img-center"
    src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/create_a_world_our_blue_planet5_3e1e2f9af4.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-29T10:19:38.170Z">
</p>

<h4>THINK ABOUT:</h4>
How can we take care of our earth?

How would we like our world to be?
<hr />

<h4 style="text-align: center;">Idea &amp; text: ANNE-GRETHE KOUSGAARD</h4>
<hr />

CREATE A WORLD : Our Blue Planet

<h3 style="text-align:center;"><span style="color:hsl(210,75%,60%);"><strong>A Workshop for the Young at Heart of All Ages</strong></span></h3><h4><strong>We all have the wisdom of the universe inside us, so in this activity ANNA-GRETHE KOUSGAARD and her students tap into that wisdom and make beautiful wisdom cards that can then be used for card games, gifts and decorations.&nbsp;</strong></h4><h4><span style="color:hsl(210,75%,60%);">Activity</span></h4><p><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/wisdom_cards_activity_90436a22ff.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-31T09:05:24.476Z" alt="Wisdom cards"></p><ul><li>Close your eyes and sit quietly for long enough to go inside and listen to your own wisdom.</li><li>Take one card each to start with. If you know what you want to draw and write, start on your own. If not, you can choose some words from the reference library of quotes, or choose words that would comfort you if you were sad, afraid, nervous, or stressed.</li><li>You have five cards each, so use as many of them as you want.</li><li>At the end, make a display of all the cards.</li></ul><hr><h4><span style="color:hsl(210,75%,60%);">Add a variation</span></h4><p>Make the wisdom cards in pairs.</p><p style="text-align:center;"><img src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/wisdom_cards_variation_b760575955.jpg?updated_at=2023-03-31T09:05:57.281Z" alt="Wisdom cards"></p><p>Have a small bag containing words on pieces of paper. The list could contain words like earth, friend, sunny, light, possible, great, incredible, jump, courage etc…</p><p>With your friend, take turns in picking a piece of paper from the bag and reading out the word.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">First, on your own with your eyes closed, each see what inspires you about the word chosen. Then, together with your friend, find wisdom that you will share with others on your card.</p><hr><h4 style="text-align:center;">Artwork by SAVI BALA, SNEHITA VALLUMCHETLA,&nbsp;<br>SHRIVEDA REDDY, LAVANYA VIJAYAN</h4><hr>