When I returned from Italy, what I most craved creatively was to paint more drums.

I’d channeled 11 designs leading up to my sabbatical (scroll back in my blog index to see them all) and was ready for more!

I had to scour the country to find 5 more vegan Remo Buffalo Drums. The Canadian distributor only had 2 in stock, and although I did order them, I’m still waiting 9 weeks later.

Luckily, I also rounded up 5 in Toronto and had them shipped to Newfoundland.

The first I created in my Fall 2023 collection was the “Temple Dancer Drum” (see photo below), which is staying with me.

It was time I painted myself a drum after painting 21 since 2014.  The design was based on a magical series of events at the Ananda Assisi ashram that started with a vision and later had me filming a dancer in front of the temple roof. After shooting the video, I had another vision of the same scene on a drum, and knew it was for me. I’m so glad to have the Temple Dancer Drum enrich my sacred chanting experiences. Painting it was as fulfilling as creating the final project video for my summer program, which I’ll introduce on my blog in a few weeks.