How Robin and the Enchanted Elementals Started Working Together
My first encounter with an Enchanted Elemental was in 2004. I had been doodling here and there my whole life. Never had I drawn a face and when I tried it looked like a kindergartner had drawn it. One evening I picked up my sketchbook and had an overwhelming feeling to draw a face starting with the eyes. I was resistant since my previous attempts did not turn out well. But the feeling would not go away so I gave in.
Once I finished the drawing, I was in complete awe that this face was something I created. As I was admiring her, I kept hearing a name repeat in my mind. It was Isis. At the time, I didn't know who Isis was so I wrote the name in the upper right hand corner and closed my sketchbook.
The next evening I picked up the sketchbook to see if I had dreamed drawing Isis. But she was sitting right there staring me in the face.
I wondered "could I do it again?" Once again I drew eyes first and after an hour or so another Enchanted Elemental came through my pencil on the paper. This time I was hearing Ionca repeat in my mind. So I wrote it on the upper right hand side of the paper and put my sketchbook away.
We packed up our house and moved a few months later. I kept looking for this sketchbook after we unpacked the boxes and couldn't find it anywhere. I was beginning to think I imagined the whole thing and the sketchbook didn't exist.
Three years later I found a box in our garage that had been tucked up behind other things. I opened it up and there was my sketchbook!! I realized it was real and they did exist. From that time forward I started drawing and just let my pencil take the lead. No judgement, no perfectionism, no expectations. It was necessary to let them come out in their own unique forms. I also began to listen to what words were coming forward as I was drawing. I realized that I was not only getting names, but their essence and what they represented. It took about a year before I also realized that they would provide me with a message they wanted to share. It took me this long to recognize what was happening. So I began to write down everything that came through when I was drawing to capture the information they were sharing. I showed a few friends what I had been working on and they encouraged me to consider sharing these with other people as they felt the Enchanted Elementals needed to be available to others.
The name Enchanted Elementals came to me when I asked who are you and why are you here. It took a few weeks but just as I when I draw, I wrote down words that came to me. The first word was Enchanted. I went to the dictionary (yes, an original hard cover book) and this is what I found and wrote down:
The second word Elementals came to me a few weeks later and I looked it up in the dictionary and wrote this down:
I was elated because this felt so right. You know when you get that feeling throughout your body when you know something feels so good, that is what happened for me. From that day forward I called them the Enchanted Elementals as a collective.
The style of the Enchanted Elemental drawings are different and aren't what you might call mainstream. This has been a bit of a struggle for me over the years as I wondered if people will like my art. My art is not mainstream and I realized as with everything, some will love them and some will not, and some will never be able to look at them. When you put your heart and soul in to something this important, it can be difficult to get out in the world and share. I've finally come to terms with the fact that the mission is too great to let my fear and self-doubt get in the way. I know deep inside that the Enchanted Elementals are here to offer their guidance and support for those who will embrace them and its my job to make sure they are available.
There's a lot more to share about the Enchanted Elementals and the evolution of my work with them. It's too much to write here so I'll share more as time goes on.
We sincerely wish you the best and are thrilled you are here with us.