On the Easel....

The collaboration is not finished, but I needed to work something out of my system and not on that particular canvas... sooo, here I am taking a round canvas with one intention.. originally a mosaic.. and finding myself painting on it for another reason.
Feeling super sensitive lately and needing to deal with my emotions in a peaceful way.. I take to the canvas.
It started out pretty abstract, thinking I would focus on the elements.. wood, metal, earth, stone, water... notice no fire.. 
I painted for a while.. the stone, the decaying wood, barren landscape.. some metal bars and not sure what is there in the middle :-)... It felt so desolate, the decaying wood, the stone, maybe a barren planet.. I played with these round balls, beads.. connecting them.. feeling a need to be connected.. trying to connect to the "whys".. 
I played with the orbs.. creating a pearl.. purity.. emotions.. truth.. and added the shell, the misplaced shell.. the separation from it's home..  Pearl in the sky.. the sea of skies.. Can we drop you in this pool and watch the ripples?
All actions create a ripple..many ripples we do not know of.. extending outwards to unknown places.. we are so unaware..
And then we remember that all things change.. it never stays the same and we must move with grace through these changes.. move beyond all that we see as "wrong", "bad", unjust... and find the center of peace within. 
Butterfly goes through some very deep and magical changes.. we gain hope...Find that pearl deep inside and know, we are all children of the Universe.. we have our gifts that no one can take from us.. no one can take that which is deep inside each of us.. our truth, our faith, our love.
Hold on to that deep inner truth and know all will be resolved in time.
Namaste' Butterflies

Art reflects Life

 I had wanted to paint a bridge, a rainbow bridge moving off into the distance, but instead it ended up as a wooden bridge with some "fire guardians" on to the side.  Due to the circumstances of life this past week, I guess burning bridges was on my mind.  Ironically, an astrological aspect had come into my email with a quote about "not burning any bridges" after I had painted this. This made me question that process...
We want to release the pain so badly, that we are too eager to burn those bridges.. and maybe at times, that is exactly what we should do.  We cannot go back and must move forward and learn what we need to from the experience so we don't repeat it.. Release and let go.. Maybe the best way to do that is to burn it away..Pick up the Torch.. Use that light to carry us forward, to transformation.

We have choices in life. One of the greatest choices we make is choosing how we think about things. We can see our self as separate .. apart.. or a part of something much bigger.  Separation is what seems to cause the pain.. resistance, judgement, criticism.. gathering our pain and throwing it back out into the world.. WE  don't want it .. here YOU take it!.. and we just pass it around like a game of hot potato.
How do we disengage from this?
How do we reconnect and go back to that awareness of Oneness. Honoring all of life. How do we get back to living in Grace.. to be in spirit.. inspired.. Ride the Great In-Breath of God...
How do we ascend?
Through knowledge, knowing, experiencing, feeling, loving... doing what we love and being in that "moment" of Being.  This is where we find our bliss, in those blessed moments of love that removes all other distraction.
We need to release the burdens, ask forgiveness.. begin again.
Replenish ourselves with the Holy, the Sacred.. the Inner Stillness.. The Divine Self that is at One with All That Is.. yes. here is where we all want to move towards.. peace. love.
Ah, what a painting can teach us..

Art as a Channel

I had an art student on Saturday and while she was focusing on her painting, I worked a little bit on this one.  She liked the flower pots I did in the upper left corner and added plants to her work as well. It's a wonderful thing to be inspired by each other.
After she left, I worked with more focus and of course that is when the painting began to speak, to reveal and bring insight.
I began to see a story develop, a message brought to light.. what needs to be brought to attention in my own life?  What needs to be birthed? Transformed?

What am I willing to stick my neck out for?
I have to say there may have been more pondering than painting :-)
What I love is the anticipation of where it will go next...
Namaste' fellow travelers.

And the painting speaks...

After the background I painted, John started it off while I was working at camp.
He began with a grid, then added a branch and faces, very much like his works on paper, but now with a brush.
Saturday was rich for painting and I saw the theme of "connection" developing.  Branches moving into vines and hair, tangling and intertwining , morphing into a garden.  Yes, The Garden of Eden.
Snakes, watchful eyes.. I look for symbolism.
Stepping back, an archer's bow revealed itself.. what was it aiming at?
An apple of course.. the apple of love.  What it wants is to break it open.. who holds the apple?
(We both know who.)
Who is the shooter? Me.
I am aiming but looking away.  I have the lotus growing from my head, my muddy thoughts, wishing for clarity, spirituality.. so I adorn myself with pearls, blue pearls, a personal significance.
Ananda, from the Blue Pearl, years ago, is responsible for my introduction to Abraham before he was so popular, bringing me deeper onto that spiritual path.
I wanted to bring things upward and moved there by painting some leaves.
Starting from the girl behind the tree who has a guilty look about her.. maybe she is Eve, hiding in the garden. She wants to transmute all those worried thoughts,  shed that which no longer serves her.. she want to transform into a being of beauty and lightness.  She has dreams of ascending, shedding her skin, leaving behind her cocoon, but she is too rooted..
She wants what we all want, to shed our skin, leave behind our cocoons and become that which we are intended to be.. Beings of Light.

John: "This piece is about the theology of hope. Some say love is the answer and I would have to say, attentiveness and awareness of others. It's about caring - how much we care for our brothers."
I ask the question, "How aware are we?"

Art brings awareness, insight, and with a collaboration like this, it opens up a dialogue for both of us into a deeper, meaningful relationship of our shared love.
Namaste'