Going further inside

20 Friday Jan 2012

Posted by in Inspirations, Paintings

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Early stages of new painting.

I’ve slowly been making my way through Julia Cameron’s 12 weeks of recovery in The Artists’ Way. This is an excellent book designed to help individuals from all walks of life, not just artists, reconnect with their creativity. The truth is that we are all born creative and at some point, usually during our childhood, lose touch with that inner spark.

Now as I start my new painting, which is focused on the concept of going deeper within, it seems apropos that I also begin my week of “reading deprivation”.

The rose is the path, the door, and the crow leads you there, into the depths of the your soul. Have you the courage to enter?

A week without reading means more time to be available to what is really going on inside. What have I been avoiding or ignoring by filling my time with distractions? That space is where the real stuff happens. That is how we get to know ourselves.

Art lies in the moment of encounter: we meet our truth and we meet ourselves; we meet ourselves and we meet our self-expression. -Julia Cameron

According to many, that is when art happens.

Path to Your Heart

17 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by in Paintings

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20/1000, Path to Your Heart, acrylic on canvas, 24"x24", sold

Here is a piece I sold at my show last spring and it is one of my personal favorites. Roses have served as spiritual symbols for many different cultures and religions throughout history and in modern times have come to symbolize love.

For me, a rose symbolizes our connection to our own hearts. The spiraling rose petals lead us to the center, our core, our soul, which is what allows us to recognize our own divinity. When we are in touch with who we truly are, we are able to be present with ourselves and in turn we can then be present in this world. With our eyes now open we can see the preciousness of everyone and everything around us. The rose is a connection and a door to the beauty, sacredness and higher calling within us all.

 

Getting over painter’s block

07 Wednesday Dec 2011

Posted by in Paintings

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19/1000, 14"x11" acrylic on canvas

So it has been 6 months since I last painted, but today I finally picked up my brushes, pulled out my palette, and dusted off my canvas. Recently I have been wondering why I have shied away from the luscious acrylic colors all sitting in a box ready for me to use. Over time, many excuses have come up for me: I just exhibited my paintings, I moved, I needed to prepare for my pottery show. All great excuses, but not the real reason for my absence from the canvas.

After working on Julia Cameron’s The Artists’ Way for a few months, it finally occurred to me that I was having painters’ block. The real reason I was not painting is that I was not satisfied with the results of my 19/1000 hearts painting. I felt it lacked depth and soul, in short, I thought it was not good enough and I did not want to post it.

Now you may wonder what “good enough” means to me. It would be way too easy to give in to a fantasy of perfection and attempt to force good paintings to happen. That has not worked for me so far and I doubt it ever will. In order to be able to ever finish or show a painting I have had to let go of my desire for perfectionism. In place of that, perhaps more importantly, I have to feel a piece carries with it a message, or better yet, a soul.

She Owns Her Wisdom, first incarnation

For me, she, the unnamed girl on the canvas, lacked depth. She appeared shy, quiet, and way too demure. Her adolescent looks and weak smile conveyed doubt and fear. I started wondering if this is where I was coming from when painting faces. Indeed, I do struggle with fear and doubt about my abilities to paint, especially the human face and form. This painting had captured my fears exactly, and when I looked at it, I only wanted to run from it, ignore it, and forget about painting.

This is when I realized that if I was to get over this block, I would have to face this girl. I knew that I would have to sit with her, get to know her better and find out what she asked of me. With that in mind, I spent some time meditating and journeying and hoped that I could find the answer within, thus solving the mystery of this woman. So as I studied her features and looked into her eyes, a confident woman emerged. As I looked deeper while I worked on her expression, I could see that this woman did own her wisdom. This woman is able to see her own uniqueness and connection to the Divine. This woman can witness her own divinity.

Holiday Pottery Show

06 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by in Ceramics, Shows

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In spite of the bad weather, my first pottery show in years was a great experience. Wonderful to be among so many talented and kindred souls.

It has been a rough 72 hours weather-wise in Albuquerque with school closings and people hunkering down to stay warm. For me it has been a whole new learning experience never having lived where it can snow or go below freezing for any sustained period of time. Needless to say, I still have plenty of pieces to share. I have decided to postpone opening my Etsy shop for now but will make my pieces available through this site. I will be posting more photos of individual pieces very soon.

In the end, it is a good time to remind myself of this Les Brown quote:

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars.

Ready for the studio show at McCracken Pottery

01 Thursday Dec 2011

Posted by in Ceramics, Shows

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It never ceases to amaze and excite me when it is time to open up the kiln after a glaze firing. You just never know for sure what you will discover when you crack open that slightly warm and heavy lid and take your first peek inside.

6" diameter, hand built stoneware

Regardless of the number of times I have done it, the thrill is always there, and especially now as it has been so long since I have worked with clay. Even when you have finished forming the piece and bisque fired it, you still do not really know what it will look like until that glaze firing, that final passing through the flame.

Hand built stoneware, 6" diameter

Looking forward to seeing those that can make it to the show tomorrow and saturday and for those who can’t, I will be posting more pictures very soon.

Creating every day

08 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by in Ceramics, Inspirations

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Stoneware hand built plates sitting in the sun to dry.

In order to relate to your environment and capture your innocent thoughts or visions, you need to listen, observe and stay centered. This capacity to linger in the unknown and see what happens is the passage to your creative self. -Gail McKeekin

It is so easy to get pulled into the everyday busyness of doing that we lose touch with our inner compass and consequently our ability to connect in full with the world around us. I have been busy preparing for the upcoming Holiday Open Studio at McCracken Pottery, where I have been renting my studio space. Daily meditation and my long walks out in this incredible mountain desert of New Mexico are what have been keeping me grounded amidst the flurry of activity.

As I have been creating pieces every day and am also participating in Art Every Day Month, I have been taking more photos of my work. However, I will not be posting them all on this blog but rather on my instagram account under #1000heartsart (this wonderful idea came from, Jennifer Lee of Artizen Art Coaching).

Beauty in imperfection

31 Monday Oct 2011

Posted by in Inspirations

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View of Santa Fe and Taos Mountains from the Sandias

You will learn to enjoy the process… and to surrender your need to control the result. You will discover the joy of practicing your creativity. The process, not the product, will become your focus. -Julia Cameron

After seeing this quote posted on facebook by Jeane, of High Road Artist, I started thinking how it would have been impossible for me to ever get any paintings or ceramics done if I had held onto my perfectionistic tendencies while working on my art. As a matter of fact, part of what stimulates my imagination and informs my art is the very imperfection of nature.

However, it is easy to lose sight of that and as Jeane posted on High Road Artists’ page on facebook,  surrendering the need to control “goes against the grain of our product-driven culture”.

This need to make something perfect certainly played into my taking so long to coming around back to doing art. The very act of allowing myself to relax and let go of outcome is what has allowed me to make anything at all. After finally getting going I noticed that the first few paintings I made before I really started to let go and allow things to happen, were really about my flowing with the process and not forcing an outcome. After my first few “bad” paintings, really beautiful things started to happen. I have had the same experience when using other mediums; easily the first one or two attempts to do anything come out poorly or just ok. If I just ease up on any pressure I am putting on myself and give it second or third try, magical things usually start to happen.

This magic of art is in its imperfection or as the Japanese call it wabi-sabi. Art’s true beauty, as in nature, lies within its asymmetry and perceived flaws. Jeane talks about this more in her article, Centinela Traditional Arts, Part 2, where she discusses Irvin Trujillo’s view that imperfection is what gives art its soul.

Every time I start a piece and every time I finish one I have to remind myself to let go of my own expectations so that I can see what is truly there. I hope that in my relaxing and letting things flow, as I give shape to a piece of clay, or place my brush on the canvas, that I infuse the piece with soul and life by allowing it to be perfectly imperfect.

 

A Good Cup of Tea

11 Tuesday Oct 2011

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hand built stoneware, 5"x3"

Amazing how good a cup of tea tastes in a handmade mug! This is my first completely finished ceramics piece since I have been playing in clay again and I have to say, as usual, seeing the finished piece come out of the kiln feels like magic.

I have been pondering why it feels so amazing to me to have my hands in the clay and why I keep coming back for more in spite of the many hours it often takes to finish even smaller pieces. I leave the studio wearing my clay covered jeans as if they were a badge of honor. I really can’t think of too many other instances where I don’t mind walking around with what could potentially be called dirt all over me. I often stay up at night playing with my i-pad looking up new images of pottery and wondering how I can take these ideas and make them my own. I then can’t wait til the next morning to be able to jump into my dusty jeans and run back to the studio to see if my new idea works. Needless to say, I always stay longer than I planned and on my drive home I am already thinking about what I will be doing next time I am there.

 

 

There is Always Time for Love

02 Sunday Oct 2011

Posted by in Paintings

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17/1000, 12"x12', acrylic on canvas, sold

One night I had a dream where two beautiful young owls were flying through a moonlit sky. Their wings luminesced as the light reflected off their feathers. As they floated and flited circling around, it was clear that they reflected pure love off each other.

The beauty of that dream was my ability to access that feeling of unconditional love directly within. The truth is that we all have the ability to provide this for ourselves but sometimes we have to open minds and hearts to this possibility and be willing to explore our own depths.

For cards of this painting go to Wild Iris Books in Gainesville, Florida. They will also be available at my Etsy store which will be arriving in early November.