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| He is Coming! 16x20" Oil on Canvas Pad Framed (20x 24" approx) Available for sale |
As a Spirit taught artist - which might be confusing to some of you, but if you stick around out of curiosity, I'll elaborate more on it- this was one of those key paintings where I worked totally in synch with the Spirit. How do I know when I hit that place with the Spirit?
It feels effortless.
Even though you start off with a very vague idea at first, maybe even a feeling, a glimpse of an image you see in worship etc . . ., when paint hits canvas, it's as if your hand and your brush take a life of their own. There is fluidity in motion.
There is simplicity, lightness and no frustration to get the image stuck in your imagination out. There is only complete absorption that is, being fully present in the moment.
There is a joy welling inside of you, and you kinda get what Michelangelo said of his sculptures, that "he saw the angel in the marble and carved until he set him free."
So what does it mean to be a Spirit taught artist anyway? I guess to those who assess life purely by facts that are perceivable to the limited capacity of the human senses, this could be a less than serious statement. But as an artist and writer committed to rational inquiry, yet not limited to the same, I assure you that I do not make this claim flippantly.
For me, being Spirit taught and led in my art relates to my creative process. I started painting when I was going through the dark night of my soul. Colours and canvases helped me express the pain I could not articulate in words. During that time, I came to a place, where I began to slow down my life, learned to listen more, not just to my body, and heart, but also to the Spirit of the Lord.
It started off as an adventure. I would hear the Spirit say "You'd need these materials and these brushes and these colours for our next adventure." Then as I tentatively loaded up my brushes, I was prompted to move my brushes in a certain way, lay down pigments in a certain direction. Often, the end result was a wonderful surprise, and not to mention, a shift and expansion of my finite perception.
Being open to the undulation of the good Spirit, and being sensitive to the vicissitudes of one's own heart, not only lead one to uncharted realms of discovery in both spirit, and soul, but also mediate the healing of sub-conscious or even unconscious emotional wounds. The beauty of the whole thing is that the latter is done without painful over analysis and introspection.
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| He is Coming! 16x20" Oil on Canvas Pad Framed (20x 24" approx) Available for Sale |
Just like we use fairy tales to teach our children life lessons without directly referring to the harsh realities of the dangers in talking to strangers, the downfall of greed, etc. . . the Spirit has used art to heal my deep emotional wounds and fears, without subjecting me to the paralysis of analysis and self-absorption.
For this, I am deeply indebted to His kindness.
Perhaps, it is true what He whispered to me as I painted, "art is the compassionate alternative for healing deep soul pain."
Finished Work: Convergence Point
Finished Work: Exodus
One Embrace - Finished Work
Finished Work: Set Ablaze
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