Emergence Of A Painting And A Knowing

After finishing my image for the Fearless Sisters Oracle Deck, I have found a renewed inspiration to create.

I fought this for awhile, for many reasons.  I "should" be continuing my work in encaustics (I wanted to play in acrylic); I "should" be working more on form within abstract (I felt called to make faces and figures); I "should" be finishing what I have started (new images kept coming to mind).

I didn't try to completely silence these voices.  After all, what we resist, persists.  (Thanks to my yoga teacher for that little gem.)

Instead, I just gently explored what I was feeling called to do.

I took some old, unfinished acrylic pieces I had laying around.  (I have far too many of those - ones that just stopped because I grew tired of them or couldn't figure out where to take them.)  Upon those already vibrant backgrounds, I started new pieces of work - pieces that not only speak, but SING to the places I am now.

I offer to you an example of the process of one of the three pieces I've already completed in this series:

The old, unfinished piece on which this began - bright and colorful, but feeling very trite and just ...not done.

Lightening things up and attempting some unification:

I included the words, "All Is Basic Goodness".  In the Shambhala Buddhism path in which I am studying, the Great Eastern Sun (which came to be the image I'd painted in the center) represents, "the sun that has fully risen in your life.  It is the sun of wakefulness, the sun of human dignity.  It is Great because it represents upliftedness and the qualities of openness and gentleness." (From "Smile At Fear", by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche)

A bit of creative play:

The dancer emerges through charcoal:

The piece finds her strength:

The final image:

12" x 12", acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas

Of note: I stopped at a certain point, unsure of what to do for her hair.  She felt so right, so complete at this stage...and yet, I kept trying to envision what could go there.  

I had my husband look at it, and he said, "well, the dress is pink - it looks to me like this could be a representation of cancer ..."  And voila.

I could see her as she was, as she is - perfect in her dance of basic goodness.

This image is just one in a series, a continuing journey of art that is making me feel deeply fulfilled both in process and in outcome.

One thing I questioned early on, though, immediately after finishing the "Breath Awareness" piece for the Oracle Deck (see image here), was why I kept making my figures, my women, with closed eyes?

And here's the beauty of the creative process and why I encourage so many to combine it with contemplation:

I realized that these figures - that I - no longer wanted to just look at the world, to see it.

They wanted to feel it.

I want to feel it.

Prints of this image, along with the other in the series, will be available soon at my Etsy shop.  (You can also purchase a copy of the Fearless Sisters Oracle Deck.  Find it here: Http://etsy.com/shop/BeingBreath .)  

If you are interested in a print or in the original painting (I'm still unsure if I can let her go just yet!), please leave a comment below or email me at Lisa@BeingBreath.com.  (Doing so does not commit you to purchase; rather, it helps me determine interest in the painting and to help determine the final number of prints I will release.)

I'll be sharing more of my paintings over the next few days, but you will notice each one has women dancing, sitting, moving, being ...all with their eyes closed.  They long to FEEL the world, to experience it, to move within it beyond the limitations that logic through understanding has confined them to.

I long to be this way.

Do you?

Namaste.