Space for What Is

Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life."

~Rachel Carson

This is another piece I did beginning with breath.  I was fascinated by my last experience and knew I wanted to keep going with this.

I did use a bit of paper towel to blend some paints and a single line of white wax crayon prior to applying the paints to experiment how it would resist the paint.  (Note the line towards the bottom)  (To be honest, I used the paper towel because I was running out of breath!)

The piece sat for awhile feeling alive but not done.

One morning I was picking up the petals that had fallen off an orchid that was past its time.  They were so delicate, so beautiful, and it did not feel right to throw them in the trash.  Though they were off of their plant, they were still breathing in my hand.

What better way to honor that breath of beauty than to infuse it with creative life?

I adhered the delicate petals to the painting that honored my breath and together they started a new life.  

I also added a bit of glitter mod podge to the area at the bottom.  This added a sense of glittery water for "reflection".

A final touch was to distress the edges.  I felt this worked a bit more with the wabi-sabi nature of the piece...finding beauty in imperfection.

I didn't want to trap the breath of this piece under glass nor did I want to flatten it by matting.  (The watermedia had pleasantly warped the paper and I feel that the gentle waves compliment the feeling of the painting!)

So - getting a bit more creative - I took the lid off of a shoebox, painted it, and adhered the painting to it.  It now has a backing that allows the painting to stay off of the wall but a sturdy enough base that when it is hung it will find stability.

We can finding beauty (life) in what is and allow that beauty to permeate every aspect of our being.  Breath is the most direct way to connect us with our inner selves that we often don't think about or consider icky.  It also allows the world around us - the scents floating gently, the molecules of other living things that help us survive - to become part of us.

We often breathe so shallow because we forget of the simple wonders of the breath.  We take it for granted.  We don't make space for it.

We often overlook that which we are not programmed to see as beautiful - death, the "leftovers", the wrinkly and warping.  We don't make space for it in our awareness.

Through this art, I remind myself of these things.  

That through making room for my breath I make room for greater awareness and through greater awareness I make room for a deeper experience of what is.

May you find this space in your own life.

Namaste.