intuitive painting, take 5

All the art of living lies in a fine mingling

of letting go and holding on. 

Havelock Ellis

hello people.

I've been MIA for the last few days.

Sometimes, life itself is too damn good

to be spending any time

blogging about it. 

I'm back now,

so you can all breathe a sigh of relief,

get yourself a drink and settle in.

(giggle)

I started this last night with no idea 

where it was going.

Intuitive painting, i guess.

i thought of the funny & multi-talented Cat as i painted,

when she posted the question lately

about whether or not we talk to ourselves while painting. 

I do.

Last night, i seemed to be repeating the words

just trust yourself.

And so i did.

It's still a work in progress,

so i'm not sure yet how i feel about it.

I sometimes wish i didn't always gravitate

towards these familiar leafy pod shapes...

But it is what it is, right?

If i consciously tried to change its direction

then it's no longer intuitive painting,

but controlled painting.

Controlled painting is ok sometimes

but last night, i was in the mood 

for letting emotions run free,

like wildflowers in the wind.

I'll try to post it again once its done.

It's a rainy Sunday,

my teenage son is here with a few friends,

and i think I feel

a painting coming on.

;-)

Hoping you all have a great week.

Pull yourselves away from the computer now & then.

It does the soul good.

xoxo

intuitive painting and Carissa Paige

Good morning lovely people!

Don't run away yet -

give me the chance to explain this mess.

:-)

I love Friday nights.

I often feel more creative on Friday nights

although i'm  not sure why.

Maybe just the letting go of the week,

good music on the CBC,

knowing i'm sleeping in the next morning...

whatever it is, I ride the wave.

So when I got the sudden urge to paint intuitively,

I sat myself down and began.

Started with a horizontal canvas (3ft x 2ft).

I love small canvases, but somehow for me,

intuitive painting is more fun on a larger scale.

Then i flipped it around

and saw the outline of a face.

(do you think we see what we want to see?)

i love faces, so there you go.

So i carried on vertically

and filled in a few spaces,

with one colour or another.

In the end, I kinda like it,

even if the face looks like an alien.

(or as my son said, "looks like Avatar")

The important thing is, it was so much fun to do.

So liberating.

And no, there was no wine involved. ;-)

This process of doing a painting in layers is often surprising.

I'm nowhere near mastering this like Flora Bowley,

but i really don't think it matters much what the end result is.

That's the beauty of it.

To start a painting without any idea where it's gonna go,

to have a blast in the middle,

and more often than not,

to be pleasantly surprised in the end.

On another note,

yesterday was like Christmas here when i got this in the mail.

I bought this print (OWN YOUR STORY) by Carissa Paige on Etsy

(thank you Danielle Daniel for giving me her name!)

and Carissa's package arrived yesterday,

filled with such love.

Besides the beautiful print, I get this as well.

A few hand written notes, and more samples of her wonderful work.

This may not be standard for her to send to everyone

so don't go harassing her if you purchase something

and don't get the same package. ;-)

I just wanted to say how nice it is

to be surprised now and then

and how wonderful to see

that there are still people out there

who spread goodness to the world.

:-)

intuitive painting

I thought i'd attempt intuitive painting last night.

Just let myself go & put blobs of paint anywhere on the paper

without thinking about whether it makes sense or not,

or without trying to make it look like something.

4 colours - prussian blue, purple, white and turquoise.

Whenever i begin this process, it never takes long for my brain to kick in

& start whispering things like, "what the hell is this supposed to be?" or

"c'mon now, you're not cut out for abstract painting". :-)

I ignore the inner critic & just keep putting blobs here & there,

looking for areas that feel interesting to circle or branch out with.

I don't know if it would be defined as abstract, because in the end,

something always ends up looking like something.

I don't give this much thought as i'm painting though. 

It doesn't need to be categorized. 

It just needs to be painted.

I put colour where i feel like putting colour

...and a few things start taking shape here & there...

some added white & detail, until it feels finished.

It may not be something i'd frame on my wall, but the process is very liberating,

and that's ultimately what it's about, isn't it? There's a certain point in this process

where i no longer hear the critical whispers in my head

and where the music is perfect

and the air is good

and I am totally comfortable

and i am in the zone...

I believe it is that sacred space that allows us all to shine.

It is that space that allowed Tiger Woods to be at the top of his game,

or Michaelangelo to paint his masterpiece,

or Mozart to compose his symphony.

After i'm done, I only then notice my dirty water. :-)

I'm bad with changing the water - I should really have spare water containers by my side

so I wouldn't need to get up & change it when i'm on a roll.

*******

And on another note, I feel like an magnet for assholes these days... :-(

I got stopped by the police yesterday for having expired license plates.

My stickers were due 2 weeks ago... i hadn't noticed. 

Some cops are good people - i'm sure of this - but this guy wasn't one of them.

He happily wrote me a ticket. 

$172.50, two weeks before Christmas.

I hope Santa brings him a bag of coal... :-)

I love happy bunny & have this little poster on my studio wall.

Last night, it made me smile more than usual.