Divine Inspiration

So, what comes first , the inspiration for the painting itself or the words ?  For me,  that depends on the type of painting it is. For any of my landscapes or portraits, the inspiration almost always comes from a picture or vision that sparks my inner light. 

 But for any of my work , that I refer to as "Divinely Inspired, the inspiration almost always comes to me in the form of a message. Some other day I'll go go into more detail about how I  began receiving these messages ................yes, I love to paint, but a poet, I am  not : )

So it is without a doubt, that I know these messages are not from me.   They gave me comfort in a time of great despair when I needed it . And now it feeds my soul to be able to paint them.

The one above has touched many people, including myself........it started from these beautiful words :

Let your pain drift upon the wings of an angel and mingle with the light of God.

They then made their way into this painting:

I truly hope these angel inspired words give anyone who is suffering in any way, as much comfort as they do me.

Where Creation Begins

So here I am in my studio,  AKA "my dining room . At this point this is where I create all my paintings.

I love painting in here ..its got such a great energy . I am playing with the idea of  turning an old house on my property into a studio .......that is if the kids dont' win out and turn it into their hang out place.

 Right behind me is my Angel Altar. I often have candles burning on there while I paint . Look closely at the top photo, can you see the two orbs behind me ?

 Here's a close up. All kinds of goodies here !

I think a huge part of creating is having a space all your own that you feel totally at home in .

Inspiration

According to the Greeks, Inspiration  really means to be "in spirit" " to breathe in and be filled with spirit of the gods . Greek myth explained that all creativity came from the gods .

Inspiration defitnitely comes from somewhere and as an artist , I find myself inspired all the time. Inspiration can come in quietly like a cloud drifitng in during a meditation or with a flash like a lightbolt when I'm washing the dishes . It comes to me in my  nightly dreams and quite often it arrives on tiptoes at the light of day when I'm on the verge of waking up.

I think the Greeks really knew what they were talking about ...to breathe in and be filled with the spirit of  the Gods ...but I also like to  think of it as breathing in and being filled with the Light of the  Creator.......and I can't think of  anything more beautiful than  to have one's paintings reflect this light.

 Certainly in my meditations ...when I'm breathing in and breathing out ....there is a connection there and the ideas seem to flow. And everyone agrees that life is much easier when you're "in the flow"

Whatever our source of inspiration, be it nature, music  or just being with people, slow down, be in the moment,  and just experience the flow ............... I think you'' be surprised what arrives !

The inspiration for one of my favourite paintings

came from a painting of my daughter wearing a white dress. I got lost light and colours  that were reflecting off of the sleeve.

I'll leave you with one of my favourite quotes:
"There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle"

Emerging From The Cocoon

Creativity is an experience, a spiritual experience. It does not matter which way you think of it: creativity, leading to spirituality or spirituality leading to creativity.

What a beautiful quote from Julia Cameron , "The Artist's Way"  to start of my blog. It really does sum up my experience as an artist, or at least the way it has unfolded. Starting from my artistic pursuits when I was young, creativity just was.........it was a part of being me . I'm not sure I felt any divine connection or expression of spirituality, or at least I couldn't put words to it. Over the years my explorations were part of finding myself.

Fast forward many years and many life experiences and my creativity has definitely settled into a spiritual experience. Whether that be through choice or the necessity to emerge from the pain and anguish I've experienced in the last two years, I'm not sure. I only know that it was a necessity that I create again and after much reflection and many spiritual experiences, I feel the divinity  beginning to emerge in my artwork. As I begin  to express myself through my creativity once again, I truly do feel like a butterfly coming out of the darkness of a cocoon.   Knowing that the light is there, within my reach ........ how beautiful it is.  As painful as it can be, change is often something we  don't have a choice on in life. But if there was no change, we would never experience the beauty of a butterfly.