Chasing the light is a journey all artist's take....we don't paint shapes, we paint the values of light and shadow.  Similarly, part of the journey is shining the light on our true selves.....being and saying and thinking who we truly are and what we truly want to express.  When we chase our authticity, we become aligned with our true higher power, and creative grace flows freely.   A sustained creative career requires true authenticity separate from what others think and do.  Although we may be inspired and influenced by others we must remain true to the fire within.

Art Is A Calling!

There is a reason we say art is a calling....it whispers humbly and silently to explore our creativity.  Subtle gray river stones, a single bunch of winter grass, bare branches reaching to kiss the sky, a gorgeous sunset, calls us to collect our images.  We pocket our ideas and perceptions waiting to play with them on canvas or on a clean page in our journal. Playing with our intuition and our collection of treasured ideas, we begin to explore, not repress, but explore their creative unfolding.  Opening our intuition is like a new love....exciting, adventurous, promising....a budding passion.  January is a great month to heighten our awareness, be open to a new year of exploring and unfolding.  Happy New Year.

Creativity is the re-structuring of magic!

In our creative life we make room for magic.  Every stick and stone and flower petal become a means of wonder.  Translated into art, wonder is brushed on the canvas, blended colors of magic.  So we put other people's agendas aside to make room for our own magic....we hold this sacred space with respect.  Our energy is channeled into the magical story that we are meant to express.  Giving form to wonder is related to a sensitive awareness of our surroundings.  Pay attention....pay attention....pay attention.  Discern who or what is blocking the magic and who is encouraging it.  What chaos drowns out the sacred place of creativity?  The respect for magic begins with ourselves and giving birth to a life of intimate noticing of uninterrupted expression of our creativity.

There are great moments in a girl's life when she isn't afraid of snakes.....my great nieces are having a great moment!  Sometimes our creativity is scared out of us and we have to color in the lines, afraid to break the rules.  It is a good thing to just to let all the teaching and education go....all the techniques and tips put aside and just paint.  Letting loose is where the break through moments come....and we lose our fear that keeps us inside the lines.  Enjoy!

The summer comes.....long awaited after winter's drab colors.  The palette changes and we get outside to let it soak into our bones.  Color is magic.  The range of possibilities is endless....rich and diverse.  In the 500 hundred years since oil paint was developed in the fifteenth century, artists have discovered a fascinating variety of way to render the colors of nature into expressions of art.  We mix, we blend, we layer and glaze until the harmony is just right.  We brush and wipe away, scrape and apply with knives and fingers.  Color doesn't exist without light....so we become light chasers, finding the shadows and patterns in different kinds of weather.   Not only do we learn the primary, secondary and tertiary colors, we talk about hue, intensity, temperature and value.  But, in all the techniques there is a common denominator......we paint, we draw, we sculpt because we have to.....it is who we are.....co-creators with the Creator who ignites the spark.

Creativity requires renewal!

Many time my creative energy requires a little renewal.....a resurrection. Art is never quite knowing what inspires us or when....and then, not quite knowing how to express it as we face a blank canvas. Renewal for me is to begin....maybe after a walk or a prayer of gratitude. Beginning is often a leap in the dark. In the dark leaps of putting strokes on the canvas, my eye begins to see the light and I am refreshed. Taking the first step to come back from the dead lethargy of self-doubt, or comparing our skill level to another artist....is resurrection. We are alive again and ready to create. Happy Easter!

Creative inspiration has a reason.

Assume that creative inspiration comes to you for a reason......your spirit is speaking to you when a painting, poem, play, carving, sculpture is drawn out of that well. With each piece I am grateful for what my soul is trying to express, understand, overcome or celebrate. We may be producing goods that we will sell for a living, but the creative process is personal. Interacting with the materials and the content is allowing te process of creation to whisper the secrets we need for our own life. Perhaps it does not stop there. The secrets whispered to us in the creative-spiritual process are offered to the world as we share with one another. The brushes, pen, tools, words in your hand and the open heart within are willing to co-create for the greater good of the Universe.