“Receptive To Infinite Wisdom” 16″x20″ Acrylic on CanvasI started this piece above several months ago placing it aside due to frustrations with not knowing where it was going. I had begun the background, my intentions were to create another tree piece leaving a large empty space of white canvas where the face is now. Days would go by and I would stare at the unfinished piece imagining the tree that would form in front of a mountainous landscape. Yet I felt no yearning to finish it… there was something undiscovered in my imagination and every tree I envisioned felt foreign to me.
Days turned to months and still no inspiration in completing this painting, becoming dissatisfied with its layout and I even thought of completely covering it up with gesso and starting all over again. Dave would always ask me when I was going to finish it and a few friends who have been in my studio during this time always commented on how cool it looked so far… but I always replied with a sigh, just unsure of where it would go… yet trusted in the creative process of surrendering to the energy and allowing it to come through when the timing is right.
Finally in September I found myself once again staring at the painting as it was leaning against the wall. But this time I felt a pull from within to pick it up and start painting, even though I still didn’t know in what direction I was going to take it. And so with a little bit of resistance in my ego due to the intellectual uncertainty of its outcome I began to set up shop, squeezing paint on my palette and started laying down colors, choosing to fine tune the background which I had already started. The large empty space on the canvas was screaming to be filled in and I screamed back with what?! I still didn’t know and so I stepped back and walked away, breathing deep and walking in circles. My intuition guided me to my bookshelf, picked up a magazine and started to flip through it finding a wonderful full page photo of a model’s face wearing makeup in the exact colors of my painting!!! Immediately I ripped it out and layed it up against the canvas excited to see it fit perfectly in this empty space and soon the creative juices started flowing and my imagination had painted the piece already and I said so long to my tree that I had intended to paint months ago and was elated in this beautiful new vision 🙂
Remaining open to the creative process is absolutely magical. It’s all about letting go and trusting that a vision will come through even when you don’t feel creative, even when you are feeling blocked, even when frustration ceases your process, sometimes we just have to walk away when our intuition tells us to walk away. Sometimes ideas need time alone in the silence of Spirit knowing that the guidance will appear when the Spirit knows it’s time for fruition and manifestation. I have learned to trust in this unfolding of the creative process, connecting with Divine Creativity and recognizing when I am trying too hard to be creative and when I am in connection with the creative energies, experiencing unision with the natural flow of the universe.
As I engage my intuition more fully during my creative processes, I open up to receiving directions from the Universe’s Wisdom, listening and allowing to be in the fluidity of Spirit. And like many artists or writers, my paintings are a reflection of the experiences in my life… hence the title I have chosen for this painting: “Receptive to Infinite Wisdom”.
Namaste!