intuition and creativity

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Creation is a spiritual process. Everything first begins in the unseen world before it comes into Being.

Intuition is the female energy of spirit. It is a knowing sense of what is possible.

Creativity is the male energy of spirit. It is the outward action; the doing or making of something.

When we take inspired action then we are in the divine flow of energy. Life becomes magical and exciting!

A couple of months ago I had a thought, an idea, of a new studio space. I played with this idea for awhile... imagining the possibility of it. One day I had a sudden inspiration to act on it! And I did - right away! I immediately made a phone call and started the ball rolling...

Now I'm watching my creation coming into being. My studio is almost ready! Just a little more male energy and it will be ready for me to move in...

Thinking from the End

in , ,

When I begin a painting, I've already created it in my mind. The painting is complete and hanging on my wall.

This is what imagination is. It is tapping into the universal mind, or spirit, and visualizing what already exists in essence, and then bringing it into the physical plane. 

It is easy to understand this when you think of making dinner. You first think of what you want to eat. Perhaps you picture the entire meal laid out beautifully on the table, with candles and wine... you imagine if you are sharing the meal with someone... you imagine what it looks like on the table and on the plates; the smell of the food, the taste...

All of this can happen in a flash when you think, "What should I make for dinner?"

Once you know what you want to create, you get out your recipe book, head off to the store for the ingredients, and then you make dinner. Within a few hours you are enjoying your creation!

It is the same when I paint. I create an image in my mind, perhaps as an idea that I want to express. 

I'll picture the size and shape of the canvas, the colours, shapes and images that will express this idea and feeling that I want to create on canvas.

I keep the finished painting in mind, but of course, there are little surprises along the way... I let go of the outcome and allow it to unfold and come to life as it is meant to.

Like giving birth - when the baby is born there is joy and surprise, yet you also feel that you knew this person all along.... everything is exactly as it is meant to be.

Right now I have a few paintings in mind. They are there, just hanging in my mind, until I'm ready to give birth. This is the joy of creating; having a vision and then experiencing the coming into being...

 

 

the art of yoga and the yoga of art

There is a part of us that is inner and still, and there is a part of us that moves and takes action in the world. The quiet, still part is always there no matter what is going on in our busy lives.

It is just like the ocean... the surface can sometimes be wavy and turbulent, but if you dive down deep you can access that quiet, calm place.

Yoga means to unite. The goal of yoga is to connect body, mind and spirit. It is connecting you to your Self at a higher level.

The art of yoga then, is what brings you to this place.

The physical practice of yoga uses movement to find the stillness within. It is a moving meditation. Yoga could also be a walk in the woods, running, listening to music, gardening, taking a long, relaxing bath... whatever you do that helps you connect with the quiet, still place within.

When I paint or do any creative activity, I'm connecting with my spirit or my higher self. I'm able to connect with my true, authentic spirit and from here express out into the world. 

This is the yoga of art. 

When the ocean of life is tossing you about, how do you connect with your centre? How do you get to the bottom of the sea?

What is your yoga?

choreographing art

in

So many times I find myself saying, "Painting is like life..."

I had this realization again the other day as I was meticulously drawing an image on canvas. My artist friend next door had just shown me her new painting - a figurative expression on canvas that she completed in two or three hours. I was feeling a little envious as I went back to my drawing (I'd been working on it for a week!) - But as I worked and got back into my drawing, I thought about how much I love what I do. I love my own unique creative process.

I like a challenge. I need a challenge. A challenge keeps me focussed and engaged... otherwise I feel bored and a little impatient. 

Each painting begins with an overall vision that I create first in my mind and then map out onto canvas... It can be a long process. It can take months for a large canvas from beginning to end as I work through my step-by-step process.

I can compare it with dancing. There are many ways to dance. We can dance purely free-style, expressing through our bodies in the moment, or we can dance a choreographed sequence that is a much longer process to create. Both are expressions.

My paintings are choreographed works of art. For me this is a deeper process and involves much more of me. But it brings me so much satisfaction. 

So as in painting, as in life... I realized I'm a choreographer (and yes, I do love ballroom dancing).

What is your expression? What is your process?

finding beauty

Today I see beauty in the rain.

I'm sitting in my favourite cafe feeling warm and cozy as I look out the window....

The music is from another era. Edith Piaf sings, 'Non, Je ne regrette rien.'

Pure contentment.

The rain is falling and the sky is grey, but the cherry blossoms are in full bloom...

Where the Magic is...

in

The mind is like a bridge between the spirit and the body. When we are at work (and our minds are hard at work) we can feel disconnected from who we are. It's like we are living outside of ourselves.

When we bring our minds present, through art, nature, yoga or becoming still; we feel more whole and in alignment with who we really are.

Art allows us to go to that mystical space between worlds. Our imaginations are free to play and our minds are no longer captured in the hard 'reality' of day to day life.

It's a softer, gentler place - where you feel endless possibilities.

It's where magic happens.

When Life Gets Serious...

in

It's time to seriously get playful!

‘Heaven lies about us in our infancy,

Shades of the prison-house begin to close

Upon the growing Boy,

But he beholds the light, and whence it flows,

He sees it in his joy.’ ~ William Wordsworth

‘To stimulate creativity, one must develop the childlike inclination for play.' ~ Albert Einstein

Here are seven suggestions to ignite your creative spirit:

  1. Call your most light-hearted friend and ask her if she can come out and play...
  2. Find a set of swings, preferably with long ropes and high enough so your feet don't touch the ground... Go as high as you can!
  3. Take a drive... anywhere. Just drive and see where you end up (it's called adventure).
  4. Take yourself on a date. Visit a favourite cafe, a museum, an art gallery. Enjoy a leisurely lunch... buy yourself some beautiful flowers.
  5. Pack a picnic and head to the beach for a blissful few hours of sun, sand and solitude...
  6. Go skinny-dipping! (Especially fun with a friend!)
  7. Write down your dreams. It's a whole other world of adventure... Dreamland is Playland!

I remember calling friends after school and saying, "Can you play?" (I'd wait while they asked their mom)... then off we'd go to build a fort, play Snow Queen or Ice Capades... or maybe just hang-out in the back garden and talk about what we were going to be when we grew up.

‘When I grow up I want to be a little boy.’ ~ Joseph Heller

What do you want to be when you grow up? Can you play?