Do you normally feel rapturous joy? I remember feeling it as I dragged orange acrylic paint into creamy yellow to cover the canvas. This sense continued beyond writing my signature.
If you have been following my writing, you know that the physical act of creating is separate from the mental, emotional and spiritual part of naming the piece and dialoguing about what showed up on the canvas.
Pre-painting I sit quietly and use my breath to clear my mind. I observe thoughts come and I let them go, until I am possessed by the silence and a sense of openness akin to the endless sky.
At some point I move into the studio and pick up what I will use to go on an adventure of sorts. Akin to a shamanic journey, I use the surface as a portal, then materials, colors, textures and shapes show up along the way and become part of a life lesson I will learn and hopefully integrate and release after the painting is completed.
The finished art moves to a prominent place where I can contemplate the images to discern what it’s teaching me, what it wants to be called and how to best describe it for others to get the most benefits.
Sometimes the art sits in my bedroom for several weeks before I understand the theme, or the life lesson. At other times it moves out until its time comes.
This painting went to an exhibit so I had to call upon my Spirit Guides for quick help in naming it until I was ready to have a longer conversation with it.
I looked at the flat female figure with an empty head and holes in her energy centers dancing in a sea of golden and white light. Her childlike demeanor beckoned me in. I merged with her and I felt bright and beautiful.
An Ancient Chinese proverb came to mind…
When there is light in the soul, there will be beauty in the person.
I now see that the painting is showing me that in consciously inviting Divine Light, I became beautiful. “You are radiant” became an often heard comment.
Childlike giddiness prevails as I visualize my salt and pepper hair turning into strands of Cerulean Blue and Red Cadmium Light. I notice that calmness pervades my present interactions with strangers, loved ones and friends. People seem eager to learn about my “jewels” –the wisdom they perceive in the words I speak.
When there is harmony in the house, there will be order in the nation.
So I tell of times of honoring my truth when I could have otherwise caved in and of trusting the voice in my heart to uncover the light within. Divinity enters, Grace unfolds and my work becomes visible to those who need it. By owning the art or taking my classes, folks can invite Divine Light.
When there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.
I explain that those who are en-lightened are not special. They are committed to water the seeds of goodness wherever they are. They embrace what is and respect everyone’s journey. They spread unconditional love, unbounded joy, infinite possibility, total forgiveness and sheer equanimity. They transform collective fear, insecurity, jealousy, anger and despair by healing their gardens first in whatever ways they can.
My way is to put forth images conceived in love and light that raise the vibration of the places where they are installed. They provide a mirror for those who behold it so they may uncover their own Light.
At a recent art exhibit a receptionist commented that she was no artist, but during the six weeks that she sat in front of The Light in the Soul, she felt inspired to look at her work and her life differently. For the first time she noticed that she was creating (Light) all the time by the way in which she thought and behaved. She began to understand her uniqueness; her power to bring forth that which only she could.
If you want to experience en-lightenment, bring The Light of the Soul into your space and feel rapturous joy!
…I shed tears of joy and could only utter words of deep thankfulness.
As the brush guided yellow, orange and red paint though the canvas, I felt completely at ease as if I was painting from inside Light.
And when Titan Buff acrylic arranged itself into a dominating, yet at ease female figure that lacked dimensionality, I knew that I was at once reflecting light and being part of it.
The velvety Alizarin Crimson forms laced with soft gold tones depict the rising of the powerful energy I experienced when while painting, fire appeared to enter through my root chakra, mingled with the vibrant creative force of the second chakra and guided Grace to penetrate my third chakra, the seat of Divine will.
Gold lines flowing upwards toward the heart center vividly capture what happened next; infinite love burst uncontrollably and I was overcome with profound gratefulness.
I felt riotously rich, filled with invaluable treasures, swimming in a river of abundance beyond anything I ever knew. Overall, I felt completely at peace. Like the figure in the art, I had no busy mind-chatter to enter my consciousness, thus, I was able to freely shed tears of joy and could only utter words of deep thankfulness.
In contemplating the finished art, I now realize that I will never be as I was before participating in its creation. As the profusion of tiny dots, stars and gold jewels imply, I was touched by the Light, became a part of it, reflected it, yet its Divine manifestation would later become clear.
Inviting Divine Light proved to attract magic at many levels. It sold before it was uploaded to the website, through a few progress photos I posted on Instagram. It will be installed in the private residence of my sister and brother-in-law residing in Chicago. With this purchase, this very dear couple expressed love and the desire to invite the Light into their lives. They also affirmed strong and generous support for my work as an artist and caused me to shed tears of joy and utter only words of deep thankfulness.
The art has also been much admired during the ongoing exhibit at Lexington Wealth Management in Lexington, MA. It was the first of many pieces sold on opening night and throughout the show’s run. It brought me additional commissions and attracted connections and assistance from welcome unexpected sources. The exhibit ends on May 10th at noon, so hurry to see Inviting Divine Lightand the other pieces, including the art still available for purchase. You can follow the link to this art which will take you to the website’s preview gallery before you go.
Please know that I may shed more tears of joy and will be deeply grateful for your visit!
Heavy snow blanketed the area where I live when I started this painting. White clumps sat heavily on tree branches and coated everything in sight. The hush that fell over the land made it easy to fall into deep meditation.
Seeing Peace; the painting that depicts the quiet time at the beginning of Spring was within sight. I chuckled at the moment’s perfection; the calm of a deep freeze now would create space for what might unfold after the snow melted.
I unwrapped a 30” x 40” canvas as if it were the snow where I could play. After a few hours, I stepped back to notice that albeit hesitantly, I seemed to be yearning to get close to the Light. Fast strokes of Phthalocyanine Blue acrylic paint were brushed toward a center, as if someone (me?) had scratched herself out of a beautiful cave to face the bright morning sun. Wow!
In my next meditation, I played with entering the warmth and opted for giving my fears away to the fiery glow. The cave was protective and filled with healing vibrations, yet I wanted to understand at the physical level, what inviting the light felt like.
The yellow spiral intrigued me. Did I have to merge with it? Yes, let it rip!
Not so fast…
Creating is a natural spiritual power we all enjoy. It has taught me that we can’t force anything, for if we do; we become depleted. Nature has its own timing and we are part of this principle. Surrendering provides a flow for what needs to be created.
We are all creating something important with every thought and every action we take. These are the seeds we harvest sooner or later and that if we care to dig deep, will help us ascertain if what sprouts is aligned with Divine Light and therefore significant for the spiritual awakening of our planet, or guided by ego-based beliefs.
This process occurs inside our “cave” and it shows up when we look out and reflect on our interactions with others and in the life situations we face. Do we see the bright sunshine of helpfulness, kindness, love, joy and ease, or are we witnessing the menacing clouds of discord, dirt, lies and disappointment?
Everything we encounter is part of our path to align with our true selves; our Divine Light.
And we can’t strive for it; we need to allow it. Striving implies lack while allowing means flow, release and surrender that free us to participate in the greater flow. It is the delicate dance between doing and being. Being is grounded in presence, gratefulness, stillness and wonder. The “doing” guided by these attributes transforms us into a magnet for manifesting spiritual joy and the gift it brings: love and abundance at all levels, peace and harmony.
When I next entered the studio I was ready to cultivate the qualities I sought to experience externally.
A human shape appeared, coated in flat Unbleached Titanium acrylic paint, looking deeply and curling up around the Light. She seems ready to disrobe and release all society-created mental concepts, as seen in the red fingernail at the bottom. She lets her hair out and surrenders…
When I later contemplated the finished painting above, it felt that by letting go, the light was now inside me.
I experienced its warmth and brilliance and was willingly and gently sucked in.
I peered and thought that Spirit’s Light was at the other end…But no, there was no end.
Skies upon skies opened up and an infinite sun emitted waves of Love.
In surrendering I became whole being light and reflecting it.
Surrender is a beautiful painting to install anywhere. It will suffuse the space with divine light and it may cause you to easily allow for the next cycle of growth in your spiritual evolution to unfold. At the very least, it will invite you to dance around with joy and peace, thus creating an enormous amount of light. Original or blessed prints are available by clicking on Surrender.
After I consciously invited divine light; it simply happened.
I began to see peace as far as my eye could see and beyond it.
I breathed quietly and absorbed what I now know was the here and now.
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Although when I painted this work I did not know it, the art signaled a turn in understanding my life and my path. It is decidedly different from the abstract works I had been creating for the past decade where I was guided to play with colors, textures and random shapes to explore thoughts, beliefs, actions and emotions and grow from the process.
I liked the finished canvas, yet I set it aside as an interesting event, trusting that in time, I would understand its purpose.
Meanwhile, the past holidays yielded all sorts of interesting commissions along with a nasty fall. Sustaining a concussion, all I could do is lick my wounds while embellishing several orders for Door Protector prints while chanting the mantras.
One morning, and after nearly four months of the art sitting in the corner of my bedroom I was drawn to contemplate it. I admitted that the concussion-induced confusion ushered in mostly positive outcomes. Finances were good, I received high praise for my new works, was invited to stage a successful solo exhibit and I felt buoyant. Most interactions with others where rewarding and I was even able to release the painful grip that an important relationship had on me trusting that in time, I would be able to understand the gift embedded in the difficulties I have long experienced with it.
On balance, I saw that I fulfilled my intention for last year; to embrace Grace and thus be at peace with what is, knowing that what unfolds in my life is what I need at the moment without guilt, regret, blame, anger, or despair.
And the painting vividly reflects it. There is an open and clear sky. Long vistas and new growth are evident in the landscape and serenity breeds trust. I know that even if on some mornings, heavy clouds obscure the sun; the fiery celestial body is still there shining brightly. If I am patient, after a storm I will see it in all its glory.
The images also encouraged me to ask what was after Embracing Grace. It presented me with the opportunity to hang in the quiet and fertile void of an open sky-mind clothed in resilient faith.
It was then that I consciously invited divine light and it simply happened.
I began to see peace as far as my eye could see and beyond it.
I breathed quietly and absorbed what I now know was the here and now.
When I first heard that physical pain was an opportunity to bring about awareness and heal a part of my life’s journey, I thought… great, bring it on!
When it was suggested that the pain may go away when I acknowledged the lesson and embraced its role in helping me be whole, I said…that’s easy. I meditate regularly, I fix it!
When I understood that what came up for healing, was a chapter of my life I already deemed “complete”; I was not surprised!
When I experienced sustained and debilitating pain, I acknowledged that embracing and integrating the spiritual lesson may take longer and it may require reviewing the prior layer.
When I considered that seeking relief from the outside may be a band-aid, I realized that it could offer the temporary space I needed for clarity.
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Sitting in front of my Door Protector, I pondered on the intention I put forth for this year: to experience Divine Light.
I chanted the mantra and then spent time embellishing prints I had sold over the holidays. I went to acupuncture, reflexology and chiropractic and I stretched my sore right heel while tapping.
I had known for quite a while that my symptoms were those of Plantar Fasciitis but I chose to ignore them. I suspected the emotional connection and ignored that too.
Now I could no longer do so.
The fibrous tissue that connects the heel bone to the toes and supports the arch of the foot is a ligament called fascia. It is the feet’s “shock absorber” that holds all the parts together and keeps them strong and functioning optimally. If we strain our plantar fascia, this ligament gets weak, swollen and inflamed, causing the heel or the bottom of the foot to hurt when standing or walking.
Michael J. Lincoln Ph.D., a pioneer in the field of healing emotional wounds by integrating behavioral and psychoanalytic approaches has done extensive research on the role of emotions in physical trauma. In his seminal book, Messages from the Body, Dr Lincoln describes life situations that correlate with the symptomatology of Plantar Fasciitis.
For example, when we become the shock absorber for anybody else’s pain, or when we feel responsible for keeping things together at home or at work, we are often tired, burdened and our calves’ muscles contract. When we don’t feel supported or valued, or when we feel frustrated and stuck in a relationship or life situation; the ligament in the feet, the mechanism that supports us gets tight, causing tiny tears that lead to pain and swelling.
“The emotional component of plantar fasciitis in the right foot involves having deep conflicts over how to get support, as well as concerns about relationships and commitment. For the left foot, it’s about being handicapped with vulnerability issues, unwilling to receive support, and refusing to allow others to be caretakers”, says RN and Guided Imagery Practitioner, Maureen Minnehan Jones.
I knew that I long experienced frustration and alienation with some very important relationships. I often feel stuck so I push the pain of helplessness deep inside where it burrows and seethes. Thus I had no trouble seeing that my feet, which in Feng Shui knowledge correspond to the energy of family and ancestry, were offering me a chance to revisit how I think about my role in these liaisons and change my mind pattern to one that allows for receiving support, assistance and encouragement from all kinds of people and situations, including self-love and forgiveness.
What better way to start changing these particular malfunctioning mind patterns than experiencing Divine Light?
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Last weekend I entered the studio for the first time since I slipped on black ice and sustained a concussion in late December. I meditated, I chanted, I cleaned surfaces, vacuumed the floor and organized materials and then, I unwrapped a new canvas.
Surrendering to the pristine surface, I consciously invited Divine Light to fully enter it as if this was the Earth and asked that this light weave its brilliance and energy into my whole being. I willingly became light’s living vessel and the images appeared easily and joyfully.
A storm was raging outdoors and in my studio; a huge transformation was taking place. I felt strong, grounded, peaceful and loved, as if the soul of the earth had taken hold of my heart.
It had and there it merged with Heaven’s light.
The next day I painted for 8 more hours without pain.
I still have more mind-shifting to do, but I am in the game and I am patiently moving. While I do my exercises, radiance flows into me and it fills me with joy and love. Panting itself is a very loving practice. When I am creating there is no pain and no thinking. In the studio I feel profoundly loved and cared for. What I also enjoy, is that when I meditate with it afterwards, the art provides me with tools to see a life situation anew and suggests ways to move through the lesson in a positive and life affirming manner.
The art is conceived in love and henceforth it broadcasts love. Those who own my artworks confirm this assertion.
A Storm of Divine Light depicts joyous love and emits this powerful vibration. It will thus touch lives and effect meaningful changes wherever it hangs.
This post is a reprint from the original posted a year ago. It is one of my favorite paintings and posts because of the powerful learning I received from working on the art and the writing. Read on and may you also learn to simply love yourself as never before!!!
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Seating on the cushion, pondering on love, I soon uncovered some old wounds having a lively party with my “small self”. The revelry festering in the shadows soon became loud enough for me to notice and I began squirming on the cushion. I became snippy, short-tempered, and felt very hungry; all clear signs that I needed a bright light to crash the festivities and dance instead of eating.
I soon engaged with a confused little girl who was still playing with the remnants of long ago events that laden with emotional charge, were assigned a “not-good-enough” meaning. That little girl was stuck in a time capsule within the recesses of my mind and continued to interfere with all my relationships, but most of all, it deeply affected my relationship with myself.
Instead of becoming annoyed and impatient I went into the studio and began to paint as if the canvas was the bright light to shine in on the shadows. A heavy mixture of gold, silver and white paint became the undercoat. Yet gazing through the lustered paint I felt unable to hear my heart’s voice and ended the first session sponging and scraping a soft turquoise blue color.
Over the next few days I sat with the “little child who needed love” and patiently reassured her. I needed time to muster courage and forgive my adult self who “messed up” the various roles I was called to play and be ready to take charge of my life, own my wisdom, gifts and talents. I couldn’t lather glitter over it.
Each painting session allowed me time to connect to my heart center; my authentic self. The light emanating from the colors and materials invited a door to forgiveness, self-compassion and acceptance to crack open. This door is called “Maitri”, the Sanskrit word for unconditional love for oneself, enabling us to receive love and practice compassion.
As I knifed in modeling paste, the stylized image of two fully opened peonies and an unopened bud showed up. In Feng Shui practice, these gorgeous flowers are a metaphor for female beauty and the ability to bear offspring. Its delicious scent is a symbol for the sweetness of pure love, nobility, opulence and high value. When in full bloom, peonies symbolize peace and harmony. As I applied pink, purple and magenta acrylic to the hardened plaster-like surface, I practiced loving and accepting myself now.
On some days, I was only able to place a dab or two of color on the flowers….Not easy to say I love you to me. On the last day, I sat for nearly two hours in front of the canvas until tears began to flow and my heart expanded. The door now swung fully open to a rush of joyous enthusiasm and I surrounded the flowers with a soft yellow tint to help them glow while soft willowy ribbons, like those of a wedding bouquet appeared.
The flowing ribbons became a metaphor for releasing attachment to old and crippling thoughts, allowing love to blossom as fully and openly as peonies. Through creating Simply Love I healed the past and witnessed the loving, courageous and free ME bloom.
The completed painting is a banner for Valentine’s Day. It is also an excellent Feng Shui adjustment for the Relationship area, to boost peace and harmony within the family, enhance a relationship, or attract a new one, or to boost employee morale and interactions within a business.
The original has been purchased by a talented art lover and consistent supporter. But limited edition giclee reproductions are still available to assure the presence of Simply Love in your life, a pre-requisite to experience it in all its dimensions.
I accepted this commission with much excitement from a client who had added a room in her home to be her new office. She asked me to use the colors and the inspiration from a painting of a difference size she had seen on my website. I did not know that in completing the painting, we would both learn to walk on stormy seas!
You know that I paint intuitively by focusing on the client’s needs; those spoken and those whispered by Spirit as it guides my hand. The acrylic pouring process used in this art is rather unpredictable and somewhat difficult to control. Trust tends to be the best approach to creating with the technique and it easily dovetails with my painting mindset.
It turned out that I wasn’t in a trusting state of mind.
The projected 2 to 3 weeks’ timeline took nearly 8 weeks, three canvases, a freak accident and lots of patience from the artist and the client.
First I snagged the last canvas locally available in the requested size and I was psyched. Next I sat in meditation. I waited; waited some more and I felt very conflicted.
Thoughts of my client danced in my head. I knew her to be a successful marketing guru and a warm and caring individual who did not have an easy relationship with abstract art or with spiritually guided works. I also knew that she loved my art, appreciated my creativity, had attended my classes and ordered this painting based on an abstract one she saw on my website.
With my ego fully in charge, doubts and fear popped up. By mid-December, the painting that I completed reflected anger and frustration. My ego wanted to “fix it” and I neglected to respect the truth of my work.
I did not entertain that this painting was not unlike the Door Protectors I create or the spiritually conceived art I paint when I consciously agree to be a channel for the creations that the Universe sends me. And I rejected the implication that the anger and frustration I painted was channeled from the client.
I later found out that it had!
The day before New Year’s, and with a car packed for a holiday trip, I slipped on black ice just outside my house, needed 4 staples on my scalp and was diagnosed with a concussion. As I laid on my bed that night, I recognized that I allowed my mind run the show.
As I healed, I considered that my client may have experienced the emotions now imprinted in the first painting and with limited use of my thinking faculties; I went about mending us both through another painting.
In the weeks that followed, I could not help but practice letting the ego-mind rest and recede to be the servant it’s meant to be. I went back to relying on the most trusting source of truth; the heart-mind. In between naps, I chanted, I prayed, I contemplated and did simple, mindless tasks.
I was also guided to start another painting, as the second one did not reflect the original model.
One morning I went into the studio, turned up the volume on a musical version of the Wish Granting Jewel mantra I chant and write on the Door Protectors and became a vessel for Divine Will. As I aligned with higher guidance I felt balanced, whole and filled with Light and Love and began to prepare the paints without expectations. I did not look at the sample, I simply allowed Light and Love to illuminate and guide my actions.
I called this final painting I Can Walk on Stormy Seas, after the second line in the refrain of You Raise Me Up, a song beautifully performed by Josh Groban, music written by Rolf Lovland with lyrics by Brendan Graham. It certainly reflected the process of creating the commission.
When I delivered the painting and shared the process with the client, she confirmed that prior to my accident, she had experienced anger and frustration precisely around the time I started creating her artwork. In turn, I shared with her how I surrendered to the healing process: I released my grip on trying to complete what was not ready. I became still and as expressed in the song’s lyrics; by just “waiting in the silence” I created an opening. I became a passage for Spirit to come and “sit awhile with me”.
In the end, I created a tool for us both to give up on the anger, forgive ourselves and the source of frustration and come, at any time “when [our] hearts burdened be”, to trust that Spirit will raise us up to walk on stormy Seas.
I am so grateful for my clients, my friends, my students, my neighbors and my family who reached out to help me heal with Reiki treatments, chiropractic care, prayers, texts, calls, love and laughter.
With all this help I Can Walk on Stormy Seas to be “more than I can be”!
It started as a question…What is after “embracing grace”?
And as I made this query the centerpiece of my meditation practice of the past few weeks, events and circumstances appeared gently leading me to answers.
In early December, I was invited to participate in a “super full moon” celebration that included time for introspective journeying and deep contemplation. That night the moon appeared very large as it orbited closest to Earth and this phenomenon was said to cause geophysical stress.
Mystics termed it an extremely powerful celestial event, occurring in the sign of Gemini with the planet Mercury beginning a long period of retrograde movement.
The conjunction was about hyper-illuminating the truth, especially in the area of communications, highlighting motives and intentions. Mercury starting a retrograde cycle would be particularly helpful in noticing when someone was holding back the truth or being purposely deceitful.
But this alignment was also a good time to ask important life questions, for the answers could be revealed under the bright moonlight and be held to the scrutiny of our past actions and beliefs.
That night I reflected on my chosen theme for this year; learning to embrace what came my way while monitoring how I perceived opportunities, endings and beginnings in many areas of my life. I became aware that I was no longer devastated when I expected strawberries and got lemons. In fact, I tasted the most amazing lemonades! When I was in pain, I accepted it yet focused on what I was learning from the suffering. I experienced much joy while adventurously unwrapped unexpected “gifts”.
If Embracing Grace was about deepening my relationship with Spirit and being grateful for everything, the super moon introspection implied that Light maybe the theme of my next life cycle.
This weekend I celebrated Chanukah, the festival of Lights with family and close friends. The theme of the super moon was duplicated in many ways, as it again highlighted issues of communication, motivation and intention.
Lighting the candles on the menorah also offered opportunities to bring forth our inner lights, joining with others to further goodness and heal through sharing deep love, sweet gifts, hope and joy.
I ended the weekend with marvelous people, chanting gratefulness to the Indian teacher Anandamayi Ma, the “Great Mother of Love and Light”, and later on vividly encountering Red Tara in my dreams.
Known as the “Mother of all Buddhas”, or the female Buddha in Tibetan Buddhism, Red Tara is the embodiment of Light and Love, reincarnating always as a female and compassionately assisting people in removing difficult obstacles. In fact, her energy appears in times of stress and amidst great social strife.
This morning, as I was completing this card I painted for a very dear friend, I noticed that the flower I depicted had four perfect petals, while the fifth was being pulled away by the wind.
It is said that at birth, Red Tara implants the light of awareness on the minds of certain individuals to awaken during stressful time periods and teach the four qualities of Light: equanimity, compassion, love and joy.
She also awakens collective wisdom so that a society may realize the true nature of reality. Tara shines a bright light on seemingly insurmountable obstacles and offers to swiftly remove them by practicing the four qualities.
Who wants to let the wind take dire difficulties and receive enlightenment by contemplating the flower?
I am offering a free download of this card as a gift to those who wish to practice seeing everyone as divine, to encourage helping anyone without expecting a pay-back, to pledge unconditional love for all beings and to celebrate life without attachments or aversions. Such awareness will render us all strong, beautiful, blissful and useful!
Claim your free card @ Contact, write “Red Tara” in the message box and commit to shine Light everywhere.
In the end, I created a tool for us both to give up on the anger, forgive ourselves and the source of frustration and come, at any time “when [our] hearts burdened be”, to trust that Spirit will raise us up to walk on stormy Seas.
