I thought to just ramble a bit in this post, about this process of Spontaneous Painting I am enjoying so much, trusting that one's joy song is everyone's joy song, even though the words may differ. I'm honored to be a part of your world in this way.
Spontaneous Painting is your direct experience of being in relationship to the unknown and giving it form, painting it - literally.
When we are honest about the unknown, none of us knows what is going to happen next.
We may have a plan, but we really cannot know how that plan will fulfill itself.
Our plan will be challenged by life and when we can remain open to the unexpected, our plan is often fulfilled beyond what we could have imagined.
We’ve all experienced that kind of outcome I'm sure, even in our day to day lives.
I am curious about feeling lead from within, beyond what is imagined, in a way that one experiences more joy and ease in relation to life.
I have a little book on Zen by Cheri Huber called Nothing Happens Next.
This is a wonderful koan.
Everything is only ever happening now.
Process Painting is a tool, a support, a means, into the direct experience of Being. Here. Now.
Process Painting gives us an arena to test these muscles of ours and to see where those conditioned muscles of control can be given a little more space, to relax.
It is not about becoming a better or even a more spontaneous painter!
It is a practice of discovering and exploring what lies underneath the grip of control, underneath the ‘me’ plan.
I’m going to be painting with some 4-H kids this month for Living Sky Foundation in Sperryville, VA. I am looking forward to the natural spontaneity that children bring to painting.
But I do have a mission.
The more time the young mind lives in the world, the freedom of that unselfconscious child is slowly put to sleep. Many succumb to the world’s expectations and demands on their creativity and time. It is part of the process of "growing up" in the world as we know it. It is the process of growing into the individual that we all must pass through.
But what if a child didn’t lose contact with their creativity?
What if they were taught that it can be trusted and that they can be trusted with it?
That it was in fact, their (your) birthright, their (your) connection to who they (you) are and why they (you) are here?
Spontaneous Painting is an exploration of those conditioned responses we have placed before the unknown for the sake of feeling safe, comfortable, right and in control.
Are you willing to leave that paper open and empty, just a bit longer?
Are you willing to paint without knowing where it is going or what it is about?
Are you willing to give yourself the space to find out that you honestly don’t know.
Are you willing to be with how that feels?
Are you willing to be with yourself as the conditioned ideas of ugly and beautiful, of wrong and right, of good and bad - all your stories - rise and fall away in you?
As the painting brings what is unknown in you into the light,
are you willing to be gentle with yourself at the same time?
So, my friend, Spontaneous Painting is not about the painting that you will take home with you.
It is about who you are when you go home, having let go a little bit of the product maker.
It is about what happens while you investigate this quiet, deeply interior well of creative possibility within you, with paint as your flashlight of color.
Don't forget the simple joy of color !!
Everything is happening for our awakening.
There is no hiding from it.
Awakening doesn't take us away from life, but into it.
This is the Age of Aquarius, my friends!
It is time for our uniqueness to live as the heart and light of our humanity.
It is a time of synthesis, of knowing that spirit and matter are one.
Let’s rock this boat and free the slaves
(they have served us very well)
Be liberated and astonished
By your very own true nature!
Painting and Writing are my passion.
Process Painting may help you reconnect with yours,
if you sense the connection is calling for some support.
And it's fun, it is really fun.
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