Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Taking it further


Usually by now, I would've scrapped this painting. I much more into instant gratification. However, this painting has been teaching me to have patience and look a little deeper, take breaks and have a look-see later. Joanne and I have been conversing about this painting. Those conversations have been helping me to dig deeper and open my heart to some powerful and scary emotions. Which when I am open to learning, they don't seem that scary after all.

So....this past painting session has revealed a staircase. If she chooses to go that route, where does it lead? Deeper into her heart? Into another chamber? Will she meet anyone along the way? I think there may be more for her to do before she enters daylight. Still no face. Joanne's suggestion that we all wear different faces depending on the situation, work, home, formality, intimacy, for others, for ourselves or maybe she doesn't know who she is, which could be why she is in this place. At this point she is only taking along what she absolutely needs.....a candle....light...and she travels alone.
We'll see where the next session takes us......

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

this painting is opening...as is its creator (and this grateful viewer as well) :)

i am constantly reminding myself emotions are transient...they become scary when i convince myself otherwise and therefore try to change them...when really turning toward them and letting them be, offering them acceptance and welcome is totally okay and far less frightening than i ever imagined...in my deepest of fears and wounds my grandmother's soft voice whispers to me..."this too shall pass"...

thank you for letting me share my own thoughts and impressions on your wonderful journey with this painting...

the word that keeps coming to mind today for me with the changes you have made is "visibility"...as if on the one hand there is her wish to be seen and to be loved and accepted just as she is...and on the other she is afraid to really be seen too deeply...

seen too deeply by others...but perhaps more importantly...by herself...

without the face she can maintain a certain image, and maybe there is a comfortable feeling of safety in maintaining that image...

i'm really glad you are digging deeper into patience to keep returning back...i send you a heartfelt thanks and my admiration for your courage to move past resistances...this to me is one of the greatest gifts of art...to bring us into deeper awareness of ourselves and in so doing reaching out and making that same connection in others...

jgr said...

Hi Chris,
I love the mystery of this piece and the questions very thought provoking.
-Jane