Studio Sneak Peek: Love, Beauty, Mystery

My newest work in progress started with a gasp as I was watching the movie “Perfect Sense”, one of the offerings on Waking Up to the Movies (see previous post).  I don’t know if I need to credit the director, David Mackenzie, or the cinematographer Giles Nuttgens, but when this shot came up, I paused the movie, apologized to my housemate, grabbed my iPhone, and took a picture.  All week I had been contemplating how best to represent the faces of a couple inside a circle. This was it! Isn’t that just the perfect shot?!

I worked on the drawing and stencil in my room while the repairs were being finished in my studio (new water pipes, ceiling, fresh paint).  I knew I wanted the forms to be raised, like in a cameo, so I needed to cut the stencil in something thick.  Unfortunately, the only large sheet of foam that I could get at Michaels was black (comes in a roll), which made tracing a bit tricky, but I managed with white transfer paper (which didn’t work very well on foam) and then a white paint marker. After that, I used an X-acto knife to cut it.

Originally, I had sized the design for a 24″ x 48″ canvas, but when I got down to the studio, a 30″ x 40″ canvas called to me.  I listened.  I invited my Guides and Angels to join me in the co-creative process, smudged myself, the canvas and the studio with sacred palo santo smoke, added some blessed water from the Chalice Well in Glastonbury to my spray bottle, created my intentions, and chose my initial colours.

Apart from the central motif, I had nothing planned for this painting.  I approached it similarly to how I describe the process in my Guide to Intuitive Painting.

This time I started with puddles of water and Golden High Flow acrylic colours.  I just wanted to play. Layers and layers of play as I massaged and moved colour and loving energy onto the canvas.

I know I “waste” a lot of very expensive paint the way I do things, but letting go of all that is definitely part of the creative process.

Once that was dry (which took so long, even with the hairdryer), I added layers and layers and hours and hours of mark-making. This is a truly meditative practice that brings such a state of inner peace. It’s all about being right here, right now. No planning, no knowing where it’s all going – I rarely do. Intuitive painting is all about loving the mystery.

Once that was dry, I added a very watery glaze of gold over the whole painting to unify it. Adding water to fluid gold paint by Golden Artist Colors Inc. releases the tiny mica particles that float, disperse and puddle. It’s magical to watch. Mica is a group of multi-layered transparent minerals that symbolically and energetically infuse the the painting and those in its proximity with awareness, love and compassion. Appropriate, don’t you think?

Last night, once the glaze was dry, I used a spatula knife to fill the stencil with 2 kinds of acrylic mediums. I used Light Molding Paste for her face and his hair and used Clear Granular Gel for his face and her hair.  I then peeled it back to realize that leaving the mouth and space behind him empty weren’t a good idea.  No worries, by this morning, the mediums were dry enough to put the stencil back on, and I filled those spaces with Glass Bead Gel.

I still have no idea where this is going, but that’s perfectly fine – it’s actually more fun that way.  I’ve already had all sorts of ideas while rebounding on my mini-trampoline and looking at it.  But I’ll wait until the mediums are dry before making any decisions. Although the molding paste will dry white, the granular gel and glass beads will be clearer (although I’ve never used them this thick before – we’ll see!).  I ‘m having visions of pearl, gold, and dark blue, but I’m not committing to that yet.

Well, now is the time for patience. I need to let that dry for the day, so it’s back to the books in preparation for B-School.

Are you loving the mystery?

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