Studio Sneak Peek: The Couple

Have you seen the movie “The Secret“? It’s a wonderful film about the Law of Attraction.  It brought a lot of what I already believed to the mainstream as it bridged the spiritual and business worlds. It also enhanced my understanding and practice of manifestation.  Anyway, there’s this one scene where Marie Diamond, an expert in feng shui (a Chinese philosophical system of harmonizing people with their surrounding environment), was retelling the story of how she advised an art director interested in attracting relationships to stop painting women with their backs turned to the viewer – something he’d been doing for years.  She suggested he paint scenes with the kind of relationship he wanted to manifest. It worked for him. That’s what I’m now feeling called to do for myself.  My 2015 intuitive vision board also seemed to incorporate a movement in that direction – notice how the couple here is beside a building in colours and patterns much like what I’ve been moved to create with my current painting?

I haven’t been in a relationship for about 5 years now. I don’t mind. It’s been a fantastic 5 years!  I’ve been following my heart, connecting with my path, growing personally and spiritually, all the while learning to be more unconditionally loving in my relationship with myself and those around me.  Indeed, I’ve been exploring and expressing my love of beauty and the beauty of love in many fulfilling ways. I don’t need a committed relationship, but I’m definitely open to one with the right man for me.  Being in a soul-connected relationship has been a part of my psyche since a very young age. I haven’t been proactive in that area though, being quite the introvert.  After all, you don’t meet a lot of people when you’re a happy hermit in your art cave, or attend events that mostly attract women.  I’m feeling the energy shifting though, and am open to seeing what I’m moved to create with it.

At the dawn of 2015, I sensed that it was time to expand on my painting repertoire of empowered, intuitive, peaceful, playful, blossoming, and spiritually connected women – a visual representation of what I have been manifesting and experiencing in my own life.

Now I’m being called to paint couples, and the visions are coming to me much faster than I can paint them.

In my current painting (see its beginnings in a previous post),  I see the couple as being firmly rooted to the ground and reaching upwards in a joint commitment to growth.  They stand strong, centered, present, and balanced on their own in this pose of dynamic stillness, yet they stand together in a spirit of awareness, support, respect, and unconditional love on a shared path.

This week I sketched them on paper and traced them onto the canvas using white transfer paper. The marks wash off really easily. It’s great.

I then painted in their forms in white titanium acrylic paint (which is opaque). This allowed the colours I used on top to be much more vivid and clear than if I had painted them on all the layers of blue underneath.

I then had fun looking through my new Tangle Pattern Guide – 2015 edition for various patterns to fill each bubble.  I sometimes create my own, but imitation is a great way to expand and it is encouraged by the creators of Zentangle®. I  used shades of greenish blues (turquoise, teal, etc.) for her – a 3-hour session – and darker blues for him – another 3-hour session. I also used rounder smoother patterns for her and more angular patterns for him.  I not only want them to represent a couple, but also the masculine and feminine.  I may still work on his head… somehow the whole square-head thing doesn’t sit well 🙂  . We’ll see…. Once I finished with all the blues, I decided to go in with some gold to unify them.  Fun!

New Toys For the Studio!

I finally received my order of the newly released Liquitex Professional Paint Markers this week. I bought them online on sale over Christmas. I had been looking for fine-tipped refillable markers while in Ottawa to put my Golden High Flow paints in when I came across these.  I didn’t want to make tangle patterns with regular markers – some inks would be incompatible with acrylics. Others aren’t acid-free or archival in nature.  I was also concerned that if I used oil paint markers (which are quite smelly), I wouldn’t be able to paint with acrylics again on top.  There’s a whole fat over lean principle when it comes to the chemistry of paint – something I learned in Vienna.  The 2-4mm chisel points on these are a bit large for some patterns / areas, but that’s OK.  I still really enjoyed working with them, especially since I had to move my studio up to the main floor after a few water pipes broke last weekend in the studio.  I’ve been looking at the affirmation “Let go, let it flow” on my studio wall differently since then. 🙂   We’re now having all our water pipes replaced in the house.  Being in the front office, I didn’t want to risk spilling paint anywhere, so the markers are perfect. I’m also enjoying looking out of doors as I paint and working on a higher surface than in my studio.  I definitely need to get myself a regular height table when I move back to my beloved art cave.

I also got some of the tools I ordered to create my mandala series: a couple protractors and a giant compass that can make 24″ circles if I use the rod it came with, or circles up to 10 feet if I buy a longer 1/2″ dowel  Fun!

I’m thinking ahead to the tree – I’m not sure where to go with it. I’ve got 2 tree shapes that I’m considering.  Which one do you like the most?  Left or right?  Ignore the colours – I was just playing in Photoshop to consider the shapes and how they would overlap with the snowflakes. Also ignore the fact that the one on the left has leaves and the one on the right is so thick and ends abruptly.  I’m thinking symbolism as much as shape – it’s a tough call… folks on Facebook this week have been voting for the one on the left. You?

This painting is far from finished. The intricacies of detail have made this a very meditative practice.  Stay tuned for the next Studio Sneak Peek to see where it goes from here.