The Universe is My Creative Playground

In true intuitive painting form, I had no idea what this 6th piece in my Re-Connecting Collection would become. I’d asked my Team of Divine Helpers for the next autobiographical piece and trusted in the process.

You don’t have to know where you’re going to take the next inspired step!

The vision for it only came to me as I was contemplating the finished window frame design.

That’s when I saw the breasts a woman filling the peaks of the frame and and her figure leaning all the way back, hair hanging down, looking straight at me.

The image was very sensual at first, yet kept flipping to a playful laughing vision of a child hanging upside down from a monkey bar.

At that point, I understood that the theme for this painting was both passion & play.

It’s only later, as I was painting the hair and listening to Steve Nobel’s “Affirmations: Awaken the Unlimited Artist Within” (see video below) that the full meaning became clear.

This painting is a tribute to creativity in all areas of my life.

Its name, “The Universe is my Creative Playground”, is one of the affirmations in Steve’s video.

I’ll admit, this painting was a challenge. Bringing my vision to canvas stretched my artistic skills.

I don’t usually paint faces for a variety of reasons. So having a face that took up the majority of the space meant figuring out how do it in a style that was harmonious with my usual painting voice.

At first, I didn’t know how to let the Universe in the background to come through – honouring the mix of body & spirit.

As one of Steve’s affirmations says, however, “The creative edge exists beyond the familiar“.

And as I also affirmed over and over while listening and painting: “I am the embodiment of compassionate creative expression. I know that creativity is the antithesis of perfectionism.  I know I am imperfectly perfect in all my creative expressions. This is the creative way. I seek the heights of imperfection. In this way, I break through to new levels of creative freedom – free from the bounds of my negative ego.”

Accepting and moving beyond these layers of the creative process is what allowed this painting to come into being – purposefully asymmetrical and slightly off-centre.

Seeing this painting live is a whole different experience. The iridescent gold and violet layers on top of the white can only be seen from some angles. She’s alive!

 

Do you sometimes have hair dreams? For as long as I remember, I’ve tested out new hairdos and colours in my sleep. What I was really, doing, however, was preparing for and integrating what I needed for the next transition in my life. Many of the big changes on my journey were preceded by a hair dream.

In my waking hours, however, I had very long blond hair most of my adult life.

One day, while living in Saskatoon, I turned my head upside down and started chopping it to be a version of what it still is today. Once a professional cleaned it up a little… ok, a lot…, it became a part of my new identity.

I remember a friend’s mother commenting that big things were about to happen in my life – that this drastic and creative cut was a symbol of my opening up to new possibilities. It was true.

The hair in “The Universe is my Creative Playground” represents the creative flow and holds within it the forms of my creative expressions: painting, photography, writing, simple living, dancing, nature time, inner child time (I love swings), romantic expression, teaching, intuitive living, visioning meditation, third eye opening, and travel.

What are your forms of creative expression?

I chose to give the figure an orange top in this painting as it’s the colour of the Sacral Chakra, the centre for creativity. This top is lined in green dots, adding heart chakra energy to the mix.

I also placed a lapis lazuli stone at the sacred 1/4 mark of the canvas, at the throat chakra, to help with creative expression.

Lapis lazuli activates the third eye while opening and balancing the energies of the throat chakra, for the expression of our personal truth out into the world.

This stone is embedded in pearl coloured mica chips, adding the needed energies of love & compassion for creativity to flow.

There’s a reason kids like to hang upside down. Go ahead. Try it!

Did you? Really?  Stop right now, lie on your bed and hang off the edge to look back. Then smile if you aren’t already.

This happy, healthy, and creative woman has a sparkle in her eye because she’s living in alignment with her True Self.

She’s expressing it in all she is and all she does, opening new ways of seeing in herself and others.

This is what I want to be reminded of when I see this painting. This is the mirror I want to live up to.

To strengthen that association, I added my birthmark in her right eye.

When I’m not using the meditations that I’ve channeled (visit my YouTube channel), I’m using Steve Nobel’s. I strongly resonate with his work.

He also has a series of affirmation videos that I like to play while I’m working on tasks around the home or studio.

This is Steve’s video I was listening to as I was working on the layers of the hair, giving me a much deeper appreciation and understanding of this evolving painting.

It’s a perfect summary of what it celebrates with such affirmations as:

“Life is creative. I am one with the creativity of life. I am one with the creative force within the Universe.”

“I have a powerful imagination. This imagination is the gateway to many worlds. Through this creative gateway, I am free to explore. Free to explore other ways of conceiving. Free to explore other ways of perceiving. Free to explore other opportunities for creative expression.”

“New ideas flow through me gracefully and easily. I’m a channel for creative expression.”

“The world supports my creativity. The world supports my creative dreams. The world supports my creative projects. The world supports my authentic creative expression.”

“Divine inspiration surrounds and infuses my being.”

“I see the world through fresh eyes. I am born anew each day.”

“Life is my canvas.”

“The Universe is my creative playground.”