I paint every day as part of a mindful meditation practice.
As a yoga teacher, I’ve found making/creating very similar to my practice on the mat. It’s a chance to turn my focus inward and enjoy the slowness of painting small works on canvas or paper. A few years back, I started using old materials or items gifted and donated by friends. With this goldmine of arty supplies, I became a sort of repurposing goddess of making! However, I still avoided the limitations of working on large projects. I don’t have studio space, and I wanted more of an everyday practice. Mostly, though, I wanted my art-making to be portable.
So I started investigating travel art and the supplies that go with that sort of making. I began learning and experimenting with handmade artists’ sketchbooks. That’s where the magic began to open its way for me. The reworking, re-purposing, and lateral thinking required became another element in my meditation. These books and small paintings are all creative experiments. Each one I make and paint keeps a silent witness to my coded, ‘inner scapes’. Here, I’m able to stretch myself out, to try new supplies, and to make all the marks. But there is depth in this method. The colours I choose directly relate to my mood. The marks and scratches hold purpose; secret codes and symbols, not to be shared openly.
And so, the themes I tend to explore are just this: intuition, readings, moonology, shadow work, and other mysteries; and the women who hold their secrets and share with those who can read them.