The Visionarium

I like to try new things so I decided to start a series of "visionary" paintings. I had heard about and seen lots of visionary art over the years but I still struggled to understand exactly what "visionary" meant. So true to form I did some research and decided to give it a go. 

Basically a visionary style painting is in the surreal category with emphasis on the spiritual side. With visionary art you are creating from your heart, not your head. You are creating what you see in your dreams or while under a trance during meditation. You have to let your minds eye do the seeing and your heart brings it into being. I always liked how colorful and transcendental visionary art was. It really does make you feel as though you've stepped into another world. A psychedelic dream world with vibrant colors and brush strokes that flow into one another. 

Since I enjoy painting goddesses I thought this would translate nicely to this style of art. Most times we see paintings or illustrations of deities (mine included) that are filled with symbolism which separates each deity and culture so that they are recognizable. With my new paintings though I wanted to try something different. I wondered what each goddess would look like if all that symbolism was stripped away leaving just a being of spirit and energy. What would each goddess look like in spirit form so to speak? So I meditated on one of my goddesses, Isis, to see what visions she would give me.

While in meditation a vision of her came to me in color form. Cool blues and whites coupled with warm oranges and reds came together to form a winged being. As soon as I saw her I committed her to memory, opened my eyes, thanked her for the vision and began my rough outline sketch. I started painting and didn't question what I was doing which as an artist and a perfectionist I often do. I had to let go and let my brush do the thinking. Finally after about three hours or so, she came alive on my canvas. In spirit form my minds eye saw Isis as a being of bright color with wings. With no symbolism to set her apart from other winged deities. She may not have a sun-disc crown or be carrying an ankh in true Egyptian fashion, but she is still Isis to me. 

When we strip away the symbolism of each deities culture, aren't we left with all the same deities anyway?Is not the Aphrodite of Greece the same as the Venus of Rome or Inanna of Sumeria? In my opinion the thing that really separates all of the gods are there cultures because in spirit form they are all one. I understand that for worship's sake it's easier to pray to one or the other as I myself do the same. But at the end of the day we are praying to the Mother and She is all goddesses as all goddesses are Her.

I hope you enjoy my vision of Isis. More to come in the following weeks!

Times are a changing....

"The only thing constant in life is change" - Heraclitus

If there's anything I've learned over the last few years of my life it's that life is ever changing. Change is always for the best in my opinion even if it doesn't seem that way at the time.  My life has changed over the past year in ways I never thought possible. I'm finally pursuing my dream of being an artist and it just feels right. You know you're heading down the right path when everything works out for you. When things will just literally fall into your lap. You know then that it was meant to be. And even if you had to weather the storm and make a ton of mistakes before you got there. Once you get there you'll realize that it was worth the wait. Sometimes life forces us to "wait" for our dreams for the simple reason that we are not ready. Maybe we are supposed to let go of someone or something that is bad for us or is holding us back. Maybe we need to forgive ourselves and move on. Whatever it is, if you're patient and work through it, the reward is sweet.

I've lost many people, jobs and various other things over the last few years that were painful to lose at the time. But now I realize that in order for me to move forward on my true path, those things had to be let go. I do not believe that time necessarily heals all wounds but that it gives you perspective. When you let go, you open yourself up to receiving. I am now in that receiving phase now and I couldn't be more grateful.

I decided to take some time off from writing to pursue my career as an artist and now that, that is well on it's way I thought it was time to come back to my blog. I will be making some changes on this blog, keeping up with the theme of this post. I will be doing more writing about my artwork, upcoming events and new projects. I will still post my beloved goddess mythology for time to time as well :)

As far as my art career goes; I will have some of my illustrations appear in the Fall issue of Sage Woman magazine so please check that out. I am also working on a new project which will be an illustrated book of goddesses complete with myth, meditation and rituals. I'm hoping to have it out by the end of this year. The picture at the top of this post is a painting which I'm currently working on of the goddess Yemaya. It will be one of the goddesses in my upcoming book.

Thank you to all of my readers and friends who have supported me over the years! I couldn't have done it without you.