Courtesy of Suzie
This weekend’s “Paint, Create, Expand” art workshop surely had some fairy magic to it. After a meditation everyone went to play. This time I had left it up to my fellow artists to decide what they wanted to create and what materials they wanted to explore. Some chose the self-portrait I suggested, and took up brush and paint. Yet others, inspired by the meditation that had led them to a magic tree, made the place they had imagined the subject of their artwork. Interestingly enough there were two images, done by two artisans working on opposite sides of the room that depicted a tree to the left and a stream to the right, even though there were no such specifics given in the meditation.
At the end of the day we had some amazing artwork to celebrate. Yet no matter what the outcome was to me the experience was even more important. It is such an incredible gift that only we can give to ourselves: the time and space to nurture the soul, so that it can come out and play -just for the fun of it. I am convinced that art indeed provides a “breathing room for our spirit” – just like John Updike once said. If we create that space for ourselves our soul can’t help but expand, venture out and explore unknown terrain and in doing so become and feel fully alive. In these moments we can – for some mysterious reasons – grow wings and take flight.
