My Heart Expands

"Selfishness is the only real atheism,
unselfishness the only real religion."
                              -- Israel Zangwill

This image came to me while I was meditating this morning, something I've been neglecting for the last month or so, and I think it's making me cranky.  So I spent about an hour journaling and meditating, and the gift was this painting.  Should I explain it?  

The center represents the green-colored Heart Chakra (Anahata).  The idea is that small acts of unselfish love or kindness have reverberating effects that expand into the cosmos.

All of our actions, whether kind or unkind, have such vibrations.  So the more loving-kindness you can display, the more your mark on the cosmos will be a positive one.  And, it's never too late to start.

I did this one as a page in my watercolor "sketchbook" but I may turn it into a larger, more detailed painting if the image stays with me.

Yep, I definitely need to meditate more.

Oh!  And I'm going to call this one "Expanse" and use it for my "E" painting.  Feels a bit like cheating but I'm just not inspired by my other ideas for E, so there you are.  I may get a bit more abstract with my letters, but since I'm the only one making any rules, that's perfectly okay.  Right?  :)

Do something nice for someone today, just one tiny thing, and I hope that the goodness comes back to you tenfold.

Visuddha

"A voice cannot carry the tongue and the lips that gave it wings.  Alone must it seek the ether.

And alone without his nest shall the eagle cross the sun."
                                                 -- Khalil Gibran

Visuddha, the Throat Chakra, is the chakra of communication, of expression, of honesty (with yourself and with others), of your declaration of your place in the world.  It is associated with the color blue the element Ether, and the expression of your highest truth.

I think this is my favorite so far, which is interesting because it's the one I have the most difficulty keeping open and healthy... I'm pretty quiet and reserved.  It's funny too because the stones I am most drawn to are the ones that are blue and associated with the throat chakra.

I managed to steal a few minutes from a very busy weekend to get this one painted, and I have the panels for the last two ordered.  They should be here in a few days, hopefully :)

Anahata

"When the heart speaks, the mind finds it indecent to object."  -- Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Anahata is the heart chakra.  It is the source of peace, love, brotherhood and joy.  When your heart chakra is open, it seems that all the world is a place of love and joy.

I've painted the 12-petaled Anahata in oil and outlined it in henna impasto.  I think the dots around the petals are a nice, henna-esque touch, personally.  The picture below is kind of awful but you get the idea... they're shaping up. :)   Still don't know how I'll mount them.  I had an idea to make a stone background with crystals (stone chips)  that correspond (like, garnet for root, carnelian for sacral, etc).  Kind of a marrying of my 2 crafts.  Still not sure if that's what I'll do.  Russ says I should paint a silhouette of a meditating person and mount them on that.  Hmm.

Unfortunately after the Throat Chakra, which I roughed in today, I'm out of 4x4 panels.  I just ordered some but I picked the slow shipping so it might be 2 weeks before they get here and I can finish the last 2.  Argh... I'm in a groove and I hate to leave these unfinished, so... what next?

I have an idea I'd like to try some realistic paintings but with a henna'ed border/frame on the edge of the panel, so I might try that... plus I have A and B to finish up, but I'm petering out on those, not sure why.  Honestly I could call the Appy done and move on.  I hate being indecisive and wishy washy.

Manipura

"Our remedies oft in ourselves do lie
Which we ascribe to heaven."
                    -- William Shakespeare (All's Well that Ends Well)

Manipura is the solar plexus or navel chakra, the third energy center in the body.  It is involved with creative energy, self worth, identity, and associated with the color yellow and fire.  

This makes my third in this series; I did Muladhara (root) yesterday and Svadhisthana (sacral) several weeks ago.  They're painted in oil on these nice little panels and then the raised portion of the design (the outline) is done in my signature "henna impasto" technique.  I'm not sure if you can tell that the "henna" is sparkly on this one (and the root), but I used no paint for this one, just PearlEx powder and impasto gel.

I thought to leave them to be hung separately but unfortunately I painted the one last night sideways for the nail slot, so... darnit.  I'll either need to put hangers on the back or mount all of them on masonite or something.  If you've got any ideas for mounting I'd love to hear them :)

I'm hoping to also finish up my little Appaloosa today, too.  I have the next 2 chakras in the series base coated.  Unfortunately I'm out of panels after that so I'll have to order some more.  

Change of Plans

I'm so unpredictable. Even to myself.

I had this cool idea for "Camargue" for C. But that wasn't what the muse wanted."C" is for "change of plans."

You might also have noticed that "A" is for aaaaallllmost done (it still needs some finishing touches) and "B" is for "barely started."

But one does not disobey the muse.  So rather than Camargue, "C" is for Chakras.

So, today I had loads of day job work to do, so I didn't get to the studio until pretty late.  I had this idea a month or two ago and got started, then petered out (imagine that!).  But this is what I felt like doing tonight. These are the symbols for the first two chakras, the root chakra (Muladhara) and sacral chakra (Svadihsthana).  "Chakra" is Sanskrit for wheels of light.  They are the energy centers in your body and you have many, but there are seven primary ones, each corresponding to a color of the spectrum.  I have seen really cool chakra flags (if you follow my chainmaille at all you might already know I just love rainbows).  But I wanted to do some paintings.  So, these are 4 x 4 little panels - with a place for a nail in the back, I was happy to see - and so far I have 5 so I need a couple more.  I had done the orange/sacral one when I started this project, and base coated the first 3.  So today I finished the red/root chakra and base coated the green one.  They're oil painted backgrounds with my signature "henna impasto" - I load paint thickened with impasto gel into the same kind of cone I use when I do henna, and pipe it onto the canvas with the cone.  It's quite fun, actually.  I think I might be getting a better handle on the consistency, too.

So, yay!  Who knows where the muse will take me tomorrow.  The key is to show up at the studio.

Svadhisthana

Chakras are the subtle energy centers in your body, and you have seven.  They are typcally depicted as different colors.  Your root chakra (the base of your tailbone) is red, sacral chakra (deep in your belly) orange, solar plexus yellow, heart green, throat blue, third eye indigo (sometimes purple), and crown purple (sometimes white, or gold).  When they are open and spinning is when you feel your best.

I wanted to paint a series of small paintings, one for each of the chakras, and hang them vertically on my wall.  I base coated three of them yesterday, but the red one wasn't ready to paint on today so I went with the sacral chakra, whose Sanskrit name is Svadhisthana.  It is the center of physical procreation, controls our maturation and regulates our appetites for food, sex and pleasure.

Why did I start out of order?  Well... the panel for the root chakra wasn't quite dry yet, and besides, today is Beltane... a very appropriate day to be painting my sacral chakra ;)

Besides a color, each chakra is associated with an area of the body, a shape, an element, etc.  Here's the rundown for this one:

Svadhisthana
Location:  2 inches below the navel and 2 inches into the pelvis.
Color:  Orange
Musical note:  D
Element:  water
Aspect of intelligence:  sensation/pleasure
Essential oils:  jasmine, neroli, orange blossom
Crystals:  carnelian, tiger's eye, some agates
Plant:  Jasmine
Life issues:  to know that who you are and what you do are enough, to have enough rest, food, exercise, fun and money; to not link self worth with what you have; to create healthy boundaries and protect your vital life force
Archetypes:  Empress/Emperor (positive), Martyr (negative)

I may or may not add to this little painting, which I did with impasto henna and oil paint on a little 4 x 4 panel.  It will soon be joined by its other six comrades :)


My 30/30 Marketing challenge for today is to form an artist mentoring group.  So I'll be asking around to see if anyone is interested.

New Challenges

I kind of lost focus during April.... I've hardly been to the studio at all.  Time to get back on track.  I almost had to force myself today.

And as you can see I didn't get a lot done, BUT I did go, and that counts for something.  It's not for lack of ideas.  I'm not sure what the issue is.

But, I've decided to do another Leslie Saeta challenge, this time 30 Marketing Ideas in 30 Days.  And of course, if I don't paint anything there's nothing to market, so I'll need to show up at the easel, too.  I'm hoping for a little inspiration on both fronts.

A couple of weeks ago my husband went to a Windows on the World international festival and at one of the booths there I saw this awesome flag with the symbols for the chakras on it.  I loved it but I didn't want to drop $30 on it, so I decided to do this series of mini-paintings.  It will be a series of seven, obviously, for the seven main chakras in seven colors.

More to come on what chakras are and what the symbols for them mean!