Painting the Feminine - Come as You Are

During weekdays, we women who are exploring the feminine work in our art journals... but on the weekends we are called to work larger, on canvases, illustration boards or whatever else suits our fancy. And rather than all working with one central word/mantra/theme/whathaveyou, we allow ourselves to look back over the week's work and feelings and find something that really calls to us, or a common thread running throughout the five days to explore with our brushes.

Since Space & Ease touched such a fragile nerve in me when I worked on it Friday, I decided to continue to explore it on canvas over the weekend. I wasn't feeling too hot Saturday, but I brought myself to the canvas just as I was... with a big comfy sweatshirt, a big glass of water and sort of a shit attitude. The timing wasn't perfect, but had I waited any longer to start I would have ended up skipping a day and it is so important to me to allow me this sacred space for myself and my artwork, even when I feel like the funky stuff the dog rolled in. An important lesson that I sometimes overlook when it comes to this painting practice is "come as you are". Don't worry about the timing, the funk, the ick, your paints, your mood... just show up and make something.

So I took it easy; pulled a comfy chair up to the easel, turned on some fun music, turned on the little paper lanterns that I just hung up on and lit candles... transforming my space and just started with the first color that came in to my mind... the same dark blue you'll notice in a lot of my paintings from the first week. (It made and appearance today, too) And I let the dance begin, easy simple swoops and swirls, just enjoying the process. And before I knew it over an hour had passed and there was a faceless, ethereal beauty on the canvas and I felt the call of Divine Mother; who told me to go get some rest and take care of myself.

The second day went more smoothly; I felt better and got to the business of painting without dragging my bones to the canvas. And as I painted, the figure, with her calm face began to radiate her womb energy. And that's where she left me - Beginning with space and ease and ending with flowing radiance.