A Guiding Hand

giving me a hand

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…   A moment of weakness (we all have them)..yes?  There is a self-deprecating thought that rolls through and is sticky like molasses on a hot and humid day.  “So I am no Picasso, Matisse or Michaelangelo.”

 I muse….unsatisfyingly and prepare to paint.

 There is no measuring up or comparison to these great Masters and yet the doubt in my self makes its timely arrival once again.

 I pick up my brush and offer to be an open vessel for Spirit.   The painting begins to flow….the valley, the hills, feeling the freedom of just painting for the joy in it.  Music is playing as my brush moves across the paper and suddenly a hand is revealed…that great aha…… then a line becomes the brush and the landscape becomes the palette.   All of this under my watchful gaze has taken form quite to my surprise.

  As the hand appears,  I am reminded, once again,  that there is a mysterious, incredibly beautiful guiding force.  Something that breathes life into everything and gives each of us a “hand up” in life.  This guidance helps us to re-member that it is our soul’s purpose and greatest delight to find our authentic voice and there is  mystery in that so deep and so profound that our consciousness has a hard time excepting this formidable truth.

and so……I shall create for the joy, the love, the freedom in each moment and know that by living my joy and my passion, my path will be made clear and I will be guided by that loving mysterious hand.

.  I am not Picasso or Michaelangelo…I am Teresa.

A vision held for 12 years has come true!!! Viva Andalucia!

 

In the luminous landscape of the outer journey!

In the luminous landscape of the outer journey!   The hills of Andalusia!

Mystical visions… they hold a spark….undeniably special and profound.  They hold an immeasurable tendency to reorganize your whole way of being in the world.  This wordless vision was the energy of “Andalucía”.

Today I stand as living proof that what you hold in creative awareness can manifest delightfully on this plane of planetary juiciness.  I have just come back from a months stay in Europe….visiting Switzerland, France and Spain….and yes “Andalucía”.   I have received the greatest of gifts in knowing and surrendering to the fact that language does serve its purpose but the heart breaks through all barriers among people and cultures.  As I do not possess the languages of French, Swiss or Spain in my repertoire,  I found this out very quickly.  My way was continuously studded with angels as bright jewels in a foreign landscape to lead me to my next destination through the regions of Francais and Espana.   I am eternally grateful for how the Divine manifests such perfect balance and freedom as I navigated the narrow streets of southern France, the metros of Paris (egads!!) and the generosity of the locals in the mosques and churches and streets of Spain! 

When you sink your teeth into a journey of this magnitude it is good to have both an “outer” map and quoting the advice of a cherished friend “an inner map.”  Let me explain….  in each location there was the route, the location, the how to get there.  There were many beautiful sites and sounds to enjoy.  I have taken a tram to the highest peak in France,  visited the finest museums of painting and sculpture, and heard the angleic harmonies of a Russian men’s choir in a towering cathedral of rose colored light.  While this was nourishing my senses and appreciation for unparralleled beauty what was weaving itself through my energetic blueprint was the inner map…of lifetimes remembered and spent in these mystical places.  Chartres, Montabaun, Carcassone, Toulouse.   These were places of healing, places of releasing, places of renewal.  All of these had been held in my consciousness as if coats of many colors and designs were being shed along the route on my way to the southern rolling, expansive light filled, olive laden hills of Andalucía.  I understand that it does not take one to travel to some foreign place to shed these coats but through this experience I feel that I was able to walk each step feeling more and more the anonymity of living as a member of the human race with no identification to bind and relishingthe inner journey the freedom of complete aliveness and sweet surrender.   I am grateful for the journey and all the beautiful people who crossed my path on the way.

More is to be unveiled…of that I am sure……right now I am enjoying the “joie de vie” and the visions and promise of new paintings!

Viva Andalucía!!

 

 

 

Creative spirit in the florida breeze

florida ala great memories 010One truly knows they are in relaxation mode when the painting journal is resurrected and there is both the time and the creative energy to paint to my hearts content!  Fort Meyers Florida is an amazing place of strong gulf coast breezes and radiant sunsets to fill the heart and the soul.  Jon and I encountered many angels along the way, specifically in our dear longtime friends, Steve and Maggie. They are so very gracious!

This being said………….

I just might have to succumb to the snowbird magic and take up part time residence to explore and paint. In Florida,  the colors are radiant bursts of light in form  and vibrate with the songs of the many birds that Jon and I had the privilege of viewing in their natural homeland waters.  There were a plethora of pelicans, cranes and my very favorite blue herons.  The tree aviarys on the water (cannot for the life of me remember their actual name)  are vibrant with spots of color in the shape of many feathered friends.    We also were blessed to see manatees, dolphins and to my delight… no gators, even though I saw many alligator and turtle crossings.

This small watercolor painting, from my journal was done in front of Steve and Maggies house, where daily they wake to an incredible view of the Collusahatchee River from their front porch!   Palm trees, long walks, and the sound of water lapping against the docks rocked my soul deeper and deeper into the quiet of what a vacation can truly be when you have no agenda and no serious timelines to be on the go.  This was a magical, creative, spiritual experience of healing and joy.  I am grateful to this Divine oneness that holds all of us within this silence.  No doubt about it….we will return to this tropical haven.