The Paintings
This series of eight paintings was begun over ten years ago.
The first one I painted was actually the diptych, number SIX. At the time, I didn’t realize it would be “SIX” in this series. I was intent on having that painting be symbolic of the “cosmic egg”. I was very frustrated with it because every time I would go to the studio to work on it, the visage of a woman’s figure in flowing robes would grab my attention in the midst of the abstract possibilities of the “cosmic egg” composition. Finally, after many sessions, exasperated when while painting she once again emerged on the canvas, I loudly blurted out to only myself in the studio, “She HAS to be SEEN!!!”, and I relinquished.
When the second canvas composition of the diptych came together as the great white crane in flight, it wasn’t until the painting was complete that I suddenly noticed the infinity symbol that connected the two sides of the diptych together. I had not consciously put that symbol in there. But – I had not consciously put that female figure in there either. She ultimately, and obviously in retrospect, became the Priestess, and thus eventually the image for “SIX”.
We begin with a thought of the form we want to create. And if we cultivate within ourselves the capacity to become a conduit for the creative source, the true form arises from the unknown, maybe similar to our original thought, often dissimilar. And if we allow ourselves the discomfort of letting go of our preconceived ideas, we can listen into form from the Formless, the true symbolic image, the true painting that wants to emerge.
When I was beginning to create the handmade form of this book, All Is Chosen, it became apparent that I had already painted “SIX” many years before. Representing transformation, compassion, and awakening, she was laying the groundwork for the culmination of this life’s study. Indeed, she had to be seen.
This is how the series of archetypal images of these universal truths unfolded through me – beginning with intellect, but emerging through intuition.
As I mentioned, it took over a decade to complete the eight paintings you see here. Of great interest to me was to finally understand why it took so long to complete these painted symbolic archetypes. I finally realized that I had to inculcate the understanding of the symbolic meaning of the archetype before the composition would finally work - before the fulfilling final brushstroke could land.
I am a painter. I love metaphor and symbolism. To me, all of life resonates as a metaphor. Capturing the power of each one of these archetypal roles in essence through visual imagery, can bypass the intellect in such a way as to hopefully awaken a perhaps dormant sense of the viewer’s authenticity of being.
