Our Histories

 

Featured image: We Are Connected

The stories we, as artists, tell when we create and the powers we release during the process are our unique ways of interpreting the world. Each interpretation is a one-of-a-kind history we leave behind; no one else has a history like ours. Our personal experiences in the world belong to us alone. We create our good, and yes, we also make our own bad. If we align with the creative spirit within ourselves and allow ourselves to share it with others, it can be a daunting and intimidating thing to do. Why? Because we became very vulnerable at that time. If we create our good, we can trust in our authenticity and that of others. 

I believe that when a viewer evaluates a completed piece of art, they are seeking some spiritual connection with another, and then another, and then another; the process is fluid. The fluidity is the spiritual connection to the artist's spiritual power. And this spiritual power is only felt by an authentic artist.

The Creative Divine in You

 

Featured image: White Road - A Creative's Journey

The divine within you is there for you to awaken and discover. And when you travel your unique creative journey, it will be joyful, wonderful, glorious, and fulfilling.

Sacred Space

 

Featured image: Sacred Places

My studio is a sacred space for me—except for my office area. Every morning, I wake up early, make coffee, and walk into my studio. I walk into this sacred space and find a wonderful, sacred silence that I look forward to. This room is mine—with its playful toys, neon lights, positive energy, and endless possibilities. It's filled with the outdoors and the seasons, thanks to its numerous windows. It is where I am at liberty to be myself, where I can explore and take risks. It’s a safe space for me—non-judgmental and full of possibilities.

I know not everyone can have a studio—and if you’ve visited my studio, you know it’s quite small—but a studio can be built almost anywhere. I just created an additional studio in the garage; it’s my new 3-D studio where I’ll be making sculptures out of repurposed antiques. I’m so pumped for this that I had to create a space for it.

I’ve been collecting objects for a couple of years now, simply because I found them interesting, without knowing what I would do with them. Now, they have a purpose—and it will be fun. I’m excited!

What will happen with the studio when the cold weather comes? I don’t know—I’ll worry about that later. This is now.

Anyway, back to the beginning. Everyone needs a sacred space to be creative and to create. Let me say that again: to create. We are creative people; we need to create. We are happy when we create. When we create, we fill ourselves with all kinds of happiness and possibilities.

The Power Of the Spirit of Creating

 

Featured image: Straight From the Heart

I believe we’ve spent way too much time arguing over whose word is better than someone else’s—and not enough time recognizing that there is a power surrounding all of us. A power stronger than words—words that divide.

Have you ever experienced something so wonderful, so beautiful, that there were no words for it? That’s how we should strive to feel about others: with awe, beyond judgment. We must learn to let go of whatever it is someone just said that triggered a quick label in our minds—thinking they are “this” or “that”—when in truth, they are a person surrounded by the same powerful spirit that surrounds you. They may just not feel it yet.

Share your creative spirit—not to prove it’s better than someone else’s, but to invite others into something deeper and more beautiful.

All I have to do is look around—at the earth, the moon, the sun, the stars, the sky—and think of the galaxies, the energies, the forces, the power that created all of this. And I remember: I, too, was created to create. That very idea has motivated me all my life.

Of course, there are times when that idea feels far away. And when it leaves, I really feel its absence. I don’t know why it goes—but I sincerely hope and pray it returns.

Blessings to all.  C

What Is Art Good For

 

Featured image: Kaleidoscope Of Raw Reality: We Are So Small – Northern Lights

Recently, I came across a question in an art magazine that made me pause: What is art good for?

It’s a good question—and it got me thinking. If you really consider it, art isn’t "useful" in the traditional sense. It's often seen as self-indulgent. We don’t need art the way we need food, water, or shelter.

And yet, many people responded to the question with deep conviction.

Imagine our culture without art. It would feel robotic, mechanical, empty. Don’t you think?

Do we need art? Or do we need something we call art? Isn't that the question posed by the film The Matrix? Doesn’t art make things feel real? Doesn’t it also question what we consider real?

Isn’t that the very issue we face today—and one we’ve faced for a very, very long time? Hasn’t this question existed since the beginning of consciousness and our recognition of “reality”?

What is art good for? It’s a huge question, one that can’t be taken lightly. The answer is something we must keep thinking about—and even fighting for.

If the answer is lost within our society, if it disappears from our culture and never reemerges—which could seriously happen in today’s world—it would be unimaginably tragic.

I don’t even want to think about that possibility.

Still, we have to.
We just have to.

Art is good for everything—but perhaps most importantly, it protects our freedom and preserves our free spaces.

Dance

 

Featured image: Celebrate, Celebrate Dance with the Music

Abstraction, unknown, emerge, uncertain, unbound, freedom, discovery, exploring, unlimited, uncharted, magical, intoxicating.
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

These words—and others like them—when hummed silently to me while creating, have become my personal, secret hallelujah chords, with minor falls and major lifts, to the song Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen and Mikael Wiehe.

Creations. They are my personal secret chords and are part of what an artist is—and should be—about.

All are part of an abstract artist's vocabulary, and all are part of an abstract artist's palette. All are part of an abstract artist's concepts and ideas, awaiting discovery, challenging her to explore, connect, and bring something exciting to life through experimentation.

These concepts—these hallelujahs—enable the magic of creation. The magic of being should constantly be navigating the uncharted waters of the sea or the vast wilderness of a desert.

I do my best; it isn't much, and even though things often go wrong, I always believe I will stand before the Creator and sing:
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

This painting is all about this dance of creation, as the sunflower rises from the darkness of the precious earth and arches toward the glorious light.

Inspirational

 

Featured image: Rainbows In My Studio

Many people think I’m a gifted artist, but I don’t see myself that way. I’m just an average artist—nothing special.

But I’ve come to suspect that being “average” is exactly what helped me discover the real secret to being an artist: becoming a deeply spiritual one, and knowing and following my dream.

I’ve been driven by this dream my whole life—except during a recent downtime, and a similar period about 20 years ago, when I lost my way, my energy, and my soul. While I continued to create during those times, I only occasionally produced something truly remarkable—a powerful artistic manifestation I would even call inspired. Something wholly my own, original, one-of-a-kind.

When I create this kind of work—as I do now with my 3-D pieces—I feel I’m tapping into something greater than myself. It feels like the energy of the entire universe is flowing through me and surrounding me while I work.

That energy has strengthened my belief in a higher power—God, for me—who is greater than myself. This creative power is behind the growth of all things and is connected to all things.

I’ve come to realize that the work I’m doing, and the inspiration I feel, isn’t so much about the finished product. It’s about the state I reach while I’m creating. That place of joyful immersion. I want to visit that state as often as I can—and begin tracking not only the outcome, but the creative process itself and the emotional space it opens.

It’s not always easy to stay in that space. Thoughts creep in—like what colors are trending, or whether the work feels sophisticated enough. And I can’t tell you how crushing it is when someone walks up and says, “Oh, this would look great in a child’s room.”

In those moments, part of me wants to pull the piece off the wall. But I don’t—because another part of me wants to recoup the money I invested in it. And so that mindset lingers, because I’ve come to believe that, to be considered inspirational, one must also be commercially successful.

Still, I’m excited about my new 3-D works, and I sincerely hope you will be too.

Blessings to you all,
c