Today isn’t any other day…

Today isn’t any other day…

by | Artful Living, Contemporary Art

“It is the addition of strangeness to beauty that constitutes the romantic character of art.”
~ Walter Pater

It’s been a while since I’ve painted some smaller works, so I decided to do a series with flowers as my inspiration, as I am wildly passionate about them and have been itching to give it a go all summer.

I prepped four panels and then painted on a base colour to start off the backgrounds. I was just following what the brush seemed to want to do – not thinking.

But, when I wanted to get the flowers started my muse seemed to abandon me. I couldn’t feel it. I drew a blank in body, palette knife, and mind.

I studied the panels… and I studied the panels. Nothing. It wasn’t happening.

So, I had to regroup and feel into it.

I looked at the patterns in the base and let them guide the process. What happened next was extraordinary.

Following the path of ease, flow and excitement my palette knife took over and led the way.

 

“Today isn’t any other day, you know.”
~ Lewis Carroll

It wasn’t just that the piece painted itself… it energized me! Well, actually three pieces back to back – energized me!

I had mouth surgery last week and have been in recuperation mode mostly. Bursts of energy but short lived. Mostly, I’ve felt lazy and tired.

But these energizing pieces brought me back to life – it felt incredibly healing actually and lifted my sagging spirits!

If I had to say why, I’d say it was because I gave over to playfulness and ease.

“Artists of all stripe tend to equate difficulty with virtue and ease with slumming. We do not lean into our ease and enjoy the ride of our gift… If we do not practice the joy of using our talents where they fall easily, we rob ourselves of self-expression.”

~ Julie Cameron

I can wholeheartedly say, YES to this!

There are times when I paint tuning into the emotion and energy boiling deep inside. It’s a cathartic release.

And, there are times to paint from playfulness, and to just say, “Hi, Art!”

Kiernan

Exploring the Realms of Self Love

Exploring the Realms of Self Love

by | Artful Living, Contemporary Art

“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.”

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Too much time wasted trying to change. Believing this is wrong, that is wrong. Too this. Too that.

Too big. Too small. Too much. Too little… never enough.

The truth of it is, all the things we’re criticized over are really the foundation for our gifts and talents. What makes us special.

Be the joyful hummingbird, if you are, because you bring light to the hearts of others.

 

 Be the soft waters, if you are, because you bring light to the flow of change.

 

Be the fierce fearless one, if you are, because you bring light to the masses.

 

Be the deep thinker, if you are, because you bring light to the minds of others.

 

The piece I am currently working on explores the concept that to love oneself is the kindest and greatest act and gift to ourselves and the world. To love oneself is to KNOW oneself – intimately.

It is to practice forgiveness and compassion. It is the foundation to be right with self and others.

It is the basis to live in harmony and to know the type of happiness and joy that is specific for your true nature.

Not quite finished yet… but close… I think.

Kiernan

“You are the light of my heart and the comfort of my soul”

~ Rumi

Journey to Love with the Stars of Egypt’s Embrace

Journey to Love with the Stars of Egypt’s Embrace

by | Artful Living, Contemporary Art

“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.”

~ Oscar Wilde

And a new one begins…

The heart ashore… the stars above… the temples within…

My parents are ailing and now more than ever I am becoming aware of the cries of healing of the past, from generations before to the present. Where things are both mine and not mine, yet often feel like they are more than mine… Mine to alchemize.

To transform from lead into gold. The task is both easy and not… it is all in the willingness to become aware, to accept rather than deny, and then love all that is and was.

Painting and writing are becoming my best friends, for it is through the taking it from the inside to expressing it on the outside, in colour, in strokes, in words that may not make sense to anyone else, that I become more whole than I was.

Today, I take to the panel the desire to practice the act of self-love, because it is only through LOVE that we can liberate our hearts… and creative expression is the way.

I wonder if our longing to touch the divine is really our need to fully love ourselves – beauty and warts, light and shadow – all of it in its entirety?

“Nothing is wrong, nothing is wasted, nothing is neurotic, nothing is disowned, everything is possible in art”

~ Julia Cameron

I had a burning desire this morning to collage onto this newly primed panel some papyrus sheets I’ve had for years. I don’t know how much, if any, of the texture will be noticeable as the piece progresses because I paint with thick layers… but it’s there… the ancient Egyptian Goddesses and their temples have been invited to play with us…

Papyrus is a thick type of paper material originally prepared in ancient Egypt from the pithy stem of a water plant, used in sheets throughout the ancient Mediterranean world for writing or painting on and also for making rope, sandals, and boats.

With my handmade Tibetan singing bowl I call in the angels…

The layers of paint begin…

Scraping… blending… scratching… scraping.

Some of the papyrus is still visible.

May love be the journey,

Kiernan

Art Transforms Worlds within Worlds

Art Transforms Worlds within Worlds

by | Artful Living, Contemporary Art

Painting is not always about creating something of beauty. Sometimes it’s about an artist pouring something unknown onto the canvas. This unknown may be a feeling that is unable to be articulated any other way than through colour or the act of creating something with our hands. Sometimes it’s a calling from an inward and/or an outward source.

A pull. A calling. An irrepressable urge.

It could be in response to something the artist is experiencing. It could be an attempt to understand or convey something bigger.

Imagine for a moment, that in the act of creation – something is transformed in this unknown kaleidoscope. This is the power of art… it transforms from within and without… it brings something into the world that carries an energy that heals and affects us on a cellular level.

Imagine for a moment that it takes the whole of a life and repatterns it, makes sense of it and integrates a wholeness that might not otherwise be experienced. And, what if in that one transformation it sends feelers or waves of energy out into the world – to touch the hearts of others.

Art informs. Art heals. Art transforms…the one who is creating it and the ones who reflect upon it.

This recent piece ‘Intimate Knowing of the Soul’ is a painting that called from the depths of someplace within my soul. I would also say that it was called forth from some other place.

I had many a conversation with Rumi, with my childhood and what brought this person to experience the mystical force of Egypt. Retracing my steps through a pilgrimage in South Africa… to today as an artist with messages of hope, love and the reverence of the power of the unseen and the unknown.

Intimate Knowing of the Soul went through a great deal of transformation with many many layers. It looks intense, deep and chaotic. But, it is a weaving together of lives and energy. It is an integration of wholeness.

It is also the promise of exciting new things to come, because as we weave together the past and the future into the NOW, we expand, grow stronger, and we are able to hold so much more of life in our hands, our hearts, our minds and bodies.

As this painting came to completion this message or mantra has descended (or ascended) into my thoughts and awareness…

TO LOVE NOT HATE…whatever is appearing before us, drop into our heart and be love.

Toronto Artist Being Hailed as the Next Andy Warhol

Toronto Artist Being Hailed as the Next Andy Warhol

by | Artful Living

His mom was an art school teacher and her influence was an important part in Daniel Mazzone’s childhood, but somehow events led him to be living on the streets for five years. Pulling his life together he then managed to get himself into university, took on different jobs and eventually became a mortgage broker for a time.

Success in the money world left him feeling empty though and so he turned to art to satisfy his creative soul, and now word is he is the next Andy Warhol. Check out this interview…

I don’t know about you, but his art really moves me. It inspires me.

I particularly love the way he tells the stories of his subject’s life in each piece! It’s fascinating, thought provoking and captivating!

I find his art visually stunning, bold, and commanding and the way he incorporates the story telling combines mesmerizing with reflection. Simply brilliant.

Here’s another interview where he talks about how the stories in his work add the soul to them. Check it out…

Want to see more? Visit his website danielmazzone.com

He is an amazing example of how art can heal and transform a life. He’s pulled all of his challenging life experiences and his artistic talent together to draw upon something deeper inside himself to create a unique voice and presence in the world that fulfills him in a way that nothing else could.

What do you think? What do you like or not like about Mazzone’s art? Is he the next Andy Warhol? Submit your comments below, I’d love to hear from you.