Author: Erica

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Easing into 2016

 

ease

 

 

If knowledge and foresight are too penetrating and deep, unify them with ease and sincerity.
~ Xun Zi

 spread

Are you a resolution setter? Or is part of your New Year practice to select a guiding word for the year? My approach for the past several years has included choosing a focus word, doing a general review and some planning ahead with a nod to my core desired outcomes and feelings. This year I had the space and time to delve in more deeply and so for 2016 I created a more intentional practice. I added more structure around the sort of haphazard ways I typically welcome the new year and it turned into a deeply meaningful solo retreat; mostly spent in silence, mindfully planning and compassionately reviewing and being present in my intentions.

I gathered my talismans, some solidly seated questions I wanted to answer and my planner. I also worked in a bunch of fun intuitive journaling exercises, some run time, a couple of yoga sessions and a soak in the tub with a Lush bathbomb I’ve been hoarding for forever.

As I worked through my Qs for the year ahead like: How do you want to move through your year? What do you want to create for yourself, What are your goals and how do you plan to arrive there, my word began popping up right away. I realized I’ve been working at creating more ‘ease’ for some time.

I’ve been narrowing my focus to painting and moving away from design projects. It’s long been time to be at ease in my turtle shell around my naturally methodical way of getting things done and I deeply crave more ease around showing up and being seen.

My big AHA was seeing that creating ‘ease’ might actually mean more planning ahead in some cases, and showing up just as I am in others.

So I’ll keep showing up as my sometimes shy, socially awkward self and easing off in my concerns around disappointing others, or fears around judgement or looking like an ass. I’ll be making choices in the interest of what best serves all concerned in any given situation with less girding for complications. I’ll be carving more time out for planning ahead And I’ll keep painting towards mastery.

Well, I’ll be easing into it all, anyway.

Happy New Year

X’s

 

 

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Thirty One EveryDay Deities

30DayComp

Thirty One EveryDay Deities Exhibit

Last month I embarked on a 30 Day Painting Challenge. As an artist losing my vision, I decided to set my challenge parameters around developing my intuitive vision. I’ve actually always worked this way, but as things progress I’ve begun using my inner sight more and more in my work.

Since I’ve begun putting my work out there in a new way, I wanted to practice getting comfortable with my process. So I asked for thirty real life volunteers, and was amazed by the response from more than eighty people of varying degrees of familiarity. I made my list from the volunteers in the order they put their hand up ( and added one because he was a bit of a funny monkey about it ) and spent the next thirty days painting the essential loveliness of my subjects on 12×12 canvases with acrylics. A painting a day; their colour, energy, and spirit, as I intuitively interpreted it.

I posted my efforts daily and was amazed by the growing interest and feedback. As the collection of posted pieces grew, I started thinking about how much I’d like to see them all together as a group and the next thing I knew, I was thinking about a show. Others who were following along began to suggest the same idea. And so, as of this posting, a show is in the offing!

If you’re local, I’d love you to come and See.
Please join me Thursday July 30th
at the London Fringe Festival Theatre
207 King St., London,
Opening Reception: 7-9
w/ refreshments

Friday July 31st: 11-4 Artist in attendance
Saturday August 1: 12-4 Artist in attendance
Sunday August 2, Monday August 3: closed
Tuesday August 4, Wednesday August 5: business hours

 

 

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Square Foot Show 2015

Spiney Shore
This Spiny Shore ~ Acrylic, 12×12″

Moodie-Lake-Fall
Moodie, Fall ~ Acrylic, 12×12″

Come and check out Westland Gallery’s largest ever Square Foot Show July 15 – August 15.
I’m excited that two of my recent pieces are included.
If you can make it to the reception, come by and say hi:
Friday, July 17th at 7PM

Westland Gallery
156 Wortley Road, London, ON
t: 1-519-601-4420
e: info@westlandgallery.ca

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Other Landscapes

starktree

I’m just back from a deeply shifting trip to Southern California. We spent most of our time there away from the urban centers, hiking and exploring mountain lake regions and the Mojave desert.

I took this photo along the Hidden Valley Trail, Joshua Tree National Park. This is a short and easy hike that allows you to explore the enclosed valley that received a lot more rain in the 20th century. The huge boulders protected a large untouched grassland. Now you hike in through the entrance that rancher William Keys blasted for the benefit of his cattle to see Joshua Trees, pines, oaks and yucca along the loop trail.

What a landscape. I’m still processing my response to the whole adventure and I’ve been sitting with something that photographer Ansel Adams said around it all:

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.”

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30 Days of Intuitive Portraits

30 Days of Intuitive Portraits

 

Along with a tribe of other artists led by mentor/artist Jeanne Bessette, I embarked on a 30 Day Painting Challenge spanning the month of June. As a low vision artist experiencing further degeneration of my vision, I decided to set my challenge parameters around developing my intuitive vision. I’ve actually always done this, but as things progress I’ll be using my inner sight more and more in my work.

Since I’ll be putting my work out there in a new way, I wanted to practice getting comfortable with my process around this idea and asked for real life volunteers. I was amazed by and grateful for the response and for the next thirty days I created a daily painting, portraying thirty Facebook connections of varying degrees of familiarity. Visually representing their colour, energy, and spirit as I saw it. I worked on 12×12 canvases, one a day from start to finish. I posted the resulting piece daily along with a written version of my ‘reading’ as well.

As the collection of posted pieces grew, I started thinking about how
much I’d like to see them all together as a group and the next thing I knew, I was thinking about a show. Then others who were following along began to suggest the same idea. And so, as of this posting, a show is in the works!

Over my next couple of posts I’ll share a bit of what I took away from this exercise and report on what happens as I take on planning a show for the first time. eep.

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