Friday, 20 May 2016

By The Grace of Her



I’ve experienced a wonderfully uninterrupted period of reflection and creation over the past month. The sense of abundance and gratitude for such a period of art making is both exhilarating and grounding. I began walking every day as soon as I arrived simply because the surrounding area was so inviting and therapeutic. The trees, flowers, mountains and sky called out, pulling me to walk and relax there. Calling me to re-calibrate...

So I find solace in the company of nature’s unfolding and repeating cycles of growth. Mother Nature’s presence helps me to let go of over thinking and get back into heart felt place. This is where I want my paintings to come from, so this is where I go, just to let go and feel.
The intensive hours of painting in the studio I’m doing, especially working with oils means I need time to get fresh air too. The far off horizons give my eyes a distance to rest into.


I’m happy to find myself with three completed paintings which were a continuation of a body of work titled The Myth of Separation, that I started in London (2015). They are connected by the overarching theme of nature and the spirit of nature which I am inspired to express through feminine  iconography. These paintings are a way for me to explore our veils of perception as to who we are and how we consider ourselves to be, here and now on this life giving planet.

As I open up to an authentic connection with Mother Nature I feel more whole, nourished and grounded. I discover that there is an intelligence we can tap into, if only we let down our guard and our 'logical' preconceived ideas that our minds know best. We do not always need to be in control and knowing the way. We can learn so much from letting go and simply being curious to following a feeling which is good and yet the mind struggles to define. 

My first painting of the series, called ‘Awakening’, mediates something of the veils disappearing so we can see clearly the connectivity of all things. The figures dress with branches of tree and blossom flower dissolve into the sky. It is at once behind her and yet inside and of her…there is no separation. She is the sky, the tree, the flowers and the deer. She is within us, breathing us and we are here by the grace of her.

'Awakening' oil on canvas 2016
This painting is an invitation to us to reconnect and get back in tune with the cycles of nature. I wanted this image to capture the message of urgency with which we, as a collective need to restore the respect and wisdom to Mother Earth . We are the young, the bright young things and yet immature in our ways of using nature. We have forgotten the old gentle ways instead of incorporating them with the modern developments.  This juvenile Goldfinch, in flight through the trees, carries a single petal as a message of urgency to rewawaken to our responsibility in caring for the earth as a mother cares her new born child. Who takes without giving back? Where has our knowledge of gift making gone and can we reignite it for the future generation?

I have been learning more about nature’s cycles and intelligence through Treesister’s online workshop. Their courses aim to ‘Nourish the roots of creative social action- through cultivating feminine nature based intelligence.’

I find myself a part of a global network of women who are collectively engaged in a social experiment of our time. Their tree campaign aims to make it normal to give back to the earth and their practical hands on approach links with the courses they offer so that hearts, souls and nature all benefit, as one. This hums sweetly with everything I feel my paintings are about. It is exciting to be meeting these powerful and passionate women all doing their bit to make a global change from the comfort of their warm sofas or  al fresco balconies.

'Sophia’s Dawn', she greets the day and acknowledges the wisdom of the East. Her hair interwoven with the young saplings grow through the sky from their roots of the deep nutritious earth; connected and alive, shaped by the wind and sun, fed by the rain. 'Sophia's Dawn' encompasses the virtue of humility, integral to the spiritual well-being of humankind, natural world and the cosmos.

‘Hum’ is the third painting in this collection. She is much quieter and holds the space for the magic of the universe to unfold. She makes up the collection as she reflects and listens to the natural world around her. The wind gently whispers, the bee lets her know shes coming, the flowers crisply open and the mists cool and fresh rise from the warm and steadfast mountains. Inside her horns is another world. A world reflecting the one she is in…Full of life, ongoing cycles and unfolding magic.

I have recently started another collection of works which are on a bigger size canvas. I feel my arms fit it perfectly and enjoy working large scale.

The seed of inspiration came from a most mundane object.... the shape cut out from a cereal box! Its got me going on some new bee illustrations and opened up a whole reconnection to my love of Art Nouveau and native american medicine art. More on that in a few weeks...
I have painted one canvas so far but have just prepped three more for the creating... I've only six weeks to go until returning to the UK.

For now I will leave you with a link to Wild Soul Woman online course with TreeSisters. It is a free gift for soul nurturing and nature connection. Please take a look at the details of the course here and sign up if you feel it will serve you and your journey. Personally I am really looking forward to more meditations and learnings of the old ways.

I am planing to have all these new works avallable as signed prints about the end of July onwards but do let me know if you like to pre order.

Warm wishes,
xxx Charlotte Jane



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