Welcome to Before the Brush.
I'm Patricia Baldwin-Sagerbrook,
And if you are here,
You've begun just where you need,
In the space where a deep breath happens before you pick up the brush.
This is where creation starts.
Where can color take you?
Where can shape,
Or line,
Or form take you?
I ask myself these questions every time I enter the studio.
Sometimes these questions are tied to my waking first thoughts.
They feed me as a co-creator of beauty as I enter into my days.
Yet,
There's more to it than these questions alone.
I also must ask,
To what purpose does this exploration serve?
Where can these answers,
Should I answer them as I stand over canvas or paper with paintbrush in hand,
Take me?
But not just me,
Others,
And the world as well.
This is not a too-grand pondering.
It is a vital and necessary part of the process of creating into the world.
It is part of producing in integrity,
Purpose,
And personal strength each day,
So that the world is a better place for having done our work.
Today as we enter into this exercise before us,
I encourage you to hold these questions in the background.
As your brush sweeps or the stroke of your charcoal,
Let them linger.
Not so that they close you into a box of anxiety,
But so that they can open you up to see the depth of your own being coming into beauty in the world as you do the work for which you are called to co-create through your paintbrush.
Let's get started.
Today we will respond to sound.
Listen with eyes closed for several minutes to the music as it plays.
Once you feel your energies engage with the creative space in your gut,
In your intuition.
Take up your brush or pencil,
Charcoal or crayon,
And respond with that intuitive play of your senses in response to this melody.
After the music stops,
I'll return to close our practice.
Open to spontaneity and wonder,
It waits for your unique hand to respond to its call.
Let's begin.
Let's begin.
Let's begin.
Let's begin.
Let's begin.
The music fades and you find yourself behind a whole new surface,
A whole new landscape,
A whole new creation.
Take a deep breath and step back.
What do you see?
Ask yourself now,
Where can color take me?
Where can shape or line or form move me as I continue in this creative process?
Have I followed loyally the prompting of my intuition,
My spirit,
My creative muse,
And put the brush to where it's called?
Have I played and enjoyed the journey?
If you can answer yes,
An emphatic yes,
You are home.
Now keep going.
Invite your intellectual thinking brain back to the dance.
Ask where this composition can go and continue to respond,
Dance,
Between learned talent and intuitive call.
You will create a masterpiece.
As Erling Cage said in Philosophy for Polar Explorers,
The struggle lies between the ears,
Not in the feet.
Put your thinking brain away for a short time and listen to your gut.
It has much to teach you.
It is the divine calling you to your best creative expression.
Keep going.
Use all your senses.
They are your unique talents given graciously.
Use them generously.
