It could happen anytime.
Tornado.
Earthquake.
Armageddon.
It could happen.
Or sunshine.
Love.
Salvation.
It could,
You know.
That's why we wake.
And look out.
No guarantees in this life.
But some bonuses.
Like morning.
Like right now.
Like noon.
Like evening.
William Stafford.
When you rise.
Artist.
What's your first thought?
Play along with me here for a moment.
Close your eyes.
Settle into wherever you are.
Sitting.
Lying down.
Standing.
Lean against the wall.
The counter.
Feel.
When I'm in this space.
It's not a sleep space.
I can't even call it a meditation space.
It's a creative space.
It's a creation space.
What comes from this now moment.
This presence.
Moment.
Whether for a few seconds or a few minutes.
Brings me to a place where as an artist the best most valuable value driven expression rises.
Are you comfortable?
Are you calm?
Are you calm?
As you lean or sit or lie eyes closed.
With your imagination follow your sight from that third eye place at your forehead.
Using using your breath as a pump.
As a rhythm.
Flow with it.
Through that spinal column.
Into your throat.
Your heart.
Your solar plexus.
Down to the face.
Where intuition lies.
Where soul lies.
Where best self lies.
There is where you find your rebirth.
Your next painting.
Your next inspiration.
Your next idea to put onto that blank canvas.
What do you see?
It may be as simple as a color.
A deep yellow glowing that is your hit.
Perhaps it's a shape.
A round form.
Making your mind begin to put together a face.
A portrait.
Sunshine.
That's where you start.
Perhaps it's a sensation.
It's a lifting.
Maybe a darkening.
No matter.
It's quick.
It's light.
And above all,
It's true.
You can feel it.
There's just something in it.
This color.
This form.
This sensation.
It has an excitement to it.
Take it.
Hold it.
Carry it.
Back up.
Through that solar plexus and into your heart.
Hold it there.
There.
The mind will take it soon enough.
But first,
It needs to nestle into the heart.
This intuitive hit.
This soulful hit.
And remain so that it can be birthed from this best place of you.
Your love.
Now that color,
That form,
That sensation may not last through the entire expression across canvas.
But it is still your perfect starting point for this time,
This place,
This canvas.
It is meant to give you the ignition,
To be the spark,
So that you can go on and find the rest of the story that wants to be told across your canvas.
Go through your heart.
Down your hands.
And out that paintbrush.
Trust it.
This is the way to begin.
Over and over and over.
Each blank canvas.
Each lump of clay.
Each block of wood.
Take yourself on the journey.
Out of your mind,
Where all the techniques and materials and learning and experience have accumulated and told you how to do what you do.
Come down from that place and revisit that initial passion,
Desire,
And innocence that is your intuition,
Giving you your best idea to reform and remold this one space you are in now.
Take this presence and live it large.
Welcome,
Artists.
