A Painting in Four Parts (This is an all day project)

(by PetalMoon)

Traditional oil or acrylic painting has, for centuries, been left up to those that have had professional training or were born with a given talent. So if we want to create something profound, do we need to go to a myriad of classes and be trained by masters in order to express something on canvas or muslin? The answer in No. Creativity does not stem from years of controlled practice it comes from the heart.

One person's creative spirit may be in the form of landscaping and gardening while another’s was born in the weave of a tapestry while still another’s came in a vision. Whichever the case, there are many ways to harness that creativity and express it in ways that may seem foreign but are magical and possibly eye-opening.

A painting in four parts is not a quick way to fill a bare wall but a spiritual way to connect a vision, thought, meditation or the Divine to something tangible.

Below you will find the basic steps but feel free to elaborate and change things as you feel necessary.

Before you begin you will need to compile the following objects:
Four art canvases in one size (which size is not important)
3 – 4 paint brushes or foam brushes
5 – 10 acrylic paints (various colors)
One rag
Pencil with eraser
4 paper plates

Step One:

You will need a quiet place to meditate.
An idea about what you are meditating on. Example: If you are working with the power of water or if you have been drawn to a Goddess or God or if you are going through a particularly traumatic period of time.

Begin by quieting your mind, ground and center. In the hand that you write with, imagine your idea, question or thought in your palm. Close your hand around it and harness its power. As you are sitting with your hand closed place your other hand on your heart and feel your heart beat.

Once you have fully relaxed, ask the questions about your idea that you need to. You are in a Black and White world, void of color. Notice the lines, shapes, buildings, movements of the things around you. Be aware of the question or thought in your hand. Here in this world there are no expectations. We are color blind here, trying to clearly see what is important without the use of color to jade our vision. Look around here and find a place to rest. Open your hand slowly and let your question or thought free on the invisible breeze. Send it out to receive insight. What comes back to you? Take the images that you see and the thoughts and ideas that come back to you on the breeze and catch them in your hand and place them in your pocket. You will need them later. You will need to evaluate and process what you have seen.

Close your eyes again and return your astral body to the one that sits in your quiet place. When you are ready open your eyes and send any unneeded energy back into the earth. Keep what you need.

Step Two:

After the initial meditation, while still in a relaxed state, take all four canvases and place them in a shape you feel comfortable with.

Push them close together and with your pencil draw what you saw, felt etc... Make sure that you are using the four canvases as one big canvas and the pictures are overlapping onto all canvases.

When you have done a rough sketch label the canvases 1 – 4 in the order you decided on. This is so you will know how they go back together later.

Now we are ready to start to add color to the black and white world we were in, in the meditation.

Step Three:

This next process is one of feeling. It is basically a mini meditation on the forms, shapes and lines that you see on each canvas rather than the canvases as a whole.

Take the first canvas, labeled one (although it doesn’t really matter) and lay it in front of you. Think about what you are seeing and how what you are seeing relates to the meditation you just came out of.
When you are ready, pick out the colors that are calling to you from the pile in front of you and squeeze them out onto one of the paper plates. Repeat this process until you have all of the colors you want for this canvas. With your brush begin to fill in the drawing. Remember that this is yours and there are no judgments on how you feel or what you feel so don’t hold back. There is no right or wrong when it comes to creativity because it comes from your heart.

As you finish each canvas, put it in another room to dry. This accomplishes two things. The first is it puts the canvas in a safe place and the other is the energy of the first canvas won’t affect the other canvases. Also, our natural instinct is to make something that is supposed to go together. This project may do that naturally but if it doesn’t it is okay and the meaning will present itself at a later date or something may become very clear to you when all pieces are dry and they are put back together.

Step Four:

When all of the canvases are done leave them for 24 – 48 hours to fully dry. Then when you are alone go over the original meditation and what you brought out of it and reassemble the canvases and see what comes through for you. It may not be apparent. Find a place to hang them on the wall and just admire them for awhile. Eventually, your insights might present themselves or something entirely different may come from them. In either case you end up with a very spiritual, personal and profound piece of original art that is yours forever.