Have you ever felt that what’s in your heart and head is just not translating to the canvas or page? Painting the Sacred Within: Art Techniques to Express Your Authentic Inner Voice by Faith Evans-Sills and Mati Rose McDonough will help you find and express your inner spirit so that you create art with the meaning you desire.
The authors invite readers to approach their art making as more than just the act of painting (or collage, assemblage, etc.), to look inside themselves and realize what’s important to them. We all know this, but sometimes we need to be reminded. Readers are encouraged to settle in and listen to their muse before putting brush to canvas. This may mean creating new practices that get you in the right mindset, such as listening to music or journaling, and approaching your creative time in new ways. The goal is to get comfortable and relaxed. I like the Watercolor Warm-up that Faith demos as a means to stay “fired up” to paint, using color and simple shapes. Combining the inspiration of rocks collected on a beach walk with pale colors resulted in a piece that captured that moment in time for her.
Faith and Mati tell readers how they came to work together and a lot about their own journeys, techniques, and methods. I like that much of what they share is relatable, such as making time to really see what surrounds you, tailoring your creative space to meet your needs, etc.
Mandalas are very popular right now, and Faith and Mati present creating a personal mandala as another way to tap into your thoughts and feelings, energizing your creativity and painting from the heart.
Readers are encouraged to “paint what they need to paint.” Rather than worrying about what others may think about the symbols or elements that appear and reappear in your artwork, applaud the personal meaning and spirit these things bring to the piece. Painting from the heart is when you are your true self. This really made me think about different artists I admire and the elements that are present in much of their art. It also made me wonder about the things that I tend to draw and doodle again and again . . .
I love that readers are encouraged to celebrate themselves and their art, to tap into their memories, and paint from the heart to create work that tells their stories. Painting the Sacred Within will help you look within, discover what helps you create, and bring your self into your art in new ways.
Enjoy the journey.
Barbara
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