Messy is Good?

I open the freshly delivered box and expect to see bottles of glitter paint. Instead, bottles of glitter stare at me and laugh. 

"Not Funny!" I say, while taking the bottles out of the box. I shake each one to make sure that the tiny glitter pieces are not shimmering in invisible paint. A tapping sound takes away all hope. Obviously, I ordered the wrong thing. 

The innocent looking, multi-colored bottles collectively yell one word at me.

MESSY!

 

I respond by tucking the bottles into a dark closet, away from my sight. Maybe one day I will have a use for them but not any time soon. My home studio is messy enough. This glitter will send me over the top. I'm just not ready for it.

The bottles can only be ignored so long. I mean look at them. They are oozing with color and sparkle. At first they whisper to me, "Please let us out." After failed attempts at freedom, they cleverly entice me by inviting me to....

PAINT

PLAY

SPARKLE

While painting, I pull out the white glitter bottle. The cap easily comes off and I remove the clear protector that keeps the glitter in place. I hear the glitter let out a sigh of relief as it finally makes a great escape, much like a genie escaping from a bottle at long last. Before the day is over, I open every bottle and pour some of it into my hands. From my hands, the glitter goes here, there and everywhere. And I'm telling you, it is messy. This glitter has a way of attaching itself to everything. At this point, it's even on my dog.

I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point in my early years, I took the saying "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" very seriously. A clean, neat, orderly environment makes me feel great and I thrive in it. And, thanks to the practice of intuitive painting, I am learning to thrive in the midst of a mess too. Whatever stretches me in intuitive painting eventually impacts other parts of my life too. This is a big plus about the practice of intuitive painting. The learning and stretching go far beyond the canvas.

Recently, someone told me that she likes to paint but she does not like the mess, so she does not paint. I had to wonder where else in life she might be short changing herself for the sake of avoiding a mess. Now, that's a deep question if you think about it beyond the tip of a paintbrush. 

How about you? What's your relationship with messiness? Where does the   "messy is good" perspective take you? 

 

Blessings!

Beverly

Opening Soon! 

TIP - The Intuitive Painting Place

(Where Messiness Thrives!)

Express Yourself

 I don't see why 

we ever think 

of what others think 

of what we do -- 

no matter who they are.  

Isn't it enough 

just to 
express yourself? 

 ~Georgia O'Keeffe

Turtle Love

painting by Beverly Keaton Smith

“And the turtles, of course...

all the turtles are free, 

as turtles and, maybe, 

all creatures should be.” 

~Dr. Seuss, Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories

  

Meaningless Paintings Welcomed

  

There is no must in art because art is free.

~Wassily Kandinsky

When my painting mentor, Chris Zydel, told me that some intuitive paintings have no meaning, I cringed.   A painting with no meaning seemed impossible to me. What would be the point of a painting if no meaning can be squeezed out of it? Surely there must be a reason for every painting. A purpose, lesson, message, revelation, insight, beauty or something. Right? No, not necessarily. (See painting above.)

It is liberating to know that I do not have to search for meaning in all of my intuitive paintings. Sometimes they do not make sense and have no purpose beyond allowing me to get to the next painting. And that is OKAY! I liken it to the writer who writes many needless words in a rough draft or a photographer who shoots a whole slew of photos that are rejected. For me, intuitive painting follows a similar pattern. I sift through quite a few senseless, ugly, strange paintings to get to the ones that hold value and meaning for me. 

While the meaningless paintings might seem useless and unappealing, I have learned to look at them with a gentle eye and heart. They remind me that creativity shows up in many forms. No matter how an intuitive painting turns out, I enjoy the quiet time I spend with myself and the painting. Rules, responsibilities and worries cease to exist while colorful paint is covering the canvas. Everything is okay and I feel free. That alone is enough of a payoff for me. 

Bottom line? 

Intuitive painting is about the process, not the product. 

Meaningless paintings welcomed. 

Bring 'em on!

Blessings!

Beverly Keaton Smith

Bowing to the Brush

"Every heart has a different song to sing" ~Beverly Keaton Smith

Another flower? 

Another bird?

Another heart?

Every since I began the practice of intuitive painting, certain images continue to show up.  In the beginning, this bothered me because it felt wrong and unimaginative. So, of course, I began to resist the repetitive images.

It took me awhile to realize that my inner critic had cleverly been trying to shut me down by telling me that I should not be painting the same thing over and over. Darn you,  inner critic!

Fortunately, I voiced my concerns about painting the same images repeatedly to my mentor, Chris Zydel. Her liberating response was shocking. 

"It's okay. Go ahead. Paint them as many times as they want to be painted!" 

Chris gave me the permission that I was having trouble giving myself.  When yet another heart begins to appear on the canvas, I push myself past that voice that says, "Oh no, another heart?" I simply let it happen. There is no need to analyze or resist the process, even if it initially feels like a duplicate painting.  (It's not.)

I do my best (and sometimes reluctantly) to follow the brush and let it lead the way. Here's why.

Even though I might paint one hundred hearts, every one of them has a different song to sing. I don't want to miss any of those songs. They all offer me a sense of freedom that comes with being in the present moment and feeling deeply connected to the flow of creativity. For me, this is reason enough to to bow to the brush, no matter how many hearts that brush might want me to paint.

Three cheers for Freedom, in all of its many forms.

Blessings, 
Beverly

"Every Heart Has A Different Song to Sing" ~Beverly Keaton Smith