I recently had an art-making session with artist, Carole Silverstein. Interestingly, this was a one-on-one class via Zoom not in-person as I've taken so many art classes in the past. We emailed each other a few times in the weeks leading up to our session so I did get an opportunity to become a bit more comfortable with the idea of me here in Pennsylvania with my limited stash of art supplies and lack of consistent art-making and Carole in southern California, a professional artist with an exceptional catalogue of work that has been exhibited all over the world. Let's say I was a bit intimidated going into this.
But once we were talking to each other at the beginning of the session, my guard dropped immediately as I found Carole to be warm and engaging and ultimately, a superb instructor. A couple of weeks prior, I had selected The Thread as the archetype that I wanted to work with during our time together. I chose The Thread because it represents a path, a vein, a way of connecting point A to point B. I've had a lifelong struggle with knowing if I'm on the right path or not.
The first activity we did before diving into our art supplies was a 5 minute timed writing with the prompt: The last time I can remember being fully alive. This prompt was not easy for me, but after a few breaths, I wrote about how I feel every time I am in northern California. I have a great sense of well-being whenever I'm there. After sharing my piece of writing with Carole, she noted that "place" is very important to me. I absolutely know this is true for me, but how wonderful it felt to be seen by someone I didn't really know. Don't you love it when somebody else "gets you?"
Next, she had me take a piece of paper and cover it with color. This was a timed exercise as well. I could use pens, markers, whatever to fill the page with color. I had some colored pens within reach so I just scribbled all over the page like a mad woman. It felt really good to just go wild with no goal in mind except covering the paper with color. This was very liberating for me, the person who otherwise wants to make sure that she is doing the exercise the right way. My natal Venus in Virgo who strives for perfection didn't know what hit her. LOL
Finally, it was time to make some art using the chosen archetype, The Thread. Ahead of time, I had brought out some colored pencils, pens, markers and pastels as well as my sewing supplies including needle and thread. After Carole read a soulful description of this archetype, we each set off on creating some art based on The Thread. She had some great music playing in the background and she checked in on me every 5 minutes or so. When I got stuck, Carole said simply, "do something different on the page." So after working with the markers and not liking what was happening, I followed her suggestion and grabbed my needle and thread. And when that didn't go as I'd hoped, I started using soft pastels until the timer went off.
Here is a closeup of my art piece. I started by drawing a heart in the center of the page and then wrote a poem around the heart. I will type out the poem below so you don't have to keep turning your screen around to read it. LOL
This is my path to wherever I need to go even if I don't know where I'm going.
Just following my heart, my heart knows the way.
Way out or way in, Love is the thread that keeps me tethered to this life.
My life!
There is no one way. There is only one way I know though,
My way.
If I follow my path I will always find my way because the heart knows everything.
Whenever you feel lost, find your way back home to your heart just by pulling on this thread. Just a little tug and you'll be on your way back home to your heart.
The remainder of the page shows hearts of every color with squiggly lines connecting them to each other. I titled my work We Find Love Wherever We Go. Here is a photo of the completed project.
It was pure joy to wake up my long dormant creativity. I look forward to doing another session with Carole incorporating a different archetype. In the meantime, I'm giving myself 30 minutes of uninterrupted creative time each week hoping that it will eventually become a daily practice.
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