What do I do?
I help you to seek out the truth. Your truth. I never know it. It is your truth. Words might help but often hinder this knowing. It is a deeply felt understanding that will grab you like a crocodile hidden in the muddy recesses of your mind. It will twist you into confusion. The simple materials help to ground you and create a bridge to understanding: Stepping stones to guide your feet away from the engulfing swamp of your ruminating mind.
What do I do?
Offer you juicy tools that may ignite a spark of inspiration. I offer materials that can resonate with your inner responses. You feel the connection. Your fear knows the crocodile. Your frustration recognises the suck of the mud beneath your feet. Your anger links into the sharp swipe of paint, the jagged clash of colour.
What do I do?
Listen. Listen with all of my being. I listen with my whole self.
It often hurts.
The hurts leads me to know how to keep you safe. How to lead you to safer ground.
What do I do?
Watch how you play with the materials. How we do something is how we do everything. You show me the way to proceed. I won’t know why.
What do I do?
I trust.
I trust the materials. I trust your response. I trust my feelings to reflect something of your feelings, to catch a delicate waft of the invisible emotional threads. Emotions are contagious. I trust the process.
What do I do?
I wait.
I follow the indirect route of the colours, lines, textures and forms. It is an indirect route to knowing your issues but it reaches deep and can happen in an instant.
What do I do?
I provide a space. You might require safe distance from your overwhelming feelings. You may need space to truly feel so that you may at last be able to release what needs to go. You could want space for something new to enter into your life. Simple art materials allow you to see your issues from different perspectives and to change what you see. Simple materials invite your response. You become responsible. It is your creation. It is your life.
You do not need to be good at art. Understanding the materials is my job. I create to keep my senses honed and because I need to create to remain healthy. Life can feel unstable as circumstances twist us into submission. Painting helps me to see my own feelings and responses so that I may listen more closely to yours.