Different Ways of Knowing

A few months ago I started thinking about what I am feeling pulled towards in my creative practice and what I want to focus on. One of the things that came to me immediately is wanting to incorporate more of my own drawings into my mixed media work. I still love to bringing my photo image transfers into my work and will continue to do so. But there is a slowing down in my process that occurs when I sit and grab a pencil that just feels right and is needed.

Because I paint encaustic, it is a different process incorporating my drawings onto the surface, it’s more about “into” the surface. I’ve been doing a lot of exploring with that.

As for what I am drawing- I have been drawing from the natural world, of course. But specifically from a series of images that flashed in front of me during a breathwork/soundwork session I did recently. I still do not fully understand what happened or the why of it, except that I felt a tremendous peace and connection when these animal/bird images came into my view through the darkness. So I have been drawing and painting them.

I do believe that there are different ways of knowing…that perhaps we once knew but have forgotten how to access, or that it is hard to hear in our very loud world.

The nest image in this piece did not appear during my breathwork session, but is part of my exploration of drawing/painting into the encaustic surface.

Sometimes I add a poem or a quote on the back of my pieces if I feel moved to do so. For this nest piece, I included a quote from Peter Leavitt that I have always loved: “Let ourselves see the constant prayer a field of grass makes.”