Painting With Purpose

"Self Portrait" 2009

When I meditate I often pose a question and ask for guidance. A recurring theme is, “Why am I here and what is my purpose?” Often in response I hear a voice that says, “Paint.”

“Paint?” I ask. “How can I contribute to the world and make a difference just with painting?” But the voice, accompanied by intuitive feelings, synchronistic messages, and serendipitous events keep instructing me, simply and firmly, to “paint.” And when I doubt myself, my abilities, and my purpose the message only gets louder and is accompanied by “never give up.” So I don’t know why, but I feel like painting is my calling. All I can do is follow my inner compass, get out of the way, and let it unfold.

Through my studies of Eastern religions and New Thought philosophy I have come to the conclusion that we are here to love. To love one another, but equally important, to love ourselves. It has been my experience that when I give myself the unconditional love and acceptance that I have spent most of my life looking for outside of myself, my capacity to love others increases and that anything, and everything, becomes possible.

So through my studies and meditation I have become aware that my mission is to send out love into the world one painting at a time. My ideas for my paintings often come to me during my mediation sessions. And while my painting practice involves a lot of rituals (finding the right music to play, laying out my brushes, etc.) I begin each painting, and each painting session, with prayer and meditation. The results have been astounding.

Opportunities to show my work in conjunction with supporting a cause have begun to present themselves. Last weekend I showed 4 paintings at Art Farm to support the Denver Urban Gardens. In November I will be the featured artist of the month at Michelangelo’s Coffee and Wine Bar and will select a charity to bring awareness to and to support through the sale of my work. And I am painting a few masks for The Denver Hospice annual Mask Project to support people at a critical time – the end of life.

I believe that we are more powerful than we can even begin to comprehend. And I believe that we are capable of manifesting what we think about. So I wonder, what would the world look like if we all painted, or did what ever it is we are passionate about, from a place of love?