She knelt in the strength of surrender...

"She knelt in the strength of surrender..."

"She stood at the place
Where all paths crossed,
Her feet gently resting on the Earth Mother,
The Mother's energy flowing beautifully through her body.
She knelt
In the strength of surrender,
head tilted toward the sky,
she opened to it ALL.
In that moment she chose
To be a path MAKER,
not a path follower.
To blaze her own trail.
She trusted a way would be made.
Quietly she knelt,
Arms outstretched in glorious receipt,
Resistance flowing UP and OUT of her.
A whisper carried on the breeze,
Gentle in her ear,
"Follow us,"
Said her heart and Soul,
And she knew they would show her the way
That only she could GROW"
~ Tia C. Wahl ~

Over the past year or so I have noticed that the artwork I do, unless it is specifically created for someone, seems to have a message for me.  I've come to believe it is how my heart and Soul speak to me, through the quiet, and not so quiet, whispers of my painting.  

This painting is me.  I even posed in a picture for the figure in the painting because I couldn't find a picture of someone in that pose.  This is where I am at, navigating my way through the strength of surrender.  Working toward opening up and listening to my heart and Soul on a more regular basis.  Sometimes I listen, sometimes I do not.  Always my intent is to listen but always is not the pattern of my listening.  So here I am, at the place where all paths cross, kneeling in the strength of surrender, letting go of resistance, opening up to the All of it and listening to the whispers.  

This painting is a deeply personal work of art as well as one that is a bit outside of my usual style.  It's beginnings were a little familiar as I started it off by writing on the canvas in charcoal pencil.  I kept thinking about blazing my own trail, listening to my heart and Soul instead of the "good opinion" of others.  Those ideas were the topic of the writing on the canvas.  Then I covered it in gesso, just enough to blend it all together, but not so much that you could no longer see the writing.

I wish I had taken more in progress pictures but I got so wrapped up in the joy of creation that I forgot.  But here are a few...


There were places along the way in the process of this painting in which I did not like it.  At the point of this place on the left, I thought about painting it over and starting again.  One of the many things I've learned through the creative process is how important it is to stick with it, even if I'm not really liking it.  I'm glad I continued to go with the flow of this painting because I really love how it depicts where I'm at, in a very colorfully beautiful way.

I can't remember which came first, the poem or the idea for the painting and I suppose it's not important.  I hesitated to add it because I like for my work to tell it's own story as I know that the message someone else receives from it might be very different from what I intended.  However, the poem called to be written on the painting, the story begged to be told and in doing so it tied the whole piece together.

So I continue navigating, sometimes stumbling, sometimes resisting, and sometimes gracefully flowing through this place I am in.  Gratefully.  Listening.  Working toward following what I hear my heart and Soul say.  To the best of my abilities.  One artful step at a time.