Ikebana Pen and Ink

Ikebana

My pen and ink version of an ikebana flower arrangement. Less is more.

©Claudia Rose, Ph.D.  

Free to be Me

Free to be Me

All my life, I have scribbled interlocking patterns and images that dance to their own rhythm. I called it scribbling until I discovered the aboriginal artists of Australia, Richard Pousette-Dart and Huguette Caland, who created abstract art full of imagery beyond the material world. I am now slow to judge my art practice. As my divine self says: “It’s not about art, but what art can do.”

Art opens channels of receptivity. It helps me accept who I am and what I came to be and do. Art, in whatever form or medium, is a door-opener, a life-changer and lifesaver. Art is a peek at the soul. It is:

Revolutionary without protest

Freedom without resistance

Priceless without cost

All your issues pop up during the process of art-making. Who do you think you are? What do you believe? What do you love? What do you dream, desire, and envision? What is your truth? You discover that control destroys the flow; fear blocks ideas; and comparison kidnaps your joy.

Everything that is true of art is true of life. All humans were designed to be artists. Some hold a paint brush, others a laptop, microphone, or pen.

What is the first step to being an artist? Declare yourself. Be glad you are you. It all starts here.

#selflove

©Claudia Rose, Ph.D.  

Inspiring Ancestor Painting

Elizabeth

I have a confession. For me, gratitude is more a discipline than a natural state of being. Some days I must look for things that evoke gratitude. It could be as simple as a homemade scone, a cat purring on my lap or geese flying overhead. I love history and genealogy that reveals the lives of my ancestors, who seem to trigger greater gratitude.

This painting reminds me of Elizabeth, my Puritan ancestor who was tried for witchcraft in Hartford, Connecticut 30 years before the Salem Witch Trials. She was imprisoned, tried three times, acquitted twice and convicted once. Elizabeth chose to face her accusers and repeatedly maintain her innocence regardless of the threat of execution. In the end, the governor refused to hang her. She was released and moved with her family to the Rhode Island Colony.

Elizabeth triggers my gratitude for the freedom to worship as I choose. I am free to write and speak and paint what I wish. I can freely share divine messages, my visions and inspiration. My God, what a gift!

Elizabeth is a reminder that all is possible in this perfect moment. Elizabeth stood her ground and stated her truth. How can I do anything less? How can you?

***

#mixedmediaart #lightworker #gratitude 

Mixed media on 12" x 12" birch panel 

©Claudia Rose, Ph.D.

The Wild Goose-Mixed Media

The Wild Goose

Free. Wild. Full of grace. The geese touch down on earth to fill us with delight. They call out to each other and help us focus our attention upward.

Canadian geese love our southern California neighborhood with a pond to the west and a golf course to the east. They visit every fall and winter. One couple stayed all summer and raised five goslings.

The geese don’t come when we call or sleep on our bed. Still, we love them in their wildness. Can’t we love all beings just the same way? We don’t dislike the wind for its lack of purpose or the river for its indecision. We can love all of creation as it is and ask to be loved as we are in return.

***

The image of a goose emerged on a scrap piece of yupo that I used to clean my brayer. She's 9" x 12" and would look very good in a frame.

#gratitude #claudiaroseart #intuitive #lightworker #mixedmediaart #yupo #ontheeasel

©Claudia Rose, Ph.D.

Little Angel Painting

She Watches as You Sleep

This little angel, translucent as a sugar candy, brings love to the lonely heart and comfort to the grieving. She sits by your bed with wings curled against her tiny back.

Her breath is like a breeze through an open window—soft and soothing. The angel filters your dreams; exhaling happy thoughts and purifying those that don’t belong to you.

You awaken grateful to be alive, grateful for a body that moves with ease, a mind that conjures new ideas, a heart that feels deeply, and a soul that guides every choice you make. You awaken to the faint fluttering of wings like a paper lantern dancing in the breeze.

The little angel watches over you as you sleep and you know you are loved.

***

Mixed media on 12" x 12" birch panel; acrylic, pastel and India ink.

#youareloved 

©Claudia Rose, Ph.D.