Intuitive Painting

I explored various organized religions, and met an amazing teacher from India. The poet Tagore came to her father's house when she was a little girl.

I tried therapists, hypnosis, massage, and self-help groups. All were interesting, but I was still hungry for silence, until I started to paint. For some reason, that helped more than anything else.

I filled canvases with paint, and then studied them to see what was hiding in the back rooms of my mind. Certain colors appealed to me, and I used them, until other colors became more interesting.

I piled on paint a bit at a time, until the work felt complete. Sometimes, this took several layers of acrylic, which, thank goodness, dries very quickly. I did not start with an idea. I uncovered it.

After a long period of figurative development and exploration, I am returning to this way of working. "Blue Action" (below) is one of those works. It is like a dream. It is nothing in particular, but it suggests many things.

"Go Inside" is another such work. The light is rich and golden because currently I am in love with quinacridone burnt orange and some of the other beautiful new synthetic colors.

By the way, I write poetry the same way I paint. I put words down until they become what they want to be. Here is a poem suggested by the painting.

Go Inside

Sit still;

where is there to go?

The ocean flows

through your veins;

mountains have built

your bones;

industries

carry out tasks

under your skin.

Colonies in your gut

share everything

you bring in.

You are their climate

and their real estate.

Where is the you

that is you

or the me

that is me?

Is it the mind?

Who is this fearful

animal turning

in sunset light?

Say something

take in air we all

have breathed,

send it out with sound

like a pebble in a pond

to fade below

detectable levels,

but never disappear.