I have a honor of creating a large commissioned painting for a wonderful client in New Zealand. It is an amazing and fun experience for both of us as she will not see this painting until it is completed and arrives at her home. My intent is to embark on this piece as a creative and contemplative journey…and to share the unfoldment of this journey with you over the next few weeks in the hopes that something within it resonates, supports, inspires, and/or connects with you.
DAY 1: Painting still not detailed and unclear
This is a beautiful poem, by Hafiz, that inspired the initiation of this piece. As you can see, there is not detail in the piece yet, just broad brushstrokes. The piece will become more detailed and clear as its story unfolds but you can see that the “spirit” and “essence” of the piece is already there…..ready to come more clearly into physical form….
All the Hemispheres
Leave the familiar for a while.
Let your senses and bodies stretch out
Like a welcomed season
Onto the meadows and shores and hills.
Open up to the Roof.
Make a new water-mark on your excitement
And love.
Like a blooming night flower,
Bestow your vital fragrance of happiness
And giving
Upon our intimate assembly.
Change rooms in your mind for a day.
All the hemispheres in existence
Lie beside an equator
In your heart.
Greet Yourself
In your thousand other forms
As you mount the hidden tide and travel
Back home.
All the hemispheres in heaven
Are sitting around a fire
Chatting
While stitching themselves together
Into the Great Circle inside of
You.
From: ‘The Subject Tonight is Love’
Translated by Daniel Ladinsky
