Beloved Body, Sacred Animal

"Beloved Body, Sacred Animal" - mixed media on gallery wrapped canvas, 16" x 40" x 1.5".  Ready to hang,

Counting down until Friday night, the opening reception for Blue Wild, a solo show featuring art and a book signing - and where am I?  In the studio, painting.  

I should be printing labels, buying wine and confirming all the last minute items.  I might want to figure out what I'm wearing.  Some might say I should sending out e-blasts and tweeting multiple times a day.  But no, I am painting.

This piece, a paint over (remember Ivan, Stilted?) called to me in my dreams.  It's a big piece for me, but this forest spirit wanted to be painted and who am I to refuse the muse?  It all started with an article I read about being sensitive and loving our bodies.

And ok yes, I've read and heard that bit of wisdom before.  But this particular piece described our bodies as a sacred animal, sent to serve us for our entire lives.  As a sacred animal, it deserves a bit of awe, reverence and respect.  I thought immediately of all the wisdom, spiritual connection and energy I feel from totem and spirit animals.  Think of how you feel when you see a moose, a bear, a whale...that sense of hush and pause and wonder.  That - that I believe is what the writer intended us to feel when thinking of our beloved bodies.  And I hadn't thought of it that way before.

If I think of my body as a sacred animal....it changes everything.  Imagining myself as a mystical horned creature in the deep woods of the pacific northwest, and I feel wise and strong and calm.  I want to adorn my antlers with beads and feathers, paint symbols on my chest and run wild through thundering waterfalls and between towering trees.  I hear the drums calling me.

Oh, and the phone.  The painting done, I take one last look at the forest behind me and plunge into my to-do list.

Blue Wild runs December 2 through December 29 at ArtServe.  Opening reception and book signing on December 2 from 6-8 pm.   Formal dress and antlers not required.