Walk OUt From Under Everything

"Walk Out From Under Everything" - oil on wood panel, 12 x 12.  Ready to hang.  Available here and at Artfinder.

“Sometimes the simplest and best use of our will is to drop it all and just walk out from under everything that is covering us, even if only for an hour or so—just walk out from under the webs we've spun, the tasks we've assumed, the problems we have to solve. They'll be there when we get back, and maybe some of them will fall apart without our worry to hold them up.” 
― Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening

The space odyssey continues in the studio.  

And also in my life, where I am walking out from under a few things that have been weighing on me heavily.  Nepo's quote makes me cringe slightly as I realize how many things my worries hold up - better to let some of them just fall apart.

Walk Out From Under Everything

I have a mighty will.  As I imagine you do, dear reader - spirited creator, deeply feeling human that you are.  A mighty will can get things done, can provide strength and endurance and tenacity and is good for triumphing against ill odds.  But a mighty will will also get you taking on too much, solving problems that are not yours to fix, making things more complicated (perhaps) than they need to or should be.  When your will is strong, it is hard to walk out from under anything, let alone everything.

But in facing away from and seeing other than the worries we are covered by, we have a glimpse of a sweet expansiveness - open to, available for, free from and rejoicing in the thing beyond that covering.  I'm going to point my spaceship that-a-way.  Wanna join?

---

About the art:  beginning with a panel of a gesso covered old painting, a quick sketch and then layers of oil paint to create a visage.  Painting over the entire thing with liquin- thinned color and pushing away the excess to leave a deeply textured surface.  Using rubber wedge to carve into wet paint.  Adding a paint thinner to allow some parts to run and create more exquisite texture.  Adding back a few lost details with a small brush and a steady hand. 

Want to see a video of the process?  Head to Instagram.com/jenjovanart and check out the reel!