creativity

Waiting for My Goddess Painting to Reveal Her Name

Waiting for My Goddess Painting to Reveal Her Name
Waiting for My Goddess Painting to Reveal Her Name

Never did I think I’d paint. And more than that, I never thought I’d say I actually finished a painting!

But I finished this first Goddess in a series of three that I’m working on. They will hang on the long wall in my Joyful Pause Studio where I recently began teaching SoulCollage(r) workshops.

My painting teacher is someone I love dearly…my mom. When I emailed her the photo of my first complete Goddess, I also told her I’d started on the second one. She wrote back and said I should listen very closely and the Goddesses may share their names with me.

I loved it! It actually reminds me much about the SoulCollage(r) process which is also about listening intuitively and collaging images together that speak to you–which, in turn, helps us to better understand ourselves.

I shared with my mom that I’m taking her advice awaiting to hear what my Goddesses names may be. But all I got yesterday after painting for two hours on my second Goddess was hearing this from her:  My arms are too fat and I don’t like the color of my mid-section.

And then I heard my mom’s voice in my head:  It’s only paint and you can paint over it!

And I really wasn’t frustrated that I didn’t have it “right” yet. But it was an interesting thought because I wondered why I get so frustrated with my writing at times. Yet, I’ve not been with painting.

While it was initially scary to put paint to canvas in fear of making a “mistake” I feel better about knowing now I can just go over it with paint if I don’t like what I do.

And aha! Just like I can also delete sentences in my writing that don’t jive right either.

So, indeed, these dear Goddesses are talking to me… boy, are they ever! But, I do hope they will properly introduce themselves soon with their first names.

And ah, once again, a reminder that this is all part of the process. Just add in a bit of patience and perseverance and it all shall come together… just like writing a book or short story.

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Growing with My Tree Goddess – A Curious Unfolding.

Growing with My Tree Goddess - A Curious Unfolding
My tree goddess painting in progress….

I didn’t plan to ever paint. Nor did I think I’d ever start painting and then perhaps want to write about the process.

And I don’t really know where this will all take me. Will I keep painting? Or will I only be interested for awhile and then stop?

I’m thinking I may keep going for at least a little while as now I keep seeing images for ideas of things I want to try and paint!

This has been the most curious unfolding on many levels.

One being that I’ve realized that when I’m painting my mind becomes very quiet.

This is so unusual (but welcoming) since I’m one who is always thinking otherwise (sometimes it can drive me crazy!) — and I think mostly around what I’m going to write about in the book I’m working on right now, future ideas, or what I’m going to write for my blog or weekly newsletter– along with all the many other thoughts that goes through one’s head in any given day.

But when I get out the paints and the brush hits the canvas, it’s like I melt into this silent world.

I painted for a few hours this morning but then the warm sunshine was too hard to ignore and I had to get outside and walk.

And guess who was on my walk with me?  Yup, my tree goddess.

I’ve been so intrigued lately by the goddess archetype and am learning to embrace and honor the goddess in me.

I love that I am more grounded now in my 50s, than when I was in my 20s and 30s. I enjoy that I consciously choose to live in more awareness especially with how nature, when out in it, is such a profound healer.

Like my tree goddess in progress, I too, am a goddess in progress. I’m learning to awaken on new levels each and every day and decade of my life.

I want to be that old oak goddess tree someday that stands strong with the test of time filled with much wisdom.

So I never thought I’d paint. But I’m not going to spend much time wondering why, but just enjoy the process.

I still have much to do on this tree goddess, but it’s fun watching her come to life. And I plan to do four of these which will hang side-by-side on the very long wall in my Joyful Pause Studio (nothing like jumping right in with four 24″x 48″paintings right away!).

But now I’m so curious to see what else this goddess and the other tree goddesses will reveal to me as I continue.

A Peek Inside Joyful Pause Studio – SoulCollage® Workshops for Women

A Peek Inside Joyful Pause Studio - SoulCollage® Workshops for Women
Entrance to Joyful Pause Studio. Artwork by Shannon Winter.

Over two years ago I began giving thought to offering workshops for women in the lower level of my home. But I wasn’t quite sure what they would exactly be.

But I knew I wanted to encourage women to pause, listen, capture, and open to the many facets of themselves.

And then I discovered the process of SoulCollage® in November 2014. I jumped in and took the training in hopes of making this dream come true.

And little by little it did with workshops I held at a local art studio and through friends. And then I held my first workshop in my home studio on January 16th, 2016 for five wonderful women.

Eventually I do hope to expand with different types of workshops, too and have also been offering some online workshops.

I see myself sort of like an Intuitive Guide… I love the idea of “holding the space” for women– gently encouraging them to tap into their own wisdom and open the petals to their own beautiful flower and what they discover about themselves.

So my studio is just about complete. My dear, sweet, supportive husband, John, is finishing up soon with the spare room which will have a new drop ceiling and lighting also.

John almost threw this piece of wood in the woodstove — but I saw it as a lovely place for a bird to perch upon to welcome visitors to my studio.
This is where tea and water are available and a bathroom to the left.
One view of the almost 1,000 square feet in my studio.
Canvas panels along the wall are paintings I’m working on for the long wall – Tree Goddesses is what I hope the end result will be!
Window to let in some natural light with lots of good overhead lighting.
I can accommodate up to 10 people for workshops.

What was once a family room for John and I and a craft space for me, to then a space we opened to a young woman in need of somewhere to live during a transition, to now Joyful Pause Studio…. I can’t wait to welcome you!

It’s my hope it will be a serene place for women to come be among other kindred-spirits and will serve as a way in which women can take time to create, listen to their hearts, and just be.

I’m so excited about this new venture!

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