When Art Leads Life... The Creation of Spirit Warrior: Between the Two Worlds
Some Works are Pivotal...
"She rides her faithful steed with ease, not needing to guide the great horse as he passes through the veil. They move as one, weary from battle yet at peace, knowing the fighting is finally done."
When I am asked which artworks are my favorite, one piece readily comes to mind.
Spirit Warrior: Between the Two Worlds
The impact this sculpture has had, not only on my creative practice, but also my personal life is incredibly profound.
I didn't realize it at the time,
but she was my guide.
I remember sinking deeply into a meditative state when I created this piece, not just once, but every time I laid hands on it.
Art therapy is a powerful thing, and although art often has a positive affect on people who interact with it, the way a work influences the one who makes it cannot be discounted. Obviously some pieces are more potent than others, but all art benefits its creator first before it makes ripples throughout the rest of the world.
For a long time,
I have kept her to myself...
Spirit Warrior came into being at a time in my life when I was struggling. My identity as an artist, a woman and all of the other roles I participate in, daughter, sister, wife, mother, human being, were being challenged by an ever-expanding awakening of a deeper self.
There was a war of sorts being fought between the person I truly was and the person I thought I was, or who I was expected to be.
This of course is an age old experience.... And by no means was my experience any more difficult compared with others, yet my world was rocked to its core none-the-less.
The spiritual awakenings that prompt us to face our deepest truth often come about through traumatic events, like a life-threatening illness or a sudden accident, something that calls into question everything we think we know about who we are and what we want.
Occasionally this deep transition or transformation, happens through inspiration.
I suspect mine was a little of both. I was in a constant state of overwhelm trying to do way too much: opening a creative space that included a large gallery with two partners, raising and homeschooling our young son, keeping my studio business going, and all the while expanding in ways I did not even know were possible.
I was headed for burnout in a big way, yet throughout it all, I was also intensely inspired to create.
...And into the midst of this chaos,
Spirit Warrior arrived.
She was the epitome of self-actualization, of the inner warrior whose strength gives us the courage we need do what is necessary – to make the hard choices, or the frightening changes we must in order to alter our patterns and change for the better.
To this day I am amazed at the strength with which this sculpture came through me. She and her faithful warhorse were like characters of my soul, emanating such beautiful quiet power, I was almost afraid to contemplate it.
This may sound strange but the day the foundry poured the sculpture into bronze, I could feel it in my own body – a sudden and profound stability that struck me at the time as very different from how I had been feeling. Sure enough, when I called the foundry the next day, I discovered that she was in metal.
Of course the process of doing the patina and finding the right piece of stone for the base was exciting, and I began to share her with my local and online communities which was lovely. She was always given a warm welcome and has had many admirers, yet I have never sold a copy of the sculpture.
A part of me wondered at that. How could a sculpture that had been so powerful for me, not appeal to anyone else?
In hind-sight it is clear: she was not meant for the rest of the world – at least not then – she was meant for me.
She was created to teach
me about myself...
Time passed, quite a few years actually. One day, as I was moving the sculpture to a different location in the house, I was struck with the realization that I had finally caught up with her – that quiet, powerful stillness I had perceived in the sculpture when she was first created, was now something I innately knew and understood as my own.
I felt a flash of incredible gratitude and awe, that an artwork could have shown me a future I never believed possible.
What a gift!
How remarkable to realize that years before I experienced a state of being, I had created a sculpture that embodied that consciousness, a symbol to represented it, one which waited patiently for me to finally align with it.
....And now, I am truly ready
to share her with the world.
To acknowledge this, I have decided to create a special place of honor for her on my website, so that others can experience her as well.
Visit her special page
Do you have other topics regarding my work that you would like me to post here? Let me know.
This space is to share my rather insular and reclusive creative life with collectors and friends who follow my work.
I am always happy to hear from you!
Art Leads Life: The Creation of Spirit Warrior.
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