Art
“Creativity is not accomplished by the intellect, but by the play instinct.”
Jung
The artworks below share the commonality of being heart-centered, soulful, and relational, meaning, they are both wishing and waiting for your precious time and attention. You are invited to view them with an open heart and a mind that practices replacing judgment with curiosity. These artworks communicate aspects of what Heart-Centered Psychotherapy hopes to achieve in a non-verbal way. My wish is that you take the time to let them touch you in some way.
I believe that some artworks are truly special (dare I say, magical) in that they have the capacity to generate emotions within us as we view them long after their inception. How is it possible that an inanimate object touches our soul, stirs our emotions, and gets us to contemplate the mysteries of life? It has to do with the artist’s state of mind when creating, their ability to create from their authentic selves, and the imbuing a part of their soul/spirit into the process of creation in a way that is alchemical. To me, these are living art pieces that have the potential to touch your heart, and possibly go further in healing a corner of it that might be in need, if you allow it.
I am grateful to the artists that were willing to share their art. The spirit of collaboration is an essential component of Heart-Centered Psychotherapy. The therapist, the client, the creative muses, all levels of consciousness, and other energetic presences and influences that are aligned with The Creator join forces in our healing journeys. From our hearts to yours with hopes that you enjoy and are nourished...
The Wounded Heart - The Universal Symbol of the Compassionate Heart is always waiting for our attention, connection and devotion. We can easily get confused about our concept of The Creator with ideas and religions, turning them into reasons for othering, for creating separation amongst peoples, and moving further and further away from love and acceptance. The image of the Wounded Heart is here to help us find our way to love & discernment and to the practice of replacing judgment with curiosity and compassion.
Cretan Labyrinth - This environmental art piece helped me find balance through turbulent times. I experienced true reciprocity that is possible in our relationship with nature, when we are willing to be open hearted. I share this image in hopes that it might inspire you to start listening and connecting to your own backyards or the nature spaces around you, through spending more time there, and being open to communing with nature and its many beings; the birds and the trees, the cloud people, the wind, the stone people, the spirits of the land and waters etc. They love and appreciate us no differently than we love them, and are willing and waiting for heart-centered relationships.
This Nature Spirit invites us to notice the prevalence of the heart shape in nature: from stones, to shifting clouds, to leaves. It lifts my spirits whenever I notice one, and I interpret it as a way Mother Nature and Creator communicate their love for us. The more we pay attention, the more synchronicities seem to present themselves.
Spirit Animals - Some encounters with our animal brother and sisters seem to touch our soul deeper than others in a way that there seems to have a rare, precious spiritual dimension to the meeting. Whether through a chance rendezvous in nature that is not typical (of the species, time of year, or the way they show up), through dreamspaces, or artworks, they can appear as guides, allies, and companions with insight and healing messages. I’ve found that when painting or sculpting in an intuitive manner, they show up rather frequently.
Mosaic Angels - I was delighted to realize that the shells I was collecting in FL reminded me of angel wings, which led me to create many pieces, each with their own character and medicine. When we create from a listening and allowing place (from the flow) the pieces seem to have more to offer us, compared to when we create from our own will and agenda. There is much to be said about getting out of the way of what wants to come through, during artmaking as well as therapy.
Wisdom Sharer - Different cultures share myths and old stories about women shapeshifting into birds or seals, a theme that seems to show up in my Shamanic journeys and paintings as well. This shapeshifter was created rather magically in that the image was there in the background from the get go, and it took me a few minutes to bring it forward, an emergence that had a type of urgency and potency that is rare even with my Art of Allowing practice. I am sharing her in hopes that she touches your heart as much and often as she does mine.
Spirit of the Lake - Part of my training in psychedelic assisted therapies required of me to experience ketamine. We had recently put an offer on a lake cottage and I was wondering if we might be worthy of becoming temporary guardians of this peaceful land. I had an encounter with the Spirit of the Lake welcoming us during this altered state of consciousness experience. I was blown away when I recognized her in a previous painting of mine. This is very rare of course, as are prophetic dreams, and is an invitation for us to ponder the relativity of space and time and how we are able to time travel within these psychic spaces that can lead to revelations and healing.
The Song of The Phoenix - Guides and Angels are always present when there is true deep caring between living beings. The phoenix representing rebirth speaks to the transformational / alchemical healing that comes when we are there for one another in a heart-centered way.
Snake Charmer Tree Spirit - This Tree Spirit reminds me of Rumi’s words: Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that we have built against it. One of my barriers was that God isn’t real. Another, that I have to earn Creator's love. Turns out, it’s there in abundance, and I can access it when I stop believing these ideas, quiet my mind, and open my heart to receiving. It is about the practice of surrender.
Sometimes it is a piece itself that lets you know who it belongs to. I might not have wanted to part with this dear butterfly with the little heart, but knew it belonged to an expecting mother the moment I met her. Mysteries unfold when we start listening within. May it continue to serve as a prayer of invitation for children to bless our lives in the many different ways possible.
Prayer: Spirit of God, please join me in my heart space.
Spirit of God, please ban the lies of the dark side.
Spirit of God, please quiet the voices of my own mind.
Spirit of God, please share with me God’s thoughts.
Soul Retrieval - The psyche speaks to us through imagery. This painting led to a process of soul retrieval that invited a previously dissociated young part to return home. For some healing to happen, plenty of inner work has to proceed to prepare the way. True deep healing is often the work of many many years, and requires a steadfast dedication to the shedding of wrong connections or conclusions, untrue introjects, and misguided beliefs. The path of the spiritual seeker demands no less than repeated ego death, true flexibility, and total humility.
I was taught that The Creator is not as impressed with our brains, but rather regards it as yet another organ, complex and fabulous, but just that. It is through our heartspaces that The Unknowable can connect with us, which is why most mystic traditions offer various ways to teach heart-centeredness. This painting is a reminder to all of us to cultivate our connection to our hearts and its relational capabilities that has the ability to reach beyond space and time.
Love this piece of Allison Adams’ that portrays a more accurate weighing of the value of the heart compared to the thinking mind.
You can see more of her work at www.allisonadams.net
Growing Heart - by Kate King represents the vast potential of our emotional heart to grow, encompassing our deepest Selves, closest relationships, and general outlook toward life. It helps her reflect on how she feels about others and herself, and to become more conscious about offering the most compassionate, generous perspective possible. Growing Heart reminds her and hopefully viewers that to grow our heart toward others, we must first be Self-connected.
For more information about her work and books go to:
Receiving Grace by Flora Aube
“I began this painting the way I do most of my art; by allowing my current mood to intuitively select the colors. In this case, blues and purples communicated longing, a tender reaching to re-commune with Soul, as I had recently felt very sad, disconnected and alone…it was only after many hours that the gentle form of a woman began to reveal herself out of the chaotic muddy surface. I wondered who she was, why and what divine message would she have, if any….
Birds are one of my personal spiritual symbols and appear in many of my paintings spontaneously. Eggs represent new life, something being born.
Until this moment, her eyes were looking directly forward, like she was presenting the eggs as a kind of gift to me, or to the viewer. But listening deeper still, her gaze shifted upwards as if listening to the Divine Source, and the movement shifted from one of ‘giving’, to one of ‘receiving’.”
You can see more of her work at Floraaube.com
Instructions for Flying by Emily Duhaime
Her heart-centered work can be found at:
Fault Line I by Joanne S. Martin
Fault Line I probes at the fractures created through our modern lives. This painting is part of a series titled Extractivism - a witnessing of human-caused destruction as a clarion call for strong-heartedness to make changes for the good of all beings. Resilience and the ability to endure challenges comes through facing hard truths of human complicity, however painful. This is art as a practice to reconcile human separation from nature and metabolize difficult emotions.
For more information about the artist visit:
straycatarts.com/joanne-martin