KAT STEVENS9 Lives at Once
I have been on a journey for as long as I could forget, and now that I remember, I have something to show you…
Seeking inspiration, I asked myself what is the smallest amount of joy I could come up with. Laying just one color on the palette, or maybe a few experimental mixes, usually the transparent pigments, looking for a flash, maybe in my peripheral… I began again. I let myself go, no direction in mind except cover the canvas and see what happens. I would use those palettes and wipe and lay on my various leftover colors from the last palette. No decision but color. I tried different ways to create textures and messes that had interesting lines… Then, as the infamous Mel McCuddin suggested, I just looked in and waited until something looked back at me.
The Polyptych of 10
I was working toward a set of 7 paintings that would represent the colors of the rainbow, of unity, of the chakras or energy centers in our being. I was given such unique images in my mind’s eye and found myself feeling inspired to go with these messages from beyond me. I had received some understanding that better described the arrangement of 10 paintings I could not seem to narrow back down to 7. Not a straight line, but a tree. This tree represents a balanced life, a peaceful life, one where we live with ourselves and others in love, tolerance and unity. The goal is freedom, joy and growth. We constantly find ourselves seeking to get back to center with true beauty and connection with our purpose and passion and the God of our Heart. This is usually through being in nature, appreciating beauty, helping and giving and loving others, and going inward to find that connection to everything and all others.
As for the rest of the show, all of the works start with an abstract painting. Some stay the way they came forth, some cast an image that I follow down the path to fruition. The first decision was only to lay color on the surface and the second decision was to open my eyes… I hope you find something magical in the colors, which were the only decision, and in the outcome from letting the angels play with my brushes. A little messy, but so much joy!