There is an Over Abundance

I started this piece back in July, while painting at my friend Cara’s. I was experimenting with a slightly different palette and trying to play without thinking too much. I really liked what was happening. But I knew that it was not finished. Like so many of my paintings, I just didn’t know what needed to happen next: I was afraid of ruining my own painting.

Finally, I was able to make some progress. I got out my oil pastels from high school and started coloring in the circles and adding more of my winged circle shapes. Off and on for weeks, I just made small movements within this painting with the oil pastels.

It wasn’t until yesterday, after a massage with my favorite massage therapist, that I had the inspiration to complete this painting. My body felt energized and all of the heavy energy I had been carrying was gone. I felt light. I didn’t realize I had the inspiration when I began to tinker, I just knew that I needed to be in my studio creating.

After altering the pallet and bringing in pink to the circles, I needed to add more pink. Finally deciding on an orientation, I used magenta fluid acrylic to ground the bottom of the painting.

I have a hard time leaving paintings without text. They feel unfinished to me. This painting felt too busy to add text so I made a very bold move and covered the entire thing with more paint! Initially, this was a hard decision to make. I liked the winged circles, but since I knew the painting wasn’t finished and I had taken a photograph, I needed to move forward.

The slight arc of the circles on the bottom, made me think of a globe with sun rays, so I went with it and painted yellow over the top and purple across the bottom. Next, I etched into the yellow paint. I really love this technique of etching into my painting and letting the previous layer show through a bit. It so reminds of the scratch boards I used to draw on as a kid. All the previous layers are present in this painting, they build depth. Sort of the way every moment of our lives leads us today. There are no wasted moments.

My massage therapist and I talked a lot about energy during my appointment and what she had said stuck with me. “There is an over abundance of everything.” We often don’t ask for what we need because it feels selfish. We feel If we ask for ourselves, then we are taking from others. This is not the case.

I don’t love (or trust) my own hand writing enough to use it, so I used my graphic design skills and laid out the text on the computer.  I printed it out and used tracing paper to trace my design onto the painting. I filled in the text with my new white acrylic pen and then painted in the word abundance by hand.

And I love how this turned out. I love the message. Both of them. The message that is written across this art, as well as the reminder that we must move forward, make bold moves to create the lives we want. That no moment is wasted, it all leads you to today.