This past week while working on this painting of  “The World Within;  a Journey in Meditation,”  the creative door slammed shut.  No creative “juices” were flowing…nada..nothing,  I was at a stand still!  Can you identify?  This process seems to happen periodically to [...]]]> Visio Divina – Have you ever Hit a Creative Wall while Painting a Picture?

This past week while working on this painting of  “The World Within;  a Journey in Meditation,”  the creative door slammed shut.  No creative “juices” were flowing…nada..nothing,  I was at a stand still!  Can you identify?  This process seems to happen periodically to all creative people.  Painting by inspiration is a process and each step on this spiritual journey requires reliance on the Holy Spirit.  It’s as though you are creating or walking like a person that is blind!  We need help to take the next step or go in a new direction.  This can be true in every aspect of our lives.

How Do You Open the Door?

While walking into the studio to get some brushes that needed cleaning, I glanced at the painting.  Wham! Ah Ha,  I had a “serendipity moment!”  There was a TRIANGLE in the middle of the painting.  Then a complete thought came, not sentences or some words but a “creative revelation.”  This is difficult to explain but you know it when it happens to you….it’s Visio Divina, Divine Seeing. Then you realize you are not alone in the creative process!

We Don’t,  God Does!            

At each point in the TRIANGLE was a symbol of the Godhead.  The Lion, representing God the Father;  The boat (you) being guided by the Christ, the Shepherd of Your Soul, and the Holy Spirit hovering over the water bringing forth creation. WOW!  Yahweh is already at work before we even realize it… initiating, guiding, leading us to the place within.  This place of meditation, prayer,  revelation and even creation.  This is the Kingdom of God where spiritual sight is given,  revelation,  understanding,  and SO MUCH MORE!

The Divine Dance

In every Visio Divina  painting you study or paint, I believe you will learn something about this Divine Dance with God.  My hope is this blog blesses you today.  May you keep on dancing even when you don’t know all the right steps because you have a great teacher within you! ♥

If you like you may “leave a comment” at the end of the tags on the bottom of this blog.

In today’s blog I’ll show how I develop a mystical or contemplative painting.

This type of painting would classically be called  “Visio Divina” or “Divine Seeing”.  If you would like more information, there is an earlier blog written on this subject.  Because of my work as a spiritual director and a practitioner of [...]]]> Creating Visio Divina

In today’s blog I’ll show how I develop a mystical or contemplative painting.

This type of painting would classically be called  “Visio Divina” or “Divine Seeing”.  If you would like more information, there is an earlier blog written on this subject.  Because of my work as a spiritual director and a practitioner of contemplative prayer,  people are always asking questions about meditation.  So besides just teaching with “words”,  the thought was to create a painting to represent “the journey within”.  This process will be fun, very creative,  and challenging.  I will be taking concepts from the unseen world,  interpreting them,  and creating a painting for the seeing world.   Also,  as a finished work, there would be a painting that could be used to explore Visio Divina and meditation.

The Beginning

The painting was started using blues, purples and blacks to form a dark outer edge around the canvas.  This idea was based on the scriptural teaching that the “Kingdom of God is within”.  Another passage speaks of;  “the Temple of God being inside of us”.  The Holy of Holies,  which is the most interior part of the temple is totally dark,  the light that is produced comes from the  “Shekinah Glory of God”.

Next,  on the bottom left of the picture I placed a boat;  representing the meditative journey which begins by becoming quiet and looking inward towards Kingdom.  Then the symbol of the  “Lion of Judah”  was added to represent a concept of the nature of God. 

This picture is not yet named,  some ideas are;  Entering the Garden, or  The Kingdom Within.  I would love to hear any ideas you might have for the painting or the title.  You can write your ideas in “leave a comment” which is located at the end of the Tags at the bottom of this blog.

God is always speaking through creation.  One way God speaks through mankind is in the arts.  As  artists we can be inspired by the Holy Spirit to portray facets of ” Who God Is ” through the use of color,  symbols,  movements,  sounds and images.

starting a prophetic painting

Prophetic art most often is [...]]]> Defining Prophetic Art

God is always speaking through creation.  One way God speaks through mankind is in the arts.  As  artists we can be inspired by the Holy Spirit to portray facets of ” Who God Is ” through the use of color,  symbols,  movements,  sounds and images.

starting a prophetic painting

Prophetic art most often is birthed through dreams, visions and divine revelation.  We can see several examples of this in the Old Testament.  In this type of spiritual art, the artist is inspired to paint ” something they perceive that the Holy Spirit is speaking”  to the heart of man.  A deep calling unto deep!  When one views this type of art there will be an emotional response in the viewer.  This is a visual speech that may cause us to respond with  ” Yes,  Lord I hear you voice and feel your heart! “  This is a communication between God and the person looking at the art.

Visio Divina births art through meditation and prayer.  It too uses color, symbol, images, movement, and sound.  This is the more ancient form of spiritual art and we see it used in the creation of Iconic art.  If you have read the previous blogs you will see some examples of ancient and modern Iconic art.

As a student and teacher of both styles of spiritual or mystical art,  I thought I would create a painting using both disciplines.  Over the next several weeks you and I can work together to produce this painting.  We will walk through this process together through blogging, comments and pictures of the painting in process.  If you are an artist and would like to try your hand at this type of painting let me know in the comment section and I can also work with you through email.

If you would like more information on the Prophetic from a spiritual perspective,  go to my blog site ” www. cosmicwayshower.com “  Also, there is a link on my Blogroll which is located in the top left hand corner of this page, below the six pictures of my artwork.

I found this quote from Elizabeth Barrett Browning that I thought you would enjoy:

Earth crammed with heaven

and every common bush

on fire with God;

But only he who sees takes off  his shoes,

the rest sit around it

and pluck blackberries!

The eyes are the window to the soul. “Images” influence you and me everyday through advertising, entertainment and news shows, magazines, etc and everything we look at in daily life. These images speak to us and influence our lives, as individuals, as a culture and how we “picture” life. [...]]]> The Power of Image

The eyes are the window to the soul. “Images” influence you and me everyday through advertising, entertainment and news shows, magazines, etc and everything we look at in daily life. These images speak to us and influence our lives, as individuals, as a culture and how we “picture” life. This cultural imprinting affects you and me … regardless if we are aware of it or not!

The Visual Arts

All art has the same effect on us, but in this blog I’m focusing on visual art. When you look at a particular piece of art, an emotional response is generated. It could be good… it could be bad… or maybe you might feel indifferent. Sometimes you might give a verbal response. A pastoral landscape may cause you to feel a sense of peace and you might respond verbally concerning the beauty of the painting. A picture of war may cause fear, or a sense of injustice or a number of other negative emotions.

Spiritual Art

I like to use the phrase “art created from the heart for the heart,” as a simple way to describe spiritual art. Painting an original work of art is the transaction that brings the spiritual into the visible.

Visio Divina – Divine Seeing

Visio Divina is a Christian prayer practice that opens your heart to another way of experiencing God’s presence of love and revelation. This “divine seeing” comes from Lectio Divina (divine hearing). Lectio Divina is an early Christian church practice of meditating on a passage of Scripture, listening to the Holy Spirit speak to your heart, then responding in prayer and allowing that Word to shape your life.

During the first several centuries of the early church, most Christians could not read, and only the very wealthy owned books. The people learned by looking at pictures and listening to the Scriptures that were read out loud. If you go to early European churches today, you will see many of the walls covered in paintings. These walls were the peoples books.

In the Name of the Lord,

God of Israel,

Be Michael to my right,

Gabriel to my left,

In front of me, Uriel,

Behind me Raphael, and

Over my head the Divine Presence of God

Before bedtime, it is traditional [...]]]>

In the Name of the Lord,

God of Israel,

Be Michael to my right,

Gabriel to my left,

In front of me, Uriel,

Behind me Raphael, and

Over my head the Divine Presence of God

Before bedtime, it is traditional to say “The Prayer of the Four Archangels,” or as it is called in the Siddur , “The Bedtime Shema.”  The recital of the prayer calls upon Yahweh and the four archangels for protection against the dangers of the night.

Each angel has a specific purpose.  Michael, whose name means “Who is like God,” guards the children of Israel.  Gabriel, whose name means “God is my strength,” gives us strength and courage.  Uriel, whose name means “God is my light,” lights our way through the darkness of the night.  Raphael, whose name means “God is my healer,” guards our physical and emotional well being.  The Divine Presence lends God’s comfort.

My First Icon – A Painted Prayer

After studying Icons that were created by the early Christan Church, I knew that I wanted to create an iconic work of art.  One day while reading the Art Scroll Siddur ( a Jewish prayer book),  I came across the Bedtime Shema.   Wow! what an awesome prayer, and I wanted to paint the prayer using the principals I had learned.  Hence the name of my company ” The Painted Voice.”

I hope that my first three blogs have inspired you to take a second look at iconic art and try creating your own piece of mystical art.

Angelic Choirs

My Teacher of Spiritual Art!

Let me introduce you to Hildegard, who has been my primary teacher in spiritual art and greatly influenced my work.

A History

Hildegard of Bingen was an Abbess of a Benedictine Abbey, she was born in 1098 and died after a long rich life in 1179. Besides [...]]]>

Angelic Choirs

My Teacher of Spiritual Art!

Let me introduce you to Hildegard, who has been my primary teacher in spiritual art and greatly influenced my work.

A History

Hildegard of Bingen was an Abbess of a Benedictine Abbey, she was born in 1098 and died after a long rich life in 1179. Besides her role as an Abbess, she became a famous composer and author, writing books on medicine, science, and theology. She lived in the Rhineland Valley and became one of the greatest theologians and illustrators of the early Christian Church.

You might wonder how she can be my spiritual art teacher since Hildegard died about 830 years ago! In spiritual Jewish teachings..the belief is Moses teaches today, as does Abraham, and many others. They are alive today in their writings….they are with us today giving us wisdom and guidance! And so is Hildegard of Bingen, for those that have eyes to see and ears to hear.

At the age of 42, Hildegard began to have visions and they were illustrated in 34 ” illuminations “. She created a new presentation of images…a new iconography…..new symbolic forms and pictures.

Many of the people during the time of Hildegards life were uneducated. Iconography was used by the Church as a tool for teaching spiritual stories and principles. The artists drew ” word pictures”, and used colors, images, and symbols to educate the people. Art, stories, music and dance became the language of the ” folk education”.

” Iconic ” art speaks to us… speaking the ” language of the soul “…..and awakens something deep within. Mystical art takes that which is seen with spiritual eyes and creates it into a piece of art that can be seen with the natural eye.

How Creation Came About

Posted on this blog are two of Hildegard’s illuminations.  These are great examples to study.  What do they speak?  I would love to know your thoughts.  Please write your thoughts….click on the “comment” at the top right of thsi blog and a box will appear.

ART FOR THE HEART….Comes  from…..ART FROM THE HEART

Today we will begin to explore the many steps to creating spiritual or mystical art.  I will start with origins of  Christian mystical art and later we will study Jewish and Eastern origins; as the  methods and principals are very similar in all spiritual art.

So [...]]]>

ART FOR THE HEART….Comes  from…..ART FROM THE HEART

Today we will begin to explore the many steps to creating spiritual or mystical art.  I will start with origins of  Christian mystical art and later we will study Jewish and Eastern origins; as the  methods and principals are very similar in all spiritual art.

So lets begin with “Visio Divina” or divine seeing.   There are two ways of seeing; with our physical eyes and with the eyes of our heart.   There is a language that speaks in colors, symbols, painted parables and other images.  Since the beginning of time there has existed a language that can by-pass the level of ordinary mental understanding and speak directly to the deepest recesses of our soul and spirit.

The Holy Spirit speaks many languages, among them the language of art in all it’s forms.    Frank T. Griswold

Look at the Icon of  “Christ Pantocrator” above.  What do you see….what do you feel….what is drawing you?

Start a journal.  You will need it if you want to study and try your hand at creating this type of art.  Write down what you feel as well as what you think.

Next, let us study the Icon.  I will give you some facts that will help you understand the symbols.  Write down your thoughts.

Christ Pantocrator – The Sinai Christ

This portrait was painted in the Egypto-Roman tradition around 600AD at St. Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt.

1. the halo:   can be a symbol of a solar disk, or an ancient way of painting an aurora.

2. the robe:  is painted in a deep purple color, a symbol of royalty.

3. the hand: is positioned in the sign of the blessing, or in the sign of an orators gesture indicating he is speaking or has the right to speak.

4. the book: what book is it, the Torah, the Bible, why the cross (Christianity didn’t exist until after Christ’s death), could this be an image of Christ the Living Word?

5. the face:  take a piece of paper and place it on center of the nose, covering one half of the face; what do you see?  Now, do the same on the other side; what do you see? Are there two faces in one?  Could it be the Lion and the Lamb, or the face of the King and the Suffering Servant, or the face of the Righteous One and the Lover of Mankind.

This is the end of this lesson….. you may want to continue writing….. you might see things I haven’t mentioned here.  I have a comments page on this site and I would love to hear your thoughts  on what spoke to you.

Blessings on this journey of mystical art!