I am blessed and blissed by this image.  “Tidal Wisdom” could also be titled “Handcestors.” I love the misspelling of the word ancestors which popped out of my fingers on the keyboard early on in the painting process.

Some of the parts which surprised me as they came into form:

her right knee becoming a cliff which plunges into water and shelters the moon,

those moonlit, glowing feathers on the eagle,

her strong left leg and foot planted so firmly on the boundary between above/below,

the look of tenderness and equanimity on her face,

her hair, which became a headdress of cosmic connection, showed up because I didn’t know how to use acrylic paints. Luckily, I stepped back and saw that what was happening on the paper was quite magical and so kept doing it even though it wasn’t what I intended at first.

Speaking of stepping back: painting BIG, painting DEEP, requires frequent stepping back to see the whole. Doesn’t that also sound like a prescription for living life more sanely? Always remembering to take a moment and step back…

Every time I step back to see who she is, what my brush strokes have brought forth, I’m astonished.

Every time I step back to see who she is, I’m swept by love.

Every time I step back to see, I’m startled by knowing what she needs, what “they” want to deepen their resonance.

Every time I step back, I’m humbled by painting, by bringing something forth from nothing, by trusting and sticking with the process and trusting some more.

Every time I step back, I’m surprised yet again by life.

I could never have imagined that this, which began with poster paint:

would become this painted in acrylic: And yet that’s what happened, that’s what grew, that’s what appeared. So much like the process of birth and gestation isn’t it, never knowing ahead of time what our combination of genetics and environment will bring forth. . . the great mystery of moments entangling with each other and unraveling as something new and unexpected…like finding a gem in the middle of the knot in the red thread!

By the by, this image is available as a print in two sizes, 12 x 16 and 10 x 12. Contact me if you’re interested at: deborahmltn@gmail.com.