A Sigh of Happiness

I just rigged up the most interesting experience for myself!

Ready to paint again, having completed 60 Drawing Experiments based on Sensory Awareness Meditations, I realized I wanted go abstract, and in a meditative way. I wanted to bring my recent experiments in movement, breathing, touching, and sensing to the canvas.

One of my favorite things to listen to while making art are audio recordings of mindfulness meditations. But now I wanted to create my own! So for a couple days ago I sat down with Garageband and recorded my own, hour-long Painting Meditation. I would guide myself through the process, prompting myself each step of the way, reminding myself of everything I’d just learned in Sensory Awareness. I added beautiful music to the background, and voliá! My very own audio guide to start my next series with!

Today I finished my first painting in the series. I feel calm, fulfilled, and happy. Listening to my prompts and meditations added such joy to the experience. I continued for another couple hours, tweaking it. The meditative foundation was like a key that opened the door.

(A Sigh of Happiness, 30×30,” prints and original here…)