Venice Watercolor and an Artful Promise

copyright © Sophia Khan

Original ~ Sold, Available as a Fine Art Print here

I hope that wherever within this beautiful and vast world that we share, you may be, that you are safe, well, happy, and hopeful at the start of this new year. I write this to you, as I often do, partly within my journal first, then on my computer, with a warm scented cup of tea in hand, thoughts turned towards the romance of things beautiful to the eyes, lyrical to the mind, and emotive to the senses, imbued by the nostalgia of distant travel memories.

Painting places I have traveled to is one way I find hope and inspiration because these sites reflect the grandeur of the human spirit. They reveal our collective capacity for thousands of years to celebrate our vision of how we want to live in this world, through how we build. But also because these places often tell us stories within themselves, of how they were conceived, and continue to stand and inspire us, having been built with this foundation of hope within their very stones.

Venice...I talk about and paint her often, as you may know. I read stories about her, I remember and I forget her, I weave words and brushstrokes around the enchantment of her piazza, her canals, her edifices, her stones, her carvings. But I am grateful that, despite having painted her for several years, I always find something new about her through this expressive medium of watercolor. A medium which inspires me to remain, to linger a bit longer, to listen, to see, to dream in color a place where I long to be. And then, for a moment in my studio, in some way, through the use of the very same element upon which she rests, water....I am there.

Venice isn’t the only place I am grateful to know through travel. There are many others, throughout Italy, and other countries that have inspired my journey to becoming an Artist. Along these lines, through the space that staying at home these past several months has created, a beautiful idea that I am excited about has come to me. I will very much look forward to sharing more in the coming weeks.

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Whether you reside in the US, or elsewhere, you are likely aware of the horrific events that transpired at our Capitol two weeks ago. The very same day that this attack occurred, in the midst of deep concern around my nation, I painted a watercolor of the Capitol, partly to give myself hope. I am now offering complimentary stationary, featuring this watercolor, titled “Promises to Our Nation.” The idea behind this piece is that it can be used to reflect on and write down a list of promises we make as individuals to our nation; a set of actions around how to never take our democracy for granted and what we can do to uphold that commitment. As a lovely family member suggested, it can also be worked on as a family exercise. If this is something that resonates, it is available as a complimentary PDF download, here.

If you use this stationary to reflect on your promises to your nation, I would love to see what you write. Please tag me on Instagram @sophiakhanstudio with hashtag #promisestoournation, if you are so inclined to share.

If you live in another country, I might suggest sharing with someone you know in the US, or perhaps even using this stationary to reflect on promises you make to your own country of residence.

I am very excited to share that this stationary will also be part of the resources available for Valarie Kaur’s upcoming People’s Inauguration. If you haven’t already, watch her deeply moving and inspiring TED talk, and join her People’s Inauguration, the day after our Presidential Inauguration, to be inspired and guided around birthing a new vision for our nation. I am very excited around the momentum she is building around the message of love, hope, unity, inclusion, compassion, and justice, and how to carry these towards birthing a renewed future.

I thank you for being here with me, both my new and long time subscribers, and I will look forward to sharing more of the colors, joys, and inspirations around my art and wanderlust with you in the coming weeks. As always, I love hearing from my subscribers, so if ever you’d like to be in touch, simply reply to this email. It may take just a few days, but I always write back :~)

Until next time, wishing you and your loved ones safety, hope, joy, serenity, and beauty at every step we take into our collective future ahead.

Exquisite Wings, Birds in Flight Watercolors

It's been a long time coming, but these wings of grace are finally ready to fly....

The details of our lives are what give it, its unique flavor of wholeness. A few years ago I took a most wonderful photo workshop - which was more like an art experience - with artist Catherine Just. It’s flavor still runs deep within. When I look at my life through the lens of a certain "framing" to isolate, capture, and revel in a detail within what is the entirety of experience, it allows me a certain reverence and newness in what I see. And lately I’ve taken on some new morning meditative practices in which I open myself to experiencing this reverence simply through breath and presence.....I will circle back to sharing more this practice.

Gyms have been closed, so instead of my evening workouts, I've been walking and jogging right outside my home. And looking upwards. A lot. And noticing the changing colors, the shifting moods, the lightness of all things above us. Being in nature, simply by stepping outside the front door, gives us the pleasure and the divine gift of a limitless universe before our very beings.

A message came through to me one morning, during my practice, and that was that everything is going to be alright. In these unpredictable times, we are reminded, life is always unpredictable, is it not? But the colors of a setting sun tinting the horizon of the sky, the horizon of our life, with gold, pinks, purples, shimmering orange, reminds me of being carried. It offers us that while we are here and have been given this gift of life, in one way or another, things will be okay....and this is echoed by the sun, the moon, and the stars of creation.

I don't want my art to be or look too thought out or contrived. Instead, I enjoy the mystery of seeing what comes through in the process of approaching a blank 'canvas'. And that is exactly what happened when one morning, when carrying somewhere within me the serenity of the sky above, I simply had to put everything aside and paint. In deciding not to paint any particular subject, one was decided for me. "Exquisite wings" I now call it. Birds in flight. One and many. Having both reached somewhere blissful, and still carrying the grace and elegance of continuing their flight. Isn't this how we experience our own journey of life.

And isn't life most beautiful when we feel a certain flow or synchronicity within our days. I will offer, from experience, that this is always available to us. We experience it simply by making ourselves more receptive to it. Creating space within, in whatever way we find we are most able to.

Other details of my day to day life that am I reveling in....through my senses these days are citrus, rose, and lavender. Both in my tea, and the essential oils blends that I am making. Yes, this is a growing interest of mine, and some of the sources that are helping me with it are Shiva Rose's book, "Whole Beauty," and the educational/instructional articles offered online by Mountain Rose Herbs. If you'd like to try your hand at making your own blend, I will share my latest blend which is absolutely heavenly...and quite simple. Bergamot oil and Rose otto oil, diluted in jojoba oil. If you do try it, I'd love to hear what you think. As for the tea, its Venetian Mosaic by Caffe Florian, in Venice. A delicious black tea with lavender, and orange peel, I stock up on every now and then. I also enjoy Tulsi Rose tea steeped with a cardamom pod. And......strawberry rose yoghurt, as well as lavender blueberry yoghurt. And yes, it's as good as it sounds.

If you have any details within your day to day life that you yourself are reveling in, and would like to share, I would love to hear, if you’d like to send a message.

I have also composed a gallery of my "Exquisite Wings" collection, which can be viewed at the link below. I hope you enjoy perusing, and if any of these watercolor wings speak to the dreams of flight within you, I would love to send to you.

With colors inspired by the sky above. Raspberry and gold dipped wings, sunset and sunrise, together with the time in between. Here soft as feather, there veins of gold. Explore the new collection here.

p.s. Speaking of my love for tea, I was recently featured as a "Teafluencer" with one of my favorite tea companies, Harney and Sons Tea, where I shared my love for tea, travel, and painting watercolors on tea stained paper. It's a wonderfully delicious interview, and can be read here.

San Giorgio Maggiore Venice Watercolor

copyright © Sophia Khan

Even when we're there, it exists for us somewhere between dreams and memories. San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice.

Available as an original watercolor from my online gallery here.

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Instagram

Heartbeat of Venice Watercolour

A place that celebrates both the city and our presence within it. A place both opulent, and warm and inviting. Piazza San Marco, the heartbeat of Venice.

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If you’d like to see more of my Venice watercolors on Instagram, you can follow along here @sophiakhanstudio

Serene Watercolor Escapes

Escape. What does it mean to escape somewhere? At a time when many of us are not able to travel to faraway places, this question comes to mind, and visits my studio.

Over the course of many years of travel, for which I am so grateful, I’ve come to realize that travel is not only about escaping to a place, but about a certain return to something within. For me, it feels like a turning towards that part of myself that responds with a certain visceral lens and an open heart to the world around me.

When we think of our dream destinations and escapes, and search in magazines or online for images of where we might like to go, it’s usually not guided by thoughts or logic, but by what we feel intuitively.....what stirs us the most, and feels most beautiful.

But what about now, when so many of us are not able to travel far away? Where do we go to escape? I think one place we can always escape to is our dreams and memories. Dreams and memories......these ‘places’ are ones I myself visit often, being an artist who works primarily with travel memories and inspiration. Yet despite this, it’s been strange because I don’t necessarily have a place that I’m looking forward to traveling to, at least not immediately. But I do have my memories and I have the joy and serenity that they bring.

Memories of places like Venice, Paris, Rome, Morocco, Spain, and Tuscany that re awaken me to the feelings of joy, enchantment, serenity, adventure, and a romance with history and the past, all of which I experienced while there.

Places don’t leave us. Even if we leave them.

What part of us is it then, that these places remain in? And how do we nurture and honor what remains?

This looks different for each of us. And I thinks it is why some of us paint, some of us write, and some of us share photographs and memories with loved ones, describing our travels with such joy, as if they were only yesterday. It’s also why the curiosity towards a certain place we’ve traveled to remains with us when we return home. We search in books and articles to put into words, and give meaning, history, and context to something we connect with in a way that needs no words or reason.

For me, I am grateful to have an art which explores this something that exists somewhere beyond words, and look forward to continuing to explore this in new ways, in new brushstrokes. It’s a never ending journey that life asked of me and I joyfully said yes to.

Some time ago, a thought came to my mind. Am I planting the seeds, or mourning the drought. I think of how I might apply this positive approach to life in regards to being an artist. Much of my watercolor painting started during a time when I was not actually traveling, but reminiscing past travels....It’s the nature of the ebb and flow of life for there to be periods of droughts, but.....planting the seeds. It all comes back to that for me these days. And gratitude for past abundance as well as all the places it can be cultivated in the now. And this what I bring to my ‘canvas.’ I do believe.....miracles pour in where gratitude expands to receive them. My studio is one place, for this place of gratitude. And small watercolor miracles, if I can call them that...yes, I think they are that, because they bring me such joy.

Gratitude itself is a blessing, I feel. And one thing I can always plant....is possibility.

I’ve gathering some of my favorite watercolor memories that celebrate the serenity and joy of these travels that continue to plant this seed in my life, both in my studio, and in my dreams and memories. These are small and medium sizes watercolors, with pricing beginning at $100. If you may want to peruse this gallery, I hope it brings back memories of your own favorite travels. And if there is one that especially delights you, I am so happy to lovingly send it to your doorstep, and hope it will bring a sprinkle of travel lust, possibility, serenity, and dreams to your home, or the home of a loved one.

Light in Venice Watercolour

Capturing how light and water illuminate the stones and soul of Venice, in memory and on ‘canvas.’

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Wonder & New Venice Watercolours

New Venice Watercolours being painted in my studio

The beauty, the joy, the ache, and the delight of life is that it is ever changing. Oceans, winds, the flight of birds, clouds across a waxing moon....everywhere we look we are reminded of constant change, flux, and the beauty of movement.

The mood and air around my studio and life in general these days have been one of embracing this ever changing stream of life's changes, with a sense of wonder. A bit more about this......

The past few months have humbled us to the truth that we are not quite in control of everything. And that there are things that are beyond our full comprehension.

Thoughts can't save us. How we feel can't save us. But what can free us, I suggest, is wonder.

It's a tool, and a way of being, that has never failed me. Even prior to our current global condition, curiosity and wonder have always paved a path ahead whatever may come my way, in the delightful changes of my day to day.

The way it works is simple. Let's imagine there is something coming up in my personal or professional life, that feels a bit challenging to me. Rather than letting that create inertia, I shift the situation to one of curiosity and wonder, by engaging with what might look like one of the following questions:

~ "I can't wait to meet with......I look forward to enjoying our conversation and seeing how the meeting goes."

~ "I wonder what will happen when I......."

~ "Tomorrow, I am planning on.....It will be interesting to see what happens."

Exercising this shift not only frees us from any hesitation or worry we might have when anticipating something ahead, but it holds a beautiful lamp of curiosity from which we can see and experience things with a certain richness and child like wonder, which have little attachment to preconceived outcomes, or even the past.

Wonder is also something that keeps a certain freshness and joy in my studio, while painting watercolours. As is the case with a new series of Venice watercolours I am working on, some of which are shown above.

I've been enjoying a text written over 100 years ago, on Venice, which is infusing the air around my studio with a desire to paint the city in new and exciting brushstrokes.....these watercolours are becoming more about Venice's romance with the sea. I look forward to sharing more of these as the process continues to unfold.

As is often the case with my best work, or the work I feel is most aesthetically pleasing, it is often that moment when I am painting and think to myself, There is nothing to lose, that the real magic begins to happen. When I paint with this approach in mind, it takes my art to new places that I wouldn't be able to go if I keep painting within my 'comfort zone.' And when I paint as if there is nothing to lose, there is immense opportunity inherent in the richness of that moment. And this leads to the most interesting results. Yes, thank goodness I am not a surgeon! Yet, I must say, I do believe in the healing abilities of the Arts, be it a painting, music, a place, or anything made beautifully and with the humble grace of an intention to move others.

I am grateful that the practice of Art, and being a Watercolourist, specifically, has taught me much that I can apply to other areas of my life. What if, just like when I paint, as I am going through the beautiful motions and changes in the ocean of life and my path begins to feel hazy or not that well lit ahead of me, I think to myself as I continue ahead despite the uncertainty, What do I have to lose? And what if I return to the practice of allowing wonder and curiosity to take the reigns. I can't wait to see what lays ahead.

If this might be something that perhaps speaks to you, I invite you to see what it might offer. Perhaps it's a practice you already embrace?

And on another note, on my Instagram I recently shared a delightful interview I had with Create Magazine titled, "Landscape of Feelings and Memories," which, if you didn't happen to read and would like to know more about my creative journey and thoughts, is available here.

Until next time, I wish you and your loved ones much serenity, beauty, joy, grace, and an abundance of wonder.

Rivers and Petals Watercolors

“Rivers and Petals” watercolors collection, copyright © Sophia Khan

A most beautiful message arrived in my inbox a few weeks ago. I would love to offer it forward to you, here. It is of poem, attributed to Khalil Gibran, in which he describes a river entering the ocean. It was shared within the context of feeling relevant to current times. It is titled, Fear, and it reads as follows:

It is said that before entering the sea a river trembles with fear.

She looks back at the path she has traveled, from the peaks of the mountains, the long winding road crossing forests and villages.

And in front of her, she sees an ocean so vast, that to enter there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.

But there is no other way.

The river cannot go back.

Nobody can go back.

To go back is impossible in existence.

The river needs to take the risk of entering the ocean because only then will fear disappear, because that's where the river will know it's not about disappearing into the ocean, but of becoming the ocean.

A pause....a moment to take in the breadth of this.

For me, this feels so special because it suggests that the decision has already been made. And the element of trust that the river has towards the ocean. The courage indeed, but also the inevitability of the river’s “Yes” to becoming one with the ocean.

My creative life often mirrors that of my spiritual life. (If you are also a creative and this idea resonates with you, do you have a look at the writings of Julia Cameron). And so the beautiful suggestion and invitation in this poem inspired a new color palette in my studio. The warmth of magentas, pinks, and reds. Shimmering gold pigment. And the softness, the gentleness of turquoise and undersea green. Yes, that indeed is the name of the lovely color :~)

The subjects being conjured with my watercolors, almost a bit on their own, were light filled rivers, oceans, and fragrant and vibrant petals. All the while leaving something to the imagination, to stir from one's own depths. Around me, the enchanted fragrance of Neroli & Rose, and the scent of freshly cut grass outside my windows.....as these watercolors were joyfully painted.

If it might delight you to peruse this new series, they are being offered here.

It’s beautiful to imagine ourselves as this river Gibran speaks of. But also to envision this life, this place we are blessed to inhabit as the warm ocean of grace that too invites us to its shores.....

Until next time, I wish you and your loved ones much serenity, wellness, beauty, and grace.

With my Warmest Regards to you,

Sophia

Gardens Among Us

copyright © Sophia Khan

Gardens Among Us.

A watercolor of a place, a poet, that made my heart soften. The mausoleum of Persian poet, Hafiz, located in Shiraz.

I hope this message reaches you in the best of health, wellness, and safety. And I wish this for all of your family and loves ones.

A few thoughts that have been coming to me these days, while we are globally witnessing this challenge, are as follows.

If we can collectively feel the effects of what is now upon us, what if we dare to dream that on the other side of this, we can together experience an abundance of joy. The portal to arriving at that place is deeper devotion to our truths and higher selves.

Because we are collectively open to one another right now.

Our global experience has opened us up to knowing that there is no other. There is only us.

As shared by ever inspiring artist Shirin Neshat, a quote from Saadi, a Persian poet, also buried in Shiraz:

"The sons of Adam are limbs of eachother,

Having been created of one essence.

When the calamity of time affects one limb,

the other limbs cannot remain at rest..."

Let us be and share from the place of tenderness we are now in. Together in this, and together on the other side of this.

We will find our way. We will find our opening.

Much love,

Sophia

Alhambra Palace Watercolor & Thoughts

Courtyard of the Mexuar, Alhambra Palace, Watercolor © Sophia Khan

In the face of what is happening globally today, and making our hearts soften, the details may fade away, but we remain in essence whole, and in wait towards rediscovering ourselves and one another from a renewed lens.

What is this lens?

One of them is travel. We don't travel to see what makes us different, or to learn from other cultures, as much as we do to learn what makes us all the same. That is perhaps the real longing, that is perhaps the hidden desire; to go so deep within that we discover, place and place again, that we have many, many mirrors around us, even in places that outwardly look different from our everyday surroundings.

And on the other side of this, may we meet one another and the world with even more wonder.

Much love,

Sophia