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.