Welcome dear reader:
Today’s full moon in Pisces finds me deeply engaged in the painting “Compass” I set the Return of the Prodigal aside as it is nearing completion and needed to rest while I turned my attention back to the other. The two works have a very similar feel to me and so moving back and forth from one to the other is natural. The very small space I work in is very crowded right now with drawings and incomplete paintings but it feels very alive.So “Compass” has my present attention and I am very intrigued by what it is becoming. I explained early in the summer how this painting began so I won’t bore you with retelling that. The vision though, as it was in the beginning, remains strong in my imagination and little by little, as it manifests on the board, I am making some exciting creative discoveries. Here is man who appears to be experiencing anxiety as he sits at a desk littered with piles of paper, notes, books, communications, coffee, alcohol and pills. His “heart”, suffering the pain from wounds of three swords(a symbol from Tarot), is being tugged by an entity he has no apparent awareness of. 
While he believes that the stress he is experiencing is from the spread of information before him and the communication with his laptop, the true cause of his anxiety comes from his inability to recognize the tug on his heart. The relief from the anxiety lies in his following the guidance offered by his spirit companion that is felt deep through his heart center. As I described earlier in the summer the vision had come to offer a solution to a querent’s unhappiness at work. I recognized immediately the relevance not only to that individual but to so many of us in this culture. The relief of believing in the presence of true guidance felt in our hearts has significant healing potential. And although our conscious selves may not be prepared to accept the idea, the thought that there might be a conscious presence very close to us doing the pulling offers a deliverance from fear and emotional pain. So there it is- the two truths that this image is built upon: 1- that one true source of our modern anxiety may be in our inability to recognize and follow guidance felt in our hearts moment to moment and -2- that that there is a true conscious presence doing the guiding and in the acceptance of this lies the abandonment of fear. As in all spiritual ideas- simple but not easy.
Technically with the paint I am discovering textures and colors that are surprisingly satisfying and relevant to the (apparent)content. These discoveries speak to the fact that although I think I have planned the piece and believe that I know what it will look like, my ideas or visions are just a structure, framework or starting point for the transcendent capacity of the work. As I have chosen to surrender to the tactile experience of working in the intuitive flow the work is richer and more colourful than I had planned and I feel that I am capturing something of the juxtaposition of matter to the etheric realm from where symbols and dreams emanate. This describes a central tenant of my philosophy and creative ideas; that there is a realm beyond that which we humans generally perceive. It is as real if not more than our current perceived physical environment and that we interact with it on a moment to moment basis whether we are consciously aware of it or not. A striking recent realization has been that as I strongly believe the physical realm of matter and the etheric is built of the same stuff that painting is a completely relevant medium as it describes perfectly my belief in the sameness of everything. In my paintings whether I create a human or angel they are both made of paint. This is a deeply satisfying experience and really new creative territory for me.So, back to painting...
Very sincere thanks dear reader for your time and interest once again,JaninePS: On Thursday September 18th in Calgary an exhibition of my colleague Robert Pierce will open at ARTFIRM in Calgary. He does very beautiful paintings and I'm sure he will be at the opening 6-8pm.http://www.artfirm.ca/artists/artist_gallery.php?ArtistID=10
September
Welcome dear reader;
Unbelievably it is September. The high yesterday of 8 degrees has truly announced the change of seasons. Tomorrow the children will be back to their school schedules and I will be back to full time painting. Today I give you a quick look at the work I have been doing the past few weeks deep at night in my basement studio once the kids were finished with their days. It is tentatively called The Return of the Prodigal and it is inspired by a central truth in my spiritual paradigm. More on this soon but for the moment here are the pictures. For those wondering what has become of the work I was doing called Compass, it is patiently waiting beside the easel as I bring this piece close to finish. I expect both pieces to be very near completion in the next few weeks. 
Thank you for your patience over the summer break and you can expect posts from me now at least once a week.Most sincerely,Janine
CIPA Exhibition
Hello dear reader;This past Tuesday I attended the Canadian Institute of Portrait Artists National Open Exhibition. It is a very good exhibition and I'm honoured to have had two pieces accepted. 
One portrait of my brother Jarvis and one of my father John. It is a prize show and I was thrilled to have the portrait of John win the Best portrait award. Humbling, because there were so many good pieces, it was a genuine surprise. I know that CIPA must have worked very hard to put the event together and I'm very grateful for this chance to exhibit in the context of portraiture. The portrait is of John, who is also a painter, holding a self portrait that he had done many years before. It is oil on board and 24x36". The portrait of Jarvis is the one titled Framer King on the home page of my website. It also is oil on board and smaller at 9.5x15.25". Both frames on my pieces are from Jarvis's frame shop and they are beautiful!Two of my favorite pieces also won prizes- one by CIPA President Jack Rigaux (http://www.sharecom.ca/rigaux/) and one by Issabelle Massey (http://www.isabellemasse.com/gallery/gallery_-03e.html). There are many, many pieces worth seeing in the show.
It has been a real pleasure to be a member of CIPA and to be a part of their exhibitions. I encourage anyone who is doing any sort of portraiture to consider looking into membership and to entering the next open exhibition. There is an open house at the Alliance Francais where the exhibition is on Saturday the 9th of August from 1:30-3:30 (see announcement below). I will be there so if you are I'll see you then. Until next time dear reader,take care,janine 
hijacked
Hello dear reader;It has become apparent that in these late days of July my creative life has been hijacked by children on 
summer vacation. With very little time to devote to my painting and drawing I must pull back a little on writing. I will regularly post images of the work in progress from my studio so that those interested can keep updated but I will continue my discussions about the paintings less frequently during the summer. I must let you know as well about The Canadian Institute of Portrait Artists( http://www.portraitscanada.ca/ ) National Open Exhibition which wil be held from August 5 to 29th at the Alliance Francaise in Calgary- 330-12Ave. SW. I will have two paintings included.
This study, done since the last post, is chalk and charcoal on paper and approximately 18x24".Thank you for attention dear reader and I will post more images soonSincerely,Janine
what anxiety is this?
Hello dear reader and welcome again;
Since I last wrote to you I have continued work on my painting “COMPASS” and Yes, I have done another “study”, shown here, charcoal on paper. I am maybe 20% into the painting. Sometime ago I introduced it to you. Do you remember the story of it? That the image came to me while I was speaking to a friend about the anxiety he was experiencing. It held, I believe, real healing value and a potential for understanding his discomfort. Using the TAROT(a symbol system we can to interpret messages from the unconscious) to illuminate his circumstance, I realized that the source of his anxiety was one I observe –and have experienced- frequently. It was essentially the sensation of outer behaviour conflicting with deep intuitive guidance.
This painting “COMPASS” is the work of translating this vision into paint. The work is oil on board and 40x48”. On the left half of the piece there is the figure of a man sitting at a desk surrounded by papers, books, notes, a computer, phone, a couple of drinks, light and a newspaper. He has a halo round his head and his tie has lifted and parted itself to reveal the source of his pain, a heart stuck by three swords. Wrapped round the heart is a small gold cord which travels taught towards the hands of an etheric figure on the left half of the panel. The scene is set in front of a dark unidentified space.
After structuring the composition and completing a rudimentary underpainting , my first task has been to establish the expression of anxiety through the figure. It has been for this reason that I have done the drawings of men in aggression. Although the figure in my work is not screaming it is what I intuit is the base note of his emotional state. So I must create a figure which communicates an underlying anxiety, suppressed but arising, becoming impossible to ignore.
See, the conflict that I have described being between our outer behaviour and our inner guidance is successfully disguised and suppressed in most all of us surfacing only when the guidance is acutely needed and literally screaming to be heard. Our intuitive function is active and if our habit or conditioning has us ignoring or suppressing it anxiety grows.
So, why the desk and the business suit? It is not that my friend was a business man. And the original vision didn’t have this particular character, but in contemplating the original, it was quickly revealed that a male in business attire could effectively symbolize the current agreed upon definition of the pursuit of success. Plans, strategies and goals business networking, banks, corporate institutions jobs, education and the paraphernalia of these activities are tools of the agreed upon paths to success in our culture. Each individual has some manner these things spread before them representing their lives-their plans, strategies, goals, calendars, contacts, memories and achievements, their should’s and shouldn’ts and should’ves, their could’s and couldn’ts and could’ves-kept in drawers, folders, closets, computers, offices, desks and memory. Yet when, despite in these things before them, all of their evidence of success and all of their very well laid out plans, goals and relationships there is emptiness, loneliness, sadness, discomfort, fear –an underlying anxiety I believe it is likely they are experiencing this conflict I am painting about.
The key is that the intuition has a function of which the anxiety is an integral part. It is a rich and significant theme.
I have more to discuss than time to do it in and, really, I must get back to the painting and drawing.
Thank you so much again dear reader for your time and attention. Next week I will remember to discuss what I believe is the healing potential of this work and about the most important part- the paint.
Until next week,
Janine
in order to build heads in paint
Hello once again dear reader and welcome;
This week I was faced with a necessary creative detour. Continuing the under painting of “COMPASS” I realized I need to take a step back and turn to the drawing board-literally. Sensing that I had become stuck in the painting of the head, I felt that by turning to paper I would reconnect to what I was creating in that figure. Common but interesting experience that.
The most deeply satisfying experiences I’ve had drawing and painting has occurred when I am literally creating an image. When I am looking at something to paint or draw and I re-create it, it is a wonderful experience but fundamentally lacking for me in some deep emotional way. Technically it is satisfying but creatively it misses and is like practice or preparatory for some other, later thing. I explained last week that the images I’m sharing with you from my studio exist first inside me and you are witnessing the creative challenge and process of my bringing them to life in the outside world.
So, how does one paint from spirit? We use psychic vision, right? But how do we manifest the vision in paint?
My instinctual way of painting isn’t abstract or expressionistic. My compulsion is some kind of realism-to make representational pictures -at least presently. Perhaps because that is how the visions exist within me, I don’t know, which is why I call it a compulsion. In my mind they exist as representational images, albeit sometimes representational of things that don’t appear to “exist”, but representational still and I expect to depict them as accurately as I can. I am compelled to compose and build and refine and adjust until the painting agrees with the vision.
So I must find a variety of sources that flesh out the details, help me focus on the vision and really figure out how to paint it. Although I believe that we/ I have full access psychically to the vastest encyclopaedia of image reference-which is why when I dream of a horse it is a fully vivid life filled horse with every detail imaginable- I certainly do not have full access yet. So I use what I can in photos and direct observation.
So, now may I take you back to the study from this week? Why doesn’t it look anything like the figure in the painting? The kind of study I was compelled to do this week was most importantly a study of the psyche of the figure. Yes, I am having to work out what furrowed eyebrows and disillusionment looks like in paint, but remember I said I was feeling stuck in the paint? It is the psychology of the man I needed to attune to. I had to do the study to strengthen his energy in my mind. And, yes, this scream is what the figure is feeling.
I keep this recent drawing of the skull in the studio as a similar study that evokes the feeling of what it is that I am building upon when I am building heads in paint.
Dear reader, at the end of the last post I promised that I would begin to reveal to you the theme and symbolism of this painting “COMPASS”. If you are still reading, please be patient with my postponement of this until next week and understand that this creative detour may be a metaphor for moments in our lives; stepping back to the drawing board, re-aligning, gaining more information in order to build our creations…
So I will discuss the theme of the painting next week but for the moment I will leave you with a quote I heard today while listening to astrologer Dane Rudhyar(link below). It contains an essential part of the theme:
“…every person is born because the Universe needs that person at that time in that certain place…”
Until next week,
my sincere gratitude for your time and attention,
Janine
First Steps in the Interpretation of Birth Charts part one
releasing pressure from my mind's eye
[gallery]Hello again dear reader and thank you today for your interest:
Discussing the painting "COMPASS" that I am currently working on gives me the opportunity to tell you about how I have come to commit to the images I'm creating in my studio. The couple of pictures in this post show the early progress of it.
In my experience of life my visual imagination is always activated. Like a running visual commentary, there is a dream life accompanying my experience of waking life. As I see with my apparently physical eyes I am able to also “see” in mind’s eye an overlay of images creating a rich mixture of physical and symbolic imagery. The nature of the resulting visions appear to me like parable and allegory illuminating deep meaning in each situation I turn my attention to. At some point in my life I became very conscious of this visual activity in my mind and understood that it held some degree of wisdom useful enough to recall the images again and again. It has been inevitable that the strongest of these visions would make their way into paint and morph from their spirit selves into concrete form, presenting themselves physically so that they may fulfill their own purpose.
I’m sure that what I am describing is a common human experience and is essentially the realm of ideas and human imagination. It is my current belief that the content of these images are received from the right brain by the left brain and translated to consciousness using the language and symbols available there. In this way I suspect that within each one of us our imagination is unique to the vocabulary held in our individual left brains, essentially the result of our conditioning and education. (here's is a link to a fascinating description of the right and left brain by Jill Bolte Taylor http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/229 ) So, each human I imagination is prone to express this imagination in different ways-writing, building, doing, philosophising or on and on-and my modality is painting and drawing. As an aside, It is a constant practice of mine to explore and be aware of my left brain activity. Becoming concious of what vocabulary lies there, I aim to experience the purest translation of information flowing from my right brain and beyond. It is my belief that this information is received in each of us from a divine source. I will discuss this process more in a later more appropriate post.
I fear that I’ve taken as much time as you have to give so for only a moment more I will begin the story of my current painting but continue it next week when you have more time.
One night while I was talking with a friend over tarot cards we came to focus on a card -the Five of Wands- that addressed the source of my friend’s anxiety. While discussing the spread of cards I experienced a vision that was particularly strong and helpful. The image clearly described at once the source of her anxiety and the path of her liberation from it. For the whole night and next day it stayed with me and as I turned my attention to it a scene unfolded full of the tragedy of human anxiety, pain and the potential dissolution of it. Although it originated as an image for my friend I quickly observed that it was describing a human experience, widely felt and that it held value for more than just her. It has stayed as vivid as the night I first viewed it and I have used its wisdom often. Committing to creating the image in paint, releasing it so that it may have an independent life of its own, feels like a psychotherapy as the vision relaxes its persistant pressure in my mind’s eye.
Next week I will tell you in detail about the painting and themes and symbols in it.
With much gratitude for your time and interest,
Best wishes,
Janine
Introduction to my studio work
Dear reader, it is my great pleasure to welcome your interest to my art work.
I have been painting and drawing quietly since graduating art school in 1987 and consider it integral to my life's purpose. The focus of my practice since then has been on portraiture and refining skills in oil painting and drawing.
Beyond commissioned portraiture my inner calling and great interest is to create allegorical figurative works that explore man's psychology,spiritual awakening and enlightenment. My studies of symbol systems such as tarot and astrology enhance my visual imagination and I am beginning to integrate this symbology into my work. I have great faith in the practice of painting and in the capacity of painting to transcend its materiality, to hold truth and to affect human consciousness. More on all of these ideas in future posts.
Currently in my studio I have a small group of works in progress. They are oil on board and charcoal/chalk on paper. The images are inspired through meditation and contemplation on Tarot and The Course in Miracles. They are visions from my minds eye and I am using photo and “real” references to help clarify what I see in my imagination. I am fascinated by the nature of vision we hold in our mind's eye and so much of technical focus is on bringing that non physical into the physical reality .
In subsequent posts I will discuss these pieces more but for the moment the images here are an idea of what they look like.
Sincere thanks for your attention,
Janine