The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God’s eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.
– Sermons of Meister Eckhart
Third piece from series of painting Nebulae. This nebula, known also as God’s eye nebula is maybe one of the most popular occurrences in the space.
It seems appropriate to show this painting trough these coming days: Day of the Dead, Halloween, All saints, All souls day, Samhain… Days when we remember our dead, think about our mortality and higher purpose in life. Days when we look above us to reach out to our God, Creator, Universe and HE looks upon us. Days when we transcend eerie sense of prescence to holy union of souls.
About the painting:
This painting was made with dry brush technique, as described in article about painting the Seahorse Nebula and Eagle Nebula.
I’ve panted the canvas black and added circles of blue shades – grading from lighter in the middle to darker to the end of circle. Than, while still wet, I’ve pulled the brush firmly over the circle to create rays. I kept adding other colors (white, yellow, orange, red) with circular movements of brush to create hazy look of gases. Finally I splashed white color with wide flat wet brush, to create stars.
I believe that we all seek that True love. Unity of body, heart and soul – interwoven and in harmony. Often this is lifelong search, often this is never found. But sometimes you find it. And that does not mean that the pain or yearning is over. It is never easy to love. But it is worth all the troubles, because the love is truly yours – not the other person’s. You feel it, you have it, you live it.
This is somewhat small painting, but I did put all my energy and emotions in this piece and I for me is strong, I almost feel that my soul glows on it. I’ve painted it in a difficult and highly emotional state of mind.
Symbolism is rather obvious: blood for Body, heart for Heart and glowing light for the Soul. Frame of old gold, symbolises the patina on the heart, from past injuries and aces.
The background is dark teal, because it contrasts red and gold. I made faux-frame with the palette knife, pressing it along the edges to leave the texture. When the painting was finished, I made dripping blood with the glue gun and painted it.
Looking at the paintings of “Natural phenomena” series, it came to me that each brings strong symbolism and deeper meaning that can be linked to tarot and runes. From the beginning of time, our ancestors worshiped and feared great forces of nature. They personified them and made them Gods or spirits. They bring archetypal meaning deeply imprinted in our collective conciseness.
The whole idea started to envelope when I stumbled upon the tarot card “Tower” on the internet. It instantly reminded me of the meteor painting. So I started to ruminate over other paintings and their correlation to tarot or rune.
I will use Raider-Waite deck for this post because It is best known deck even amongst people that don’t share interest in occult or esoteric. Pictures are shown in increasing order by numbers of Major Arcana cards. (The deck I use for my personal meditation and contemplation is Arthurian tarot by Anna-Marie Ferguson Legend-arthurian tarot, which embodies mysterious appeal of tarot and dark age legends likewise. Oh, and dragons, too). Runes are elder futhark.
Those are my associations, I’m sure that there are plenty of different opinions how to match tarot cards with runes, let alone this paintings.
Volcano is strong and unpredictable force, often used to describe someone temperamental, like the lion, untamed beast. When lion is tamed he is warm, timid and cuddly, but always keeping his wild side inside-like magma boiling inside the sleeping volcano. Eruption of volcano is destructive force, but when lava hardens it creates. It can heal. It’s ash nourishes the soil. Volcanos gases form planet’s atmosphere – it basically gives us life. Uruz symbolises life force, endurance, formation, healing, manifestation – and so embodies all concepts of Volcano and tarot card Strength. And zodiac sign Leo – bold and strong and passionate.
If we look at northern lights in the sense of spiritual lights and search, then The hermit becomes obvious. Isa means ice and signifies coldness, isolation, stillness, but it urges you to move forward, because If you don’t find your way out, you will be dead. Death can be spiritual, emotional, not just physical. It’s like the hermit card in some aspects. The Virgo – rational and patient, enduring but wise and kind. General message of this trio is to dive into coldness end isolation to emerge enlightened.
Few man need Fortuna like the sailors, for ages they are toys of Faith. Every journey depends on wheel of fortune, as in life. Sometimes the see is still and beautiful and sometimes is wild and dangeros. Perthro is the rune of fate, luck, unknown, universal law of cause and effect. The wheel of fortune rotates infinitely and no one knows for sure what future brings. And what will the planet of luck, Jupiter’s constellations bring.
I named this painting sun is hiding – because the sun is there, it is only transitional state, and darkness passes. Tarot card Death is similar. It’s ominous look is frightening, but the key concept of this card is beginning through ending, change, transformation, transition. Ansuz also speaks of transition, ancestors, transformation. Like the Scorpio, that mysterious, dark, yet deep and warm sign – changeable and transformational in its nature. So I think that the general theme here is change, life cycles- the necessity to get rid of what is no longer useful and begin the new chapter in our life.
Oooh, The tower! – I think that most of us thinks that when that card appears in the reading. It is card of destruction – like Uranus its planet ruler – or like meteor impact. They all bring chaos, shock, they are sudden and unpredicted. They drastically and swiftly sake you to the bones. But! This is not necessarily bad, it makes you question your beliefs, like death (and it is linked to Death card – Scorpio whose ruling planets are Mars and Uranus) – and brings change. Although Fefu is mostly seen like positive rune, it also brings the concept of new beginnings, failure, and energy – matching the tower meaning.
The moon is mysterious and deep, signifies intuition, psychic powers and deep emotions. It also evokes illusion and dreams. Like the Laguz rune. Moon being the ruling planet of zodiac sign cancer, gives that moonchild all that gifts (and sometimes burdens)., and makes it volatile like moon phases. Being cancer myself, I know that Moon, oh so well.
As I looked down on my working table surface I thought to myself: – Wow! Even my protection cloth looks like an abstract painting. Maybe even better than my paintings ha ha.
Well, by definition the art involves skills, technical and imaginative.
So if I use my imagination when watching this cloth covered with random traces of paint, and even if I didn’t use any technical skills when creating it – is it still an Art?
Josipa'S Art 