Welcome to Before the Brush and this colorful creative meditation.
I will paint the front room yellow and the back room blue so you can change your mood by relocation.
This line from Tony Hoagland's poem,
Trying to Keep You Happy,
Speaks to the deeper truth of what color can do to our emotions,
Psyche,
And of course,
Physical world.
Color can act as a wave crashing in like a tsunami,
Or slowly ebbing and flowing like a still summer lake into our senses.
You have surely tasted yellow.
You can know the smell of green.
You've often heard red in the resonance of a sunset.
And of course,
With our eyes,
We see the shapes,
Tones,
Values,
And forms that color produces in our world.
Color matters.
Your life is a canvas.
Make sure you paint yourself a whole lot of colorful days.
Color impacts our emotions.
It can be used in staging for desired response.
It plays a part in setting the atmosphere in homes,
Meeting halls,
And event arenas.
And it is used to affect influence.
So as an artist,
Or someone who wants to express with color,
How do you use it?
For me and my art,
Color is the all.
The tension and intrigue that can happen when two shades,
Tones,
Or hues sit beside each other on a canvas,
This is pure joy.
In this meditation,
We spend a little time exploring the colors of the chakras,
Which mimic the colors of the rainbow,
Which also sit on the color wheels in every art classroom.
These colors are breath and life when used in the hands of artists,
And we are here to use them well.
In preparation,
Place before you your own rainbow of color.
Red,
Orange,
Yellow,
Green,
Blue,
Indigo,
And blue.
Yellow,
Green,
Blue,
Indigo,
And violet.
Bring in a white as well,
Just in case.
Choose these from crayons,
Or paint,
Pastels,
Or markers.
You are the artist.
You choose your tools.
As well,
You'll need a surface on which to apply these colors.
This can be as simple as a piece of paper,
Or as elaborate as a large stretched canvas.
With each of these,
We begin this exercise in expression and resonance through color and its application.
This,
Like most of my creative meditations,
Is about exploration and experimentation.
There is no right or wrong.
It's about your sensory experience.
So as we begin,
Let's start with the red.
Hold it as if ready to apply it to canvas.
With a deep breath,
Close your eyes.
Now with this color in hand,
Open your eyes once again and quickly,
Without thought,
Swipe the surface with this deep,
Rich red.
We will continue repeating this movement through all the colors before us.
After that beautiful red sweep,
Set it down,
Pick up that orange.
Again,
Close your eyes.
Sink down to your gut,
Your intuition.
Deep breath.
Open your eyes and sweep this across the surface.
No rhyme or reason,
Just instincts,
Intuition.
What comes when you immediately open your eyes?
Follow this.
Now yellow.
Place the orange down.
Pick up that beautiful,
Golden,
Glowing yellow.
Close your eyes.
And once again,
With a deep breath,
Sink down.
Open your eyes and swipe.
Add this vibrancy to the arty,
Singing canvas before you.
We're nearly halfway through this color rainbow,
This chakra exploration.
We've traveled through the root,
Red,
Up to sacral,
Orange.
And now,
This solar plexus,
Yellow.
And green,
The heart chakra.
Take this color in hand,
The green you have chosen,
And close your eyes.
We focus inside.
Think of this heart space.
Open your eyes and swipe this delicious green,
This vibrant green,
This growing green,
As your senses guide you.
Apply.
We're on to blue.
This is the throat chakra.
The place where voice comes from,
As well as listening ear.
Self-expression resonates from this throat chakra.
Think about this concept as you close your eyes,
Holding this blue,
And take yet another deep breath.
As you exhale and open your eyes,
Apply this gentle,
Calming color to the surface where it is called for.
From this throat,
We move to the third eye,
The place of intuition that is driven closely by spirit,
Soul,
And that divine within.
Close your eyes as you hold this color and feel this space between your eyes,
The pineal gland,
Residing just there.
With another deep breath,
Open your eyes and swipe this indigo across your creative surface.
To the top we have come,
The crown chakra,
Violet,
The place into which divinity enters.
Divine inspiration,
Divine intuition,
Divine guidance,
With tool in hand,
Eyes closed.
One more deep breath.
Feel that rainbow as it runs through your body from root to crown.
And with this final violet color in hand,
Open your eyes and give it a sweep across the canvas before you for which it is calling.
Stand back.
What do you see?
What do you feel?
What color jumps out at you,
Calls to you,
Asks for your attention?
There's a school of thought that we have a soul color,
Each of us,
Unique.
Just like your preference for banana peppers on your pizza or the blue blouse instead of the yellow,
This color is customized to your soul's taste buds.
So look at your color swipes once more.
What color calls you?
Now,
With this color that is calling you,
Seeking more expression,
Continue painting.
Invite your intellect,
That knowledge of composition and color play and design.
Ask it in to join in this process with you as you compose this piece that sings back to your soul.
Work with it,
The singing of this soul color and see what comes.
How it balances,
Harmonizes and resonates with the other colors on the canvas.
Give it time.
Give it space.
Give it consideration and love.
And when you feel it is done,
When the painting feels pulled from the heavens,
Translated through your hands,
Call it beautiful and enjoy.
Thank you for coming along on this creative meditation and the depths of color exploration.
If you'd like more,
Check out my other creative meditations on the Before Your Brush profile.
I'm Patricia Baldwin-Sagerbrook.
Thank you for coming along on this journey of color and creation.
