Ape to Angel - Waking up to what is there
Sometimes the answer is right there in front of us, staring us in the face. But to see it, requires us to disengage our usual thought patterns and see it from another perspective.
My earlier period of artwork was invaluable as a tool to practices this. The key is to become an unattached observer. This is achieved by playing a little game with yourself, because you have to trick your monkey mind to stop its chattering, our internal dialogue of thought. You suspend the role you play, you, that person you think you are, you disown the subject you are currently engaged in that has so much value to you. For a short while you allow yourself to be a third party, an observer.
You can also find this state more passively by blissing out, or zoning out, where you lose yourself.
It is in this state of non-attachment that the magic happens. Other things resolve into the focus of your attention, things that were right under your nose.
F IT UP!
So with the painting, I would encourage this process by starting out the painting with no particular aim, other than to make a mess, play and F it up. It is important to start without any intent of expecting to create a masterpiece, because then you are already placing value, limitations and restrictions upon what you will do for fear of F'ing it up.
The painting that leads this post demonstrates the process very well, as I did very little reworking or additions to the initial play session. What amazed me about this particular work, was I looked and I saw a hairy figure in a seated position. The upper body was there, the legs were there, a part of a tail, all it was missing was a head, hands and feet. Here was Hanuman, the a Hindu god in monkey form.
Calm Waters
For me the whole thing symbolises perfectly that whole process of overcoming our monkey nature, or ceaseless chatter and moving from a place of inner calm. It is in that place of surrender we can find the solutions that were at first not apparent to us. Calm waters reflect best.
So if you're overwhelmed with something, can't see your way through and things look hopeless, step back for a moment, play a game of letting go and see what is reflected back to you. You might be surprised at what you see.
"Ape to Angel", oil on canvas
Reproductions are available.
Please leave your thoughts and comments below. Upvote and Resteem if you like it.
More of my artwork can be found on my website. LeoPlaw.com
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Oh yes I like it! It's very beautiful. You've done a very good job.
Muchas gracias @izbing! =)
nice post i see today.. i a newbie ini steemit and i like printing too. when i see your painting make more experience for me. thanks..
Regard from indonesian
Welcome to Steemit @saifulramadhan! =)
And thank you.
Greetings from an Australian in Europe.
you're welcome
I'm from Indonesia
thanks
wow, great picture, keep up the good work!!
Thank you @jawadovic! More coming soon. =)
thats a good depiction of HANUMAN .. good one
Thank you @frombeyond. I've had a couple of Hindus who liked it enough to ask for prints.
It reminds me of the Monkey King, but calm I never thought of that before, cause he is very uncalm and restless, yet he is skillful with many things like us humans. But we are just humans we must be calm in order to grow. Great art! Cheers!
Greetings Nikolay and thank you!
Yes, the Monkey King was not calm, but he was sent on a journey of enlightenment with a Buddha priest, to grow and learn as you said. I think that the message behind the story was that we are little more than monkeys and that we need to cultivate being human.
This is the hard part, cause in our nature we are just the chemicals in our heads. For example if a girl like a guy who is masculine, beard, chest hair, well developed body, deep voice and after a 4 weeks in a relationship with this man she is starting to complain about it cause he wants the stuff to be done in his way cause the same thing that gives him the masculinity is the same thing that makes him go into a rhubarb for stupid stuff, the testosterone. It's really hard to have sober thought, cause first we have to realise that we are just animals and we have to build ourselves on that. It's good to implement science in everyday stuff. We are chemistry... Literally.
Ooh there is another lesson we can get from that story: We hate what we love...
We all have a duality to our natures that we will always oscillate between our extremes to some degree.
Long story short. yes, I аbsolutely agree with you.
Nice painting leo, it's hard to do this change of perspective you mention in the post. And it's incredible to see how close are answers some times, and we are not able to see them.
Gracias @jorgegp! I found that climbing was also a good way to change your perspective. Being up on the rock face, you have to be present and can not afford to be thinking about anything else.
This id soooo true hehe
wow you are an artist :)
Great posts can be useful can be an experience. Hopefully be a friend who can help me to like you ..... to dream and hope to be achieved. Like @yooraa need friend support. Best regards.