“What did
you dream last night?” was a common question asked at the breakfast
table and the messages derived from those dreams were considered
seriously. Throughout childhood and adulthood, my dreams have been a
Source of knowledge, guiding and sustaining me. When I turned 21, I also
began to meditate and this has provided me with another level of knowing
and connection to the Source.
It was
almost thirty years ago that I knew one day I would “do color studies,”
although I had no idea what that meant or even what a “color study”
was. In 1995, I saw a flame on water during one of my meditations. The
image so impressed itself upon my awareness that the impulse to create
the vision in a material form became an overwhelming need I could no
longer ignore. Finally, though I had not done artwork since high school,
I painted the colors of the vision. This was the first of the color
studies.
The
creation of the color studies in this little book are the result of a
process that has deepened over the last ten years. The connection to
the Source in this process, has sustained me through physical and
emotional challenges; given me courage to face overwhelming odds in my
daily personal and professional life; and continues to lead me ever
closer to the purpose for my life. It is a process that I invite you to
try.
After
sitting quietly in meditation and prayer, I let the Infinite Source
Within lead me to paint whatever colors and forms I feel. Even if I
have a specific vision, as I did of a flame on water, I do not “try” to
paint it but let it flow through me until the colors and general form
appear on the paper. I continue to paint until the flow of energy
subsides. The painting then is propped on a chair or table where I can
look at it over the next few days or weeks. I turn it on all sides.
There is never any top or bottom in the beginning. Everything is
possible. Gradually forms within the colors take shape. Only later do I
draw in the forms with a pencil or other watercolors. The color study is
then given a title.
Later I
meditate again on the completed painting. Depending on my current state
of being, physically and/or emotionally, I may be drawn to one or
another color study on a particular day. As I meditate on the colors
and forms, an understanding develops that leads to words. The words
become prayers from the deepest parts of my soul. But these prayer poems
and color studies are not merely abstract representations. They have
provided sustenance and courage that have helped me live through
innumerable challenges. They have illuminated solutions, derived from a
Greater Power, to solve the dark problems of my life.
I invite you
to use this book as a beginning for meditations and prayers on your
journey. It is my intent to share this process, and some of my results,
with you in the hope that the color studies and prayer poems may help to
connect you to Source and what sustains your life.''
