I am thrilled (and humbled) that you are interested in joining me in my creative endeavours ~ my paintings and ponderings from the forest.
Merry Month of May Greetings!
In this edition of ‘News From the Forest’ I share with you:
• a new painting!
• notice of upcoming local events
• a little 2 minute video from the creek in the forest with a short reading on ‘Beauty’
• a forest photo piece on Devil’s Club
• two favourite quotes
A New Painting:
‘Dance of the Seven Veils’
Oil on Canvas, 20 x 24″
Some of you may remember this painting as I shared it in-process over a year ago! I had to set it aside –it just wouldn’t reveal itself to me …the “Dance of the Seven Veils” indeed! But, all in good time, at last it came clear and I could finish it.
Here is its story:
Out walking, entranced and blissful through a brand new world of winter wonder I came upon this graceful young Hemlock on the edge of the forest. With her elegant drapery of freshly fallen snow I am instantly inspired to paint her, and the words “Dance of the Seven Veils” appear in my mind’s eye. Her substance hidden and her essence revealed somehow.
Returning home I do some research and find that, in digging deeper, beneath and behind the more widely known biblical story of Salome’s dance of seduction for the revenge upon John the Baptist, is the older purer story of shedding the layers of ego, of unveiling the true self hidden beneath. The seven veils of illusion, to be stripped away to reveal the pure authentic essence that is at the heart of you.
Ancient mystics spoke of the Seven Veils of Mystical Experience: Dream, Reason, Passion, Bliss, Courage, Compassion & Knowledge based on the seven celestial bodies, themselves symbols of the soul.
The symbolism of the number seven is highly spiritual –deep inner knowing. In Judaism and Christianity it is the number of completeness and perfection, informed by God’s creation taking seven days. In numerology a number seven person is said to be a lifelong seeker of spiritual truths. It is a number that has fascinated us since the beginning of time –7 deadly sins, 7 virtues, 7 chakras, 7 seas, wonders of the world, colours in the rainbow, notes of the musical scale… we have 7th heaven, lucky #7! (by the way, feel free to count those seven veils in the painting in which-ever-way you so choose!)
What I see in the forest is her substance hidden and her essence revealed somehow… with her pure white mantle, and her finery only glimpsed beneath. Then as winter wanes and veils of snow melt away she will be revealed in all her finery …graceful young beauty of a Mountain Hemlock dancing on the edge of the forest.
• July 25, 6:30pm I will be at the Grand Forks Library giving my Artist Talk/Author Reading
• August 10-11 will be my 5th annual Columbia Basin Culture Tour! This year I am setting up at potter Cameron Stewart’s Studio, 3620 Highway 6, Passmore, Slocan Valley (on the Hwy 5 minutes north of the Co-op at Slocan Park). cbculturetour.com/
While you’re there on my Barbara Brown, Artist Facebook Page be sure to give the Page a “Like”!
A Forest Photo Piece:
Devil’s Club
Two Favourite Quotes:
“Those who find beauty in all of nature will find themselves at one with the secret of life itself.”
~L. W. Gilbert“Some moments Require us to just stop what we’re doing And breathe in the Wonder…”
~Michael Traveler
SYLVAN REFLECTIONS: Wanderings, Paintings & Ponderings From the Forest
100 full colour pages of forest inspiration for $27
The book is available through my Etsy Shop.
Thanks so much for listening, May the forest be with you!
Please, if you would, forward this to any nature lovers you know who may be interested in subscribing to this newsletter (it comes out occasionally, a few times a year). Elders, house-bound, or even just city folk who can’t get out into the forest as much as they would like, may be especially happy to join me, vicariously, on my walks in the forest.
