Subconscious influences

This is my newest work, painted while doing a demo for the Art in the Lobby program at a local hospital.  I was very anxious about the demo, having never painted in front of people before, and in the days leading up to it I tried lots of different ways of preparing for it as a way of guaranteeing a good result -- each of which failed spectacularly!

So in the end I had to trust that what needed to happen would happen, and allow spirit to flow through in whatever way seemed best.  But I fell asleep trying to visualize at least that crucial first stroke on the blank canvas -- and fortunately this, the dark shape that crosses the canvas, came to me in a dream.

Which meant I could be more sanguine going into the project, and somehow more confident about the process (although as one of the nurses pointed out, in a hospital many people would see this as a symbol of a patient flat-lining!)  At any rate, I'm pleased with the resulting image, and amused to see how vividly it reflects not only my most recent visit to the hospital (visiting a friend who had a heart attack and thankfully did NOT flatline) but also my current absorption in Cynthia Bourgeault's writings about Holy Trinity and the Law of Three. Another gentle reminder that we are influenced at very deep levels by what we watch and read and how we spend our time; good to choose those things carefully...