EMBODY YOUR ARTISTRY INTUITIVE EXPRESSION AN INTRODUCTION
Emma Taylor, MSc
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Intuitive Expression - An Introduction by Emma Taylor, MSc
“We often forget that WE ARE NATURE. Nature is not something separate from us. So, when we say that we have lost our connection to nature, we’ve lost our connection to ourselves.” Andy Goldsworthy For many years, I have taken photographs of the many intricate and beautiful wonders that I see and feel whilst in nature. I am fascinated by how an image can be framed and within that frame a moment of sheer beauty could be expressed, and shared. Within my photographs there is often a hint towards a much deeper connection that I feel with nature. Somehow a tree, flower, puddle, bird, or butterfly will capture and express feelings, and sensations that I struggle to put into words. I expanded this thread of a personal inquiry by dabbling in watercolour painting. I tried to carefully recreate the beautiful trees and plants that I saw in my garden, and in the surrounding countryside. In this artistic medium I fell in love with the gesture of adding water to paint, making colours, and applying them to a surface to create lines, shapes, and forms, which would fuse together to compose a whole image.
It was in this creative process of image making with nature as a guide that I began to notice how I was making new connections and insights into my human nature. However, I often found myself struggling in the technicalities of painting intricately detailed images, and I had a sense that something was missing in my practice. I longed to create images that were more selfexpressive, and were less a representation of what I saw, but much more an expression of how I felt. Somehow, I wanted to express the feelings of a deeper intuitive connection, of there being no separation, between what we perceive as animate and inanimate. In essence I was looking for a way to express the life that was within me and all around me. To give a voice to the creative gestures of image making, and storytelling. I longed for this deeper creative connection to nature to become the frame within my life.
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It was not until the summer of 2019, when I drew and painted an Elm Tree, that everything changed. The Elm Tree that I had painted was technically fine. In that it was instantly recognisable as an Elm Tree, and the colours were exquisite, yet somehow both the act of painting and the resulting image did not express the life that I felt flowing through the movement of the Elm's branches. The image I had painted felt static and lifeless and so out of sheer desperation I followed my intuition and choose to paint the movement and feeling of the Elm Tree. I wanted to somehow capture the intimate dance between the tree and the wind, and be a witness to this beautiful unfolding, and sense of relationship. So, I painted the Elm Tree using my imagination, and instead of trying to faithfully recreate a perfect image, I allowed the paint to flow. I was amazed at the result.
First Intuitive Expression Painting - Elm Tree
Until that day it had never occurred to me to paint a resonant feeling connection with another living being. Instead I had been trying to be perfect.
But, on that summer’s day, I chose to set movement in expression as my intention. With this in mind, I dipped both hands in the wet paint, closed my eyes and painted whatever came forward. The image I had painted of an Elm Tree was not at all what I expected, and I found myself feeling a combination of surprise and confusion. I definitely did not love it instantly and this was because my rational mind was having a really hard time processing what was going on. Instead of a familiar image of an Elm Tree I was looking at a swirl of movement and colour, unique shapes that were organic forms rather than a linear structure, and yet I noticed that I also felt really nourished by the process itself.
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I was intrigued how the deeper patterns in nature, something normally unseen or responded to, had magically been brought to life and I was slightly overwhelmed by the infinite possibilities that this first 'feeling' painting had revealed to me. I decided to stay close to this way of image making and I immediately made another painting using the same intuitive and expressive approach. This time a group of Elm Trees appeared and I found mysef instantly falling in love with the image that had appeared, and also flabergasted that I had made something so unique. I wanted to explore further how to spontaneously express my creative self whilst inviting nature to be my teacher and guide. It was this inquiry which gave me access to what I call Intuitive Expression. A creative practice that is focused on the process of self expression and personal growth, rather than developing a skill or mastering a medium, or making a quality piece of art.
Second Intuitive Expression Painting Group of Elm Trees
Paying attention to my creative process has enabled me to developed ways to encourage my intuitive nature to lead the way (like closing my eyes, using my non-dominant hand, using whatever natural materials are around me, trusting my imagination as a form of knowing, and to learn to see imetaphorically, and in symbols rather than literal interpretations.
I call this way of image making and painting Intuitive Expression, and see it as a form of Expressive Art painting. As a creative process which is not focused on technical accomplishment, it invites my organising and often self-critical mind to take a back seat, and this makes space for my intuitive nature to step forward.
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The creation of that first image, an intuitive expression of an Elm Tree, gave me direct access to a deep creative wellspring and a sense of connection that I had forgotten, and lost. Now, each time I bring a new image into form, I am continually fascinated by what emerges from this intentional reciprocal relationship with the nature. I watch in rapt fascination as images change in shape, colour and meaning. A living transformation is taking place before my eyes and by my hands. New connections and stories are returning to the surface which generate new inquiries and insights. A deeper kind of wisdom and ancient knowing is being given voice and it is this space in-between which expresses new ways of knowing.
Intuitive Expression is a creative process that is grounded in our present moment self -awareness. This in-between space where our busy thinking mind is balanced with feeling, sensing, imagining, and intuiting. In my own creative practice I have learned how to attune to this in-between space, as a way to deepen my connecton to nature, using art as both a medium of self-expression and as a bridge. It is a creative process that resources me to be fully present to life with renewed connection, creativity, and gratitude. Now I share what I have discovered with others by offering a variety of Expressive Art Workshops and teach different mediums of creative practice which combine, inquiry, nature-connected practices, painting, and storytelling.. A varied and continually deepening offering of images, words, paintings and workshops in nature inspired activities to ignite and support new self-expressive, and creative habits. The life spark of a seed at the moment of germination, the graceful and responsive movements of an Elm Tree in a stiff breeze, the meandering pathway of deer tracks in the giving earth, the spontaneous play of our creative expressions are all merely aspects of nature’s creative language and regenerative life force. Both of which are spontaneous, and fully embodied in the moment. Engaged, connected and artful. This is a nature inspired poetic and symbolic language that nourishes a resilient and reciprocal relationship between all members of the earth community. Through creating, in any form we choose to make, we not only express our innate interconnection with nature in the moment, but we also strengthen our interconnection as we nourish generative ways of seeing, feeling, imagining and expressing that nourishes us for a lifetime.
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Playing with Our Senses In Expressive Art painting, which is the medium I choose to practice my Intuitive Expression, I am always discovering and combining new ways to engage with the senses, of seeing, feeling, and listening, whilst also actively creating from a place of inclusion and wholeheartedness. Below, I share four of my favourite painting practices which will invite you to play with your senses, to invoke an imaginative response as a way of knowing and to participate fully in the most expansive range of your self-expressive nature. CLOSED EYES “I shut my eyes in order to see.”- Paul Gauguin When we create with our eyes open, we can be seduced by the idea of creating something in particular. With eyes closed, we flow and feel the sensations associated with a nature connected creating. By moving away from the outward grasping habit of seeing, we open to a fresh way of relating. If we cannot see what we are doing, then judgments soften, and expectations fall away. Other senses kick in and we pay more attention. We can move beyond surface details and no longer see nature as simply another pretty picture. We let go of our need to control an image or seeing forms as fixed static entities that must contain an ‘idea’ of perfection and move aside as it is a new perception is born before our eyes.
BOTH HANDS “Let your hands be your eyes.” - Ruby Elena We draw and paint with both hands and paint without brushes. We open to the wholeness of ourselves when we create with both hands. Both right and left brains are invited into the creative process. Materials bridge between the creator and nature when we follow where the hands spontaneously lead. Creating without brushes is often surprising and relaxing as the mind sinks into the textures and sensations of succulent-coloured hands and fingertips. We learn to trust the wisdom of our bodies.
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ALLOW YOUR IMAGES TO SPEAK “Everything has its own voice. Thunder and lightning and stars and planets, flowers, birds, animals, trees” Thomas Berry When we are finished with mark making, drawing and painting, we can take a moment to ask an image if there is anything that it would like to share. We then record the answer, maybe as a word, or a short sentence, maybe even a poem. We also take time to reflect when we complete the sentences, I noticed... and I wonder.... We develop a new way of listening, one that is characterised by no preconceived notions about what the images might be trying to say and how they might be trying to say it. We open to receive messages and to fully listen again to ourselves and our deeper inner nature. GRATITUDE “If the only prayer you said in your whole life was thank you that would suffice.” - Meister Eckhart We begin and end a session with a reverential mindfulness towards our inherent creative nature and process of creating. What a gift to inhabit our own artistry. We ask for permission to engage and we say thank you or express our gratitude in some way when we are finished. Sometimes we can be chosen by a colour, a shape or form, and at other times ,we simply follow what attracts our attention. Either way we engage with our creative process with appreciation, wonder, humility, and gratitude. These are just a few ways in which we can all access our innate creativity and invite our inner artistry to be our teacher and guide. Expressive Art as a creative practice only ever offers a framework to guide and support your creativity. There are no 'rules' and there is no getting anything wrong, There is only an invitation for you to remain present to the continual flow of your experience and to discover and embody your unique artistry, which is expressed through your visual language, of image making and storytelling. As Mary Oliver so wisely suggested; Pay Attention, Be Astonished. Tell About It. If you feel a need to cultivate more creativity in your life, then I hope you have found some nourishment and inspiration here. If you are interested to learn more about how to Embody Your Artistry then a range of further resources, and workshops can be found at www.camelliajewel.org
We are creative beings. Some of us are compelled to express this creativity without hesitation. Some of us feel that something is"whispering" to us, "come, you have riches inside you and the world needs you to share them." Do we dare to follow this? Others sense a longing or a pulling, but it may be mixed with an uncertainty of how to express or what wants to be expressed through us. Embodying Your Artistry speaks to this creative and expressive energy that is available to all of us, and offers an introduction to the creative practices of Intuitive Expression through the medium of Expressive Art Painting. Which provides one way to deepen our connection to our inner nature, to enrich our wellbeing and cultivate self-expression. It is the first in a short series of booklets which aim to draw attention to our innate creativity, and inner artistry, by calling our creative self back from excile, and the restorative connection between nature, art and well-being.
Emma Taylor is an image maker, storyteller and painter, and has always had a deep connection to nature having spent her early childhood in the glorious wilds of West Wales. This feeling of a deeper connection was re-ignited during her time working for a Japanese Manufacturing company, where she gained new perspectives on our innate creativity and interwoven story with the wellbeing of the Earth. In 2018, she chose to deepen her connection to her creative nature by practicing greater self-expression, calling upon the mediums of inquiry, image-making and storytelling, and to encourage others to do the same. Emma has an MSc in Transformative Change, A Gestalt, Systemic and Complexity Perspective, and runs a small expressive arts enterprise called Camellia Jewel where she offers short courses in Expressive Art Painting, Creative Practices and Creative Mentoring.