Awakening the Elementals, 2012
Often my inspiration spring boards from a snippet of song, some overheard words, or a found image. This piece was inspired from a vision that my husband M had and related during a Espiritismo misa (a rite for communicating with the spirits and ancestors). He saw a “wavy cross with an eye at its center.”
Over the following days, this image seed planted itself into my inner vision. I asked M if the cross in his vision was one like the Crucifixion or an equal-armed cross. Equal-armed it was, and I immediately associated with the symbol of an equal-armed cross in a circle, which is the ancient elements coming together to form the world.
I began with a textured layer of black, white, and gray — chaos and cosmos and everything in between bursting from the center of the canvas. Then I layered the colors I associate with the elements (Yellow for Air, Red for Fire, Blue for Water, and Green for Earth) in the four quadrants, so that each contained parts of all peeking from underneath the surface.
The eyes were the most surprising part of this painting for me. Originally I had planned for just the center eye, but I felt that each element wanted its own eye in addition to that of Spirit in the center.
On a canvas this small, I paint leaning over quite closely to the piece. (My eyesight is not so good and I need a new prescription.) As I put the finishing touches on the eyes, I felt a CLICK and a WHOOSH of energy sweep up from the canvas and into my body. YES, the elementals had definitely woken up!
I gifted this piece to M to remind him that his visions (when he lets himeself acknowledge them) are strong and true.
Blessings from a full and open heart,
Angela
