I do this thing called Visual Medicine, or Painting with the Universe. It sounds all woo-woo witchy and I suppose it is but it is also real and it is also medicine.

          You all probably know I’ve been an artist my entire life. “Artist” took many forms. Sign painting and calligraphy for custom invitations as a teenager. When I hit college I interned doing terrible graphics for an evil company that made me wear heels. I had two jobs right after graduation that really taught me what’s what and I became an art director for advertising, design and marketing companies. That career served me well, supported us and built our home. It also let me shift into freelancing, working when I want which in reality means working ALL the time. It also allowed me to see the country with my partner-in-crime husband as we traveled for his work.

          Since finances changed for the country in 2008, then covid, the design world has withered in my opinion. Where is the appreciation for beauty? Everyone has the power at their own computer-busy fingertips to create horrendous logos with rude computer generated fonts. It’s one big hard-ugly mess in my opinion. My industry’s annual publications featuring the best design for the year used to be inches thick, now they are flimsy or non-existent (out of business) magazines.

          I shifted to painting “fun” art, joined some online art communities that I adore and painted animals, mermaids, fairies, tiny houses, trees etc. This is great fun but earns no money. The craft/art show circuit was mastered by me and still it was just an exercise in spinning my wheels that disappointed my accountant. Desperate times are not filled with art collectors.

          Abstract art has been a love of mine and that’s honestly where I’ve made the most money (per unit if you want to look at it that way) and received a ton of satisfaction. When I paint abstracts it always has a meaning. How can it not, I’m usually thinking about something, chewing on a problem, or in appreciation while painting and those feelings come out thru the paint.

          I happen to believe art saves lives. It’s true and I can back up that statement but that’s for another day. I stumbled happily upon this method, Visual Medicine, created by a charming, wise artist in London, Suzette Clough. Hey, that sounds interesting. But listen, it’s blowing my mind. These creations come from source. What is source for you? God? The creator? The goddess? The divine? Maybe you don’t consider these things, where beauty comes from, how did we get here, but I sure do. For me there IS a source. I’m not certain what it is but I’m becoming more and more sure it IS there and it IS creating. My mind is less scientific and more artistic, though I do have a deep respect for the sciences. I just believe not every single thing can be explained with numbers and measurements.

          Back to art. This method is messy. It involves my favorite things, gorgeous acrylic paints, sometimes glitter (maybe Suzette would be appalled), watercolor paper and water. I basically pour paint onto a piece of plastic and drag and dip and dance wet watercolor paper thru the blobs of paint. Come on, that sounds fun doesn’t it? And the best part, you have to WAIT. Just wait. For what? For the paint to dry. For the paint to transform into a message meant just for me, or a message for you. It’s thrilling and I feel like a 4 year old waiting to hear Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer’s feet on my roof on christmas eve. I just get giddy watching the paintings morph and shift and alchemize into something meaningful. Like the bee in the art that goes with this writing. Plain as day I see a bee. That bee is there for me, or maybe for you. I’m paying attention. I think these little paintings, most are around 4×6 inches, postcard size, are messages from source. For me! Just for me! Or for one of you. When I see this happy little bee flying above creation or under the stars, or into flowers, what that means to me is probably different than what it might mean to you. Do you see a message here for you? If this bee could speak, what would she say to you, right this minute? What would she say? Get quiet and listen, she may be whispering something important.