Spiritual Art Blog - *Ed P

Reflections

This week I’ve been working on the designs for the stone carvings on the two buildings. I’ve only just finalised the design and have begun applying them to the stonework. There is still a bit of work to be done with the carvings but here’s how it looks so far…

Picture

Here’s another detail from Family Tapestry. This ‘family’ is titled ‘Nuns’ for obvious reasons.

Switch yourself on

While chatting about being open to the guidance from Spirit, the Life force or your Higher Power, someone suggested it is like being a mobile phone. If we are not switched on we can't pick up the signals. We may not even be aware there are signals and information which we can receive from our physical world.

The first signals we notice are the waking dreams. Something like a piece of text or headline hits us as significant or where someone says something that has special meaning for us. The message is significant for some reason but you can't put your finger on it.

The next development of this is when you ask a question and look for an answer. The way this works is to ask a question of Spirit, your inner guide or Higher Power. It's a good idea to specify how you'd like the answer. See the Waking Dreams post for ideas.

So how do you switch on this inner guidance? A method I've found useful is singing the word HU during my contemplation. HU is an ancient name for God, it is also the core sound of the universe. By singing HU you connect with this life force and come into tune with life. Practice this for about twenty minutes a day for at least four weeks. This will give you time to adjust to this new element in your life.

During your contemplation you can ask questions and indicate how you'd like them answered. This takes a bit of practice which is why the four week trial period is suggested.

Another method of switching to our inner guidance on is by being aware of our dreams but we’ll discuss that next week.

News:

Photo from the Peak of Hong Kong island looking towards Kowloon.

In Hong Kong

I’m currently travelling to see our daughter in Australia. At the moment my wife and I are in Hong Kong for a few days to break the journey. I haven’t had much painting time but there’s a lot of culture to absorb and learn from.

Inspirational Quote:

“All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness ... the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives.” Dalai Lama

Picture

Family Tapestry is an attempt to illustrate how we are linked to our ancestors and past lives. The ‘ribbons’ are the links from one life to another. In these lives we play different roles and have a variety of experiences. All the things we have learned throughout our past lives go to make up the person we are today.

See News below for more info.

Anger will only shorten my life

Thought for the Week -

A very good friend, Jim, was telling me about an incident he experienced when he was buying his car. When he arrived to pick up the car the sales man asked him “Do you have the bank draft”. This was the first he heard that they required a draft and he explained that. “I wasn’t aware that you needed a draft, which is why I brought this cheque.”

Suddenly it seemed that his money wasn’t good enough and that his character was in doubt. Jim felt a little indignation begin to rise within him and along with that came some anger. He felt his ego begin to fume so he said to himself “Let’s just listen and see how it this thing plays out”.

The sales man went off to his boss and explained Jim’s situation but his boss wasn’t going to change the rules for Jim. The sales man explained that not long ago someone bought a car from them with a cheque which bounced and they couldn’t find the buyer or the car since. For that reason they have to insist on taking bank drafts only.

Jim accepted the explanation calmly. He kept his ego and anger in check. They didn’t boil over and scald him or the sales man. As he was leaving to go and get the bank draft the sales man said “You are taking this very calmly.” Jim replied “Anger will only shorten my life”.

News:

Closing Party at the Expose Yourself Gallery

It was a fun evening with a tinge of sadness, last Friday at the closing party for the Expose Yourself Gallery in the Dun Laoghaire Shopping Centre. Everyone was in good spirits with wine and good company. Karen Harper, the owner/curator added a lot of laughs with her award ceremony. All awards had humorous and almost appropriate titles. I had the honour of receiving the ‘Wonder Bra’ Award- In recognition of valuable contributions and support to the gallery and for making things look pretty.

Photo shows Ed with Karen Harper, owner/curator of the Expose Yourself Gallery. Karen holds Life’s Paths which Ed presented to her and Ed holds the Wonder Bra award which Karen had presented to him. What a pair!

CGSociety Competition

During the week was the deadline for entry into the CG Society’s NVArt - Design Fusion competition. I had to work in a lot of extra time to get the piece finished. It’s still not finished, I have yet to add another 6 families to complete the piece as I had originally planned it. The competition entry has 15 families. I’ve spent 90 hours on this piece so far, probably the most time I’ve invested in any picture to date. Click here to see the entry.

St Stephen’s Green

Next weekend sees the first of the three People’s Art shows, for 2008, on the railings of St. Stephens Green in Dublin. There will be up to 200 artists exhibiting and a great place to pick up some nice work. There will be full time professional artists, emerging artists and armature artists showing their work. It is well worth a visit. Unfortunatly I won’t be there as I’m heading to Australia to visit my daughter and brother.

Inspirational Quote:

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”

Buddha

Picture: This is another detail from Family Tapestry. Thanks to Mark, a friend who knows all about the Napoleonic armies, I believe I’ve got the right uniforms on the soldiers. The rider is French and the infantry are English. The deadline for the competition I’m entering this into is Thursday next. As it is taking a lot longer than I anticipated I’ll be entering a piece with just 15 ‘families’ as opposed to 21 which will be in the final version.

The cycle of karma continues

Thought for the Week -

While cycling home from work this evening I went through the campus of UCD, as usual. It’s a nice cycle through trees and paths built for cycles and pedestrians. As I came to a large open paved area I saw a Dad on his bike leading his two sons who travelled a few yards behind him on a large trike which pulled a little trailer. One boy peddled the trike while the other sat in the trailer behind. The boys were about 8 or 9 years old.

As I passed the boy in the trailer produced a toy handgun and shot at me. I immediately returned fire with my right hand gun shooting from its index finger muzzle. I shot twice. The boy’s face was shocked for an instant and then became a shy smile. I was smiling too.

It was a joy to be brought back to the days of my youth when I played ‘Cowboys and Indians’ in the woods near our house.

What a nice unexpected gift I received from this boy. Our exchange of shots and smiles lasted no more than 5 seconds but the joy I received lasted 5 minutes and more. His joy may have lasted a minute or so entertained by the idea of a adult joining in his game.

It is interesting how the innocent little things we do can affect the people around us. I hope all the shots I fire as I go through the day bring benefit or a smile to those who are affected by them. Somehow I don’t think all my shooting is as playful as the shots above and they are adding to my cycle of karma.

News:

Expose Yourself Closing Party

Sadly the Expose Yourself Gallery is closing. The landlords can’t see the value in attracting people into the Dun Laoghaire Shopping Centre to see the work of local artists. Karen, who runs the gallery, is going out in style. She’s organised a …

Closing Party!

It’s on next Friday at 7 pm in the gallery, top floor of the shopping centre.

If you are looking for a nice piece of art you should find it there. There are 20 or 30 artists showing their work there in all types of genres and styles. There are landscapes and castles, rock stars and metal, fairies and flowers, beauty and beasts and even something spiritual. There are oils, acrylics, photos, prints, stained glass, sculpture, metal, scarves, wood, a

Don’t miss it because after Sunday the gallery will be gone.

Friday Evening Holistic Fair

Last week I mentioned this fair which ran from 5 pm until midnight at the Hilton Airport Hotel, Dublin, Ireland. I’d have to say it wasn’t a great success, not a lot of people visited the fair. I was happy enough with the evening as I met a few nice people and number of friends called in.

The photo shows left to right: Ed, Sarah, Liam and Berni. Liam had given some prints as gifts to friends, but decided it was time he had the River of God for himself.

Rio, Newbridge, Co. Kildare

During the week I dropped into see Deirdre in Rio, a fashion accessory shop and gallery in Newbridge, Co. Kildare. It’s a great place for a unique range of hand bags, jewellery and art. You’ll find it at the side exit of the White Water shopping centre.

Deirdre has a number of framed prints of mine and has now takeen some of the A4 prints which retail at just €60. If you are in the area, drop in a say hello. She has a lovely bubbly personality and will brighten your day just to chat to her.

Picture: Family Tapestry –

I’m still working on clothing the ‘families’ The top ‘family’ is from prehistoric times and the bottom is from Africa. It is still a bit disjointed as I don’t have nay buildings or environments around them yet. It all takes time, and a lot more than I had hoped. I’ve got 72 hours logged on this piece so far and I could have another 20 hours to go.

Cycling the karma road home

Thought for the Week -

I cycle to work a few times a week and have discovered that it is a lot like our path home to heaven, God, the Universe or whatever you like to call it.

At one stage I was a bit aggressive as I cycled along. If I came up behind a slower cyclist I'd speed past them just to show them who was the better cyclist. Around this period of cycling I began to get a lot of punctures. There was no obvious area where there was a lot of glass or sharp metal but the punctures kept bringing me to a halt on my journeys.

One day after passing two slower cyclists I came to a stop with yet another flat tyre. As I worked on replacing the tube the two cyclists passed me and I knew they would surely be at their destination long before I reached mine. Then it struck me, my pride was the cause of so many flat tyres. I passed the slower cyclists with a confident swagger only to be humbled by them passing me shortly afterwards with my pride as flat as the puncture.

Following that realisation I approached and passed other cyclists with a lot more care and consideration. Since I changed my attitude to others on their journeys I have rarely had a puncture.

On our spiritual journey we meet and pass a number of people who are heading to their own destination in their own way and at their own speed. I cannot make any judgment as to where they are or how far or fast they're progressing. We all have our own individual path to travel so that we learn what we need to find our way home.

It doesn't matter how fast we seem to be going or how close to our destination we are. Each of us has our own path to follow and our own individual destination. My opinions about someone because they appear to be poorer, richer, highly spiritual or behave like animals are just my thoughts and not worth wasting time on. We all have our own lessons to learn and need to go through our lives to learn them.

If you want to have a smooth ride home, beware of your pride and opinions as the karma it creates may slow you down, or like me bring you to a halt.

Ed with Joe and Alan (left to right) on a charity cycle with the Blazing Saddles in China in 2004.

News:

Friday Evening Holistic Fair

This fair runs from 5 pm until midnight next Friday in the Hilton Airport Hotel, Dublin (map), Ireland. It’s the first time I’ve done an evening show and the first time I’ve exhibited till the witching hour. The organiser expects up to 2,000 people to come through the doors. It’ll be interesting, I’ll give you a report nest week.

Vatican is looking for a few Michelangelos!

Pope Benedict XVI has launched a campaign to seek out “world- famous” artists to decorate its new church buildings. You can read the London Independent’s article here. There is also an insightful comment on the Vatican’s approach by Menachem Wecker on his blog Iconia – wherever faith meets art.

I’m not in the world-famous category yet but if your name is Benedict XVI and your reading this, I’d be happy add some of my spiritual visions to your churches. :-)

Picture: Waterfall

This is based on an image I saw when I was wondering how Love flows into our worlds from the heavens. The original image was similar to the upper yellow part of this piece but the other lower parts of the waterfall seemed a proper development of it. I’m not happy with the title, it needs a bit more, any suggestions? Please click on ‘Comments’ below and give me your suggestions. Thanks.

How to Follow Your Intuition

Thought for the Week – To continue our discussion on Waking Dreams and Inner Guides we should have a look at nudges from our higher self or what we often call ‘intuition’.

So how do you start getting your intuition to work? It can be very subtle but with a bit of work you should begin to see results.

The way it works for me is like this; when I have a query or question in mind, an answer will often suggest itself almost immediately. Then I'll think a bit more about it and start reasoning different options through. After a number of options have been through my mind I begin to get confused and end up unable to make a decision because I'm not sure which idea is the best option.

What I should have done was take the very first idea and go with that. The first idea comes from your higher self or Soul. The other ideas come from the mind and are not as 'pure' a suggestion as what the Soul comes up with. It was difficult for me to believe that the first idea was the best because my mind convinced me that the logical answer would be the better one. I had to test the intuitive suggestion a few times before I could believe it was the best.

The best thing to do is try it out on something not too critical like “Which route should I take?” Try it on your way to work, school or the shops, etc. You’ll get a suggestion immediately and then you’ll get a number of ideas or alternative options. Try and grab the first idea before it gets lost in the confusion of ideas that the mind will suggest. It might be worthwhile writing it down.

Let the mind come up with a few suggestions. Now go back to your first idea and choose between it and the other suggestions. Looking at them all. Logically you should choose one of the ones your mind suggested. Now, make a decision to go with the first idea despite the fact that there is a better option available.

Take the route suggested by your intuition and see what happens. Later review what happened. Did it work out ok? Did you come across any interesting events by ‘coincidences’ along the way? Can you check if there were any problems or situations along the logical option? In hind sight which was the best route?

Be aware that the mind can be very strong and convincing about its logical answers. It will be unwilling to give up its power over your life easily. This will require persistence and determination on your part. Keep working this until it is a habit and feels so natural that you go with what your intuition tells you. Once you get into the flow of you will begin to have a lot more peace in your mind and confidence in your decisions.

Let me know how you get on, click on the ‘Comments’ below and leave me a note.

Thanks

*Ed P

News:

Progress on Family Tapestry

I’m still working on Family Tapestry. This is now the hard slog where I’ve to dress all the ‘families’ in their appropriate gear. This detail shows a scene from Atlantis on top and China below. I have yet to add in buildings and props, they come after everyone has their cloths on.

Inspirational Quote:

“The only real valuable thing is intuition.”

Albert Einstein