In my 'Art From Your Heart' playshops I tell folks that intuitive painting can be used as an oracle. Approaching a blank canvas with no set intention gives our intuition free rein and often a prophetic picture develops.
That is what happened for me on the morning of Thursday, November 24th and it's with my sweetheart's permission that I tell this story.
I had been working on a painting/drawing series called 'The INKspirations' and that morning I sat down with my art board and ink to create a new piece.
At 11:59 am I took this photo.
At the time I remember thinking that the "A-ok' symbol that showed up was rather peculiar, but I left it as is and thought the meaning would reveal itself later.
I had no idea how prophetic that hand gesture would turn out to be!
That morning my partner, Rob, had a heart attack on a job site and was rushed to a nearby hospital where they performed a life-saving procedure.
We have determined by his phone records that the ambulance arrived at the hospital at approximately NOON.
The doctor instructed the staff that no calls were to be made to Rob's loved ones until the outcome of the procedure was determined. Only after he was safely in recovery was I notified and that call came at 2:17 pm. He was A-ok!
That symbol speaks for itself, but looking back at this photo Rob has made other correlations:
- the figure in red (Rob) looks like he's not able to stand up and that is how he felt just before the ambulance was called
- the disconnected pieces in the red head could represent the confusion Rob was feeling as he got more ill and his heart attack progressed
- the word 'reach' on his arm, which is what he was doing to get someone's attention
- the large being that is helping/protecting/caring for him is representational of the very astute job site employee who saw him 'reach' up and recognized that he was not well and demanded an ambulance be called (while several others stood by or walked by).
Here is the final version of this piece. It was completed before I really started to think about the meaning behind the images and symbols.
For me, this is such an awesome example of the power of intuitive painting. The meditative process of painting this way seems to tap into our sub-conscious where we can access the mystery of the unknown. I love this magical practice and it continues to be a delight to see what amazing paint story will show up next.
It's Christmas Eve and a month today since this happened. Rob is doing well, and we're both feeling very blessed that there is a happy ending to this story.