✨I am the one who...✨

A powerful exercise to embody a painting

I am the one who steps through the portal, into the as-yet-unknown, armed with nothing but a bone deep certainty that I will be protected and held and guided through everything that life throws my way.

I am the one who picks up the quill and writes and re-writes and writes my story again. I am the one who emerges through the fires of transformation. The one who goes through multiple deaths with a quiet confidence.

I am the one who will hold your hand through all your seasons of change. Guiding you. Transmitting my strength like a steady pulse to soothe your anxious and fearful parts.

I am the guardian of the portal.

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I came across a book on Soul Collage by Seena Frost in my early 20s. While the process of making Soul Collage cards never really appealed to me, over the years I incorporated some of the things I picked up from the book into my art process.

One of them is the “I am the one who” process — a way of embodying an image to harness our own inner wisdom.

Instead of simply looking at an image and telling a story about what we see, this process helps us to step into the image and allow our own truths…our own inner wisdom…to come forward.

It probably hasn’t escaped your notice that I tend to paint intuitively, and that a lot of my paintings feature faces and figures. They feel, to me, like parts of myself, or universal truths channeled through my hands.

Sometimes, I know just what a painting means almost as soon as I finish it. At other times, I use the “I am the one who” process to step into and embody the painting. To find what the painting, or rather my own inner wisdom or higher self, is trying to tell me. The messages that come through are often deep and powerful.

This shouldn’t be surprising. After all, our hands often solve the mystery that our minds grapple with in vain. And the art making process, especially when approached intuitively, helps us to access our own inner wisdom keeper.

I don’t do the “I am the one who” exercise with every painting, of course; that way lies madness! There are some, though, that stand out to me: sometimes around the time when I am finishing a painting, at other times, while flipping through my art journals.

When that happens, I will take the time to get grounded, centered, and be present in the moment…to gaze deeply into a painting…to embody it, if you will…and to listen for the messages that come through.

This is an exercise you could do with almost any image that you’ve painted or collaged; or perhaps even with an image that you find in a magazine or online that tugs at you.

If this isn’t something you’ve done, why not give it a try and see how it works for you?

Let’s chat!

I love chatting with you in the comments or via e-mail. Here are a few questions to help us get the conversation rolling:

• Have you heard of the Soul Collage method before? Or maybe you’ve made your own Soul Collage cards. Tell us about your experience with this system!

• Do you ever feel like one of your painting has a deeply personal meaning for you? How do you access those meanings?

• Have you tried the “I am the one who” process with your paintings before?

• Have you ever felt like your paintings are — or can be — oracles?

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