My sources of inspiration of my ‘free’ artwork always have a mystical side to them. Thinking about my Celtic landscapes, and my quests to search for stories behind my subjects, sometimes with a spiritual touch. Quite regularly I use animal symbolism, only when it touches me personally at that specific moment. This way I can go into the process of manifestating just that where the animal stands for. I like keeping my inspiration close to source, no commercial tricks. Other examples of my animal symbolism are the peacock and the white stork. In my 2nd book I talk about 12 ways to get inspired (or find inspiration) for an animal painting. Using the wise knowledge of old cultures like animal symbolism are one of those ways. You can learn a lot about it through spiritual animal- or medicine oracle cards. (tarot cards) or by reading sjamanistic books like Animal-wise by Ted Andrews. My cat painting of an Egyptian Mau tells the ‘Nebamuns Tale’: going back to one of the first acknowledged moments in Art where cat and human bond together, during hunting.
Animal Symbolism
Animal Symbolism
Symbolic meaning of the Puffin
The pastel painting of this puffin originates from my inspiration of it’s symbolic meaning. I remember that I wanted to paint this bird for a long time, but not until recently I got hit by the actual ‘inspirational fever’. Specifically during a moment in my carreer that I experienced a lot of pressure caused by (too many) deadlines. Exactly then the ‘puffin’ can back into my vision. Quite obvious running into it on tv, books and on the web, without even looking for it. It wasn’t a surprise that I read in Ted Andrews book that the puffin reminds us to combine work with meditation ánd pleasure to create abundance. The flower of life I added into the painting, with its healing properties in the holy geometry. Creating more balance between the three named facets. Funny enough I read later that the colours of the puffin reflect the colour symbolism of the Kaballistic Tree of life, which -shortly said- shows a path to spiritual illumination and some say ‘that way everything becomes possible’. If you overlay both symbols, you see that the Tree of life derives from the flower of life. These ‘coincidences’ (for me that was, growing into the matter by exploring the knowledge databases) add an extra sparcle to my artwork for me. And just as the puffin expresses: the ‘serious’ painting session transforms into one filled with (even more) fun!
MY BOOK!
More inspirational tips?
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