Moon Woman Rising

Artist Conversation: Krista Lynn Brown Part II

Welcome to part II of my conversation with artist Krista Lynn Brown, in which she shares deeply about her artistic practice and creative life. 

Scouring Rush

Aja: Your creative process sounds so rich! I love how you describe finding balance between two distinctly different approaches. Could you talk a little about the depiction of women in your work? For example, Mother Power is such striking and indeed powerful image that really resonates for me. Also the piece Fathoming - which reminds me of a women diving deep for a great pearl of wisdom. Do you have clear intentions when painting these images or do they work their way onto the canvas?

Mother Power

Krista: Well, just like so many artists throughout the centuries, I find the female form to be a joy to paint…so much variety and beauty in its curvaceous. And so strong and capable in ability! But beyond aesthetics, painting women is just a natural expression of my life as a female in this modern world. The narratives that so often emerge in my work are symbolic, metaphorical explorations of human soulfulness. I am relating the experience of the human/spirit connection but from a uniquely feminine perspective. So, I suppose in this way my work is about unveiling the feminine face of the divine.

These beings that so often people my paintings, though seemingly female, are not always what I would identify as women necessarily. Perhaps they are aspects of our deeper selves, active inside both men and women. Many of them are magical mythical creatures,otherworldly beings, shape shifters, angels, witches, daemons, elementals and guardians appearing in a painted story, usually inside completely natural environment with only the most fundamental of human-made things appearing (a vessel, an instrument or tool,simple clothing for example) so the expression is very pure and essential. Some may have a fishes tail or a body made of water or fire, most have unusual powers and can breath under the ocean or grasp a lightning bolt with one hand! So, I see these beings as beyond gender. They embody the deepest connected aspects of being human. Knowing our place in the interdependent web of the natural world or just feeling our hook up to the life force itself, that connectedness is something I see as an archetypal feminine quality, which needs to be reawakened in the world.

Siren's Lament: A Call for the Soul of Man

I often have clear intention when I begin a piece but that’s no guarantee that I know what the end result will be! Sometimes I find that something else other than what I conceived is trying to push in and the whole piece might change. The muse can be a bit bossy!  I began Siren’s Lament as a piece in a new series about the darker aspects of the feminine.I wanted to explore how the mermaid has long been depicted as a beautiful but dangerous lure, an irresistible force of seduction that is ultimately deadly. I was working on this inthe Spring of 2011 just as the Deep water Horizon oil rig exploded and began gushingendlessly into the Gulf of Mexico. This epic event was affecting me terribly but it took awhile to realize that the dark mermaid I was painting, with her throat transformed into a grimacing eel fish and her song full of fishhooks was becoming a cry for the conscience of humanity to awaken and right a terrible wrong. With that epiphany, I finished it outwith thick black paint, a pile of decaying human bones beneath her tail and fat protective heart/plants swaying with her, each holding a precious drop of clean water (or perhaps a pearl) inside. And so it became the lament of a creature of the sea, subtitled A Call For The Soul Of Man. So sometimes my original vision gets waylaid and transformed in this way when I’m painting.

Winter Secret

Aja: Aside from pushy muses, are there any challenges you face in your practice as an artist?How do you work through them?

Krista: Well, as I mentioned before, working through fallow times is pretty trying. Those weeks when I’m freaking out because nothing’s coming and I’m questioning whether I really am an artist after all because, hey, I’m not making any art! I’ve got my nose in the computer instead! Experience has taught me to just relax and allow for the dry times.When the juice hits, I know it and things start moving. Sometimes getting myself bodily into the studio even if it’s just to putz or play guitar can encourage the juice. Going through the motions tends to prime the pump. But these days I have a deep knowing and respect for the process. I understand that it can’t be forced. It’s an ebb and flow.Not letting my inner critic have free reign is also a big one. Being okay and even welcoming spontaneous impulses and gestures regardless of how awkward or strange they look and feel. Really playing with the paint. That’s a bit hard to go with sometimes.

I like having control and I like a clean line, a golden mean spiral, a pleasing composition but when my painting process gets wonky and wild, that’s when things get quite interesting. I start to see how I’m breaking into new territory and it’s good. New shapes and objects show up in the shadows or sprout out the edges. Oftentimes some of these “seed images” take hold and really grow into something substantial in my work.

Certainly one of the primary challenges for me as an artist is having my creative process tied to making a living. The practical matters of making money can really put a damper on the inspirational fire at times. And since I feel that painting is for me an intentional act of envisioning and magic, it rankles some to put a price on what I do. Once in a while I even catch myself judging or editing what’s coming through because a little part of me is assessing whether it’s salable or too far out or something. This can interrupt the flow and bog me down. I am challenged again and again to find a way of seeing remuneration as a natural part of the energy exchange of art. I like to remember that I am infusing a canvas surface with a story, a spell, a presence, an energy and it feels like a gift but it is perfectly okay to ask for a return in kind. It’s about gratitude and appreciation. What do we savor and value? That’s where we gift our energy. And money is just energy. It’s gratitude. I love expressing my gratefulness for others’ fine work with my dollars and cents so I remind myself it’s okay to let others do the same for me! Still, I do often long to be free of commercial considerations and it has provoked me into considering making art for trade or on an offering basis. That would be a particular kind of freedom that I can’t help believing would really un hinder the creative pulse for me but so far that remains an ideal. Commerce is still kicking me in the behind!

Aja: Is there anything else you would like to share with Moon Woman readers?

Krista: I’d just like to finish by saying something I think is a truth, though a lot of people would not believe me. Everyone is an artist by nature. Some people may have more skill with a pen, paint brush or instrument than some others but everyone has their own way of seeing the world that is absolutely unique and valid. Every perspective is, in my view, valuable and worth expressing, even if it’s just for the one who is creating. The world needs more unbound, brave and creative people so I encourage anyone and everyone to free the impulse and play!

Krista Lynn Brown

To view more of Krista's wonderful portfolio of work, please visit her website at www.devaluna.com or email Krista at devaluna (at) sbcglobal.net

Artist Conversation: Krista Lynn Brown

I am very excited to introduce Moon Woman readers to the artwork of Krista Lynn Brown. A self-taught artist, Krista paints intuitive and universal mythic narratives expressing the reawakening sacred feminine. She finds inspiration in nature's form and patterns, psychedelic explorations, lucid dreams and the art of indigenous peoples and of young children. In looking at her work, I found the words "lucid dream" to come to my mind often - Krista's paintings are clear and vibrant, but also soft like old memories or the familiar. Her works are done primarily in acrylic paint on canvas or board. She lives and works in her hometown of Santa Rosa nestled in the gentle rolling hills of Northern California. Our conversation was so rich, this is the first of a 2-part series of our interview together. Enjoy!

Red Catfish

Aja: How do you show up as an artist? What are your joys, your challenges and processes?

Krista: For me, showing up as an artist means many things. Firstly, of course, it means devoting time and space to my work. Many years ago, when I was first beginning to take the artist in myself seriously, that meant simply staking out a corner of my chaotic childrearing homespace to set up my easel and paints, setting objects and images of inspiration all around me in some kind of serene order and then sitting my butt down each day to just do it, even when it was a challenge.

It took me about 9 months to finish one of my first paintings
(titled Moonspell, at left) because I was largely pregnant, then homebirthing, then breastfeeding and caring for my infant daughter for most of that time.

But being an artist also means honoring those times when I go dry. Fallow periods have value as well. It can be frustrating when I feel unproductive but I know now from experience that things are stewing and steeping inside before erupting. I always turn to the natural world for guiding metaphors and find encouragement in thinking it’s just that time when seeds are underneath germinating in the dark or the garden bed needs a rest to be ready for the next season. So it’s all good. Some of my best work emerges right after a long contentious dry spell.

My greatest joy as a painter is seeing how some strange fantastic or serene image that has bubbled up through me can speak to people in such a positive way. When someone is moved to tears or some kind of riveted awe, it is really validating. I feel I am serving a higher purpose somehow…like I get wonderfully used by something deeper than me to express a kind of quiet knowing.  It is evidence of how we are all so connected beneath the surface. The language of picture is a universal one. 

Aja: Its really true about slow being ok - that probably true for most areas of life! You speak of the language of your imagery - how does that imagery come to you? How do you choose to commit to an image for a painting?

Illumination

The imagery for my paintings comes to me in many ways. It’s a multifaceted process where some bubbles up from within and some is gifted to me from outside. I like to paint from an emotional or mythic orientation, the interior landscapes so to speak, rather than physical representation of what I see in the world outside. So I have found that when I am in a deeply relaxed or surrendered state, like after some hard physical work or right before falling asleep, I’m more easily introspective so pictures and narratives really flow. Like snatches of dream pictures flickering in and out. I just have to pin one down long enough to elaborate on it! Also, walking in the wild, when I connect with a natural place, I begin to feel stories all around me. The shape of the land, the movement of water or the green growing of things, feels sentient and wise, like it has something to say. At times I find myself connecting with a particular old tree- or maybe a creature or bird will suddenly flash into my awareness- and it seems like they are speaking to me. Since I often paint an impression or feeling, this kind of experience influences my work. 

As a child I was imaginative and sensitive, I also played with psychedelics some as a young adult, so I tend to move around in a cracked open state a lot of the time. I love to look carefully and see deeply. I paint from inside but I am constantly inspired by my surroundings and always keep a lookout for the strange, the magical, the beautiful to spark something. I’m inspired by the naïve style of young children’s art, the flow and vibe of art nouveau and art deco design and flat stylized patterns of most indigenous art. I appreciate the freedom and succinct language of poetry as a form of expression. I read it, I write it and I like to think that my paintings read a bit like visual poetry…symbolic, invocative and ambiguous enough for each viewer to find what they need in there.

So, how do I commit to an image for a painting? Hmmm…interesting question! I tend to paint in a few different ways so knowing when I want to run with something is an ever changing dynamic. In my early work I almost always would conceive an image, sketch it until I was satisfied with the lines and the composition, then I’d transfer that image to canvas and begin working out the color, etc. So, by the time I was putting it to canvas, I was committed and solidly sure of where it was going. ( One With The Sweetness, Fire Dancing (below) and Face of Wisdom are examples of this) But later on I began to free  myself from this kind of systematic constraint. Giving myself leeway to play, following impulses and letting the gestures of paint do their thing was a challenge but was a surprisingly fruitful way to do it! I found so much more symbolic language would bleed through, semi-abstract forms showed up that could shape-shift and take on various meanings. This work tends to be visually more chaotic, less tight and somewhat playful. The story told seems more open and ambiguous.

Like there’s a wider net to catch meanings with. (Song To The Sleeping Stones, Lady of Khaos and Illumination are examples of this). Nowadays I do a little of both. I will often sketch out a rough idea and then play within those perimeters. I’m happy with this balance these days. It’s a little dance for sure. Between my imaginative head and that something else mysterious that wants to come through on the brush.

Lady of Khaos

Krista Lynn Brown

To view more of Krista's wonderful portfolio of work, please visit her website at www.devaluna.com or email Krista at devaluna (at) sbcglobal.net

And visit back for part II of the conversation!

 

An Invitation to Beauty: Rachel Awes

I find that when I am intentionally on the look out, beauty has a way of showing up.

-Rachel Awes

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A big sisterhood thank you to Rachel for answering the invitation to beauty with her beautiful artwork. You can visit Rachel's blog here and browse her lively shop of art here.

Lemuria Underwater Heaven

Yemanya is the Goddess of the oceans and the moon.

Earth mother of the oceans bless the waters in her womb.

Star Dolphin… Mermaiden sings…

Water Goddess swims in the Divine

Healing Love and Light she brings

words & art by Cher Lyn

When I was a young girl, the idea of swimming underwater for unlimited amounts of time without needing to come up for air fascinated me and kept my attention solely enthralled for hours. While swimming I could feel what it would be like to fly.  Often I would take a heavy weight down to hold me on the very bottom for long periods of time.  As I lay in the underwater world looking up to the sky through the myriad of wavy reflective colors through the sun light I felt safe in my peaceful underwater heaven.  In this peace I thrived and wished to be always.  Trying several experiments I attempted dedicatedly to devise a system that would enable me be like a mermaid and breathe underwater.  Eventually after pink balloons and my contrived idea of air ducks didn’t work, I discovered that practicing everyday using deep inhaled breaths as an exercise expanded my lungs in such a way that it gave me extended amounts of extra holding power. This improved my underwater meditations immensely.  In my early teens I competed in under water sports, the love ran deep to remember.

I lived for the dreams where breathing underwater and flying were effortless and many times found myself in a tropical lagoon where dolphins, faeries and mermaids all played together. A male narrative voice once told me in one of those dreams that this is where I use to live. Feeling, I do believe him.

This under world of magic and peace is in a small way, reflective to me of our Motherland Mu, Ancient Lemuria. It was one way I held space within the Elemental magical realms that is so close to my heart, I can breath Her air sometimes... and then I remember, I AM there.

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 Cher Lyn is an artist and spiritual counselor who works intimately with Nature Spirits through co-creative ventures that transform energy into creative expression. Cher has lived and “painted, played and prayed" on Ancient Chumash ceremonial land in the mountains of Malibu, California, the powerful Red Rocks of Sedona, Arizona, Maui’s magical Hawaii and Glastonbury, England on the Holy Isle of Avalon, She presently lives at the crest of the Rocky Mountains in Boulder, CO. 

To view more of Cher's art work, visit her at her webite Mystic Art Medicine.

Artist Conversation: Emily Bavilet

Emily Bavilet is an artist and painter living in Vermont, whose lush, beautitful paintings drew me and I wanted to know more about her work as an artist. Emily is entirely self-taught and has been producing art in the style of figurative realism for 18 years. Her paintings explore the mystical feminine elements of ancient goddess mythologies from around the world in a style which reflects a particular fascination with the pre Raphaelite and Art Nouveau movements. She also draws inspiration from the natural world, including both her native Vermont and Alaska, where she spent seventeen years.

Brigid, by Emily Bavilet

Aja: How do you show up as an artist each day? What are your challenges, joys and processes?

Emily: I generally wake up and get straight to painting. I usually have a number of projects going simultaneously and skip around until I settle into one, then paint away until it's complete. This is the best method I've found to keep inspiration flowing. The only difficulty comes if I finish all projects and my palette goes dry. It may take several attempts on a few canvases to begin something I both enjoy painting and that also looks the way I envision it should. The best is becoming completely lost inside the process of painting, not noticing time, hardly aware of my physical being... It's like meditation or trance. I can't say I manage to go there every time I'm behind a canvas, but it is absolute ecstasy when it does happen!

Aja: It sounds like it in a way, the challenge may come at the start of a new painting...where does your imagery and subject matter develop from? 

Emily: I find a lot of inspiration comes through books, music, and even dreams. I have two basic methods for the beginning of a painting. One is to start off with a lot of chaos and texture, staring at it a while until I see a form  to pull out of it. The other way I paint is more structured and with an intended image in mind. So by having more than one painting going at a time, I can have the opportunity to play around without fear of messing something up.

Aja: I love the idea of the two methods and multiple paintings serving each other! Can you tell me a little about your connection to the goddess in your art? 

Emily: It is difficult to discuss because it is an entirely subconscious connection. I just paint what I feel and use art as a way to process experiences and emotional responses that are often beyond what language can convey. It seems to me the creative process is in itself a doorway to the deeper mysteries of the life. To essentially take an idea out of thin air and manifest it into form is much like birth and therefore quite feminine in nature.

Meditrina, by Emily Bavilet

Aja: That is fascinating, because I had thought of the word birth as you described your two processes for creation...and I love that your imagery is subconscious, or somehow ingrained in your emotional or experiential life. As a viewer, I think it is really powerful to look at images of beautiful enduring female archetypes. What is one thing that your artistic practice has enabled for you in your life?

Menstrual Night, by Emily Bavilet

Emily: The first word that comes to mind is independence, not just professionally (though that is certainly apart of it), but on many other more personal levels, especially psychically.  I love that I've found a way of getting by in this world doing what I love, and even better that imagination, rich personal experiences and liberation from culture are tools of the trade.  I feel incredibly fortunate!

Emily in her studio

Thank you Emily for sharing your work! Please visit Emily's website and her store for more of her wonderful work.

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Moon Woman Rising support the work and efforts of female artists, writers and creative thinkers. Is there a creative soul whose work deserves to be shared? Let us know.

Women's Creativity

Frida Kahlo

 

This dichotomizing of the two aspects of female energy, caretaking versus generative action, has been the dominant impact of the cultural narrative about love. We have thought of ourselves either as ... lover or artist—but rarely both. Rarely do we assume that the same process involved in creating must inform our loving, or that in loving we create. Rarely would we assume the agency to create, because to have agency means the quality of moving or exerting power, the state of being in action, and as women this has not been our common sense of ourselves.

--Claudia Bepko and Jo-Ann Krestan, Singing at the Top of Our Lungs: Women, Love, and Creativity, p. 25.

 

Artist Conversation: Jen Otey

Jen Otey is the artist behind MOONbow ARTworks. In 2002, Jen established her studio while in Girdwood Alaska following shamanic training she recieved while living there. Since that time the studio has moved and traveled where Spirit guides her to go...Cripple Creek, Alaska, The Big Island of Hawaii, and a few points in between. She currently splits time between interior Alaska and Southwest Virginia.

Aja: How do you show up as an artist each day - what are your challenges, joys and processes for creativity?

Jen: I like to think that I show up each day...although somedays more than others.  On the days that I really show up, things just flow and the paintings and things that I am making and creating just materialize before my eyes as if they created themselves. This is when I know that I am in tune with what God/Goddess is whispering in my ears telling me and showing me what I - the microcosm of the universe - and the universe as a whole need, in order to heal.  On the days that I am unable to put in a lot of time I try to do at least one thing to keep my creative juices flowing....even if it means picking up my knitting and just sitting for a moment in the quiet after my four year is in bed, fast asleep.  I also like to take time each day to stop, slow down, pray, quiet my mind and then ask what it is I need to see, hear, and feel...and then it just comes...sometimes slowly and gently like a whisper and sometimes in an intensly roaring blur of color and imagery.  

When I'm feeling uninspired I talk to the women I know and listen to what they are doing, going through, and feeling or needing empowerment in and then I check in with myself the same way with what resonates with these other women.  I also spend time looking for inspiration...in nature and through books, magazines, calendars, and websites that feature art that is spiritually empowering. I also read alot of stories, fiction and nonfiction that share the spirit filled paths of people, particularly women.  I especially like stories of rights of passage or pilgrimages...as I view life as a pilgrimage of sorts.  These are the ways I "show up" or as I like to say...stay in the flow. 

Aja: I am always struck at how important it is to quiet down and I love the idea of listening, whether its to other women or to the god/goddess, as a path towards expression. How did you first come to tune into a relationship with the divine and how did this relationship finds it way into your artwork? 

Jen: My whole life for as far as I can remember, I have been talking to God....mind you, I was "talking" not so much listening.  I went through some things as a kid, as we all do in our own way and on our individual paths....some of it was really challenging and hurtful and scary....the kinds of things that cause a young girl to learn the patterns and cycles of giving away your power....particularly to men.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not a man hater...in fact I love men.  But, I went through some stuff and watched my Mom go through some things that further reinforced the idea that I was powerless as a woman.   

Anyway, to swing this around to a positive place....I started college in 1994 to recieve my degree in Architecture.  Something inside of me really wanted to prove to myself that I could do this...that I could get a degree in a "Man's" field and be successful...that I could be as powerful as a man....At the time I had no idea that I was missing the point.  But, I did it.  I got into a top rated school and I worked hard and I got the degree.  During my last year of school I began to meet people that were really exploring their spirituality.  I started talking more and more "to" God/Dess....not so much "with" God/Dess. My second to last year of school all hell broke loose at home and my parents decided to pursue a separation/divorce.  I was ok with the idea, in fact in full support, but while I was working alot at my job, pulling crazy hours in studio, and doing the rest of my school related stuff, my parents started calling and utilizing me as a counselor.  I didn't know I could say NO.  I nearly had what I felt like, was a nervous breakdown. This is when I started "listening" to God/Dess.  I asked for help...I prayed for help and I listened with all of my being for the answer...and I got it..."Go to New Mexico at the end of the semester and stay there for the Summer"....So I did.  I packed up my car and my dog and my faith and I headed out to save myself from myself, my past, and others cyclical B.S.  

While I was there I learned about alternative healing, reiki and energy work...I spent time everyday in the woods. I learned about crystals and I built sweat lodges with some native kids.  I learned about sacred ceremony and meditation. I learned more about what it means to listen.  I also met alot of artists that were expressing themselves and their relationship with the earth and with God/DESS in ways I had never seen before beyond just a one to one painting....deeper.  Now, let me digress for a second and say I am still learning lots and lots about all of these things and more and I am learning more and more about what it means to listen not just with my ears...but, my heart, my soul, and everything.  When I paint I am wide open to receive. 

I have grown since those months in New Mexico to realize that there is power in being a woman...there is power in femininity...I no longer pursue things in a way that a man might....as I am not a man and will not find joy in this way.  Balance between the masculine and the feminine is what I seek daily and have been for about 15 years now.  I have traveled many miles and lived in many places seeking that balance and that has been good for me, as it has afforded me the opportunity to meet people that have taught me things and places in nature that have fed my soul.  Now I realize that it was all there within myself the whole time...it was with me everywhere I've ever been and it will continue to be....   

Aja: That's a powerful journey, thank you so much for sharing it. You work under the studio name "Moonbow" - I find that women often have a special relationship with the moon. When I was young and struggling, I used to pray to the moon. I had no idea what I was doing, I would just look out my window and pray to the moon because it felt right. Moonbows are often hard for the human eye to see, which makes me think of the process of listening, feeling and seeing with our whole beings, with our souls.

As your journey, as both a woman and an artist continues, what are you listening, looking and feeling for?

Jen: Healing, Healing, Healing, Healing....this is what I am listening, looking, and feeling for.  As I find myself more and more healed and more and more in my power I want more and more to continue getting stronger, shining brighter, and being more ME....the ME I that I am to the core.  I truly believe that the more I step into my true being and the person that God/Dess wants me to be from the inside out - the more capable I am to make a difference in the world in a positive, loving, compassionate, meaningful, healing and powerful way.  I want to challenge others through my art and my own path of healing in a way that positively encourages the healing of old wounds, the breaking cycles of abuse and patterns that no longer serve the soul, and the growth of joyful people. 

Aja: I wish you all the best on that path to healing and thank you for the work you share with others...

Jen: Thank you.

Jen hiking Macchu Picchu

Visit Jen's full portfolio at her website and visit her shop here. 

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All images are sole copyright of the artist. Please do not take or copy images without explicit permission from the artist.