Akashic

I had such a wonderful time creating the last few personal pieces and felt compelled to forge onward in that direction, especially after some particularly restricting commissions. I've mused that I am 'cleansing my palette' by diving back into a wholly personal piece. Again, I made some random shapes on the board and then much like gazing at clouds and identifying shapes, I refined the discoveries into more highly polished representations. I ended up seeing a shape which reminded me of the hooded figure in my piece the Guide, it's starting to feel like some sort of personal mythology is unfolding before me. So, here is is, Akashic, acrylic on board roughly 12x16"

One nice thing about personal pieces is that I am not constrained by a deadline, which can sometimes mean I have to call something done before I would ideally do so. I can be a lot pickier, and many sections were entirely worked over three or more times. The danger with unlimited time is that you can then risk over-working the image until it becomes too stiff.

As I painted it, a concept unfolded. The title is a nod the Akashic records, which is a concept of a collective of all thoughts and knowledge popularized by the theosophists. I imagined that the viewer of 'the Guide' has followed the robed figure though the dilapidated doorway and into the subconscious or a gateway to infinite possibilities (much like the overwhelming possibilities for an artist settling on a subject to paint). This painting risked becoming too busy, yet the desire was to convey those multitudinous choices. I also contemplated how so many people pursue different types of activities to get them ultimately to the same place (joy, enlightenment), it is often merely just a different guise or flavor on the surface which makes them seem so different. Here we see a few different potential portals for self discovery, pick one and jump through!