Outgrow yourself

I had a conversation the other day with a friend and she was complaining that "her ego kept getting in the way..."

What is that idea of us getting in our own way? It's the sort of thing you read in loads of spiritual books, and has so many people fighting daily against something that doesn't even exist! Yes, there IS NO EGO! It's a word thought up by psychiatrists to make sense of the confused feelings of their patients. But that doesn't mean it actually is a real thing.

Wat does exist, is this: a beautiful person, that has basic needs that need to be fulfilled. We need security, pleasure, food/drink, self-esteem, love, truth, understanding and freedom. And those needs are not to be combatted, but lovingly provided for by YOU, with the help from Whoever or Whatever you believe in.

So, please, don't fight against yourself. Love yourself and every small need you have. Then, and only then, will you be able to transcend (outgrow) your perception of you and become a loving creature, nurturing everybody that touches your life.

Love for all of you.
Toos

Time

Time is really something independent from our perception. Some people believe it's a mental construction and maybe on some level it really is that. But Time in general, in normal, non-meditative and non-enlightened, life does act as an independent thing, it passes whether we are conscious of it or not.

Human beings on the other hand, can be so oblivious of time it feels like you have missed a few seconds, minutes or even hours. Making the Cornwall painting was a total new experience for me. I used to paint large human figures or landscapes rather quickly, but still conscious of the world around me. This painting however, cost me two and a half hours (the top layer only) and I have no idea how that time passed. I only remember looking at the clock at eight thirty and five minutes later looking again and it was ten o'clock!

Bedruthan Steps, Cornwall (UK)

On the playground (sorry, bad photograph)

Light and Shadow

The funny thing with painting is, that it's kind of like life: If you paint with only light colours, the soul of the painting is weak and almost invisible. It is the dark portions that give the image definition and power. I started making drawings again like the one below, to explore what I can do with this truth, in my paintings as well as in my daily life: what can I create if I accept the things we call "dark" into my paintings and my world? Is there any less love in the pain we experience than in the happiness we receive?

doll left in the hallway

Seeing and believing

For me, looking at things is obviously an important thing if I want my pictures to look like anything at all. But just two nights ago I realized something: What if what we see is not the important thing, but what we trust?

Sisters

Dancing

A name sign for Sonia.

Family

A folder for Suzan's drawings with a family of wolves on it.

Into colour, into the light

This is my first painting ever in oil paint, I called it "into the Light". I became pregnant with my first daughter a few months after and some see a pregnant woman in the shape I painted here. The birth of my daughter was also a time of awakening to something bigger for me, so going into the Light was symbolically coming true, too. :)

I opened this blog with this (Dutch, I translated it) song in my head this morning:
"I give colour to the world
always in a good mood
painting is what I love
with all my heart
like a real artist does
it is in my blood
if I can just paint..."
It's a kid's song, one of my daughters' favourites. :) So "into colour" seemed a nice name for this blog. Let's explore the different colours of light.

Love and Blessings,
Kate