Seeing

If I remember correctly, in one of Carlos Castaneda’s books that I read long ago, training was given in the art of seeing. Specific techniques were used to practice under certain circumstances with an aim to increase accessibility and awareness of another dimensional reality. Shamanic seeing shows new relationships in the visual field that key into alternate dimensional spaces.
I have felt most inclined to work with a particular kind of seeing when doing art. I relax the vision so that there is less depth and definition of object. The overall vision becomes more like a patchwork quilt of colors, shapes and shadows rather than identified forms and objects. I apply my attention correspondingly, keeping as distant as I can from identification of what I am seeing in one world so that I might open up vision in another.
The process of refinement in life weaves in and throughout the artistic process. Essentially, I bring about a state of being that some may call trance. In this state there is the receptivity and space available to accommodate a greater energy source and corresponding new range of vision. A lot of my work has to do with getting myself out of the way so creative force can come through as unobstructed as possible.
Presently I am working on what may be the most demanding painting of my life. It treats a deep, esoteric subject and is large scale. The visioning process is proceeding quite differently. I have “seen” much of it but there are multiple layers to what I see. How the parts relate to the whole has not yet been revealed, and the parts in themselves have been exposed piecemeal. I detect a pattern to this piecemeal exposure in which I go through a rather intense process of inner revelation that opens up the vision incrementally. Given the nature of the subject matter it makes perfect sense. Acceptance of the fact that it is going to unfold in its time is in order here.
That is the breathing of life and art in my sector of the universe. I am asked to trust the process. The water is really choppy at times, but eventually the storm passes, revealing a new sun reflected on silky waves. Or canvas. Sometimes seeing the unfolding of this makes me amazingly happy.