Earth Rhythms

This piece was painted in a mix of exuberant energy and total calm. A few brush strokes at the top left curled around a circle of open space, and I decided to leave it empty so the painting could breathe. I painted it on a thick matte board using walnut ink and black markers, and couldn't tell if it was a finished painting, a study, or needed some finishing touches. It sat on my art table for weeks while I worked on other paintings.

Then one day, I was at the Namaste Bookshop in Manhattan and picked up a small Ganesha figurine. At home when I pulled it out of my bag, I impulsively set it on the artwork, in the top open circle between the brush strokes.

It looked like the space had been made for it, and suddenly I knew how to finish the painting: add color and keep the circle open. His raised arms echoed the sweep of the ink strokes, and I could see the whole painting connected to the top in a positive universal frequency. 

So I integrated colors in and around the brush marks to connect them deeper. I normally don’t go back into a painting to add more to it, but this one was different.

Without that figurine, this probably would have ended up in my studies pile and never finished or published. (Ganesha is the elephant-headed Hindu deity, known as the lord of success and wisdom and the remover of obstacles.)

At that time I'd been trying to get better at meditating, so I turned it into an “mediation altar” by printing it on wood material, and placed a few decorations and crystals around the edges.

The original circle on the left side had some randomly pointed brush tip marks in it, and I retouched that area in Photoshop so that the brush tips pointed in the directions of N, E, S, and W for the balance of life.

A friend had gifted me a divination pendulum, so the circular artwork doubles as a pendulum board for yes-or-no questions to ask the universe.

How it works: Hold a small weighted object on a chain, often a pendulum, and ask a simple question. The direction it swings is your answer. Every pendulum is different, so you set your own "yes" and "no" by establishing your personal calibration first. (Look up "how to calibrate a crystal pendulum.")

🌟 Some people believe the universe answers you.

🌟 Others believe you're answering yourself with subconscious micro-movements.

🌟 And some, like my sister, say it's stupid. Lol

I couldn't think of a title, so I asked for ideas on social media. My friend Amanda's first suggestion was "send this to Amanda," which I thought was hysterical. Then she came through with "Rhythms of the Earth," and that idea grew into the title. We used to play in a band together, and she had attended my Subconscious Abstraction workshop, where she made some incredible paintings. The musical reference with art-making all came together, and I love that tie-in.

💥 If you use this as your meditation space, I'd love to see it! Post a photo and tag #EarthRhythmsMeditation, @Angie_Durbin (Instagram), or @AngieDurbinArt (Facebook).

Original Painting:

15” x 15” on Matte Board

Black Ink, Walnut ink, Watercolor