Trust Yourself: the thought process

“My wish for you is that you continue.
Continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness.” – Maya Angelou

Trust Yourself – available in my shop

It was early 2014 when I sat down in my studio to create this piece. I had been thinking about trust. What it means to trust, how we’re able to access the part of ourselves that acknowledges past hurt or rejection or hesitation and moves forward anyway.

And when I thought about trust, sitting in my studio on a cold Sunday morning in January, I kept cycling back to the fact that trust always starts inside, from a place of love and courage.

Our lives are so busy and stretched, and it’s hard to make space to breathe. It’s hard to know if you’re doing the right thing when you have so many obligations, a family to care for, and often a disconnect from the world outside. No wonder it’s so easy to get overwhelmed!

Yet there I was, certainly way too busy and tired, but willing to believe that life could be different. And I kept returning to the word.

Trust.

What does trust look like, when painted? What does trust feel like?

I wanted to create a starry night sky, which I always find to be peaceful and soothing to the mind.

Don’t you love a sky full of beautiful, bright stars? Talk about a difference in perspective! I’m almost breathing more deeply right now, simply thinking about being outside under such a large expanse of sky.  And the moon! I love the quiet strength of the moon. Really, sincerely love it.

I recently began using a technique for creating these bright star bursts inspired by lessons I’ve learned from artist Juliette Crane (a personal favorite of mine! she’s fabulous), and wanted to experiment with subtle color shifts on a dark background. I adore how so many tiny dabs of paint create layers and layers of color.

Would you believe this all stems back to one of my favorite memories from art class in high school? My art teacher looked at one of my paintings and said, “how can you create brown without just using brown paint? Trust yourself.”

That moment really stuck with me.

How do we create without simply choosing the easiest solution? Can you trust that you will figure it out?

In this piece, I did trust my instincts. I did some experimenting, mixing together gray and turquoise and purple and white to create a night sky which (to me) feels deep and layered. I also wanted energy, and adore the bright yellow-orange pop of the moon and the boat. I wrote up a little saying for the listing description in my Etsy shop, which says:

The moon is a heavy, bright crescent over the ocean,
the water deep and dark.
Close your eyes and find there is peace there:
the boat rests gently on the surface of the water
as your heartbeat slows to a quiet rhythm.
You are strong, you are strong, you are strong.

This is my visual interpretation of what it looks like to trust, complete with some of my favorite colors and a gentle reminder to keep the faith. It’s a message I want to pass on to you, when you need that little pick-me-up throughout the day.

And how does trust feel, you ask?

To me, it’s the gentle, rocking rhythm of a boat on its way to find the shore.

Now I want to hear from you! When was the last time you trusted your instincts? Maybe you had to make a big decision at work, or you took a creative risk. Let me know one example in the comments below.

xo,