Silence

At the last stage of a painting I find myself going into the phase where one has to 'charge' the painting with the last touches, almost like blowing life force into the work.

This requires moving into a great silence.

This is so different to the fire quality at the beginning of a painting, where it is physically more active, the smell of paint is stronger and usually I breathe fast and the focus is great.

This last phase is more like the sound in between drops of water falling into a still secluded pond. My brush is small, I work with micro puddles of paint, with great subtlety in colour and mark (that I believe only I can see!).

Sometimes I even sit down and paint. Now the painting receives my piercing attention on every square inch, and the whole image quiets down.

This is the Silence that is there as we move and rush around living life. The Silence that is patiently always there waiting for us to come into surrender, to sit with It and to remember that we dwell in the Ultimate.

I see this Silence in the unobserved activities of plants.