paintings & artworks by phoebe thomasson

Well, it was Beltane on Saturday and I happened to complete a new painting and write some words, even before I knew the date or the occasion, it was already embedded in my subconscious that this is the end of an era, a fresh start – it just had the tang of spring-proper!

A bit muddy and tear stained, 
we emerged from our cuckoons - 
our essential brightness intact!

Phew!
For a moment there I didn't know
if I was going to make it - 
So many obstacles
and emergent properties
that happen, 
when the entire world around you
is in turmoil!

Paranoia is like mud
pouring down upon us,
creating dark corners inside us,
destroying our light.
Our world is restricted, 
contained, confined - 
Divided and locked within itself.
Yet, new life, always,
emerges from the depths
and winter is swept away
in warmth and welcome sunlight.
Here is spring itseslf!
The time of awakening.
The time of emergent beings.

Dorchester, Dorset
1st May 2021
(Beltane)

Some thoughts on the world at large, our internal world and our emotions, in terms of colour. See if you get my drift…

The Changes Wrought by Extreme Limitation (restriction of colours, or freedom!)

When dealing with restriction of colour, we are forced to consider the ‘neutral zone’. Like our thought processes become more monochrome for a while, we will then experiment with small changes to the mix – a gradual shift into subtlety.

Lockdown, likewise, has presented us with a ‘limited palette’ of options. So the black and white thinking that dominated months of fear – we eventually integrate the light and the dark to create shades of grey – then we can hazard a splash of yellow or pink, and immediately we are earthed in browns, tans and buffs!

Q: how did your relationship with your ‘self’ change over lockdown? and how about your relationship with nature? think about that!

Be prepared to 
add more colours
to your palette now
but be careful not to obliterate
the central theme
of 'bright clarity'
feel your next
colour.

Orange? ochre?
sage green?
turquoise?

Colours can represent
our world.
What I seek are
cororalies between shape,
colour and emotion.

The Shape and Colour of Emotion

So who hasn’t run the gamut of the spectrum in this past year of separation and isolation?

Who longed to break the rules, but didn’t?

Who did?

I did.

I escaped the prison of personal confinement using language.

I learned so much about myself and the world. Some of it frightening, baffling and scary. Some of it profoundly transformational.

So that’s it, for now. It has been hard to reconnect with my creative spirit at times, with so much turmoil going on, it can be hard to retain the innocence and the playful state needed to create, but that’s the discipline – to pull it out from the depths, try not to make too much sense out of it and recognize that ‘its just spirit messin’ with ya mind man’!

Hope you enjoyed! 😉