Warrior Within

Once again, art becomes medicine for me.  Today’s tune for Tuesday was chosen after working on this painting and looking for a song that spoke to strength and trusting our inner warrior as we go through life.  This song, Medicine, by a group I love, Rising Appalachia, seems fitting.

This painting came about as my take on this week’s Life Book 2015 bonus lesson, inner guardian, with Tamara LaPorte.  What a wonderful lesson and idea!  Mine turned into an inner warrior (which is a kind of guardian I think) and started to tell bits of a story.  Before I share the clues I see to her story, take another look and see if she has a story for you.  I’d love to hear if she shares a message with you in the comments. 🙂

While I was shading the face, there was a piece of fuzz that got stuck in the paint and while trying to remove it, the paper under her green eye was ruined.  I decided to embrace it as a scar and part of her story and that is when she evolved from an inner guardian to a strong warrior with a story to tell (when I refer to warrior, I think of the way a warrior is described in the Toltec tradition by Don Miguel Ruiz as opposed to one who fights in military wars).  She reminds me of several women that I have met that have survived some kind of abuse and chosen not to let it define us.  She reminds me that the strong people I’ve met have not had easy lives, yet, we find strength within when we must.

Initially, I added only one side of the wings next to her eye as suggested in the lesson.  Yet, she seemed to want the other wings added as well so I said, “okay”.  She then reminded me of the shape shifters I’ve read about in fantasy stories.  It’s as if her other shape becomes part of her and settles there by the eye until she changes again.  Butterflies also represent transformation.  The green wings remind me of a luna moth and I imagine her flying through the darkness towards the light.

She seemed to want all of the elements somehow represented in the painting.  I added the tree to represent grounding and Earth, along with the green dress.  The cloudy sky represents water.  The wings and feathers represent the air.  The sun represents fire.  She reminds me that we are all connected and part of nature and that we breathe the same air, that we are part of a bigger cycle.

She also reminds me of a favorite quote by Hodding Carter: ‘There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots; the other, wings.’  The tree on her neck seems to say to me that our voice comes from our roots.   One of my best friends calls me sunshine so I love adding sunshine into my paintings as a little personal touch, in addition to the bright light it adds.

She reminds me of native Americans with the feathers in her hair.  There is a story in my family that we are somehow related to a native American princess from way back.  One side of my family came over on the Mayflower, and the story comes from that side.  I have no idea if there is any truth to it, yet the story itself is still part of my memories and mystery.  Another side of my family has Irish ancestry so I added the symbol in the green wings to remind me of a Celtic knot type symbol.  There’s a lot of my own heritage that I don’t know because my grandmother was adopted and we don’t know who her father was.   I embrace the entire human family as part of my family so I like to add aspects of various cultures when painting people.

Though I didn’t intend to tell a story when I originally sketched this inner guardian, she seems to have one.  To me, she seems to say, “Trust the warrior within.  You are brave and you have the strength to thrive.”  The story I imagine comes from my experiences and exploration.  I wonder if she would tell a different story to others. 🙂  She is dedicated to all the survivors of abuse, to all those that have battled disease, to those fighting for sanity, to those overcoming grief, to the warrior within each of us. <3

I’ve made this available as a print or card on Instaprints because I think she would be a great gift of encouragement to anyone needing to find and trust the strength within.

May we all find strength within and thrive. <3