LOOSEN THE GRIP ON YOUR IMAGINATION
This small series of works mark the journey I took working closely with Violet for a container of time. Violet is a sweet little flower, rich in purple, cool to the touch, and gentle on the spirit.
I worked with Violet using a flower essence I created from their blooms. It was actually the first flower essence I ever made. I remember going out on a hike hoping to find violets. I saw zero. I almost left empty-handed but chose to walk down a new path, and there they were, immediately at my feet. This was years ago, but I think that only adds to the spiralic depth Violet has offered to show me.
I was in need of some creative flow, of loosening up my grip on my own imagination, and what I thought it “should” look like to be an artist.
Enter Violet. For this series, I committed to creating a few pieces a week for 3 weeks. Before each session, I would put a few drops of Violet flower essence on my tongue, my heart, or my wrists and ask for a word to create around. That was it; no other rules or obligations.
Just show up. Be curious. Ask. Listen. Create.
Simple, but deep. Very deep and stirring. Along this journey, I sat with the excitement and challenge of choosing to show up, and also the same for choosing to receive support, whether it be from a tiny flower or a close friend.
My eyes opened up to a greater understanding of gentleness, allowance, being open, and going deep.
To walk with Violet is sometimes like floating just above the Earth. Sometimes it’s more of a nap miles deep beneath the ocean. And then sometimes the depth is simply walking exactly as yourself, whoever you are at that exact moment and allowing the world to see you, and maybe even hear you.
The depth you hold is ever-expanding and always present.
With that, let’s walk…
Below you can take this little journey with me, taking in the pieces created during this weird collaboration and reading little bits from my journaling along the way.
Breathe
Seeker
Say what you need to say.
Soften your throat.
———————————- Love in my heart, what do you have to say?
Those are very heavy and anxious fears. Let me help you hold them.
It’s okay to be afraid you know. Things are changing, shifting. The sands are stirred, and the unknown is closer than ever.
But none of this is bad or harmful. It is how we grow and learn. Don’t be cautious of showing your love - to your fears, to yourself, and to others. To love throughout this shift will be challenging, but you know your heart. And your heart wants to show you a new face of love.
I Hear An Owl In The Night
In the shapeless dark, sensing something, anything, that we recognize can bring both groundedness and inspiration to keep wading into the mystery.
Dear Unknown
I didn’t expect that my writing you a letter would act as an invitation for you to pervade my life even greater. Or maybe deep down that’s exactly what I wished for. How better to grow into knowing anything and anyone than by welcoming them in and allowing them, wishing them to feel at home.
I’m sincere when I ask this of guests. If they feel at home, then they’ll feel free or safe to just be themselves. I really wish to just be myself. Is it then a selfish request? If they’re more themselves, then I’m more able to be myself? Maybe I should try just letting my being BE the invitation to others - and you - to be themselves.
But back to how you’re growing deeper in my life. I hate it. And then I love it. It worries me and shakes up all that seemed to be settled. Then it excites me and I realize I don’t want to be settled all the time. Are you the same?
The Great Unknown - It’s kind of nice to start recognizing that no matter which way I feel in the moment you’re always there. Sometimes I imagine you as a darkness and space just outside my perception. Sometimes I imagine you like a warm fog blanketing all but right now. I wonder how you experience yourself. And I wonder if you experience me and all the other beings, and if so, how.
One thing I know about you, Unknown, you spark many questions in me. Thank you for that, this infinite little spark. It seems the last letter found you, but I hope this one does too.
In wonder, Emma