Story spaces
Have you ever wondered about why stories and art attract our attention? Why do we choose one art story over another and what is it that creates that connection? When I explore the idea of story, I am exploring the idea of visual stories as well as written and spoken stories. At heart, I am a storyteller and each art piece holds so many stories as each person’s inner stories connects and creates new stories
I believe that we are called to the feelings in the story as they hold parts of our stories within them. We are continually making choices of what we like and don’t like and what is worth our time but do we give ourselves the space to explore why we are drawn to one thing over another?
Connections
I’ve been exploring a whole lot of images about guidance and how we connect to that universal consciousness and our inner stories. This is the soul space where our inner wisdom lives and the stories that shape our lives. I have been curious about how we connect to our inner stories and find a path to understanding ourselves and our world. Art as a spiritual exploration and an opening to art stories has become my adventure.as I develop ways of sharing how I step into art stories through the process I developed called Art Inside-Out.
Finding story spaces
My big picture story holds ideas about connection, guidance, and spirituality through intuitive art. Of course, we all have our big picture stories. I wonder what your big picture story is and I encourage you to take the time to write it down. Written words have a way of making the idea of a story feel real and that understanding is what encouraged me to share Art Inside-Out as a process to connect with our personal stories through and within art.
Art story and books
When we first think stories we gravitate to the written word and it is natural. I google ‘art storytelling’ and get ‘the art of storytelling’. These questions are to help you step into the idea of you and stories and explores written stories and art stories. Remember the connections you make to these stories are all part of the big picture story of you.
8 Story Connection Questions
As you answer these questions, please allow your intuition to guide you. That means that you will need to trust your feelings and go with the first response that comes as it is usually the right one. When your head takes over and logic ruler, it is very easy to lose sight of your story.
1/ What is your personal big picture story? (in one sentence).
2/ You are in your favorite bookshop or library and you go get a book that you want to read. Where in the world are you?
3/ You are going to choose a book to read for pleasure. What type of story would you choose to read?
Fact or fiction?
fantasy historical factual biography horror mystery science fiction
comedy drama poetry historical fiction
4/ You have been given a famous painting by your favorite artist, from any time in history. Who is the artist and what is the name of the artwork that you now own?
5/ Where are you going to hang your new treasured art piece and why?
6/ You hang the artwork on your wall and stand back and admire it. What is it that attracts you to this art piece? What do you love about this art piece? This is your big picture reason why this piece called to you.
8/ Is there a small section of the artwork that really draws your attention? Look closely and trust your feelings.
About Me
If I answered the questions above, I know I would go to the fantasy section and explore imagined worlds. I would choose the painting called
the Three Ages of Women by Gustav Klimpt. I have lived with a print of a close-up of the mother and child in this image for several decades and the big picture reason that I love this art piece is the sensitivity and connection of the images within this story move me. I also love the gold and patterns throughout this image. My print hangs in the dining room and I would probably hang it in this room as it is the central heart of my home. I am drawn to the flowers and little green leaf dashes in the mother’s hair. I know I need to do the Art Inside-Out process to explore this piece further and connect to the inner stories that have made this piece so important for me over the years.
Art Inside-Out
This is a powerful healing process of stepping into an artwork to connect with your personal stories within the art that called you. What made you stop for long enough to notice this particular piece of art. If it is your own art piece do you know the stories that shaped it? Have you given yourself space to stop for long enough to feel the message within the painting? What if you could become the art piece and speak from that space and receive the stories that receive the stories it holds for you. What if you could ‘speak from the image’?
This is the beauty of this process as it allows you to find your voice as you speak and write form the artwork through this intuitive, guided process.
Story fragments
Every inner story we connect to is a story fragment and each piece makes us whole.We hold so many stories wrapped up in memories, beliefs, and ideas that we have gathered along the way. As we give ourselves the time to connect to our own inner world, we discover new parts of our stories that we had forgotten or lost along the way. Stepping inside your story through art is a feeling connection that opens our heart and begins a new conversation where you have access to unconscious insights, wisdom and new understandings. Stories hold soul messages and by combining your story with art imagery, you are able to go so much deeper. I love the surprises and possibilities of this process and the playfulness of exploring art, words, and images.
Art is…
When you step inside the space within the art piece that attracts you, you will find that stories arise easily and flow into that intuitive space. Using a combination of automatic writing (stream of consciousness) and the simple ‘I am…’ sentence starters you will find that the words take shape on the page. This is a joyful space of writing from inside the image from a heart space. This is an intuitive, connected heart space which asks you to trust that your inner wisdom will guide you. Sometimes this can go deeper than you expect so you will need to keep writing or speaking your way through your story. If I slip out of my heart and into my head as I write my story poem, I know I can be negative. When this happens I ask myself ‘What would my heart say” and then I am ready to continue the story.
I have added a couple of examples of writing from within my own art pieces. One is a painting of my Mum and the other a unicorn guide. The Art Inside-Out works easily with both.As I write this, I am feeling that I should do an example with other artists work so you can see a comparison. When doing this process with another artists work, I tend to speak it as an inner voice so I know what story connected me.
Exploring stories
The idea of story and connecting to our inner world as we step into art and connect through our personal stories is a powerful way to make meaning for ourselves. I invite you to come on this adventure in art storytelling with me as I continue to grow this process that guides us as we connect and create space for our own story worlds through art and text.
Art is Change about the stories we hold.
Art Stories and Healing My 2 1/2 week journey and the stories that shaped it.
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