How Sydney Francis Stays Inspired
I believe creativity connects us with our Divine power. To be able to create anything from a painting to a home cooked meal is unique to humans. Our creative capacity has given rise to civilization and our ability to manifest on every level. You may take it for granted, but you likely use your innate creative abilities every day in some way or another.
When I was an elementary school teacher, I felt like I fully engaged my creative capacity. I created lessons, planning, stories, games, and imagery for the students. My point is that it doesn't matter what your job is, you are creating all of the time.
"Marble Sunset" by Sydney Francis, watercolor, 2019
However, the areas where I put my conscious creative efforts (and subsequently where I find the most joy) are in Liquiterra, painting, writing, and in my home. To stay in tune with my inspiration, I love to work with color. And I like to play with watercolor because this is what I grew up with and it is relatively quick, fun and accessible.
"Summer Solstice Peaks" by Sydney Francis, watercolor, 2019
Often, I paint watercolor like I am drawing a quick sketch. I don't have very serious motivations with it, I just want to engage with the color, water, and paper. Painting the sky is fun, especially at sunset or sunrise when there are a lot of different colors and patterns to play with. Watercolor really lends itself to painting colorful clouds and watery skies. The way the water moves the paint and mixes the colors is both mysterious and delightful.
"Prayer for continued healing" by Sydney Francis, watercolor, 2020
This past year, I have been working on painting from my mind's eye rather than painting from life or painting from a photo. I don't see crisp detail from my imagination so these paintings are rather soft and fluid.
"Darkness Obscurring the Light" by Sydney Francis, watercolor, 2021
I have been working on capturing an impression or and idea with these paintings. For "Darkness Obscurring the Light", I envisioned people having a dark cloud over their heads and not being able to see the cosmic light that connects us all.
Left: "Sophia's Fire" by Sydney Francis, 2021. Right: "Dawn" by Sydney Francis, 2021
The two paintings above were painted for people. I thought of their name and their energy and attempted to capture their essence in the painting or some striking aspect of their personality. I find this to be an inspiring process: it is like painting with my intuition.
In the end, the goal is to stay inspired, feed the creative juices, and develop skill in using your creative imagination. I hope this inspires you to play with visual art and create in ways that you find fun and meaningful. Creativity is intrisic to our human-ness; and therefore, being creative is innately fufilling and even healing.