I dreamed I was a spider dangling from a single silk thread of my own making and free from the human conditions of my human life. The dream was so profound it has stayed with me all these years. It has also yielded many threads of thinking. A conversation I had with a patron of my artwork inspired me to write this post.

He had been meditating for 5 days on retreat and wanted to buy some prints of my work – but he had to know what I had in mind when I created the piece with the woman surrounded by light – as it was different from all the other pieces where the woman were surrounded by dark space.

I told him that this piece was inspired by Jung’s take on our unconscious shadows. What we may fear the most is our true potential – what lights our path – our excellence. What we may fear the most is letting go of our fear -  not what is obvious to us in our darkest times – but letting go of our fear of being loved – being joyful – being absorbed in creativity – being truly happy – being free – being  and expressing our true nature. The Rope in the image is whatever we are holding onto – the crutch if you will – and each individuals journey is to let go – the vast space is the unknown. In this image called flight – perhaps the individual is letting go of what she already knows of herself – and taking flight into what is unknowable – into her true self. The birds around her soar and take flight already – and what holds them up is the ground of love.

To quote a meditation master Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche – True Freedom (enlightenment) is like free falling – with a parachute – but there is no ground below.

My Art is a process of creativity – even the meanings of each piece change as I write about them and talk about them. The important thing is that when you look at any of my art – only more questions and no solid answers come – then I will know that I have done my part.

We all have profoundly powerful inner resources. However, sometimes we do not realize them fully until we are challenged.

Where I live is a tree called Manzanita, beautiful red smooth bark and oval shaped lime green leaves. It’s seeds can only be opened up by fire or a lightning strike to the ground, only then is it possible for a tree to be created. Poet Gary Snyder talks about the speed and agility in the flanks of the deer, as a direct result of the wolf that preys upon him.

Art and the creative process is sometimes like this – the most beautiful things blossom and come out of the most challenging circumstances. My art often depicts people in the context of overcoming great odds, calling forth their inner most resources to do this. In my creative coaching and hypnotherapy work I help people access their inner most capacity for  healing, change and growth.

There is a story told of a great Tea master in Japan, who had been challenged to a duel by a Samurai warrior, who too was a master, in swordsmanship.

In these times it was not hard to insult a Samurai, a simple brush by shoulder or a bump in passing would be viewed as disrespect, and would be cause to challenge someone to a duel.

The tea master had only one week to the duel, and he was not up to the challenge, knowing nothing of the art of sword. He sought out a teacher going to the finest school of sword in the province. Telling of his predicament he convinced the teacher to help him. Day and night they worked hard and long fencing. Even though the tea master gave his all in the training it was of no use, he was just not a swordsman. The tea master new he was doomed and in a final plea said to the teacher, what am I to do now. I cannot win this man in sword, and I will lose my life.

The teacher looked resigned, and then said to him, you are the greatest tea master in the land,  are you not. There is no match for you when you are serving tea. The Master of Tea said, yes. The teacher then said, tomorrow morning I want you to go to the duel and present yourself to this Samurai, look him straight in the eyes like you are about to serve him tea, with the all the confidence of your craft. That is the only way you have to match him.

The Tea Master did just as the teacher said, and to his surprise the Samurai bowed deeply and said, I have met my match, and left.

Life’s challenges can be met creatively and we can rise to greater levels of awareness and potential.

The above image is part of a triptych, oil painting 6″ x 6″ each, titled “Hijab.”

Prints of my art are available on this Blog. Original artwork for sale, contact Michele at mbm@fivechanges.org or by cell (310) 339-3531

To express fully, to translate an idea, to express creatively, to unlock potential, to heal the past, to unlearn limiting beliefs and change unwanted behaviors, all with the power of the imagination. Imagine that!

This will be the the context for the “Art and Soul” weekend at Manzanita Village Retreat Center in Southern California. and the evening and daylong workshops in the Santa Monica and the Los Angeles area. Participants will individually and as a group explore their creativity through the means of the  visual arts, and through learning meditation skills, guided imagery and with the aid of process work that comes from Hypnosis and NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programing) remove any blocks and open to a more creative, free expression.

This weekend is co-lead by Michele Benzamin-Miki and Tabitha Fronk,  both dedicated to the arts and creative expression with backgrounds in transformational and healing work; our combined tools are meditation, art therapy, hypnosis, NLP, and performance coaching.

For more information Michele can be reached directly at mbm@fivechanges.org or (310) 339-3531 for any questions.

The above image is titled “This” it is Sumie and Inks on watercolor paper. All of my original art is for sale by contacting me directly or through the galleries listed on this blog, and prints can be bought online by clicking on the image bar above the pages titled “Backbone” or “Piece of Mind Kids.”

Signed prints of selected pieces of my art are now available here online.

Two current themes of my art can be seen in a slide show or by clicking each individual picture. You can access these images from the two new pages on the blog image bar above titled “Backbone” and “Piece of Mind Kids.”

“Backbone” is a series of work showing at the Bergamot Station at Grey McGear Gallery #G-7 in Santa Monica. The Backbone page also features a selection of my new works on Paper, a work in progress called “Path of the Sword.”

“Piece of Mind Kids” consists of a series of pastel portraiture of the youth at risk that I have worked with over several decades in various institutions and portrays them in a colorful, whimsical and fun way. The originals are currently showing at the Noel Baza Fine art gallery in San Diego.

Check out these two pages and enjoy the images.

The above image is titled “Follow Through,”  is Pencil on Paper and 17″ x 20,” it is part of a triptic in my new work in progress titled the “Path of the Sword.”

This image is titled “Tree people” and is dedicated to  a very young girl living at the Santa Ysabel Reservation. I met her while teaching a combined martial arts, creative arts and meditation class.

I asked them to meditate on an object of their choice with their eyes open – looking at it for 5 minutes – a material object like a tennis shoe, tee shirt, flower, tree … then draw what was observed about that object, like what it is made up of for instance… they were estentially free to make up their own stories. Later we talked about our drawings.

She drew a tree in the center of the page, and had many lines radiating out from that tree, one to the sun and rain clouds, and one to the house she lives in, to the timber and wood from the trees, and connecting it to the forest and the many things living there, but the most beautiful part of her drawing were the people she drew as trees, and the trees as people, she made a clear distinction between the two. She talked about how everything is connected and how we can appreciate that, and that appreciation is felt, by many things other than humans.

This drawing is for you.

We spend most of our days imagining all manner of things without a purpose, yet these pictures, images and thoughts eventually guide our direction in life. Therefore it is important that we purposefully guide our images and pictures and thoughts. Take hold of our imagination and direct it on purpose. I make it a daily practice to take care of what I imagine so that it is congruent with my values and on purpose.

Purpose is a process, as alive as we are, It lives through us and along-side us. My purpose is to be an Artist in all aspects of my life,  actively working for inner peace and a society-world that reflects that. To inspire and coach others to be creative and celebrate life, to be compassionate, generous, and participate in what ever ways they can in creating a better world for the generations to come.

Here is how I worked my imagination today. I imagine a newborn baby opening its eyes for the first time, the shimmer of a dragonfly’s wings in the early morning light on Mount Fuji, the sun setting in the South of France over fields of sunflowers as far as the eye can see, biting into a crisp apple just picked, the smell of jasmine at night, the final note written on Beethoven’s fifth symphony, the final stroke of the brush in the Mona Lisa’s smile, seeing the fourth primary color, and what a world with an economy based on peace would look like.

It is a necessary thing for us to spend some part of our day to stretch the imaginative muscles with intention and direction.

This drawing is titled ‘Stillness.’ Be still, listen, see, observe and feel in the vast space of that stillness, and all that is possible emerges.