This week has been pretty intense. I have been processing a lot of internal shifts as the circumstances of life change around me. The Archangel Jeremiel came to me strongly as we entered the month of June. This painting is a bit different than how I usually draw, but in a lot of ways it was very freeing to create without censoring what came through. I will show you the phases of the image so as to explain how it just kind of made its way onto the paper. I consider this intuitive painting. I often teach this method of creating art in my workshops. It focuses on freeing yourself creatively by trying new things and playful experimentation.

The first image is the paper collage. I knew I was going to paint an angel. That was my only intention. I wasn’t even sure it was Jeremiel yet. It was only five ripped pieces of scrapbook paper that I glued down to create a rough shape for the angel. I especially was drawn to the piece which I used for the angel’s head because it had some cursive writing from old letters. In the future I could even just use my own writing here and then rip it up. (I like that idea better). Then I just laid down some broad washes with the flat brush. I’m loving these fluorescent watercolors I ordered from Blick. Also just using a small amount of metallic craft paint.

Here is where it gets interesting. From just staring at the shapes and colors on the page I started to see the details of the angel appear. Try it, and you’ll see what I’m talking about. You do it when you stare at clouds and you start to see the shapes of animals or faces. Same thing. I remember when I was a kid I used to stare at the weird abstract wallpaper in my bathroom and see all kinds of creatures looking back at me.

Here I’ve used the Blick liquid watercolor in brown. This stuff is great. I could just smudge it in with a brush and I even used my fingers a few times. It feels like cave painting. I love that brown stuff! I also daubbed on some more layers of the craft paint. I especially like the light turquoise in combo with the citron green. Had to force myself to keep it loose and free. Sometimes this is the hardest part. I have a life-long obsession with blending my strokes, so leaving the brush work visible takes a lot of personal restraint. My angel’s face came in really quickly. He surprised me, and I even said out loud, “Oh, hello! You are not what I expected to see.” Sometimes it just happens this way, you are going for Meryl Streep and you get Benedict Cumberbatch… best not to fight it. I like his weird little bell-like body. They say when you hear a bell an angel has just gotten his wings. I think I’ll be listening for bells this weekend.

By this time, I realized it was Jeremiel. He’s one of my angels for the this month, so I wasn’t surprised at all. As I was adding in some soft white highlights with the craft paint, I brushed in some key words: dream, purpose and vision. These are all related to Jeremiel. By now, the scrap paper beneath is getting kind of wrinkled and I like that. It’s also transforming on the edges, making things kind of fuzzy. I went in over it with a black sharpie to pull out the lettering and a few edges of the figure. Again, restraint was necessary, because I can go crazy with a sharpie in my hand.

Last thing I did was to write some of the thoughts I was having about Jeremiel as I was creating today in a silver ball point pen. This is what I wrote:

The angelic realm may speak to you in a dream. Look for the metaphor. Decipher the code as the truth as you see it. The Universe has a plan for you. It may come to you in a vision or a dream. You will know what you are supposed to do because it will feel right and natural. You will be strongly compelled by the love you feel in your heart. Never forget that your purpose is unique and no one else can fulfill it but you. The whole world is counting on you.

I also mimicked some of the cursive from the scrapbook paper, but wrote my own short messages on his wings and body with my black sharpie. I hope you enjoyed reading about my process as much as I enjoyed my sketchbook playdate today. May it inspire you to create for yourself. Here’s a last picture of the supplies I used just in case you are curious. I keep these things near my workspace, which is also where I enjoy my morning coffee. Mini art studios are anywhere and everywhere.

Your Creativity Coach,

Bonnie Kelso is a Creativity Coach who uses Creating as a healing modality. She is the author of Shaylee Seakin: Speaking My Truth an interactive coloring book for kids which helps them to articulate what is most important to them. She also facilitates creativity workshops and classes. She is the creator of the ABCs of Conscious Creating, a guided self-study program that delves deeper into the spiritual realm of your unique creative potential.