An inner kind of place that is more peaceful

The inner work underlying creative work

Out of the hundreds of interviews I did in the thirty years of Heron Dance, a few keep recurring to me as particularly profound. One of those is the interview I did of Jeff Casebolt, then a Colorado Outward Bound Instructor, who had travelled the entire west coast of North and South America -- kayaking from Alaska to just north of Vancouver and then, from there, cycling to Tierra Del Fuego on the tip of South America. He started the interview by probing me, trying to understand my intention with the interview. I remember the intensity of his gaze startling me.

The first thing I asked him was why he did the trip.

"It was both a physical and a spiritual journey. The word ‘spiritual’ has a lot of negative trappings associated with it, but I think all of us are on an inward journey. On the trip, people kept asking me why I was doing it, and the answer always changed. The picture changes. I am realizing, more and more, that it really was something that I was looking for internally. The external was certainly an incredible adventure, but it is more and more clear to me that we are all looking for inner peace."

I questioned that. It has been my impression that very few are actually searching for inner peace, and in fact, if more people were on that search, the world would be a much different place. He answered:

"I think a lot of people are not conscious of what they are looking for, they couldn't articulate it, or even think about. But yes, I think everybody is searching for an inner kind of place that is more peaceful."
. . .

Peace is a internal journey. It comes from simplicity -- reducing the number of moving parts. It comes from quiet, from reflection, from meditation, from harmony, from entering one's inner world with gentleness.

In challenging times, in times of chaos, retreating into internal worlds is a kind of antidote.

My creative journey has become one of creating paintings that bring a sense of peace to a room, to a home. Paintings that convey a mood, an emotion, of insulation from tumultuous times.

Paintings that help create a sanctuary.

. . .

• For the art and words in this post, visit here. The painting is larger there.