My painting is always ahead of my understanding. It is a sort of teaching process for myself, a way of spiritual knowledge.

~ Peter Rogers

In my pastel journal, there are no planned layouts or designs. Each entry is completely free-style. I simply find a comfortable spot, and choose a color that calls out to me. Then I close my eyes and let the color speak for itself. The pastel color moves my hand across the sketchbook as if it was an ouiji board and the divine heavens were calling out to me to communicate secret messages only meant for my eyes.

I may pause in mid stream thought, drop one color and choose another to fulfill the vision. Eventually, the visual message is complete and I’ll write an accompanying written journal entry.

Sketching in my pastel journal is a magickal act that captures a moment in time. Each page is an abstract snapshot of my emotions, my feelings, and my thoughts. It may be a mood captured in the heat of the moment or a simply a passing thought that feels the need to be expressed.

Having an outlet to express my thoughts and feelings is an essential element of daily life for my spirit. Getting my thoughts out on paper allows me to analyze and organize my thoughts and feelings in a rational frame of mind, the good, the bad, and the ugly. When I don’t pause to capture the moment, thoughts pile up in the back of my mind and slowly but surely I lose myself or at least that’s what the dramatical artist inside me thinks. However, sometimes a simple retreat out to my garden to ground myself might be all I need to get back on track. While it is important to set aside time for inner reflection, it is equally important to reach out in the world, to connect with the rest of life.

Each day of human life contains joy and anger, pain and pleasure, darkness and light, growth and decay. Each moment is etched with nature’s grand design, do not try to deny or oppose the cosmic order of things.

~ Morihei Ueshiba, O’Senei