There are so many maps for the feminine being creative, and I wanted a map for how I can express this kind of creativity as a man.
Home Is Where The Heart Is is also another example of this kind of painting. I was seeking clarity around what freedom really means and how it relates to my sense of home and where I belong, and this painting is a map of the vision that I received. It's a great example of how having a physical painting around helps me to reference from a vision on a daily basis, as well as integrate the teaching on a deeper level.
Expressing creatively in this way is fundamental to my well-being, and an essential part of who I am. It's something that we all have, whether we think we're creative or not, this need to express inner vision externally. Not sharing this, simply through fear or lack of belief that we have something to offer is such a waste of something so precious and unique that will never ever be seen again!
The biggest lesson that shamanism has taught me is to trust my inner vision and remain true to it, even if it doesn't fall into the criteria of what we've been culturally taught is "art", which was the biggest obstacle for me moving from figurative work to visionary paintings.
Using shamanic tools like ceremony and journeying has allowed me to really, really trust in the process of creating, which in turn has freed up my creative expression to evolve into a direct transmission of the medicines and teachings that I'm given to share in the world.