Symbolically, these paintings represent the world of the striving human being and embody an enhanced soul state. As we contemplate these works, the soul can become like a colourful garden that we tend to and re-enliven. They seek to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind into an imaginative awakening. They embody the tenets of truth, beauty and goodness – ideals that encapsulate high human endeavour.
Symbolically, these paintings represent the world of the striving human being and embody an enhanced soul state. As we contemplate these works, the soul can become like a colourful garden that we tend to and re-enliven. They seek to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind into an imaginative awakening. They embody the tenets of truth, beauty and goodness – ideals that encapsulate high human endeavour.
Symbolically, these paintings represent the world of the striving human being and embody an enhanced soul state. As we contemplate these works, the soul can become like a colourful garden that we tend to and re-enliven. They seek to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind into an imaginative awakening. They embody the tenets of truth, beauty and goodness – ideals that encapsulate high human endeavour.
Information on my first limited edition
'I AWOKE' poem can be viewed here. My small book of selected poems 'TRIBUTE' is currently being completed. My dear friend and Alamandria colleague Mark kindly wrote the preface for me:
PREFACE | MARK GEARD
I first met Emily, then a design student at Massey University, when I worked there as a lecturer, many years ago. It did not take long for me to realise an intrinsic depth of character that lay within her, one that informed a striving perfectionism and desire to understand the deeper, more numinous aspects of life. In the company of others she reveals an effervescent vivaciousness that charms people through her intelligence and wonderful humour. However, in more private situations, there are times when a deep sadness and inner loneliness speak of the challenges that are faced on a spiritual path. Meditation is a foundation that nourishes and illumines her wide-ranging creative pursuits. Whether through painting, poetry or storytelling, they all serve a means to express her biographical transformation and awakening spiritual insight. The following poems offer fragments from her personal notebooks that may engender hope and courage for those who are also on a path of self-discovery and transpersonal awakening.
TEMPLE
There are no ancient ruins here
Only a landscape informed
By a more profane muse.
Mausoleums lay claim
To the road side.
I imagine a temple
On a hill top
Shining, brilliant gold
In the distance
Resplendant in the sun
After the storm.
A spire touching the sky
Where light streams upwards
Reminding me of home.
THIS IS THE WAY
I arrived here
Intentions already made
Undone deeds lay before me
In a formidable expanse
A terrain of steep mountain passes
And desert lands burnt by the heat.
At first I did not see
The lakeshore and the still turquoise waters.
I woke up slowly
Yet definitely
Undeniably
To that quiet, clear place, within.
Not flawlessly, mind you
Ignoble in my letting go
Yearnings lamented in a thousand grievous ways
Groping, ungraciously in the darkness
For what might have been.
I bared witness to this grasping,
And loneliness swelled, surged and inflamed my heart
Deep moaning like a thunder roll, vociferated in revolt;
Stop now
Enough now
Let me rest here!
Yet rest I cannot.
I remembered my solemn oath
My splendid, terrifying pledge
To you, to me, to them.
And I wept with the honour of it all
With my love for the world.
And when the tears had dried
And my body had straightened once more
Answers came, through the stillness
Spoken clearly through my Spirit I
With the entreaty
Keep going,
This is the way!
So now I forge ahead,
Like many have done before me.
Their mightiness forms a crest, on my breast,
Of indomitable courage.
And you, my love, you are a figurehead on my grand ship,
Your steadfast gaze becomes a numinous talisman
For my journey bound.
And when the lightening strikes,
When the tempest flares and burns the sky
And the wind and rain whips my face
With a million bitter lashings
I will cry out,
Unshakable, into the fury
Come to me
Come to me!
I am ready.