La Maestra or She Gives

La Maestra or She Gives
11/9/08 AEDM #9
Golden Fluid Acrylic

This is the first in a relaxation of a constraint I had placed on myself. I am expanding out from the Flying Girls, but I am still inspired by them, and might still do a FG now and then. Or maybe I'll go back to FGs, I don't know.

These new paintings I like to think of as having a slightly different orientation... Portrait, instead of landscape. Also the orientation is towards expanding the subconscious elements out from flying girl. Maybe the idea is to expand out from myself. FG has been on MY journey, but the word is wider than just me. I would like to try adding in some masculine figures, although I will have to find a way to represent them. I would also like to try being influenced by the classic tarot, as well as contemporary archetypes.

I suppose this might be a kind of brainstorming period of creating my own oracle cards... hence the portrait orientation.

So here is my first attempt.

La Maestra.
The Teacher. And if you think you have influenced my creation of this, you are correct... especially you Miss D'arcy. Along with other teachers, my own experiences, my colleagues and work mates and class mates and soul mates.

Let me do a little deconstruction/analysis/reading of this image.

You see La Maestra gives of her heart. With open hands and eyes turned towards the inner needs of her students. She takes her wisdom, like pearls, and gives to all her students, charges, friends, clients, tutees (whoever turns to her for understanding.) The pearls spread out, sometimes as hard and beautiful as a real pearl, as organic, built up of layer after layer of understanding, sometimes as light as delicate as a soap bubble. Sometimes the pearls are tiny things, that you think can not be of influence, but they can grow and lead to the greatest of epiphanies and effects. The pearls lead outward in strings, also. Sometimes it seems like there is no connection to the teacher herself, but the wisdom she has given out is passed on to others, by her very students, expanding the wisdom of the world.

The colors are gentle, and a limited palette, as the best teaching is eased into the heart and mind of the student, not harsh or jarring or forced. The student is led to the place where they are best able to accept the next lesson. And La Maestra, with her open hands, also knows that not only are her hands open to give what she has, but also to receive the lessons that she learns from her students.

Now I was a teacher, and you might ask of this Maestra, where is the concrete? Where are the deliverables? Where is the feet on the ground, get down and get dirty, get things done and get in your paperwork on time teaching in this image? And ideally, if La Maestra is balanced, she does indeed have the technicalities and daily tasks of teaching down, although the heart of her teaching comes from this place of giving and wisdom. If La Maestra is unbalanced, perhaps she should remember the concrete, and learn to be more aggressive, understand her own authority and needs, and make sure that she is not giving away all that is hers without boundaries. Make sure also that she values what she has to give and does not allow others to take advantage or abuse her.

It is a beautiful thing to give of yourself. Your impact on the world is immeasurable, because it spreads out from all who you touch. However, you must be careful not to give AWAY yourself, and you should remember that aside from heart, you must DO with the strength of your own hands.

This image is not just for literal teachers, either. This is the idea of La Maestra. I know that I have learned so much and witnessed so much wisdom here in blogland, some taught by actual teachers, but some in the generosity of regular people. We all have La Maestra inside of ourselves.

So here is my first Flying Oracle. Working title of the series. Originating images that I'm sure I will refine. And initial analysis of the images. A first draft, if you will.

Speaking of first drafts.

nanowrimo 23534 words. 2257 words yesterday, although I didn't even think I would make it to the nano minimum of 1667wds a day. My personal minimum challenge is 2000, my goal is 2334wds a day... which would make my November total 70k. 2500 is my happy word count. All the other years I've done nano, I've reached for 5k a day. I have too much going on to do that now, and I think my current reach is better for staving off burnout.

One thing I've found about myself is that it can be a real challenge to get started and reach 1000 words, but by the time I get to the 1667 count, I am on a roll and can keep going until 2k, so I do.

Have you learned anything about your own creative process in your personal challenges this month? What is AEDM or Nanowrimo or Nablopomo (or any other daily challenge you've taken on) teaching you about your process?

Oh hey! It went back to teaching. Heh heh. I love when things come full circle.

What are the pearls of wisdom you are getting from this process? Take stock of what you are getting, and remember to value how far you have come so far, even if you think you are not getting as far as you "should" be.