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    The Joyous tree of life

    Writer's picture: Kay HareKay Hare

    Joyous

    Oil, 10c natural gemstone diamonds and 10k gold leaf on linen 100 x 100cm diptych 2017 ©kayhare

    At the beginning of the year, I moved to a new studio overlooking Monte Carlo and the Italian coast. The area inspires my work and I find it quiet to work. Within a few weeks, a mining company approached me to explore incorporating 10c crushed diamonds and 10k gold leaf into the oil paintings. I was thrilled, but I felt tired of moving seven times in six years. So, I found a local yoga class and coincidentally dotted around the room was crystal. It seemed to amplify a calming effect as well as acting as a subtle light. I started to read about the healing properties of minerals and of course diamonds.

    It is a priority for me to feel healthy and on top form for a myriad of reasons, one of them my work. I found yoga about 10 years ago during a retreat in India. Slowly, through tears and some pain, my yoga practice has developed into a daily routine that I love. My body has changed to a slimmer shape, my flexibility has gained and my eyesight is better than ever. Practicing yoga each day has kept me away from prescriptive medicine and Doctors (who are also practicing) for over 6 years. It also regulates my digestive and immune systems. I sleep less with more energy than I ever have.

    Our energy is linked to the cosmic, universal energy that is stored in the parts of the body called chakras. The first painting in the diamond series is; ‘Joyous’ and is based on the feelings of opening the chakras. It is my visual interpretation, however, it is explained in more detail in the book ‘Meditation as medicine’; ‘The chakras are our ethereal centres of consciousness and communication. Chakra means “wheel”. (see more: Meditation as Medicine by Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., and Cameron Stauth).

    We all have 8 chakra’s spinning and radiating from the base of the spine upwards to the crown of our heads. It is a huge subject, too much for me to discuss here, but briefly, through yoga postures, I have opened my whole body, stretched muscles I didn’t know I had and learned to breathe. This has opened my chakras attracting a higher cosmic awareness that has naturally flowed into my recent paintings.

    A thought had been brewing to create a painting that has its own aura. When a person’s chakra system is fluent the aura becomes stronger and more visible to the trained eye. The easiest way to see aura’s is to practice on trees. It soon became apparent that the tree would be the dominant theme for the next paintings. I wasn’t sure how the diamond dust would be suited to the painting or where and at what stage I would apply. But, the thoughts were growing and I felt confident that the diamonds would add the mystical element.

    I wanted to create a diptych that means two canvas/linen frames joined together. I choose diptychs as it is easier to transport but it also reflects the number two. Two is a magical number and represents femininity, union and intuitive awareness to the spiritual self and other dimensions.

    I left the linen blank around the sides of the image to symbolize the innocence, grounding, and purity of nature. The branches are open and flowering which shelter and home birds. The swirling circles in the painting represent and magnify the atmosphere. Our environment is made up of atoms influenced by vibrations. The consciousness of the atom by Alice A. Bailey articulates this subject in detail with fascinating insights.

    Sifted into some of the brighter swirling circles are the crushed diamonds. The diamonds once crushed are like dust which has to be delicately blown into the oil, just before its dry or by hand sprinkled over the painting. Diamonds are the crystals of light and have a high frequency that can activate the more unknown Crown and Etheric chakra’s. I have focused the diamonds into the rainbow hues of the painting to enhance the ethereal. Hidden within the branches suggests an elusive swan, only one, it is still young and still searching for the life -long partner swans take. It is the beginning of a story.

    Once the chakra’s have opened in the body, all the cells of a healthy body flower opening to white and gold. Gold is the root of the Earth past sand, rock, shell and crystal. It is the most powerful healing force of energy, which of course never rusts or fades. When used in conjunction with other minerals it has a balancing effect. It can also help to open new channels of energy. In the center-left of the painting are floating steps, as if in a dream, leading up to the unknown. These steps are tiled with gold.

    A friend saw the finished painting and called it ‘Joyous’. I now believe it is called ‘The joyous tree of life’.

    This is in a private collection in Monaco.

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