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Coming Clean

#59 October 2018 www.CosmicSoulCircle.com

There’s going to be a change in what I’m presenting. There will still be paintings, illustrations and scripts, but I’ve gone much deeper.

“The time is now” is what the yesterday’s Soul Circle told me. So today I fully declare the changes I have been going through. I’ve been doing my best to avoid and deny them, not shine too bright a light on them, but now I accept that this is where I am going.

You’ve seen Soul Circles but there’s more. First, a little back story…

I moved to the San Luis Valley of Colorado almost 20 years ago, having no idea it is a place where the veil between worlds is thinner and the lessons are more pronounced. To move here is to either submit to Divine Guidance or get your assed kicked again and again. Unfortunately, I chose the latter for at least the first ten years.

I took an especially hard beating for me to understand the patterns that kept repeating, getting more intense each time. Clearly, I had no idea what I was doing. I was miserable, in pain, desperate. I didn’t have much left to lose, so I asked for help.

I mean, I prayed.

My total distress and a submission to falling apart opened me up to allowing for a higher wisdom to come through. The sobbing stopped. I felt peaceful. And now it was my responsibility to go act on that message even though it was the opposite of what I would have thought was the right thing to do.

But it has always been right. Every time.

No grand announcements, just me responding to a situation a little bit differently. It proved to be so much more effective than anything I was ever taught from anyone I can see and hear.

Sorry y’all, tell me anything you want but I may not buy it. Not anymore. I have a much more reliable source of Truth now.

Little by little, one experiment after another, I became devoted to opening this channel even more.

*But kept it mostly secret.*

I didn’t want it to be polluted by the world’s view or other peoples’ fears. I wanted to experience it myself and draw my own conclusions.
And… I didn’t want you to think I was nuts.

Oh well, go ahead. Think whatever you like.

I know what I know because I’ve lived it. I’ve watched people around me change. I’ve allowed this guidance to help me heal multiple injuries, physical pain and warnings of impending illness. Over and over again I’ve been gifted with more clarity, peace and restored strength. Not a perfect life, but I know untold wellness and fun is on it’s way.

That brings us to this year.

The circles had already been nudging me for 3 years but I’d been saying no. Three years!

Finally, I agreed to test them with a few volunteers. For this I am most grateful to Scott Schumacher for believing in me and the circles all the way! I recommend his solid presence as a guiding witness to anything you are trying to move toward.

Find him here:
www.northerndruid.net


www.cosmicfixer.com 



Most of the volunteers had deep responses, some had intense physical reactions to seeing their Soul Circle for the first time. The ones who didn’t feel anything, I now know is also a deep response of intensely rejecting themselves. Also quite valuable information. To be shown a trueness of who you are and to reject it is inviting a cosmic smackdown from the universe, exactly what is needed to get you to fall apart.

I would know.

And there’s more to confess…

I’ve been journaling for years to sort out the madness of this world, of people I’ve encountered, of myself. I didn’t want to wait anymore for desperation to strike before I was open to that higher wisdom. I wanted it on tap and so it was.

The other day, a total stranger in Nedra Metucci Gallery in Santa Fe said to me, “I think you’re a medium.”

Okay, I give in.

I have to start using that word. I’ve channeled an entire book, for God’s sake.

The book is titled, What It Means to Serve: A Guide for Coaches and Healers. It was delivered fully organized into chapters. Every five pages wrapped up into a conclusion that would lead to the next topic. There were no outlines, no edits but for 5 or 6 changes to words to make the message more accurate. I typed it all in the span of 10 days, with two days off in the middle. I am a writer, this was not writing. This was pre-written before I typed it.

So yes, as much as I’d rather not be, I think I might be a medium.

This is all just to warn you that everything is about to change. Maybe not for you, but it is for me and you’re welcome to come along and enjoy the benefits because there will be plenty.

Everything is about to change… and I accept.

If you’d like assistance from your very own Soul Circle, arrange a meeting with me.
 I’d love to help you tap into your own peace and wisdom. It’s available to you as well.
www.cosmicsoulcircle.com

Thank you for taking time to read my story. Please email or message me if you have questions.

Blessings to all,
Rita

Embracing the Snail

Butterflies get all the glory with their delicate beauty and whimsical flight. Everyone wants a resurrection story; to be the caterpillar who only had to discover its true self.

But I am not a butterfly, I’m a snail.

Snails get a bad rap. Yeah, we’re slow but we are purposeful, diligent and we know how to ride the current whenever needed. I don’t know about other snails, but there are entire WORLDS going on inside my shell. Maybe that’s why people want to yank us out all the time, they’re trying to snatch the the riches of our inner worlds. (Let’s make a whole New Universe!)

The coolest thing about snail shells is that they show the mathematics of nature, the endless logic of the Golden Ratio, the Fibonacci Code, upon which much the Universe is built, including the proportions of our human bodies.

But society tells us there’s something wrong with our shell of perfect, natural proportions and we need to come out! We get the message that it’s a bad thing to be ourselves, in our natural state, made the way we are. But we’re no good without our shells. We need them to protect the delicate operations that go on within, where the real work happens.

We may seem mysterious or even boring, but it would be destructive to everything, especially to myself, to discard my shell, or an insult to God which goes like this, “I don’t like what you made me so I’m going to pretend to be something else because other people believe it is better than what you had planned for me.”

Total folly.

I’ve tried it. It’s devastating

And I don’t have to come all the way out to experience the world. I can keep my shell with me because that’s how it works to be a snail. Yes, it looks like it would be a burden to someone like a butterfly but I can handle it. I am that strong.

I’m happy to let you see inside the inner chambers of my shell, if you value, respect and appreciate the Divine wisdom of making some of us snails. Who I am and how I operate was not by my own design. My only task is to do what I’m made to do.

And this is why I write and make art. To let you see the scenic route of someone on a quiet journey.

I help people see themselves and sometimes hidden parts of the universe because of who I am. It’s not necessary for me to overcome the limitations of being just a snail. Inside my shell is a wondrous and beautiful place.

I travel the cosmos, absorb and report. I’m happy to be a snail.

Blessings to all you beautiful, diverse creatures.

— Rita, The Most Colorful Snail

Go to this link to learn more about Soul Circles for Meditation.

It’s All Perfect

A new chapter in the art life emerges — Coach and webmaster Scott Schumacher has asked me to join him in this intensive 4-week group called “It’s All Perfect” — an individual coaching immersion program which begins Feb. 20. Scott is a kind soul and his intuition has been right on the mark on any topic I’ve put in front of him. He’s a non-judging witness who can say just the right combination of words to make me see a solution that just wasn’t there before.

My part in the program is to share my experience in mid-career detours and how to make the landing a little softer when you take the leap into the unknown. I don’t subscribe to the ‘push forward no matter what!’ school of success. My mantra: “Getting quiet is a thing!”

I suppose that’s not surprising when you see my artwork.

Setting goals is important, but I can also let the plan create me. Getting quiet allows greater gifts than you ever imagined to come pouring out of you.

See details and more videos here: http://www.northerndruid.net/rita-roberts-art-quiet/

 

Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas

Bita Beach, Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas 9″ x 12″ Oil on Gesso Board

I spent January exploring the most fabulous 1.5 square miles, walking beaches instead of shoveling record snowfall in Colorado.
Green Turtle Cay is one of the barrier islands off mainland Great Abaco The Bahamas. It is considered part of the “Abaco Out Islands” and is 3 miles long and ½ mile wide. It was named after the once abundant green turtles that inhabited the area. Wikipedia

A wonderfully generous painting student has a house on White Sound. She and her husband offered me the use of their house for a month after taking my course. (Understanding Clouds) That course is no longer offered through Artist’s Network University, so I’ll be making it available through my own website later this year. Yes, this was an online course, so I had never met my hosts in person until two planes and a ferry brought me to their dock. It pays to have a good sense of people and I feel that this whole adventure is a natural outcome of teaching with a desire to inspire creativity and take artistic risks. Learning to paint better is a byproduct.

While on the island, I used the solitude to work on a first draft of a new screenplay. ( ritadoyleroberts.com ) Now that the story is nearly ready to send out, I am happy to be painting again…. but I do miss those beautiful beaches.

Also posted in Blog, Creative Process, Events, Featured, Writings

Pikes Peak Watercolor Society – Demo

The Pikes Peak Watercolor Society invited me to do a demo at the Cottonwood Center for the Arts in Colorado Springs, Colorado. A gracious and enthusiastic group of painters welcomed me into their monthly meeting on October 19th. I treated them to series of quickly applied washes for the beginnings of a large sky-scape of stormy clouds over a low horizon — the view west from my studio. Afterwards, many people expressed that my techniques go against everthing they have been taught about painting skies (I’m just a rebel at heart) but they loved the results and had and an eagerness to go try what I had showed them.

Thanks to all who attended, I hope to return again to hear how your experiments with my techniques for painting clouds have changed your art!

Anyone in the Pikes Peak vicinity, do join or support this creative group and visit the Cotton Wood Center for the Arts. It is an exceptional facility.

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PPWS Meeting

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Finished painting of the same scene, vertical format. “Rains Coming” 4″ x 15″

Open Studio 2016

#17_RRobertsTuesday through Saturday
10 am – 5 pm
Or call for appointment: 719-852-6976

The studio is loaded with original art plus signed, giclee prints and greeting cards. I’ll be doing small watercolor paintings and/or oil pastel drawings each day of the open studio. These new pieces will be available immediately to the first bidder.

Much of my year has been focused on writing. I’ve revised a children’s book manuscript and now I am writing a screenplay for the animated film version of the same story. It’s a different brain process, making vivid pictures with words. The result has been that my artwork has become less literal, less representational. I’ve been exploring color, texture and unconscious prompts. This image is a detail of one of those explorations.

I still do representational work and I’ll show that here too, during Open Studio. I’d love for any of these paintings to find their permanent homes while the Studio is open for visitors. This is your annual opportunity to take home affordable art work, directly from the artist, or just to see what’s going on.

Please share this event with your friends.

Daily posts will be made at these links:
https://www.facebook.com/RitaRoberts.Artist/
https://www.facebook.com/RitaRoberts.Prints/
https://www.facebook.com/rita.roberts.7982
https://twitter.com/RitaDRoberts
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritadroberts

Also posted in Blog, Creative Process, Events, Featured, What's New?

The Value of Studies: Process for “The Space Between”

This painting began on an autumn afternoon in the Conejos Canyon in south-central Colorado. During the previous weekend as I drove home from Denver through the mountains, the roads were overrun with leaf-peepers. However, in this part of Colorado, no matter how beautiful the fall colors are they can be experienced in relative solitude.

2016-1 The Space Between RRoberts webtag

So there I was, completely alone, eating an apple and watching the sun go behind a ridge. Or, more accurately, I watched colors on cottonwoods and water change as the light lowered.

The drive to get there was a spectacle of aspen on the mountainsides, stunning and beautiful, but my artist’s eye was drawn to this scene — serene yet slightly electrified by the warmth of autumn colors in filtered light. During these quiet moments in nature, I’ve always had the feeling that the trees are talking to each other, and I make an attempt at eavesdropping. It turns out that I’m not the only one who feels this way. Yesterday I learned of this book titled, “The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate — Discoveries From a Secret World,” by Peter Wohlleben, a German writer and forest ranger. I haven’t read it yet, but it’s next on the list! Regardless of the science behind plant communication, as a landscape painter, when I am really making art, a genuine connection occurs between my subject and myself. It’s my job to translate that communication onto the paper or canvas.

Reference photos are not always an accurate depiction of the feeling I had on the spot so I often do studies to find the visual equivalent. In this case, I deviated quite a lot from the photo in order to emphasize the personality of the trees and their place in this environment. I had in mind that the trees would have something like a stage lighting, as if this is a scene from an ongoing play they perform day after day. We might be aware of extra “cast members” in the background but they don’t have speaking roles.

In order to test this stage setting idea, I needed to find out just how much information (detail) could be deleted while still bringing the sense of a real place to the viewer. Oil pastels on black paper is one way to allow a scene to emerge from dark to light. It also restricts detail and requires a fair amount of spontaneity and looseness. The directness of drawing with color brought me out of the photo and back to my personal experience with the trees, something more unconscious and less tangible which I could bring into the final painting. The reference became a jumping off point rather than something to stick with and remain loyal to.

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Study for “The Space Between” 10″ x 10″ Oil Pastel on Black Paper

 

Next, I tried a tiny oil study with a palette knife. Painting small can also let me know how little information is needed to still be readable. Now I had three sources (four if you count my initial experience) from which to paint.

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Study #2 for “The Space Between” 4″ x 4″ Oil on Canvas

Each technique calls on a different visual language. The goal is to enrich the final painting and hopefully this makes the full conversation accessible to each viewer.

Also posted in Creative Process, Featured, What's New?

Art for the Endangered Landscape Honoring Wolf Creek

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“The Fire Below” and “Sunset Clouds” 14″ x 14″ Oil on Canvas, $1,960 each. Click on image for a larger view.

Art for the Endangered Landscape Show and Sale

Paintings, Sculpture, Photography, Jewelry by 40 Regional Artists. Proceeds go to help us keep Wolf Creek Wild.
Opening reception: 

at 4:00pm – 7:00pm

For more information go to www.slvec.org
You may visit the show Monday through Friday from 9am to 5 pm from December 7 to December 19, 2015
Community Partnerships Gallery at Adams State University, Alamosa, Colorado.

Wolf Creek Pass and its heavily used highway corridor hold a critical place in the ongoing struggle to balance natural systems with human disruption. The pass bisects some of the wildest remaining primitive country in the southern Rocky Mountains. To the north of the pass is half-million acre Weminuche Wildernss and to the south is the South San Juan Wilderness holding 160,000 acres. The boundaries of these two wilderness areas come to within 6 miles of each other at their closest proximity, but those are treacherous miles for wildlife and plant populations to negotiate.

Wolf Creek was also the area selected to release the reintroduced Canada lynx, an endangered species throughout its historic range.

The most controversial endangerment to consider is a 10,000- person resort complex proposed by developers on a piece of private land adjacent to Wolf Creek Ski Area.

From its origination as a questionable land exchange in 1986 to its current incarnation of transfering yet again more public land, this proposal has galvanized opposing factions. For more in-depth information on this aspect go to Wolf Creek Developments.

The Art for the Endangered Landscape project strives to shed a different light on development issues from the aspect of loss of visual beauty. This art celebration also honors what we have now and what we have to lose in a tangible and visceral manner.

Also posted in Blog, Collaborative Works, Events, Featured, What's New?

Cover Art for Colorado Central Magazine

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cozine.com

About the painting:  This oil painting depicts fall cottonwoods on the historic Garcia Ranch. Reyes Garcia is now the steward of this ranch and allowed me to take a walk and paint this beautiful piece of property. As a retired professor of philosophy, environmental and indigenous studies, Reyes is deeply attuned to the legacy of his family’s land and the way of life it has provided for generations. With the Garcia family having originally settled in Conejos County in the 1850’s, he has a long history rooted in the special area between the Conejos and San Antonio Rivers in the southern part of the San Luis Valley.

Conserving the land and water is a way “to make my own small contribution to preserving the family legacy of ranching and the land-based culture of the ranchero tradition,” Garcia writes. “… I came to understand this tradition includes putting into practice ecological values by virtue of an instinctual love of the land that engenders good stewardship and a deep respect for all life forms, the seasonal rotation of livestock and their humane treatment, the acequia irrigation system especially, the transmission of skills which make self-reliance possible…”

in 2013, the Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust worked with Reyes to complete a voluntary conservation easement on the spectacular Garcia Ranch, to insure that this working ranch will remain intact with its senior water rights in perpetuity. Learn more about RiGHT’s ongoing conservation work and the ranch at www.riograndelandtrust.org

Also posted in Blog, Collaborative Works, Collectors, Creative Process, Events, Featured, What's New?, Writings

Adams State University Acquires Rita Roberts Painting

Rita with Painting

“Stormy Skies Over Cut Wheat, San Luis Valley”

Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado celebrated the grand re-opening of historic Richardson Hall, which was recently renovated through state capital construction funds.

This piece was acquired for the university’s permanent collection and displayed the main floor of Richardson Hall through the Colorado Art in Public Places Program. The program requires one-percent of capital construction funds for new or renovated state buildings be set aside for the acquisition of works of art at the project site.

About the painting…

A subtle grid pattern appears and disappears through layers of clouds above a harvested field in this landscape. It is indicative of the San Luis Valley’s agricultural heritage. The grid is integrated with the clouds as a statement of how closely related farms and crops are to the weather in this high elevation valley. The square format of the piece, plus the squares of the grid represent the patchwork of farmlands which cover the San Luis Valley like a quilt pattern, as seen from the sky.

Monte at Denver Art and Frame in Colorado Springs built and designed this custom frame specifically for this piece. He always does a wonderful job for me. Thank you, Monte!

Richardson Hall is the perfect place for this painting. I am honored to have my work in this beautiful, historic building. At 48″ x 48″ it is the largest piece I’ve ever painted so the fact that it’s in a public collection is a wonderful recognition. I hope all present and future students, faculty and staff as well as campus visitors find a place of contemplation and calm with this painting.

Also posted in Collectors, Featured, What's New?