I recently got the lines in my hand read by a professional handreader. I was skeptical first, but I must admit she nailed a lot of aspects of my personality.
One thing that she said which stood out the most to me was that my head and heart were very connected, to the point where I am not able to differentiate which voices is coming from where. She said that I must get into a better habit of articulating what my feelings are, that I must find ways to be emotionally authentic - that is, I have to be truthful and honest about what my emotions may be.
That statement gave me some pause. For the most part, I thought that I was pretty vocal about my emotions, but on closer introspect, I realized this was not so. I'm definitely pretty good at expressing joy, enthusiasm, excitement - but I am very bad at expressing myself when I feel insecure, or vulnerable, or lonely. When I feel this way, I often don't say it in a way that is constructive, on the contrary, I think I behave moody, and I become isolated.
However, I have found that in my art, I am very honest. I can translate all of my feelings pretty accurately. I can take what I feel and try to put it into a visual language. The handreader said that she could see that I was a very dedicated artist, and in that context, I had no trouble at all putting my thoughts into my artwork. But that I had to get into the practice of releasing it verbally as well.
I imagine this must be common with many artists...I certainly thought that releasing my emotions onto a piece of paper was enough, but I can see why it may not be. I can see the value in also speaking my truth.
The images posted in this entry are some recent pieces of pieces I did when I was going though some rough emotions this summer. They are a bit different than my usual style. That is because my instructor encouraged me to not be afraid of showing the ugliness.