WOMAN AND FOX, A JOURNEY

PATIENTLY WAITING, 18x24, Pastel

REMEMBERING THE NAMES OF CLOUDS, 20X26, Pastel

I often find myself creating elements of a story out of order.  This used to happen when I did more book writing and illustration as well.  I could see part of the story, but didn't quite know where it would fit in the overall plot or thought.  The series of Woman and Fox are not done in order but are starting to feel like a journey of the mind as it follows the soul or our true self.  The image on the left is called PATIENTLY WAITING and actually feels that it comes before REMEMBERING THE NAMES OF CLOUDS which was done earlier.  The fox in patiently waiting circled many times finding the right place to wait for me as it is hard for me to stay on a path, stay together with the inner part of me.  I get busy with sometimes inconsequential activities that fill time, that feed the ego. I get  distracted from my own path with curiousity about someone else's path.  When I paint the fox in my pictures I always feel a sense of coming home, a sense that even if I dawdle, that deeper part of me will always be there waiting to continue the journey with. 
I am a strong advocate of finding out who we are as individuals. I have to admit I feel a strong connection to the idea, but perhaps not the realities,  of the nomadic life. I am a lucky traveler as I have a wonderful, supportive husband, who is an artist and craftsman, a family of healthy amazing children and grandchildren, and a community of friends, all of whom I can share journeys with.  But I can still feel a little afloat unless I get back on my own personal journey, my need to travel alone in in the landscape of my mind as well as in the natural world.  It is a journey to match my outside ego-driven life to the what my inside believes. 
I think we are all familiar with that journey even if we do not choose to paint it or talk about it.  I walk on trails three or four times a week, often by myself, to regroup as I take time to notice the changes in nature that have happened in familiar places. On those trails are foxes, sometimes coyotes,  owls (if lucky), and always songbirds. During these walks or hikes my noisy ego settles down as  I rediscover my own inner truths and feel centered again in this amazing world we live in.  I would love to hear about some of the trails you love to walk on.