Tuesday, November 8, 2011

The Symbolism of Wings and Using Art to Heal

The events in my life and the evolving of my spirit as I move through life's lessons, often produce themselves in my artwork. Colors, subject matter, and symbolism are reflected in my creations, and while it does so I remain flexible with it.

Maybe it is the coming of winter, or just the current passage I am transitioning through with my disability, that is causing my focus at present to be on Wings and Flight. The representation of freedom is what is dominate; the freedom from feeling "stuck", the freedom from pain, the freedom from my inner critic nagging at me.



For those of you that are familiar with the archetypes that are representative of our character, I pay particular attention to the archetypes present in my life. One of my archetypes is the "Wounded Healer".  Carl Jung did a great deal of writing about this archetype. The Wounded Healer is the person who has gone through a great suffering and because of that suffering has now become a source of inspiration to others. There is a shadow side and a light side to each archetype. I think that being aware of those sides allows you to find a balance and use it to create a positive influence in your life.

As a child I experienced a profound event that forever changed my life; physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Looking back on the course of my life, my mission was to help inspire others through support, conversation, or art. At the time I didn't realize "why", but it felt natural to me. It shaped who I was. As an adult, I understand.

So, as I move through the course of my life, I have found that when I share my processes, it not only helps me, but helps others as well.

The current phase in my life presents a challenge with mobility, I believe which is causing this great attraction to Wings and Flight.


I began a recent series, without conscious intention actually, on wings integrated into my paintings. The first painting was of an Owl Butterfly found in the rain forests of South America.

Owl Butterfly ~ Original Painting by Jeanne Fry

The markings on the butterfly resemble eyes, nature's way of distracting predators and providing balance.

The second painting  is called "She Flies with the Owls". Meant to be symbolic of learning the wisdom of the owl, it's intuition, sight, and walking in both worlds.

She Flies with the Owls ~ Original Painting by Jeanne Fry

She Flies with the Owls ~ Original Painting by Jeanne Fry
The Original Paintings are no longer available, but they are available art Art Prints in my Fine Art America Shop here




2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is such an inspiring post and a wonderful blog. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It is really great when I see people apply Jungian discoveries to own life and surroundings. What brought me to your blog was a quest for self-discovery and a synchronistic experience that started with a difficult relationship that I had to break off a few months ago. An important part of the relationship centered on an animal symbol that you happened to cover on your blog - it was very revealing in interpreting my synchronistic experiences. Thank you for that!

I am not sure whether what you experienced in your childhood was positive or negative in itself, and I will certainly not downplay any struggles that you may have had with that. We all do have such experiences. I wanted to say that, whatever the experience was, it obviously moved you in the right direction in your individuation process. It is unfortunately rare that people derive positive things from formative experiences. That happens to be the difference between me and my now ex-girlfriend. We both had strong formative experiences. My experience was admittedly much more serious than hers - as she pointed out - yet she took a different road and let it define her and drive her into a serious personality disorder. But the animal symbol is now making more sense.

She taught me many things in the retrospect. Although she most likely did not know of or much about Jung and his discoveries, the aftermath of the breakup and the quest for Self introduced me to his fascinating opus.

I am glad that there are people like you investing time to reflect and inspire the world. Keep up the good work in your individuation and your writing! Best of luck to you!

Jeanne Fry Art said...

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my writing and sharing your own journey. It touches my heart when I know that my work resonates with others who are on the same path and are conscious of the evolution of our spirits. We all walk these paths together. Many blessings to you.
Jeanne

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...