Find your signs through an art work to guide you to hope, peace, and joy. Here’s how with one or more of your own Art Works.

Dear Reader,

You will find your signs to guide you Home, to Hope, Peace and Joy through artworks you give yourself to and have an exchange with over the years. You must be involved with them, engage, listen to what they are telling you. Let your heart feel the gratitude for the insights and comfort they give you. Or for whatever message you might be receiving on a particular day.

For example, The “Cabbage Woman” above has been a favorite of my audience for many years. Something in the story relates to the story of all who love her. Sometimes those stories have words; sometimes it is a feeling.

People become very attached to their special artworks. Good or bad – makes no difference.

Soon, the piece of art begins to speak to you as you gaze on it, study it, allow it to become a presence in your life. Become conscious of what it says to you. Participate in its life, in your thoughts and in silence.

Henri Nouwen Found Signs in the Images of Icons

Firstly, begin to find your signs through an art work to guide you to hope, peace, and joy. Further, here’s a story about signs and the meanings in images as told by Henry Nouwen. You can find these in his little treasure book, “Behold the Beauty of the Lord”. 

Beginning with his introduction, he says, “Thank you” to all who have opened his eyes to icons as gateways to the divine. Then he asks what do we really “choose” to see and suggests that we are responsible for what we see. Henri Nouwen was a religious of renown and generosity of spirt. He chose icons, because they are especially designed to “offer access beyond the gate of the visible to the mystery of the invisible”.

Finally, this is what watching for the Signs will do for you as well. In any medium you choose to engage, paintings, music, synchronicities.

How Henri Nouwen Found the Signs for His Life

His little book contains prints of some of the icons he lived with for long periods of time. First it was a surprise and not as a choice; but later as a choice for the richness of what he discovered. The icon became a holy place where he could return whenever he needed a respite from our stressful ways of life nowadays. You will find this as well.

He first found signs in art to guide him in the Russian mystic painting by Rublev of the “Holy Trinity”. In studying the painting, he found “heart speaks to heart”. This will happen for you when you choose to study an art image you find drawing you in a meaningful way.

Many of you know this painting, the first of four Nouwen brings to share with you. It has been supposed that originally the painting had a little mirror at the bottom. The mirror reflected from about the height of the viewer when it was hung. In that mirror you could see yourself and know you were a part of the Trinity too.

Behold and know you are Being Held

Find your signs through an art work to guide you to hope, peace, and joy. Below, here’s another way this may work for you.

I taught a workshop called “Behold and Know you are Being Held” to Cancer Care survivors in a church workshop. After our introduction to this topic, one woman chose to spend time in the the little Chapel. She sat looking at a large print of this same Rublev painting. She came back to the Workshop and spoke of how that particular painting had been showing up for her repeatedly in her life recently.

So she realized then that it was about something. That it was telling her something special.

Surprisingly, it meant a lot to her to be able to consciously express and recognize this event had meaning and was special from the Infinite All to herself.

This is what I want you to be able to do.

Find Your Signs in Your Art Works – Personal and Particularly For You

Thus, people become very attached to their special artworks. Good or bad – makes no difference.

Find your signs through an art work to guide you to hope, peace, and joy.

A piece of art begins to speak to you as you gaze on it, study it, allow it to become a presence in your life. You want to become conscious of this. You participate in its life, in your thoughts and in silence.

For me, I had such a moment once when I was a young college student and spent time studying Picasso’s “Guernica”.

Unquestionably, I found myself being drawn into the actual horror and feelings of war that I had in a cursory way passed by again and again. I’ve never forgotten the feeling of the horror of war that overcame me, re-stating itself during the Vietnam conflict, and to this day.

Lastly, what is your story? With this in mind, I’d love to hear it and share it to help others know there are messages every day. You want to begin looking for them. Finally, write a few brief lines about them, compose poetry if you have a few minutes for a haiku. Eventually, this is how you find the guidance and a deeper, richer fullness of life.

when hearts are open 

we touch the Infinite All

together in peace

-Marilyn Wells

(and another little haiku of mine – just to get you going – nothing fancy)

relax. be who you 

really are. no grey filters. 

every moment.

-Marilyn Wells

Find Your Signs Through The Divine Feminine

Although I have always worked with figures of Woman, I’ve had new revelations about how sorely needed are pointers to these Signs that Lead us to Hope, to Joy, and to Peace. Such work has historically been associated with the Feminine Arts. Even if they are manifesting from man today as well. The womanly nature, in whatever sex, is the nurturing, intuitive, loving, caring side of all of us.

 I’ll tell you about the role of the Divine Feminine, the Womanly Art of Reading Signs and more stories in these coming blog pages. Visit my previous blogs for more.