Inspiration from Isolation

All artists paint in an altered state. As soon as they pick up a brush, they move into a different space where freedom and inspiration are intertwined. 2020 has certainly been a year that no one expected, which threw up many challenges. For many, harnessing their creativity during lockdown was a way to mentally escape from the restrictions which were placed upon us.

For me, painting has always been an outlet where I could process information, explore new directions and feel a connection not only with myself and loved ones, but also people in the spirit world. I found myself feeling things that were not always from myself. My curiosity led me to explore further, around 20 years ago I came across Spiritualism and started to learn about the spirit world. This explained made sense of the sensations I would feel when painting.

Taking up a Challenge

I came across a competition ran by The College of Psychic Studies and thought it a wonderful opportunity to join with other artists who are consciously aware of their connected relationship with art and spirit.

A blank canvas can be somewhat daunting for many artists, but I have always seen the limitless potential of what could happen. Many pictures are already painted in the mind before the artist puts brush to canvas. The daunting part for me was always: do I have the necessary skills to do the work justice?

With a wide brief of Inspiration from Isolation I had no idea what I was going to paint, the image formed over a few days and I soon covered the canvas with a largescale landscape, many points of reference appeared in the work relating to spiritualism and the spirit world. It was something I hadn’t tried in this way before and I found it an interesting experience. I also considered the other artists who were also in their studios working on pictures inspired by the spirit world and following the brief. There was an interesting connection between us all whether we were aware of it or not.

I was very lucky to be a finalist in the competition and had the opportunity to see the incredible work done by other artists. I feel this way of working through art is a beautiful way to connect the spirit world and our world. They say a picture paints a thousand words, but it can also contain a thousand emotions and connections to bring us all closer together.

Spirit Art

When talking about spirit and art, it’s important to mention spirit art in a more traditional sense, drawing accurate and recognisable portraits of loved ones in the spirit world. Firstly, incredibly important to be able to draw, portraits are incredibly difficult, a couple of millimetres can change a face completely. Combining the skills of portrait painting with high level mediumship is a rare combination. We can look at some of the great spirit artists like Frank Leah and Coral Polge. If done to this standard, what incredible proof of the existence of life after mortal death. To be able to offer an evidential communication from a spirit communicator to a recipient, combined with an accurate portrait of the spirit communicator is incredible.

How people choose to develop their art with the spirit world is up to them and for me should always be a combination of inspiration from spirit and hard work. The better tools and skills we have as artists and mediums, the more spirit can use to share love, healing, knowledge and evidential communication.

Written by Richard Stuttle

WORKSHOPS

Unlocking Potential

Experimental workshops look deeper into personal development and understanding. Through learning more about what the world around us means to us, we can forge deeper connections with people, places and things in daily life.

By exploring these questions we can gain a greater understanding of ourselves and our general wellbeing.