How To Re-enter The Studio After A Long Break

I recently went to Bali for a month, and upon returning, I headed back out my door to teach a workshop in the Bay Area. I am now back, have been home for five weeks, and am just starting to get my feelers back in the studio.

Leaving can be a challenge to any art practice. A friend of mine recently gave me some priceless advice. She said she got it from a movie. I am paraphrasing, but it goes something like this:

Bob, who is a temp in an office, is slacking on his work. His boss says to him one day, "Bob, I notice you have an artistic temperament. You need to go back to your desk, settle down, focus, and catch up." That simple. So that is what I am doing and—surprise!—a finished painting came this week, one that I began after a shamanic journey I did last summer. The journey brought a wise guide to my side who handed me nine pearls to swallow. Why I ask? His response, "The sky is now falling, you need to anchor the light, now go paint.”