A terrible meditator picks up a paintbrush.
That’s basically how it all began.
I’m a teacher, author, and ghost tour guide. And a mom and a widow. Between emerging from a tough period in my life, working multiple jobs, and getting kids off to college, my brain was a chaotic place. So, I thought I’d try what all the experts say to do for that: practice mindfulness and meditation.
Yeah, that didn’t work.
I found that the hardest part was not being able to turn my brain off. “Empty your mind” became: “Hey! Here’s everything you ever thought about doing in your entire life and all the guilt for not doing those things in a timely manner. What the heck are you doing just sitting there when there’s so much you could and should be doing?!”.
So, I decided that maybe I just needed to be doing something instead of nothing.
Having some paints around from projects my kids abandoned, painting slowly became my way of meditating. “Pushing paint around“ as I call it. Suddenly, my mind was quiet and my body relaxed as the movement of the paintbrush became images on canvas.
Releasing the control and letting the art become what it wanted to be turned into a meditation practice with some pretty fun side benefits: other people liked what I created! It spoke to them, too.
So, Nola Nash Fine Art came into being. Creating beauty one meditative piece at a time.
Learn more about my painting series below:
The Small Things - The Landscapes
The Small Things, my landscape series, is really all about mood. I needed to release whatever was in the way of me being able to relax and be present. Mood for me is a color, hence the limited palette pieces.
Emotions are big things. Sometimes, they make us feel small. But even small things have power, grace, and purpose. In the expanse of the wild landscapes I paint, there is always something small in it that is holding its own there. Watching, flying trough, passing by, standing strong. Something that is not intimidated by the big space (read ‘mood’) around it. I’m not sure that the small things are really me, but more what I want to be in those big emotions. On canvas, it’s a reminder that it’s possible to find strength or rest in big emotions by letting it surround you and wash over you. Feel it, then find the way to move through it.
Hopefully, The Small Things will help you find your way in the big moods, too.
The Giants - The Florals
The Giants, my closeup floral series, was about moving out of my comfort zone. I had already painted Bane of My Existence, the closeup of a red rose, on a small-ish round canvas. My mother liked the closeup of the flower but wasn’t a fan of red roses and dark colors. She asked if I would do a white magnolia for her, but huge. She wanted it to fill a wall in her guest room. I measured the space and it needed to be 3 feet by 3 feet.
Here’s the thing: I hadn’t done a floral like that before, much less one that big where any mistakes or weakness in talent would be in your face. But, I’m a good daughter, and what Mom wants, Mom gets.
I was stunned as the painting came to life. The large sweeping strokes were almost like doing yoga or tai chi. It was soothing. And the intricate magnolia stamen required so much focus that my mind had nowhere else it could go. The intimidating piece was actually at least as meditative as the mood-driven landscapes.
And so, once Magnolia Opening was finished, I began to seek out other flowers that could provide the same meditative experience for me. Being a southern girl, my eye naturally hovered around the flowers in my Tennessee landscape. Daffodils, snapdragons, even an okra flower in my own vegetable garden. Being originally from south Louisiana, I grow it for making gumbo, hence the title of that piece.
Painting The Giants has moved me from someone who was intimidated by the exposure that comes from doing a closeup in large scale to someone who now sees it as an exploration of the details Nature hides away and only reveals to those who stop and look closely for them. And, it’s become a very physically relaxing thing to do, too. I can lose myself for hours in painting details, but my favorite part is the large sweeping paint strokes of the petals.
Hopefully, The Giants will inspire you to bend a little closer to the flowers you pass by and see what magic Nature holds there.