Dreamy Artist Studio

Welcome to the artist studio. A peaceful space for expression and creation. Shelves along the back wall overflow with wiry paint brushes, old scraper tools and crumpled tubes of half used oil paints. The tall ceilings offer plenty of wall space. Every inch of which is neatly covered by the original piece from the artist and residence. While the unkempt nature of the studio may seem chaotic to an outsider's eye, it provides the artist a comforting sense of relief. This is a safe space to create, play, and dream. The artist carefully drapes a smock around his waist and faces his subject for the evening. A large sleepy brown dog, nuzzled peacefully on a paint splattered couch across the way. Before we begin, let's start off with a little wind down exercise. Tonight's wind down is a visualization. So when you're ready, let's begin. So no matter what's been going on today, whether it's been a busy day or a calm one, this is an opportunity to put everything down. To let go of any inner chatter and find a place of rest in both the body and the mind. So first, get yourself comfortable in bed, just taking a moment to pause and be still. And when you're ready, taking a big, deep breath, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. And as you breathe out, allowing the body to sink down into your bed, feeling the weight of the body, allowing thoughts to come and go. Now imagining a steady flow of warm sunlight, flowing down through the body, dissolving any tension, any discomfort as it begins to fill the body, starting with the toes moving up through the feet and the legs being filled with sunlight. The qualities of warmth, space and ease as it continues to travel up through the body up past the waist, through the back and the stomach. It's as though it washes away any discomfort. It continues up through the chest and the upper back and to the shoulders and down the arms all the way down to the hands and the fingers. A sense of relief in the body and stillness in the mind as it continues to travel up through the neck and the throat into the head and face all the way to the very top of the body, until there's nothing other than that sense of stillness remaining. And now just gently bringing the attention back to the body. Returning to the easel, the painter chooses a suitable brush and wipes it on his apron. The painting is progressing from the top of the canvas downwards moving from the ceiling toward the dog on the sofa. In the lower sections of the painting, the style changes slightly. Whereas the lines of the brick work and cornicing are firm and distinct giving them a vivid quality, the dog's brushwork is more vague, as if painted with a larger brush or looser technique giving its sleeping...