Ive started a commission for a lady, and she asked if this piece could be inspired/influenced/reflect one of her blog entries, ‘Band of Gold’. When I first read it, and about her, I was felt like I could have been energetically reading myself. We are very alike in many ways… naturally this has helped the whole process along beautifully. Im letting you all into a part of my process that I havent detailed in words before, because there are many relevant aspects to this painting and it gives you an insight as to my process, thought and intuitive feeling pattern. So Im including the blog entry for those who wish to read it,  and an explanation of what I have painted so far. Bearing in mind, there are only the bones of the painting there at the moment, the white is merely the outlines of my colouring/detailing to come…altho some white will stay, Ill know that once I start ‘filling in’ my piece some more.
Here is her blog:

Band of Gold.

“There is no better feeling than knowing that where you are, is where you are supposed to be. I have had many moments through out my life when I have truly known that at that moment I was right on track. One of those moments happened while I was working on a sailboat named “Pentoga”, a little harbor 54, down in the islands. The name Pentoga is the name of an indian chiefs wife, from the Ojibwa tribe.

The captain and myself were sailing the owner and his wife from St Martin to the British Virgin Islands. We went through the the Anegada Passage from St Martin to Virgin Gorda. Now if we were going the other way it would be called the Oh-My Godda Passage due to the way the currents converge in that area with wind and swells it can be very nasty if you have to go the other way.

Luckily for the owners sake it was a smooth sail as the wind and seas were following. It truly made for an awesome sail. We were sailing at night and the captain and I took three hour watches. It was a crystal clear night, not a cloud in the sky. It will go down as one of the more memorable sails for me. It was the night I married myself to the sea.

I was up on deck on my watch, sometime in the middle of the night. The warmth of the night air and salt water on my skin felt so comforting. I was listening to the rush of water on the hull of the boat as the wind and waves were pushing us through the sea with ease. There was so much beauty and so much power, the feeling was unforgettable. At the time I was wearing a gold wedding band that my mother gave to me from her first marriage.

While that marriage didn’t last I knew in my heart that gold band could be used to represent something bigger than a failed marriage. To me the sea represents freedom, life, love and adventure. It is all knowing and powerful. It can carry you along in its loving embrace or it can pick you up and flick you across its body for miles like the little speck that you are. I love what it represents and I want the sea to always be a part of who I am.

So on this magical night I sat up on the deck of this sailboat in the middle of the Caribbean and married myself to the sea. I used the gold band as an offering and made promise to always respect, love and honor what the sea is to me. In turn it will always take care of me, even in the worst of storms I will always be protected.

Ive only told a few people about this moment, until now. I share it with you because its a part of who I am. Not everyone understands that to throw a gold ring in the sea means more than the value of the ring itself. Just like a marriage its about the pact, the promise to honor and respect that one that you made the pact with. I find my peace in the salt water and feel like its a part of me forever.

There are no words to describe the comfort it brings me to be in its embrace, no matter what part of the world I am in. It will most probably be my most profound love in this life. So as I am now so far away from where I made this pact, I find myself dreaming about this moment and planning my way back to my comfortable place. The home in my heart I call the sea.”

The painting so far:
Okay so the sun/moon, can be either. Moon representing the night on the boat. The sun representing Leo – her star sign, ruled by the sun -and the colours of Leo. The nautical feel of the sacred geometry around it again representing being at sea and just the whole connection to the cosmos universe etc…. and then we have the wave or the boat. Predominately a wave /sea of course, or It can also represent a boat as well, the bow of the boat rising up on a wave. Bottom centre-left sweeping up you will see the symbol for the feminine, (my client), lying on back going upwards left into the symbol for Leo wrapped in what will be a band of gold, and the ring encompassing the wave, so they are intertwined for ever. It will be a very subtle soft yellow, almost opaque in places, not a predominant bright band of bright yellow.
All the other symbols and patterns are just what I have intuitively drawn on for the feel of the whole painting. As I said, loads of colour and detailing to do yet, this is just the start.

©Reina Cottier Art.

thanks all, have a great day!
if you want to catch up with more if what im doing on a daily basis, its all happening over on ym FB art page,
youll fond the link in the column on the right there, at the top. 🙂