INSIDE THE ART: "My Soul Is In The Sky"

“My Soul Is In The Sky” - William Shakespeare

This painting is inspired by the deep feeling of connectedness that we feel when we stand in awe under a sunset sky.

Acrylic on Canvas

30 x 24 inches

In thinking about the title of this painting, “My Soul Is In The Sky,” I started thinking about what that really means. For me, the sky has always been a source of spiritual connection. In my daily life, I often look to the clouds for inspiration, guidance, affirmation. It is one of the places I can find myself, simply by stopping wherever my feet are, and looking up. So often we get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life. And many of us are familiar with that experience of the power of nature, where for a moment we stop to really look closely at a flower blossom, or deeply breathe in the scent of the sea air, or immerse ourselves in a nature walk where we are transported physically and psychically to out of our daily reality and into another realm for a short time. In that moment when I may have feel lost from myself or my source, I can look up, and instantly find my soul again. Like a look from above, that in touching that other realm, I am brought back to the truth. The sky is not unlike a mirror, but where a mirror is only a reflection of the outer, physical self, or even the external characteristics of the personality, I think the sky can be like a spiritual mirror - where that can reflect back to us our true self, our soul, the special part in us that is essentially of same substance as the divine. In that moment, I remember myself - that essential nature of what makes me me. There is a poem by Rilke that reminds me of this experience. In the line where he writes “it seems like things are more like me now”, it’s almost like he is saying “it seems the sky is more like me now”.

Moving Forward

by Rainer Maria Rilke

The deep parts of my life pour onward,


as if the river shores were opening out.


It seems that things are more like me now,

that I can see farther into paintings.


I feel closer to what language can't reach.


With my sense, as with birds,

I climb
into the windy heaven,

out of the oak,


and in the ponds broken off from the sky


my feeling sinks, as if standing on fishes.