Illumination of a dream

​I'm so excited to share the footage below from my recent creative adventures with Aurora Collaborative! 

Up until this point, I had never painted to live music or in front of an audience, and yet something about exploring this unknown territory had an inexplicable pull on me. In fact, this very concept had been calling me for over a decade! ​You can read more about my decade-long journey with silk painting and the inspiration for the project here.

It felt awe-inspiring and humbling to be in a position where my artistry was lending its own unique contribution to the collective experience, just as our conductor, Sam Hollister, and each of our 13 musicians, served the work through their own individual expressions.

Photos: Caitlin Kelly

I learned quickly that this type of artistry requires a special attunement to the intuitive wisdom of the heart; to the practice of listening and responding, to serving the work in a way that extends beyond the individual self.
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Photo: Caitlin Kelly

​To know when to hold back, and to know when to burst forth in color. To understand the potency of simplicity. And to discover how, just as Time is the great Sculptor of mountains and rivers and the great Healer of broken hearts, it is also what gives form, structure, and feeling to music. 

Art was my instrument. My brush and dyes were the bow and strings. The hot wax created form and structure for the mountains to contain the fluid, fleeting dye colors; flooded at first with the glowing dawn of first light, and later gaining volume and contrast as the music unfolded the love story of Copland's Appalachian Spring.

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I was surprised at how unrattled I felt on stage; how I felt both focused and free, to be experiencing an orchestral performance in real time and feeling into the music as if my paintbrush were an extension of the nerves running from my heart to my brain and out through my fingertips.

Just as I was channeling my love for mountains in this performance art, my recent climbing trip in Andalucia, Spain really reinforced that love  as I scaled greater heights than I had ever before imagined, and gained new insights and perspectives as I immersed myself in a new experience and environment that was all at once familiar to my heart.

Photo: Caitlin Kelly

Photo: Cristian Astudillo

This live painting experience marked the beginning of a deeper devotion to my love for what inspires me as an adventure-driven, heart-led artist. I'm so excited for what's to come in the year ahead!
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Interested in collaborating on a live painting event?

​I'd love to connect with you! Please email me!