My name is Jeane George Weigel and I am a working artist living in a tiny Spanish Land Grant village in the mountains of northern New Mexico. There are many other serious artists here and we earn our livings from our art. It hasn’t always been like this for me. I didn’t paint for 26 years after college and I used to think it was because my teachers discouraged me (being a realist painter during 60’s conceptualism) or that I’d bought the whole cultural view of it being impractical. But now I know it was mostly because, as a young woman, I wasn’t strong enough to withstand the energy that flows through me during my creative process. When I paint, the room fills with light, color bleeds from my brushes, and heaven and hell exist there in my studio. The power is immense.
But leaving a corporate job to be an artist does take some courage and it certainly hasn’t always been easy. I’ve faced issues that test my faith in the life I’ve chosen to live on almost a daily basis. But this life has also fostered growth, connection, awareness and transformation in ways I couldn’t have imagined 14 years ago when my journey began. This artist’s path has demanded an ongoing shedding of my old identity, my old ways of being. I’m immersed in an exploration of what it means to live my truth.
I didn’t make these major changes quickly or easily. I was aware for years that my life didn’t seem to fit me, or I didn’t fit it, but I wasn’t sure what else I was supposed to do. I felt unhappy on a level I wasn’t willing to acknowledge and I used to say that if I knew what I wanted to do I’d go do it. Life flowed by, day after day, and I ignored my own restlessness. I told myself to grow up and get real—to be practical: Life wasn’t meant to be fun and work certainly wasn’t. Finally, I believe, the universe dealt me an ultimatum: paint or die. So I began. I trusted. And my vision continues to unfold.
I’ve found, over the years, that my story and the life I’ve created for myself are encouraging to others—people see I did it and believe it may be possible for them as well—so I wanted to offer my own brand of inspiration to a broader audience. This blog will be a five day per week entry about my artist journey—my life’s journey. I offer it as a sort of guide for those of you who sense you are not on your authentic paths. I’ll begin by telling the story of what led me to, finally, change course and then continue with entries about my daily thoughts and experiences and whatever they generate. Some days I’ll submit photos with little text. Other days I’ll answer your questions or write on a topic you suggest. But, on this 4th day of the month of October, 2010, I take this new leap into the unknown. Together may we learn to live more fully alive.
My Story Continued…
- High Road Artist: My Story Begins
- My Re-Birthday
- Leap of Faith
- Into the Wilderness
- Of the Land
- The Long Goodbye
- Coming to New Mexico
- Dreams Come True
- The Night I Died: The Whole Story, Part 1
- The Night I Died: The Whole Story, Part 2
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