Tea for Creatives: Melissa Harris ~ Art, Inspiration, Spirit
Fine artist, free spirit, successful entrepreneur, and intuitive medium, Melissa Harris has dedicated her life to the creation of imagery (watercolor, oil painting and collage) that celebrates life, love, beauty, nature and magic, particularly in relation to woman’s spiritual energy and Mother Earth. An internationally published artist, author and intuitive, Melissa’s colorful and emotionally evocative imagery can be found on prints, cards and other gift items published by her company CREATRIX . Themes evoked in her series paintings and other artworks include Women and Magic, Women and Nature, and Women and Meditation among others. Melissa also is creator of a divination card deck, Anything is Possible, and her work is featured on the popular Goddess on the Go card deck as well. Her new book, Painting Outside the Lines: the life of psychic artist Melissa Harris is a memoir of her journey as an artist. The book is a visual feast of creative expression, drawing the reader into an enchanted world of the artist as seer and adventurer.
Melissa earned a BFA in Painting from Syracuse University and an MFA in Painting from Queens College in the New York City area. During graduate school, she was put on probation by an all male graduate committee for art they considered “hokey and corny.” She did was she needed to do to graduate. In 1985 she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study painting in Paris. By then she had taken up meditation and exploring other metaphysical studies, which would deeply influence the very essence of her being and her art.
Today, Melissa is much sought after for her intuitive capabilities, which are an integral aspect of her artistic process and creations. She travels throughout the United States to create Spirit Essence Portraits – unique paintings combing her artistic proficiency and her psychic abilities. In these portraits Melissa channels the spirit essence, or “Inner Being” of the person whom she is painting. Each person’s portrait is intended to resonate just with that individual, and to be used as a reminder of their soul’s beauty and character. Melissa also teaches art workshops at her studio in Woodstock, NY, where she lives on 9 beautiful acres surrounded by a multitude of cats and other wonders.
Define creativity. What does it mean to you?
Creativity is not just painting or writing or making something tangible that we see, hear or touch. Creativity is stepping outside of the way we normally think or act, and this allows us to look at many situations from different angles. It’s a state of being that we can apply virtually all day long to transcend our usual way of looking at our inner and outer worlds. It can also be described as a muscle: the more we use it, the more naturally and easily it works on its own.
What unexpected directions has creativity/ being creative taken your life/career?
Ha! I thought that I was going to be a painter selling my large canvases to galleries and teaching in university. Instead I took my own path, sort of my “accident” and have run my own business selling both originals as well as reproductions of my work since 1990. About 2006, I decide to integrate my intuitive abilities with my creativity to offer Spirit Essence Portraits. I hadn’t planned to use my psychic talents in a work field.
How do you navigate the creative process in your work?
By staying connected to where I am in both my life as well as my creative process. I make sure that I do what I need to in order to be inspired and fresh with the content of my creations. That involves taking care of my body, mind and spirit. When it’s time to make changes I have faith that I have what I need in order to do that. I make sure that there is a balance in my life—pleasure, work, relationship, etc. so that I am fresh and recharged when I show up to paint.
Describe the biggest creative obstacle you’ve faced? How did you work through it?
There were a few years where I had heavy metals poisoning (with no diagnosis so I did not know what was wrong with me) and had no energy for my art work. I showed up at my studio anyway and slept on the couch that I kept there, in order to stay connected to my work.
In your experience as a teacher, what do you find is most challenging for students as they learn to tap into their own well of creativity?
Without a doubt the biggest challenge is their own lack of acceptance in not being where they want to be with their creative process.
Who or what has most inspired your own creativity?
This is not an easy question for me because I am inspired by many things—and many more than the following—but equally by people, my relationships with people and the beauty of nature. If I had to choose one I’d probably choose nature.
If you could choose one quote or theme song as your mantra, what would it be?
“If it’s not deep I’m not interested.”
Do you have any rituals that sustain your creative process?
I select music that is appropriate to my mood before I begin to paint.
What character from a book or film best represents your philosophy on life and creativity?
I love to read and see films but have not held on to any that strongly. I’m very much a lone wolf who makes my path by taking into consideration all my teachings, teachers, life experiences and I do what I feel is right in any given moment.
Describe a favorite ritual for preparing tea.
Putting the kettle on and then feeding my old ravenous cat Timmy.
You are hosting a tea party. You can invite two special guests, living or dead. Who do you invite? Why?
Vandana Shiva—to acknowledge all her work for the well being of mankind and the planet. Maybe Mick Jagger to ask him to stop appearing in my dreams <smile>.
Tags: art, art teacher, art work, art workshops, artist, artistic process, artwork, author and artist, being creative, Creating Outside the Lines, creative process, creativity, Creatrix, intuitive artist, Melissa Harris, painter, Possibiliteas, psychic artist, spirit art, spirit essence portraits, tea, tea for creatives, watercolor painting
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