I was recently asked the question  – what inspires me to write poetry and my answer is devotion to the Divine and encouragement from Nature.

Sometimes, it is the art work in front of me that acts as Muse to my pen.

That’s what happened with my poem The Divine Flute. I was preparing my selection for an art exhibition and had selected Ocean Rhapsody.

I had the urge to write and the poem that emerged is shared below with the reader.

The Divine Flute by Kusum Shukla

When Nature decides

to adorn herself

with tiny floral beauties

ornaments self prepared

with colours and fragrances

very transient

yet so very permanent

in the memory of Time

ageless & profound

Red roses and golden yellow marigolds

cast reflections of themselves

in friendship with

the cluster of lapis blue Lotuses

blossoming in the pond below

The brown represents

the earth in a floral form

with delicate twigs

as the beginning of creativity

to support the creation

as a support Divine

The turquoise blue Lotus

in the midst of shimmering sunshine

as the presence of Lord Krishna

giving love and care

to the entire Universe

and Existence beyond

The green as the Celestial Sound

of the Divine Flute of Lord Krishna

in a mellifluous effort

to create harmony & tranquillity

sustaining it with the purity of snow-like feathers

Of a graceful swan

inhaling the Melody of Emotions!

Namaste

Spirituality is always present as the underlying theme in my artworks. The seeds of spirituality were sown in my childhood itself.

I am inclined to believe this is based on my experiences during visits to my maternal grandmother’s house in Varanasi. I remember my family travelling by train to the holiest of cities for Hindus.

We were small children and didn’t know anything about the Philosophy of Life – leave alone the spiritual aspects of Life.

But in hindsight, I understand that devotion to Lord Shiva was imperative to touch one’s life in Kashi, as the holy city is also known.

According to Hindu mythology, Kashi is situated on the tip of Lord Shiva’s trident. It is said that Kashi is not on this earth!

The holiest of rivers, Ganga emanates from the tied-up hair of the Lord. The entire city is a pious place of worship of Lord Vishwanath, another name for Lord Shiva.

I remember visiting various temples, listening to the temple bells and witnessing the Hindu ceremony of worship.

The smell of sandalwood and fragrant flowers used to permeate the atmosphere making the ambiance feel divine.

There is magic in devotion that has the power to transform one’s personality and character into a noble, gentle, kind being, strong in virtues.

After all, the whole journey of human life is towards perfection and Nirvana. To merge with the Supreme Power to attain Moksha – freedom from the cycle of birth-rebirth.

You would be wondering what an artist who expresses herself through colors has to do with devotion towards Lord Shiva.

Being a poet and a philosopher from my early childhood, devotion towards the Divine had to become an integral part of my existence.

So, when I started painting on the canvas, the abstract form happened very obviously and naturally.

Respected art critics have told me that my style is universal, and my art could be from anywhere in the world. This compliment gives me a lot of pleasure and a sense of achievement.

I was not born to follow others’ paths. I was born to be a pathbreaker and torchbearer on a journey to create something new and different.

That is of course the progress of art and aesthetics. I always listen to my Intuition and Higher Self and am guided by them.

My art is an inseparable part of my mind and soul.  I’m never satisfied with my artwork until I feel I have projected the spirituality which Lord Shiva has graciously bestowed upon me.

It is a beautiful feeling that one’s art is blessed with the true creativity of the Meditative Lord Shiva.

Art is definitely meditation for me.

Additional Resource for the reader who wants to learn more about Shiva:

Symbolism Behind the Form of Shiva

An artist can’t manifest their creation without support in the temporal world. In my case, it was definitely my family and pets understanding my creative sessions.

It allowed me to devote my time to the Divine through the medium of my artworks. Already a poet, my paintings brought me closer to understanding the devotion of a Sufi to God.

I first learned about the Persian poet Hafiz and Sufism as a young 20 year old bride of a career diplomat on their first posting in Tehran. My husband’s official foreign language was Persian. As young newlyweds who shared a love for poetry, we enjoyed reading the poems in Persian.

Rather, my husband translated the poems and we had great discussions. As my own proficiency in Persian improved, the translations stopped. I was able to enjoy the pure essence of the words of Hafiz, Rumi and Omar Khayyam.

It would be almost 15 years later in Jakarta that I would embrace art as a form of self-expression and understand the pure meaning of being in a Sufi state of mind.

I hadn’t yet started using palette knives (that would happen later) but the seeds of expressing devotion to God through artworks based on nature and spirituality were sown.

In later years, I would find out how strongly my family supported me.

I now know that when the girls came home from school or play, they’d find their father quietly reading his newspapers or books and a soft ‘Don’t disturb Mummy. She is painting’.

Pin drop silence while my family waited for me to come out of my painting trance and share my creation.  My meditation completed, I’d come out and tell them that dinner would be ready soon.

Then I’d discover my family had already prepared a meal to the best of their abilities with sausages, omelets and toast  or the house help had made them some noodles because I wasn’t to be disturbed. On occasion, my husband would take us out for a family dinner.

It was a trance because I would lose track of time, lost in the world of my canvas and colors and my faithful dachshund Jinnie, who would quietly sleep near my feet while I worked away.

This scene would be enacted over the years on our different postings. By now we had a family of dachshunds who would sleep at my feet while I immersed myself in colors on my canvas with the swish of my wonderful palette knives that started as an experiment in Copenhagen and became my signature tool.

There were times when I was so engrossed in my work that I’d miss out on diplomatic functions. My husband understood and didn’t interfere.

Such is the power of divine communication between the devotee and the Divine.

When I look back in Time, I realize that my trance was very much like the Whirling Dervishes of Turkey or the bhajans of Mira Bai for Lord Krishna in Bhakti Yoga.

In modern times, the definition of Sufism is much broader encompassing  our spirituality without denomination.

I was blessed that my family understood the depth of my passion for my art, supported me with encouragement and gave me time alone to engage in the conversation of my Soul with the Divine.

For the spiritual artist, self-realization comes through God-realization using the medium that is best suited to their temperament and Soul.

In my solo show Garden of Memories, the series of 6 paintings was dedicated to the gardens that I nurtured and tended to, including the painting Garden of Memories 3 where I have recreated my beloved roses from my garden in Tehran.

The prints are presently available at my page on Fine Art America and I invite you to enjoy them and share in my memories.

Art Expression on other mediums