Well, I'm just back from a most amazing trip to Europe where I hiked, studied oil painting and took a cruise. I hiked on the Amalfi Coast following a very new creation called "Path of the Gods," a trail that wove in and out of the cliffs of the Amalfi Coast high above the Mediterranean and managed to blow my mind. Along with that my friend and I visited Positano, Amalfi and Ravello, glorious towns filled with colorful houses, winding roads, pots of flowers, magnificent churches and stairs forever. It was glorious.
Then I travelled on to Florence, Italy where I moved into an apartment with friends. There I did lots of sightseeing, and studied oil painting for three weeks. Once that was complete, I flew on to Istanbul to sightsee and then board a cruise ship with another friend, to visit ports along the Greek and Turkey Coast. It was a trip of a lifetime, all of it amazing, but the oil painting class took the prize.
I have painted often in my life, but only have done one oil painting which I humbly gave to my middle son as a wedding gift. Never did I get around to it again, but sorely hoped I would. When this opportunity to travel to Italy and study came my way as a gift from my son, I jumped. And the leap worked. I will blog more about this trip from time to time, but today I want to journal what happened as I took myself on a journey of study in this amazing city of art.
I became part of a class run by The Academie de Arte, and attended from 3 PM to 7 PM every weekday. I found my drawing was better than years before, and my patience was less! I did begin to learn better technique and broke through a block that had been very disturbing. Hooray!
As the class progressed, I found myself pulled to drawing and painting people, a choice that dumbfounded me. I thought I'd probably focus on trees or something I knew I could handle. Nope! All I seemed to want to do was try to draw people. I took a life drawing class as well as the oil painting, and that gave me my first clue that I was 'seeing" better (you know drawing and painting is all about "seeing") and was more able to put what I saw on canvas. That made me happy.
As I practiced things began to happen to me internally that were big. I began to be more aware of the entire physical body, the whole person's expression - the nostril, the posture, the size of the feet, the shape of the eye, the chin, the hairline. But best of all, everybody became beautiful and an experience to express. What an amazing opening. I began to see each person I was drawing as an open, deep expression of humanity. Standards began to drop away, and each person's characteristics no longer had a judgement attached by me, and instead had their own dynamic, which I had to attempt to reporduce.
My goal became- can I make them look like themselves. Often I would beautify their eyes or their mouth, which was disgruntling. I wanted to make them look like themselves.
This began to effect my observations of people as I did amazing sightseeing jaunts throughout the cobblestoned city. I found myself studying how they walked, how extra weight effected their stance, how shoulders were all different widths, hair was every texture imaginable. I became unable to figure out the culture or country someone was from by their appearance It wasn't until they spoke that I might identify their country of origin. Of course, I could identify many Muslim women by their garb, but otherwise everyone blended into a beautiful blanket of humanity. Similiaries were much greater than differences. This really made me weep as I experienced the awareness. It wasn't sadness. It was awe within myself of the NEW VIEW too long hidden from my eyes.
I was "seeing oneness," how much the same we all are. It no longer was just a concept. It was real. It became so clear how we are all amazing and unique expressions of the Divine. It felt so big.
And I saw how - as I expanded with what it is I "see" - separation fell away. Oneness was no longer something to figure out or choose to believe. It was something I knew because I saw it and felt it deeply.
I am forever grateful.
Denny Daikeler
About Me
- Denny Daikeler
- My passion for integrating Interior Design, Spirituality, and Environmental Psychology began when I was 12. My best friend and I painted my bedroom closet green because my gut wanted it deep hunters green. I knew then there was more to life than beige, but little did I know that the powerful healing spirit of the home that comes from within would become the cornerstone of my life’s work. I received my degree in Interior Design from Drexel University and started designing filled with confidence. My perceptions changed as I worked with clients and taught classes. I discovered the huge gap between trends and what a person loves. My focus turned to exploring the Spirit of the home. I developed questionnaires and exercises to examine client's lives, preferences, and needs, and came up with the Inner Blueprint and Beloved Object. These methods brought so much transformation to people’s lives that I decided to share them in a book, "What Color is Your Slipcover?" published by Rodale. My life now is rich with all of this as I travel from place to place focusing on this process and experiencing the awareness, discovery and joy that comes with this new way of being with Home and Design.