This acrylic painting was made on a 80 x 60 cms (31.5 x 23.5 inches) canvas at the weekend after having an unusually bad dream during the night. I rarely dream, and when I do from what I can remember they are in monochrome, but this time I awoke with the colours of flesh pink and red blood swimming in my head! My dream was not of gore, but more of witnessing my own death… not falling, but being sucked from a height onto a studio floor covered with tubes of acrylics. Then, I read somewhere that over the weekend ‘Pluto was no longer Retrograde’ and whilst unsure of the implication of that celestial happening, it could have triggered a malfunction in my subconscious brainwaves.
So, being curious, on The Psychics Universe site I read…
“Pluto in Retrograde – Most planets in retrograde are somewhat reversed—that is, their influences can be fairly opposite of what they are normally. In Pluto’s case, when in retrograde, its influences are not reversed or opposite; rather, it seems to go into overdrive.
It can be very intense and even more fearsome. As Pluto direct forces us to face challenges outside of ourselves, Pluto retrograde forces you to look inside of yourself and face challenges. This can sometimes be unnerving, because the transformations we undergo under the influence of Pluto retrograde tend to require a complete breakdown of the old ways and ideas before we can move forward again.
Pluto brings us face to face with our shadow self. We often consider the shadow self the “dark side”. It’s our negative emotions and desires that we oppress, often don’t even like to admit to, and deal with those parts of ourselves that we do not like. When Pluto goes retrograde, it’s a good time to take on any endeavors seeking regeneration.
Pluto retrograde is a great time for delving into any personal transformations you’ve been hoping to accomplish. However, you may have to go through what seems like a trip to Hell and back for it…
And on another site…
“The planet Pluto – the seventh planet from the Earth and is associated with the afterlife realm referred to as the realm of consciousness. This afterlife realm is the realm for the final development of full consciousness. The Pluto realm of the afterlife brings regeneration and a growth in consciousness, but also can bring self-centeredness. Pluto represents spiritual growth and development of the soul and its influence is just now developing in the destiny of humanity.”
However, once awake and fortified with coffee over a four minute burst of Steve ’n’ Seagulls playing “Thunderstruck” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4Ao-iNPPUc – which I do every morning, I climbed the stairs to my studio and started working on three canvasses during the same session… the first one finished being the above “Anger Management #1” which is now on sale at Saatchi Art. Also unusually for my methods of working, I am studying and painting this series of canvasses from all four sides, only deciding on the correct orientation once the composition is finished.
http://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Anger-Management-1/395193/2173214/view
Image © 2014 Ed Buziak
Ed Buziak's Artwork 