Welcome!

My name is Seven and I'm a full-time painter, writer, and musician living in the desert of New Mexico. I've been painting professionally since 2008 and exhibiting my visionary and surreal oil paintings in Olympia, Seattle, and along the West Coast. I recently relocated to the Southwest to live on a rustic ranch near the town of Abiquiu, where Georgia O’Keeffe lived and painted for the last 40 years of her life.

With nothing but wild desert around me and an abundance of time, I surrender completely to my work, trusting that I will be provided for if I am diligent. As a patron you will have exclusive access to my creator blog, and your contribution is directly fueling the creation of new paintings, writing and research, poetry, and music. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to continue my life's work, knowing that I am held by my community of fellow seekers of truth, a community that understands what it takes for artists to keep creating. Thank you!

Oil Painting and The Great Work

I taught myself how to oil paint during one of the most challenging times of my life, a dark night of the soul when I was debilitated by the resurfacing of childhood trauma. Plagued by panic, anxiety, and self-doubt, I was desperate to feel whole again. None of the tools I had in my tool-belt seemed to help, but when I picked up a paint brush, and the book, Psychology and Alchemy, by C. G. Jung, everything changed.

The progression of my work represents my own process of alchemical transmutation and how I healed myself by embarking on a psycho-spiritual quest. I dug into the cavern of the mines, extracted the raw metals, and set to work to purify and transmute them through my creative process.

It is an ever unfolding process of awakening, and each painting is a multi-faceted visual diagram reflecting different stages of the Great Work.

My First Books

From a young age I have been drawn to studying the occult and metaphysical sciences. This path eventually led me to Hermetic philosophy and alchemy. This discovery coincided with the time that I was teaching myself how to oil paint, and a fusion of alchemy, art, and healing took place within me.

After over ten years of refining my creative process and understanding it through the lens of the Hermetic Art, I began writing a book. It has been in process for many years as I slowly compiled resources and chipped away at the writing between my painting sessions, and in 2020 I received a publishing deal with Inner Traditions.

My first book, Hermetic Philosophy and Creative Alchemy: The Emerald Tablet, the Corpus Hermeticum, and the Journey Through the Seven Spheres (Inner Traditions, 2022), is a grand synthesis of many years of study and personal experience with hermetic and occult philosophies, combined with my understanding of human esoteric anatomy and the creative process. This book:

• Examines the foundational texts and principles of Hermeticism and alchemy, showing how they offer a foundation for a psycho-spiritual creative practice

• Takes the reader on a Hermetic journey through each of the seven traditional planets, offering meditative discourses that speak directly to the intuitive soul

• Provides examples from traditional alchemical art and the author’s own intricate esoteric paintings

The second book, The Hermetic Marriage of Art and Alchemy: Imagination, Creativity, and the Great Work (Inner Traditions, 2023), is also concerned with creative alchemy, but through the lens of the historical art movements of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. After looking at the ways that alchemy has influenced and been applied by the artists of these movements, I take the reader on a journey through the magnum opus, or the great work of alchemy, proceeding through four stages of transmutation and twelve alchemical processes that mirror the creative process.

The alchemical work teaches us how to move through stages of creative blocks and dissolve the limiting belief structures that are inhibiting our true imagination and creative freedom, liberating us to live full, inspired, and truly creative lives. From this place of creative liberation, we have the power to affect miraculous transmutations in the world around us for the betterment of all life.

Poetry

Sometimes I write spontaneous poetry on a manual vintage typewriter. I was introduced to it by a friend, and we are a small collective of poets under the name of the Poem Store. People are invited to provide a topic of their choice for a poem, which I type up and give them for donations. Our tag is “Your Topic, Your Price,” so it’s up to the customer how much they want to donate. I love connecting with people in this creative way, and seek to empower, inspire, and uplift through the spell of words. While I used to regularly set up at markets with my own Poem Store, I now primarily take online poem requests, which I type on my Portable Remington and send via snail mail. I am also available for the occasional event, such as a wedding, party, or fundraiser.

Your Patronage

I don’t believe that artists should be starving and I’m so grateful for Patreon as a platform for the age-old tradition of Patronage to be upheld. If you’re looking to support the arts this year, consider becoming a Patron. Even $1 a month makes a difference. As a patron, you will be making a big difference in reducing the financial stress that limits me in my creative work. While I live a very frugal, humble life in the desert with no frills or thrills, I do need money to create! You'll be providing the capital that is so vital to turning my work into a viable business that supports me in a healthy way.

By becoming a patron you will make it easier to manage all of the costs involved with being an independent creator, including the basics like food and gas, as well as the business expenses: website costs, marketing & advertising, typewriter repairs, travel expenses and car repairs, oil painting supplies, photography/scanning to digitize/archive work, making and packaging prints and other art products, distribution, and promotion.

My sincerest thanks to you for taking the time to read this, and for your interest in my work. I truly could not survive as an artist without my fans and supporters, who are so good to me. I am eternally grateful and love you all.

~Seven