How a Story Inspired My “Soulworld” Art Collection

Fragment of the painting titled February from Soulworld collection

The Call to Create

I’ve wanted to prepare an art collection for a long time. I've created many paintings that I loved, but I still felt something was missing. I wanted a cohesive body of work that had one central idea behind it. Then, I got recommended a book with a story that deeply moved me. Since then, I knew I had to begin painting with this story in mind.

If you are a fan of dense storytelling and want to explore the world of feminine archetypes, this position might be worth reading. It’s called Women Who Run with the Wolves by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés*. This blog post is not a review, so I won’t spoil the joy of discovering for yourself all the reasons to grab this book. However, let me briefly summarize the story of "Sealskin, Soulskin" from it, which inspired me to pick up my paintbrush last year.

The Seal Skin legend appears in many sea-related cultures, particularly Celtic, Scottish or Icelandic traditions. The summary of this story goes like this: Once, a lonely man went hunting late in the day, but with no luck. Suddenly, he realized that there were silkies nearby—seals that can transform into women by shedding their skin. When the seal skins were laid on the stone, the man took the skin of the silkie he admired the most. When she returned to the water, he promised to return her skin after seven years if she stayed with him, after which she could decide what to do next. She agreed and followed him to his hut in the forest. They lived together and had a son. The silkie taught him everything she could about the underwater world, a part of herself that she longed for. But over time, her skin grew drier and began to flake off. She realized it was time to return to the sea. She asked the man to give her back her skin, but he refused, unwilling to keep his promise. So, the silkie found the skin hidden somewhere in the hut and, with a heavy heart, flew back to the sea that night. Her son followed her and she agreed to show him the underwater world and introduce him to her family. But when it was time for him to return to the land, he kept their bond alive, living on the edge of two worlds, meeting her in her seal form at the shore.

There are many layers to this story, and I recommend reading it in its full form as presented in the book. I will focus on just one aspect, though, which shaped my idea for this collection. Reading it, I realized that there comes a point in life when the call to follow our true nature—the call to nourish our soul and feed it what it truly craves—becomes so strong that it cannot be ignored. If we don’t listen, we start to feel dry and disconnected, as though something is missing. For some, this call is about conscious cooking, for others it’s about working with wood, painting, singing, dancing, or serving others. But when that moment comes, when we find ourselves questioning our purpose, our true nature, where we come from, and what we want our lives to look like, there is no turning back. Our soul wants to be heard so we can live vibrant, authentic lives. But sometimes, it's not so easy to hear it or understand what it wants, especially when we’re too busy with our day-to-day lives. We also might be scared to look at those deeper places within. And that’s exactly why we must dive deep, explore the beautiful coral reef of our inner world, and uncover these treasures—because they are there, waiting for us.

I tried to convey this message in my collection. The images are multilayered, with many shades of watercolor overlapping and blending. There are no clear lines between one element and the next, much like our inner stories. Some parts are darker, others brighter. There are things we may perceive as ugly or unwanted, and there are things we love about ourselves. There are delicate, fine lines, and those that make our character bold and distinctive. Initially inspired by the loose, abstract paintings of Allison Dawrant and Laura Horn, I took my work further in a direction that balances fantasy with real-world shapes, representing underwater flora and fauna with mixed media, such as pens and fineliners.

There was always a point in my painting process where I felt that it was enough—that I couldn’t add more details or colors to the composition. I enjoyed maintaining control over every single detail, yet I allowed space for the watercolor to work its own magic, mixing and flowing freely on the paper. I would now love to invite you to explore the results in the gallery section of this page, and I hope you find joy in experiencing them.

*Women Who Run With the Wolves by Dr. Clarrisa Pinkola Estés, The Random House Publishing Group, New York, 1992