“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

(The session began late this evening because of my own distractions with painting; I worked late, and needed a short rest. Jane felt well. Her pace was quite rapid — as fast as it’s been, I believe, since Seth started his book. Jane’s manner was easy and relaxed, her voice average, her eyes closed often.)

Now: Remember in your portrait the sense of play, and a light hand. Otherwise you lose your sparkling colors and end up with a murkiness that you do not intend. Remember that the soul is plain behind the facade that you see — that even the body is in a constant state of almost magical activity, even though as you paint it in its chair, it is physically motionless.

(Here, unexpectedly, Seth referred to a large portrait I’ve been working on for the last month and the one that gave me so much trouble today. The painting is of a patient in the hospital where my father stays. The subject sits mute and quite rigid in his wheelchair. Everything went well until I ran into difficulties with the color of his clothing. I found this so irritating, finally, that I ended up doing the whole thing over.

(As usual, Seth’s observations about painting are excellent; I’ve said this many times before. Nor have I ever heard Jane discuss painting in Seth’s manner. The two personalities approach the subject from widely divergent viewpoints.)

You want the feeling, within that apparent state of motionlessness, of highly accelerated contained activity that cannot be physically expressed — that must radiate from the painting despite the obvious and illusionary appearance of your figure.