Meet artist Bodil Johnrud. She is currently a marketing coordinator, but in her spare time she creates inspirational works of art.
By John Gonyea
Bodil is from Kongsberg, Norway, about eighty kilometers from the capitol Oslo. Since 2003, Bodil has developed the abilities and interest she’s had for alternative treatment/healing/mediumship and art. She has participated in several courses including Reiki and Rainbow Reiki, traditional Chinese medicine, Silva method, and has also attended a course at Arthur Findley Spiritual College. She has also participated in clairvoyance and medium training, in which she was lucky enough to study in these courses at the above-mentioned college in England. She currently practices healing and has several clients who visit her home.
Bodil’s art has developed quite a bit in the last three to four years. “I started more intuitive painting, allowing the colors and symbols to express themselves on the canvas.” Looking at her paintings you can see that this is pretty evident in the vibrant colors and smooth flowing lines, using acrylic as her medium. Also, some of the paintings on her website are made with wax, which she started to explore last autumn. “It is a very easy material to work with, and you only need your kitchen table. I think these wax techniques are easy for everybody to explore and make pictures.”
When asked what influences her art, she believes that “it is influenced in my belief of life after death and that we are souls on one of many journeys! We are here to experience new challenges and to learn!” Her first step, she relates, is in fact a “deep feeling that I should paint seven angels.” At the time it wasn’t her biggest priority, but she started it anyway.
For each angel she paints, she makes a postcard and writes lines about their strength and the help they can provide if you only ask. When I asked her what prompted her to start the seven angels project, she said she wasn’t really sure, “Maybe a sign from above to believe in angels and the possibility we have to ask for their help in our life.” She believes the connection only grew stronger as she started studying and practicing healing, as well as exploring her abilities to connect to the other side.
Bodil has recently started another artistic project she refers to as energy paintings. These are based on the energy she feels when tuning in to a person. She paints the colors and symbols, and afterwards looks to see what deeper meanings and interpretations she can get from the painting.
Included in the information to the client are reasons for certain colors and symbols that appear, and what they could mean. I asked if she could see people’s auras when she did these energy paintings, as you can glean quite a bit of information like this. She says that the person for whom she does this for is not present! That blew my mind a little bit. “I get their names and birth date and connect with this energy; who the person really is, and the painting of symbols and colors just come naturally.”
Such talent! She isn’t spatially aware of the client’s auras as they aren’t present, but she believes she is spiritually aware and that the colors she paints belong to the client’s basic aura. After the painting is finished and she starts her interpretation, she gets additional information to help the client focus on a particular problem they might already know but needs to solve.
Bodil finds that the passion for art and spiritual development has been important for her when she experienced grief for a loved one, or also in stressed situations. “You forget all about yourself and the turmoil around you when you let yourself flow into a world of color.”
I could not agree more Bodil! Though she says it is nice to be able to paint and likes to do her energy paintings, as of late her time to paint and do orders is severely limited due to her daily work. Bodil is a fantastic artist, weaving color and spirituality together into beautiful works of art.
If you wish to see more of her work you can visit this website: www.123hjemmeside.no/joyfulheart under Voksmaling. If you would like to learn more about wax as a medium of art you can visit www.encaustic.com. You can also contact her at bea_johnrud@hotmail.com.
About the Author:
John Gonyea is an occasional contributor to Bellesprit Magazine, usually discussing beasts and other things that go bump in the night. He is a practicing druid, reads tarot, and is an ornithomancer, oneiromancer, and an astral shapeshifter.
