Autumn Skye Morrison | Jungle Camp’s Visionary Artist and Muse
“May my paintings be a mirror, a reflection of your universal light, your human essence, and your timeless divinity.” — Autumn Skye Morrison
Autumn Skye Morrison was born on a blueberry and maple farm on the pristine coast of Nova Scotia, a northeastern Canandian Province home to seals, puffins, and whales. Autumn and her family left this region when she was a young child to travel westward across Canada’s mighty terrain. Her childhood was a blend of her father’s home among the majestic Rocky Mountains and her mother’s home along the rich coastal rainforests.
Autumn Skye Morrison’s deep wonder for nature and the world around her began at a very early age. She has loved to paint since the moment her fingers first held a paintbrush. Her awe and captivation for the Divine Feminine shines brightly through her work. Each magnificent painting stirs deep devotion in the soul and reflects an inherent passion for the interconnected nature of all beings. The essence of Spirit as it reveals itself to her comes through each color, shape, and stroke. Autumn Skye Morrison begins each piece with “only a loose idea, a seed of a concept, or a few fragmented elements.” While painting and creating, her intuition guides her movements. She surrenders and trusts in divine energy to flow through her hands and gracefully reveal her next stroke.
“I encourage any artistic being to allow the spirit to move the hand, to become the un-judging conduit for the creative energy that is moving through us. We are each unique, perfectly our own “filter” for divine energy, and though the source may be the same, our personal perspective is ours alone.” — Autumn Skye Morrison
This month Autumn Skye Morrison will be traveling from her home in British Columbia, Canada to the tropical Caribbean coast of Costa Rica for Jungle Camp: A Transformational Summer Camp for Adults. This intimate five day gathering will take place at The Punta Mona Center for Regenerative Design and Botanical Studies, an off-grid Environmental Education Center, Botanical Collection, Permaculture farm, and Eco-lodge. This breathtaking paradise is also home to over 300 varieties of fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers, trees, and medicinal plants. Joining Autumn Skye Morrison is a full list of creative and multi-disciplinary facilitators, some including: David Block a.k.a The Human Experience, Stephen Brooks, Rising Appalachia, Matthew Human, Sarah Wu, Guadalupe Urbina, Marcos Jassan, Arouna Diarra, Christine Raine, Sarah Craft of the Birth Institute and more.
Happening September 26 — October 1, Jungle Camp includes a full schedule of classes, workshops, camp activities, live music, education, and much more. This gathering allows participants to join together in sacred community while fully immersed in the natural world around them. Each attendee personalizes their schedule by choosing what activities and workshops they’d like to participate in. Topics range from: Permaculture, Meditation, Medicinal Plants, Fermentation, Chocolate making, Yoga, African Drumming, Thai Massage, Visionary Art, Dance, Buugeng, and more! Each ticket includes farm to table organic jungle cuisine and access to all the natural amenities of the farm.
Seated alongside the deep blue Caribbean Sea and nestled in the heart of the jungle- attendees engage, craft, and commune intentionally. Participating in an active dialogue and educational experience by day, soaking in the live music soundscapes and bright starlit sky by night.
I asked Autumn Skye Morrison a few questions before her upcoming journey to Costa Rica for Jungle Camp. She answers beautifully and thoughtfully about her current revelations, a piece she painted inspired by the Costa Rican jungle, upcoming endeavors, and more.
Check out her responses below…
Q: You recently said in a previous interview with The Huffington Post, “When we can join together from many parts of the world and walks of life, to co-create and cross pollinate, the outcome has a potential to be infinitely beyond what we can imagine.” Why do you feel it’s important to leave our communities and even our countries from time to time to collaboratively engage in a new experience? What excites you most about Jungle Camp?
A: Wherever I travel, I take my sketchbook and diary, musing romantically and critically about how we live on the planet, how humans interact with our surroundings and each other, and what makes us uniquely different and the universally same. I witness the striving, the longing, the suffering; and at the same time I see the generosity, the hope, the reverence for life. It is this paradox that permeates the divine comedy of this existence. We are each the villain and the hero, it is a matter of perspective. This perspective is what I gratefully fold into the pages of my sketchbook and the archives of my memory, and when I return home from countless miles and distant continents, I unfurl the inspiration onto the awaiting canvases of my studio.
Jungle Camp particularly excites me because of the diversity of the activities presented, the quality and heart-centered integrity of the facilitators, and the tangible and hands-on aspect of the program. Participants will be surrounded and saturated with the experience, rather than a spectator or consumer, and will have the opportunity to literally dive into new activities, skill-sets, explorations, and co-creations.
24" x 36" acrylic on canvas, 2013
Q: The first painting of yours I ever saw was “Pura Vida” — a majestic and colorful piece inspired by the jungle and spirit of Costa Rica. What was the source of inspiration for this painting and what does this piece mean to you?
A: Teaming with life, “Pura Vida” hosts a multitude of Costa Rican animals. The woman is one of them, and together they rise up towards the light, towards unity and prosperity. May we always remember that we are a part of nature, not apart from it. May we all thrive together on this incredible Earth.
The term Pura Vida literally means “pure life”. In Costa Rica, it is used both as a greeting or a farewell, to express that things are going well, or as a way of giving thanks.
“As in any art form, as we release judgment, silence our mind, breathe deep into the process, and find bliss in each step; we realize that we are boundlessly assisted in our authentic and heart-centered expression.” — Autumn Skye Morrison
30" x 30" acrylic and mixed media, 2010
Q: Your art carries deep revelations of the Divine Feminine as well as powerful messages from the animal realm. Where did your love for the sacred and mystical begin? What spiritual practices have been foundational to discovering and embodying your creative essence?
A: Painting is in itself a celebration and exploration into the mystery and magic of life and creation. As I paint, the imagery evolves and takes me on a journey. I begin each piece with a seed of an idea, and by watching and listening the piece comes into being. While painting, animals, plants and other elements come to me.
As soon as I was old enough to hold a paintbrush in my hand, I began making art, and it has been teaching me and enchanting me every day since.
In any creative expression, there is a profound voice that speaks through us when we release judgment during the process. Knowing this, I strive to move beyond my mind, and get out of the way to allow that grace to come through. With every brushstroke, I witness beings come to life and worlds unfold before me. I realize the art is not born from me, but through me, and in this understanding I am both humbled and empowered. Painting is my stillness and my rhythm, my teacher and my lover, and it never ceases to surprise and amaze me.
Q: What is currently being revealed to you through the creative process?
A: Each piece is different, and even every brushstroke is unique in what it has to teach me. As I paint, deeper and deeper layers of understanding and revelation unfold to me, offering revelations of patience, trust, presence, surrender, humility, openness, child-like wonder, sage-like remembrance, gratitude, play, ecstasy.
Q: Following Jungle Camp, you have an upcoming retreat — Soul Portraits, happening in March in Bali. Where else is your art taking you in the coming months? What opportunities and projects are you calling in?
A: Soul Portraits is in a sense a retreat tour that I have co-created with Una of Bella Retreats. We started in Costa Rica a few years ago, then moved it to Hawaii. Last year it was in Bali, and the next one is on Gabriola Island in British Columbia in April 2017. Each location has been incredibly inspiring in different ways!
I’m also honored to be teaching the 3 Week Summer Intensive in Italy in July 2017, which is produced by the Vienna Academy of Visionary Art.
Autumn Skye Morrison currently resides and paints in her home studio north of Powell River on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada. She travels globally sharing her heart and artwork with this growing and ever blossoming community. She can be seen painting live at festivals and gatherings around the world, leading retreats, or teaching workshops. Following Jungle Camp, her next retreat, Soul Portraits, will be held in Bali, Indonesia in March of 2017.
To see Autumn Skye Morrison’s full gallery of art and learn more about her, visit: http://www.autumnskyemorrison.com/
61" x 38" acrylic on canvas, 2016
“In each moment that we choose love and connection over fear and separation, we are healing our ancestors, the generations to come, and the earth on which we live. Though our stories may be spoken in unfamiliar languages, we may wear strange adornments and call god by a different name, we are all woven together. We are threads in the same tapestry, sovereign yet supported, and made stronger and brighter by each other.“ -Autumn Skye Morrison