Colorful Soul Healing: Exploring Synesthetic Art with Heather Eck

In this episode, I explore the fascinating world of synesthetic art and healing with award-winning artist Heather Eck. Heather’s gift of synesthesia allows her to perceive sounds and music as colors and textures to create stunning visual art that promotes healing and personal growth.   

 Heather shares her personal journey of realizing her synesthetic abilities from a young age when she would draw the melodies she heard in music. She discusses how later discovering the term "synesthesia" allowed her to fully embrace and harness this unique way of experiencing the world.

 I chat with Heather about the process she employs to create therapeutic art that has touched many lives, including my own.   The heart of the episode explores Heather's one-of-a-kind artistic process for creating "Spirit Portraits." She walks us through:

- How she intuitively connects with subjects through meditation on their photographs
- Discerning the specific colors and symbols associated with their chakras 
- Allowing rhythms of music to guide the visual narrative on canvas
- The profound resonance her soul portraits have for clients

 Stories are shared about the healing experiences and personal growth that have emerged through her work, including a powerful piece inspired by a friend's battle with cancer.

 Heather's own journey is highlighted - her transition from corporate HR to leaning into her passion as an artist and spiritual coach. This shift represented fully embodying her authentic self and the rewards of aligning with one's true calling.

HEATHER ECK is a multimedia abstract artist and writer. An intuitive artist and painter, she interprets people, places, and experiences through color, a condition known as synesthesia. Like an enormous box of crayons, her gift operates by categorizing through intricate but specific shades of color.  While this condition enables her to experience color, she responds to these encounters with people, things, emotions, and spaces by understanding the particular shade of experience that a person dwells in. She uses her gift to detect the most healing color for them and transforms these vibrant energies into captivating paintings that uplift, inspire and heal. 

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Prints & Products: www.heathereckstudios.com
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Chapters

• 0:00 Healing Through Synesthesia Art
• 5:10 Artistic Process and Intuitive Connection
• 19:13 Exploring Energy and Artistic Transformation
• 23:42 Power of Color in Spiritual Healing
• 29:57 Artistic Evolution and Self-Discovery
• 44:08 Healing Through Soul Portraits and Energy
• 48:38 Healing Stories and Inspiration

Transcript

Rose: 0:00

Can you imagine experiencing colors as sounds or hearing words as textures? In this episode, Heather Eck harnesses this extraordinary gift to create powerful pieces that don't just dazzle the eyes but soothe the mind, body and soul. Join us as we dive into this fascinating world of synesthesia art and discover how Heather is using her unique perceptions to create healing experiences, one masterpiece at a time. Welcome to Chat Off The Mat, the podcast that explores the transformative journey of healing and self-discovery where energy, spirituality, mind and body intersect. Hi, I'm your host, Rose Wippich, and I invite you to join me and explore ways to invite more holistic practices into your life. I will feature experts and practitioners who provide insights, tips and practical advice.

Rose: 1:01

From Reiki to Qigong, Chakra balancing to Shamanism, this podcast will be your guide to understanding how these practices can lead to more harmony and greater energy. Whether you're seeking stress relief, emotional balance or a deeper connection to your authentic self, chat Off the Mat will provide you with insights and inspiration. Let's start discovering the possibilities that lie within you. Today, I chat with Heather Eck, synesthesia artist and color alchemist. We will explore the healing power of art and how it can inspire personal growth and spiritual development. Heather is a renowned and award-winning artist, spiritual intuitive healer and coach, heather integrates her unique gift of synesthesia, artistic talents, energy healing and intuitive abilities to create a unique soul portrait for her clients that holds the energy to help those on their transformative journey. Welcome Heather.

Heather: 2:10

Thank you for having me. It's so nice to see you again.

Rose: 2:13

Yeah, same here. We're going to dive right in. I know there's a lot of information as we start to talk about this concept. It's going to unfold and I'm also going to talk about my personal experience with you and my soul portrait later on. So let's just dive right in and can you just share a little bit about your personal journey and how you discovered your synesthetic abilities and influence on your art?

Heather: 2:43

Sure, yeah Well, I think that synesthesia is something that I've had since I was a little kid, because I remember like laying on the floor of my bedroom and drawing what I heard in the music. So I would listen to music and then draw what I sort of saw. So synesthesia is where your senses get crossed. So when I listen to music or I eat something or taste something or smell something, I see it in my mind's eye as a color, a shape or a symbol. So it's always like a sort of active movie screen in my mind and I had had it, I guess, for a really long time but didn't really know what it was until recently and then sort of discovered the vocabulary for it and then learned.

Heather: 3:28

I love the movie Ratatouille, disney movie, and there's a scene where Remy the mouse is eating a piece of cheese and eating a strawberry at the same time and it's animated with all these colors and symbols and I'm like, oh, remy has synesthesia. It's like such a great visual for what the experience is. And so that comes to life in my artwork when I'm creating something or, you know, just putting on the canvas what I'm seeing in my mind or what I'm experiencing through my intuition as well as well.

Rose: 4:06

Okay, great so. So synesthesia and I may struggle throughout the podcast episode with that word occasionally, but I said it right that time. So it is when you hear music and it integrates somehow or influences your senses and then you are able to see art.

Heather: 4:21

Yeah, yeah, that's a good way to do it. It's like your senses sort of cross signals, so you know when normal, like some people will hear music and they'll just hear it. In my mind, I both hear it and see it, and so it takes on like a visual form for me through, like seeing music play out across my mind's eye.

Rose: 4:43

That's amazing. I had never heard of it before and I think it's just fascinating. How do you translate this experience into your artwork? Because you do artwork, you're an artist. Obviously, you're also an intuitive someone who guides people intuitively, and you combine the two. So how do you translate this experience into your artwork? Any specific methods or techniques that you use?

Heather: 5:09

Yeah, that's a great question. So there's kind of two styles of, I would say, styles of art, like two sort of techniques for art that I use. One is where I'm using my synesthesia to sort of see and create a painting that sort of looks like what I'm experiencing or sort of about like a conversation I want to have, you know, just like with people or about the world or what's sort of happening in the world. And then there's what I would call the spirit portrait experience, where I paint the experience I have with somebody, where I see what color or symbol or shape they're pulling, you know through, and then I create a painting that sort of tells a story about who they are. So it's a little bit of like me trying to translate the experience that I have with someone or with something, or with, you know, just a current event, onto canvas through color and form and shape, which often comes with a message or you know something that's sort of telling a story about what's going on with that person or place.

Rose: 6:18

So that's really interesting because I didn't realize that you also were able to translate a current event or something that's happening, and maybe the collective conscious Is that something that comes to you automatically or something that you need to tune into. Let's say a certain event that's happening, let's say Earth Day, because today's Earth Day or something else.

Heather: 6:40

Yeah, that's a really good question, because I think that there are times where I am not 100% aware of what it is that's coming through until the painting's done, and then I look at it and sort of meditate on it and then say, oh, I see what this is. Because there are times, I think, where I just feel inspired to create. So, for example, the other day I felt inspired to create something and I had been thinking about a friend of mine who had been diagnosed with cancer and I had been thinking about her experience and I sort of pulling colors from her and I was pulling yellow, green and blue. So I was getting yellow for the identity, green for the heart and blue for the throat.

Heather: 7:22

And this person was sort of going through like I would say like not a crisis of faith, but more like an awareness of faith, where they couldn't unsee what they had seen.

Heather: 7:33

You know, it's kind of like this Once you have an awareness of, of your faith in something, you can't unsee it, it's like you can't unring the bell.

Heather: 7:41

And so I was thinking about her and painting this painting for her, and then I sat down and sat with it and I went, oh gosh, there's so much more that's coming through this painting, that's telling me about this, that it's so much bigger than just my thought of her. It was like this big sort of opening of what she was going through that was coming out on the canvas that I wasn't like fully aware of in the moment. I was just sort of like the conduit through which the painting was coming out, but it wasn't until I sat with it that I could sort of read it and then understand what it was trying to say. So those sorts of things that happen are really interesting for me, because I think in the moment I really have to surrender my need to understand what's happening until I'm able to just let it all out and then sit with it and say, okay, this is what it's trying to say or this is what it means for me now.

Rose: 8:39

So can you walk us through a piece of your art? Let's say you're working with someone, so you did a portrait with me, which I will talk about more. But can you walk us through a piece of your art and explain how? Like the process, like you know, I know that you just explained somewhat how you're the conduit and you just allow for that expression to filter through onto the canvas, but you do have a process that you go to like a setting up or whatever.

Heather: 9:13

Can you just talk a little bit about that? Yeah, so when I do like a soul portrait or a spirit portrait for somebody, I will ask for their picture and I will sort of sit and meditate with their picture for a little bit. And usually colors will drop in very quickly for somebody, and it's usually two to three colors, and so I will sort of sit with those colors and say, okay, what does this mean? I'll get a sheet of paper next to me and then I'll sort of start to read through the chakras and go, okay, what's at the crown, what color is the crown, what symbols coming through at the crown? And I'll do that all the way down the chakras. And then I'll kind of I'll play music and I'll let whatever music comes on be whatever it is, and usually the music also tells me something about the person and what is sort of happening with them.

Heather: 9:58

And then I'll start the painting and as the painting starts it's as though everything that is part of that experience is also part of that person's story.

Heather: 10:08

So, for example, if I start to put alcohol on the paper and it goes in a spiral, then I know that there's some sort of cycle happening for that person or they're experiencing something again, if the ink sort of explodes on the page and I know that there's something that needs to either have broken through, or that they're on the precipice of a breakthrough.

Heather: 10:29

So there's all these different ways that the paint and the medium sort of is part of that story. And then, once the painting is complete, then I have to sit with it again and go, okay, what's the what's sort of the central theme here, or what's the main message, what's the painting's complete, then I have to sit with it again and go, okay, what's the what's sort of the central theme here, or what's the main message, what's the painting's name, and then I'll sort of kind of piece together the story and then, once that's done, I'll sit with you over a Zoom session and tell you the story about your painting and what's coming through for you, and so that that's a pretty interesting process for me to kind of try to tap into your energy and then and then try to, you know, have a conversation, a loving conversation, about what is happening and see if it resonates with you.

Rose: 11:14

And you don't even you may not even know the person or speak to the person ahead of time. You just do this by a photograph and your intuitive connection, your, your, your ability to almost tap into their aura or their energy. Yeah, that's fascinating, and you were saying how you know. As you're talking, I'm thinking like medium. You're almost like a medium, but not you know more of a, but you are because you're connecting with energy. Maybe not, but do you ever find that you're getting any? I don't know why I'm even going this route, but any um ancestral energy coming through or any any spirit energy, other, like there are guides or anything coming through, or your guides that come through and help you with the art.

Heather: 12:00

Yeah, I definitely think so. I feel like there are always people in the room with me when I'm painting, and, you know, I feel like sometimes I don't necessarily know who is there, but there is, um, the energy of people there, and sometimes I have something that will like tap me on the ear. I'll feel my ear kind of tap a little bit, and I'll know either pay attention or there's something here that I have to kind of dig into. I think the biggest thing, though, is that I feel like I'm being supported with the urgency to deliver a message that I sometimes feel afraid to deliver, or I sometimes hesitate delivering because I either don't trust it or I'm afraid of what the. You know like what the not the outcome, but just there's like a little bit of nervousness to say what is coming through really clearly. If that makes sense, it does.

Rose: 12:53

Yeah, and I think, as someone who also used their intuitive guidance when I'm working with other people, you need to be discerning almost as to how to express it, maybe not so much of what you're expressing, but how to express it and have the person almost interpret the message themselves.

Heather: 13:14

Yeah, that's exactly right yeah.

Rose: 13:16

Yeah, and trusting is go ahead.

Heather: 13:17

Yeah, I was just going to say the other day I was doing a portrait for somebody and we were over Zoom and I did his portrait live in person and I was putting red ink down on the paper and I saw a heart start to form. And it wasn't a cartoon heart, it was like an anatomical heart. And I almost didn't say something and I said, for some reason I'm seeing like a physical heart here and I feel like there's a strong physical need to either protect the body or you're working on the body. And so I went through the whole thing and then finished and he said you know, I just have to tell you I just underwent some tests for my heart to make sure that my arteries were clear, that everything was clear. And he said so.

Heather: 14:02

When you said the heart, it made me feel really happy that you saw that energetically, and so it was something that I hesitated even to say, but then I was so glad that I did because it reaffirmed for him what was happening in his physical body and then the spiritual self at the same time. It's fascinating, oh it's healing.

Rose: 14:23

I'm listening to you tell this story and I can't help but think that this person almost healed on another level because you validated for him what he was going through, and that he's on the right path to helping himself. That's fascinating. Yeah, I think part of the work that you do, or a big part of the work that you do, is healing.

Heather: 14:48

I agree, it helps to heal. Yeah, I agree.

Rose: 14:51

Yeah,

Heather: 15:09

Yeah, I was just. You know it's so funny. This morning my son and I were driving in the car and the song Rainbow Connection came on the Kermit the Frog song and I was like, oh my gosh, I think that's important for me. There's the rainbow connection, right Like we all have a rainbow within our energetic selves and they you know the colors that we are conveying are telling a story about us.

Heather: 15:35

And so I associate the colors that I see, either through my intuition or through my clairsentience or through my synesthesia, with the rainbow right With the chakras, or through my synesthesia, with the rainbow right With the chakras.

Heather: 15:49

And so when I am seeing a color for somebody, it's showing me which chakra it's aligned with and then whether it is out of balance or underbalanced. And then when I do a painting for somebody, the color that comes through is intended to be healing for them, because it's offering them some method of healing or some sort of modality of healing for that chakra that needs the most support. So, for example, if I'm seeing somebody who's dwelling in a grief space and they come through to me as like a light blue gray and I use this example a lot because I think a lot of people are in a grief space and they don't quite even know, then the prescriptive color for them might be a bright orange, because that's going to be uplifting and energizing and it's going to help to kind of pull them up out of that grayish tone into something that's going to be brighter and more supportive of healing or getting out into the world in a different way.

Rose: 16:47

Yeah, as you were saying that I love what you said. "We all have a rainbow within our energetic self and that you draw from that, yeah, so, so I want to talk about then, if I can pause here and talk about the soul portrait you did for me, because I was thinking about that as you're talking about healing, and as you're talking I did hear in my head the word grief, and then you mentioned grief. Then I thought about the soul portrait. So you did a portrait for me. I didn't know what to expect and when I saw it it was the most beautiful, beautiful thing I've ever seen on paper the colors, and it just resonated with me so much and I'm thinking about just right now in my mind the first time I saw it and it looked like this beautiful big rose and the colors were a lot of pink and magenta and I've recently been really drawn to pink and I'm wearing pink today purposely.

Rose: 17:44

And I never liked pink growing up. I was, you know I didn't. I'm an orange girl. I love orange, I love the passion of that color and that liveliness. But pink is also very healing for me because I've had a lot of grief with my mom dying early and I've had breast cancer which is pink.

Rose: 18:01

I've always like kind of pushed away that whole pink ribbon thing. I'm like, oh, I don't want to see that, because it reminds me. So now I'm embracing it and you validated that for me by showing me all these beautiful colors in this big beautiful picture of this rose with some gold, and I wish I can show the listeners but I will put it on my website as well and it did represent something that you you said to me that you're birthing something. There was almost like a birth canal there and it does represent some things that I'm working on, that I have been working on.

Rose: 18:38

So, yeah, so it was amazing how what you were telling me during this session and we've never met, we met briefly before just to chit chat about the show you really hit upon a lot of things and it just blew me away. I was just really fascinated, and the way I'm going to use this is I'm going to hang it up blew me away. I was just really fascinated, and the way I'm going to use this is I'm going to hang it up in my office right in front of me and meditate on that. It's going to be part of my daily meditation. So you talked earlier about when you're doing a portrait like this, you can sense I'm sure you sense it with me and with that other person blocks in their energy. Talk a little bit about how that shows up for you when you're scanning a person's energy. Yeah, yeah.

Heather: 19:30

So thank you for well, number one, thank you for sharing that about your portrait, because it really is beautiful, like you, and that vibrant pink that you're wearing now, I think, supports your heart and that supports the higher love energy. So I think it's just affirming that you're open to receiving all of that the universe has to offer, which is just a beautiful thing, so I love that.

Rose: 19:52

Thank you for showing that to me. I appreciate that.

Heather: 19:55

Absolutely. I love that. I love the way that color ministers to us. I think that when I'm so, the reading of the chakras is fairly new for me, because it used to be that I would just look at somebody and get two to three colors on the spot and I would kind of go, okay, those are the colors, and then here's your portrait.

Heather: 20:11

But now it's sort of opening up a bit more where, if I can really scan somebody and look, look within each one, I'll see a symbol within the chakra. And then I'll kind of go, okay, what's that symbol, you know? And so I'm building my symbol dictionary a little bit, and and there are some symbols where I'll go I, you know, I don't really know what this is, does this make sense to you? And I'm trying to, you know, affirm, does that resonate with you? Do you connect to the symbol? And then I'll kind of get to go, oh, okay, well, now I know what this means.

Heather: 20:42

So it's been kind of nice to put that together. But that's sort of what I do is I'll sort of scan and go, okay, what's the color, what's the symbol, and then what story is the whole rainbow, you know, sort of showing me? And then, if there are chakras where I don't see anything, it's either that there's something blocking that one or that they're not quite ready to use whatever that chakra is representative of. For example, if I don't see anything at the sacral chakra, then they may not be somebody who's ready to express themselves creatively, emotionally, sexually, or just not really fully connected to the essence of the sacral chakra.

Rose: 21:22

Yeah, that's kind of very similar to how I do work with Reiki. Is you sense those blocks, you know when you're going over those chakras and you start to get an impression of what that block is associated with?

Heather: 21:39

Yeah, yeah, I was just thinking. That's very similar to Reiki, If you really kind of. If you're thinking about, like, holding your hands energetically over the center and seeing will that energy flow or will it be blocked? I think that that's similar very similar.

Rose: 21:52

It's so powerful, the power of energy. I just wish I could draw and do the portraits that you do. Maybe I'll try one day. I'll have to come to one of your workshops. Yeah, have you noticed any changes in your artistic style or approach as you do more of this work? So you just started talking about the symbols. Is there anything else that has changed or transformed?

Heather: 22:21

Yeah, I think, you know, at the very beginning, when I was painting, I was very open to just letting it flow and, very much like you know, I would sort of let the paint do what it wanted to do and step out of the way. And then for a little while I noticed that I really wanted to try to control what it looked like or, to you know, to make it look a certain way. And then things started to go bad. It was like I was not, you know, I think for one person I was not willing to accept whatever the message was, and I think I did her portrait maybe seven times and finally I said you know, get out of the way, just do the portrait whatever it is, just let it be. And it looked exactly the same as all the others but it was the way.

Heather: 23:27

Let's do our thing, you know.

Rose: 23:28

Yeah, it's amazing how we try to control that, you know, and just opening up and allowing spirit to guide you, it happens more fluidly.

Heather: 23:40

It does, it does yeah.

Rose: 23:42

Anyone ever ask you to identify or like they come to you with a specific issue. Like you know, I'm I'm a relationship issue. Can you help me out with that or anything like emotionally related?

Heather: 23:57

Yeah, that's a good question too. I think that, um, so I'm remembering back to like color consultations I've done with people. So they'll come to me and say I am trying to attract a partner into my life, what do I need to do for that? And I'll go, okay, well, let's talk about what colors you have in your home, like, what color do you have in your bedroom? Um, and and so I'll kind of like dig into the color meaning.

Heather: 24:20

Um, in this particular case, this person needed to have more pink in their bedroom because pink is going to attract that love color. Um, it's a little bit like feng shui and color and chakras and all the things cause energetically. It's all very similar, um, so in some cases it's like well, do you have things in your room that represent pairs? You know, do you have two nightstands or do you just have one? Do you have any pink in your bedroom? Do you have, you know, things like that?

Heather: 24:51

So we would kind of consult on it and then I would help pick out paint colors for for them to use in their home. That would offer them some calming energy, some openness to love, some, maybe a little pops of orange to open up and awaken that safe role. So we've done some of that to help support the intention that they're trying to draw. And then, you know you just made me think in my Facebook group on Sundays I didn't do it yesterday, but I should probably do it today I'll say like what's your intention for the week ahead, what are you trying to create this week, or what's your one word goal? And then they'll tell me their goal, and then I'll tell them what color will go with that, so that they can intentionally use that color this week to sort of you know, attract to themselves whatever intention.

Rose: 25:39

I love that?

Heather: 25:40

What is the name of your Facebook group? It's called the color club, so that you can use your soul portrait the same way. So so take so.

Rose: 25:52

So what can? What can we do with the soul portraits? We can wear colors, right.

Heather: 25:58

Yep, yes, exactly, you can wear the color, you can put it or you can surround yourself with the color, you can eat the color if the food exists right, and you can meditate with the color too. So I think this is something that I'm working on. Developing now is sort of like intentional meditations with color, if you're trying to create or manifest a particular kind of energy, learning how to, how to visualize that color around you so that you are are working with it. Um, because it every. I don't think we're aware all the time that all the colors that we wear or surround ourselves with are both communicating to us and ministering to us in some way. Um, and there's something really important about that, and I think everything communicates and ministers to us, like music, like art, like color, like anything that we can see, feel and experience is telling us something, and I think when you become aware of how it's communicating to you, then you can start to harness it in a productive way.

Rose: 27:01

Absolutely. I can't agree with you more. And it's okay to wear those darker colors, that if you're feeling you need to do some shadow work and wear those. I'm not a big fan of wearing white, because I just am not. But maybe I need to figure out why and incorporate more white to see what happens. But I was thinking also crystals, or different colored crystals represent the chakras and you can surround I love crystals, so you can surround yourself with crystals. And then you know, does a person's color scape? I'm going to use color scape, but does it change? Can it change scape? I'm going to use color scape, but does it change? Can it change? Let's say, a year from now or three months from now, and you know, someone may want another soul portrait or they can identify. They start to see that they're resonating with different colors. Do people come back and have new soul portraits done?

Heather: 27:51

yeah, they do, they do. It's interesting, like the color that I see for somebody is kind of like a snapshot in time, and so I would say within a couple of months, six months to a year, there's probably a new opportunity to choose to see things in a different color. A lot of people will go through color phases, you know. You're like, oh, I'm in a pink phase or I'm in a green phase. I remember a long time ago we were planning to move from New Jersey down to North Carolina and yellow came in really strongly for me. It was like I couldn't get enough yellow and at the time I didn't know what yellow meant, but I noticed it. So I was kind of like, oh, wow, I'm really drawn to yellow now. What does that mean? But that was representing a huge shift in identity, a huge change in where we were living, where we were working, what we were doing. So yellow is showing up strongly to say like, to hold up a sign, to say like identity shift happening, and that's fascinating to watch that happen for people too.

Rose: 28:53

And it's important to to note that because I know, because of this pink attraction I'm having, I was like I want to paint my office pink. And then I know, if I do that, in a couple of months I'll be like maybe I should paint it something else, because pink may not be the color I love at the time. I'm just I need it now. You know, I'm creating this relationship with this color pink right now, so I'm trying to figure out how it's it's helping me. When you showed me that portrait and you just and like I said you didn't know anything about me, you just showed me this pink I'm like, wow, I'm still, I'm still amazed. Oh, it's great, I love this stuff. You had a previous life. You were in HR, in HR right. So you had a previous life. You were in HR right. So you did the corporate thing. I know you're a mom as well, so I love how people can change direction and pivot, like you did, because you're doing something you love. So talk a little bit about that whole story.

Heather: 29:57

Yeah, that was, I think, one of those things that my friends and close family will look at me and go I can't believe you did that right, like because I was just you know the HR gal I was, you know getting my certifications. I got my certification in coaching and I had done really well for myself in HR is working for creative companies but I just felt like I'm fulfilled in some way and I think I had been searching for different things that I felt like were going to make me feel more creative or more inspired or just kind of bolster me to sort of get through the day. But it wasn't enough. And when I started working with a spiritual teacher and I started really kind of reconnecting back to that I'll say inner child, right, because I think our gifts show up when we're young.

Heather: 30:43

You know, little Heather was an artist. You know she loved music, she loved to draw and paint. She loved I minored in art, like that was always there for me. I was really curious about color.

Heather: 30:53

Honestly, even as a little kid I wanted to change my room all the time and so it kind of got to this point where I was like this doesn't feel good to me anymore and I don't feel like I'm going to survive it. It was like stress, you know, stress inducing and all those things. And so I started painting again and I started to sort of like make plans in my mind for how to transition out of corporate and to do my work full time. And then the universe showed up one day with both an art show and a promotion on the same day. It was kind of like what do you want? So I had to choose and so I chose to go down this path and I'm really happy that I did. It's been hard, it's been very hard, I think, um choosing this path, that's so, um, I would say like different. If so, um, you know not what traditional exactly.

Heather: 31:51

Yeah, that has been so different, but, um, but I honestly don't think I would have survived that traditional um HR world anymore. It was just beating. It was just beating me up. So, you know, it is hard to be an artist, it is hard to be a business owner, it is hard to be a mom and a wife and to have to manage the mental load of all of those things. But I'd much rather be, I would say, like stressed by this kind of stress than by the other kind of stress, because I get to, you know, show up each day and work on being my most authentic self and work on trying to offer healing and peace for people. And I know that when I do a portrait for you, there's just as much healing in it for me as there is for you, and so that's the kind of thing that I really appreciate is being able to offer that to people who, you know, get a portrait to teach them about color, and it also helps support me too.

Rose: 32:50

Well said, beautifully said. I love that and I am going to highlight that in many, many, many social platforms as I can, Because what you said resonated with me very much. I was also in HR and then had my twins and I couldn't go back and I had missed it. But I knew deep down inside I had other callings. I didn't know what they were and I was always very creative as well. But you know, I went down the healing path of learning Reiki and being a yoga teacher and I always wanted to be a journalist when I was a child, since, oh my God, for years I wrote for papers and I wanted to be a work in broadcasting and at the time there weren't a lot of women. But now I'm doing this, the podcasting, and I'm healing people and helping people. So it happens when it's supposed to happen.

Heather: 33:48

Right, right. I love that so much.

Rose: 33:50

Yeah, and when you said you show up as your most authentic self, that's how we all want to show up in the world. So that's a great message for people. All want to show up in the world. So that's a great message for people, for women, for men, anyone out there that is struggling with where they are and I know everyone can't just, you know, maybe quit their job and do something like this. There's this financial. You know the financial part of it as well, but you can always plant those little seeds and and see what, what grows from them yeah I really appreciate you sharing that, that story, that was great I love that.

Rose: 34:27

As far as who can benefit from your art and intuitive guidance, you uh many people, right? So not just women, men, even children yeah right yeah do you ever do any for pets? I did do pet Talk about that, because we have a lot of pet lovers out there.

Heather: 34:46

Yes, I did that a couple years ago. I want to say it was like right at the start of the pandemic I was like let's do some pet spirit portraits and see what happens. So people would send me pictures of their beautiful, you know, fur babies and I would do an energetic portrait for them. And they were. They were so amazing because they were all upper chakras, they were all like third eye crown colors for pets because they offer this unconditional love and acceptance for us. That really were just beautiful, sparkly, lovely portraits for them.

Heather: 35:22

I've done them for people who've passed away, in memory of people, which has been really interesting too, because I think when people have transitioned they offer such a different perspective on things and often their portraits are like seven, eight different colors that come through, which is really remarkable. So yeah, like seven, eight different colors that come through, which is really remarkable. So yeah, anybody can really benefit from seeing what color their energy is. And just I, like the reaction that you had when you saw yours is very much what people they do. They kind of go oh, exactly, and there's something that like seeing themselves in a color or seeing themselves represented as spirit on paper. They kind of are like I am beautiful and I'm like, yes, you are. You know, it's just like a. It's a very healing, loving experience to see yourself that way, I think, to see us as a higher power sees us yeah, yeah, something as other, this physical form.

Rose: 36:22

When we look in the mirror we're not happy to see all the time. Yeah, yeah, you know, or even in our thoughts and in our minds.

Rose: 36:28

And when you look at a portrait like that, like that first vision of it, it's there's such a pause and it's almost as if like time stood still and I was trying to just reach into it or have that come into me. And it was over Zoom, because you shared me over Zoom and I was like I wanted it, I wanted it to be a part of me and when I got it in the mail the other day I was, oh my God, I was just, it was very ritualistic when I opened it up and I took it out and it just I relived that whole experience again, seeing it for the first time.

Rose: 37:03

I love that. Yeah, it was just amazing. I love how you've done it for pets. I really love also how you've done it for people that have passed A lot of people you know that need healing, need to connect sometimes with people who have passed and having that portrait that once again represents them, but at a different level or different realm, is really powerful. You know it's healing, maybe even for the person that passed.

Heather: 37:37

Yeah, yeah, that's so true and I think sometimes we have trouble, like you said, looking at a physical picture or looking at ourselves in the mirror sometimes, but seeing it represented as just a beautiful, abstract, colorful, sparkly painting makes you just appreciate that memory or that experience in such a different way.

Rose: 37:58

Have you ever created your own soul portrait.

Heather: 38:01

Oh my gosh no.

Rose: 38:04

I don't what. Okay, now you need to, and you were going to. We're going to showcase that one, cause I'm curious. Oh, that's so interesting.

Heather: 38:13

I feel like every piece I do is sort of autobiographical in a way. I think that there are parts of me in each painting. And what's really interesting is I think that sometimes when we create whether we write or we make music or we make art sometimes we look at it and we don't like what we see or hear and we're like, oh, it's just not good enough or it's just not not whatever or what have you. And for me, what I've learned, especially with my abstract paintings with brushes, is that my marks are really rigid and sharp and sometimes they're really tight, and I have had to learn to love my mark making.

Heather: 38:56

And I think that that's really symbolic. I think for a lot of people that you have to learn to love your mark making, even if it's not what you expected it to look like, because it's just what comes out of you naturally. And so sometimes when I'm painting, if I see that mark making, I'm like, oh all right, well, that's just me, that's just how I make my marks and how I leave my marks, and that's fine.

Rose: 39:21

Why are we so hard on ourselves? I do the same thing when I'm going through the audio of this. You know I edit and I'm like, oh, I don't like the way I sound, or why did I do that, why did I say that? And so, editing out these little blurbs here and there once in a while a lot, yeah, and I think it's just part of a condition that we've been through and and we want to do well and we want others to say, hey, you're doing a great job or that's beautiful. But yeah, we all have flaws, and I'm not saying your markers are flaws, but we're not perfect. And I don't know if that's something that women feel maybe women my generation or women in general that there's this sort of I feel imperfect or I have moments of imperfection, I don't look perfect, and we need to soften those edges, you know, and not not be like that so much because then I think that blocks our potential it's exactly right.

Heather: 40:26

That's exactly right. I feel like there's so much potential in me just loving the mark making right. If you just love love the way that you work, if you love the way that you sound, if you just find this place of unconditional love and acceptance for yourself. There's so much on the other side of that that's powerful and beautiful and wonderful. But you kind of have to get over that judgmental mark making side.

Rose: 40:53

I love that. We all need a little guidance more than others, and that's the work that you're doing. You're helping people on here's your, here's your yellow brick road or here's your, here's your, here's your Emerald city. Go for it Exactly. Think about Wizard of Oz. It was all full of it, was all colored, color technicolor movie.

Heather: 41:16

First one, it was beautifuly there's a lot of color in there a lot of colors and they represent.

Rose: 41:25

We can do a whole color analysis on the wizard of oz I know my friend keeps telling me to do that.

Heather: 41:31

She's like you need to do a color corner where you just talk about the color symbolism in a movie or the color symbolism in this and I'm like, oh, that's great oh, very that's, I love that I want to be part of that, um, what advice do you have, um, for anyone who is an artist or wants to explore this type?

Rose: 41:55

I know not everyone can have that has the synest, but there are people who are artists out there and any advice to give them on how to explore art more intuitively?

Heather: 42:10

Yeah.

Heather: 42:11

My friend Emily I can't take credit for this because she's told me this before, but she says when I get stuck on something, to stop trying to make art with a capital A and make art with a lowercase a, and I think that gives you permission to sort of play a little bit and explore and, you know, just experiment with different ways of making art where there's no intention of showing it, selling it or sharing it with anybody.

Heather: 42:36

You're just making art for yourself, and I think that gives it time to breathe and I think it gives it time to just sort of like communicate with you what it wants to be and then then you can start to make the art that you feel really strongly about.

Heather: 42:53

So I feel like you know that like playing with art and letting it sort of tell you what it wants is, you know that like playing with art and letting it sort of tell you what it wants is is a really good way to just connect intuitively. Um, or, and another thing I like to do with people is to say okay, if you want to, um, be more intuitive, what do you want to let go of? What do you want to attract to you, and kind of close your eyes and go what does that look like, what color does it feel like, what shape does it feel like, and put that on the canvas and then if you want to attract abundance or love, okay, what color does that look like, what shape does that look like Then that helps you sort of express and connect to yourself more intuitively too.

Rose: 43:37

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense and even if you don't use colors, you can just do with a pencil and draw.

Heather: 43:42

Yeah.

Rose: 43:43

Yeah, I did that once. I did it was like a spirit guide portrait and I said, you know, I want to try this and I just meditated and I connected with my guides and then I just started drawing and I drew this person who I'm assuming could be a spirit guide or an ancestor, but I was like it really looked like a person, awesome. I was like, wow, it's really really cool. Yeah, because I've heard people doing that. There's people who are, they just tune out and they almost they channel, they channel.

Heather: 44:14

Yeah.

Rose: 44:15

Yeah, which is kind of what you're doing. In a way, you're channeling the energy as well, uh, connecting with the energy, but also using your, your, your gift of this and, I want to say it again, synesthesia to create this, these healing portraits, these soul portraits. That's fabulous. Is there anything else you wanted to share? Oh, I do want to. I have another question. Yeah, how do you do you disconnect from people at the end, like you know how you, you know, for for us, as reiki healers or healers, like I usually kind of sweep my energy or try to disconnect because we're tuning into their space. Is there something that you do like a ritual?

Heather: 44:55

um, that's a great question. So I'm not very good at that and I've had to start to build more of a practice around that, because if I go and do a spirit portrait party where there's like 12 people that I'm doing portraits for, I come home completely wiped out and I have to kind of figure out how to slough that off. So I usually like take a shower or light some sage or Palo Santo and try to clear my energy field. But I will start to do that more to disconnect so that I can. I think that probably happens naturally when I disconnect from the portrait, but I don't have a particular ritual around it that I probably should build one.

Rose: 45:35

Yeah, I think just being aware of you start to sense that your energy is not your own, yeah, and that it feels heavy.

Rose: 45:42

I think the shower thing is important and the sage, but just, you know, just creating this system or mechanism that you can just like.

Rose: 45:51

You know, maybe one of the actually one of the techniques that I use and I share with people I taught and I can't take credit for this I was taught this was rainbow energy tornado, yeah, so you picture a rainbow tornado and then you just sweep it over all around you outside your aura or around your aura, inside, all over, all the way down to the ground, let it go to the ground and so that, and you can do that all over all the way down to the ground. Let it go to the ground and so that, and you can do that all over your property, your own space, because your energy, their energy, is in your art space, and just do that rainbow energy as a protection and a clearing oh, I love that I know cool right I see the rainbow tornado in my head too yes, yes, so it's a, it's um, it's a nice way to connect, to disconnect the energy, to sweep out any anybody's stuff.

Heather: 46:45

So even your own, yeah great I love that is.

Rose: 46:49

Is there anything else you wanted to add? I know I'm going to do all the show notes, uh, the links in the show notes about you and and how they can find you, your soul portraits, um, do you want to add anything else?

Heather: 47:03

yeah, do you want me to say anything about the um, where they can find me on instagram or anything?

Rose: 47:08

yeah, you can now, and then I will put in the show notes as well, and I think you said you offer. You wanted to mention something about the discount code yeah, um.

Heather: 47:16

So I love to connect with people on instagram and socials and my tag there is at Heather Eck artist and I also have a special discount for your listeners where they can get 25% off a spirit portrait with me using the code podcast, and they can get that at Heather Eck dot com slash, thank you.

Rose: 47:35

Yeah, that's great, and your websites are beautiful and you do showcase, or you show, some of your artwork.

Heather: 47:44

I know you had one out there of Taylor Swift which I thought was really cool. Oh yeah, I like Taylor, it's beautiful.

Rose: 47:47

Thank you. You are going to just continue to do what you're doing and I know you're growing and evolving and you're really getting your work out there and it's very life-changing, I know, for me it just did something. I had such a shift in myself when I saw that and I want to thank you for that. And thank you for being here today doing what you do and being this beautiful, colorful light that you are. Thank you so much.

Heather: 48:28

Thank you so much, I appreciate you.

Rose: 48:35

Thank you for joining me here on Chat Off the Mat. I hope these stories have inspired you. If you've enjoyed this episode, please share it with those who might benefit. Your support helps me spread awareness about the power of transformative healing. Stay connected with me on social media. Reach out with your own healing stories or topics you'd like me to explore in future episodes. Your voice is an essential part of this community. I hope that your healing journey is filled with self-discovery, curiosity, resilience and the unwavering belief in the power that resides within you. Until next time, I'm Rose Whippage, wishing you a journey filled with love, laughter and endless possibilities.