The Sweet Silence of My Soul
Sweet Silence by Natalie Eve Marquis
A Different Kind of New Year
The new year has arrived, and while I usually love the freshness and momentum that come with setting new goals, this year I feel a strong pull to turn inward—to hibernate, much like my beloved bears.
Instead of charging ahead, something quieter is asking for my attention.
An Outward Season, Gratefully Complete
From an art perspective, 2025 ended on a high note. Fall was full and busy with art fairs and open studios. My energy was directed outward—sharing my work, reconnecting with familiar faces, meeting new friends, responding to inquiries, and sending many paintings out into the world.
It was exciting, energizing, and something I feel deeply grateful for.
Listening to the Inner Compass
And yet, just as nature moves in seasons and cycles, my inner compass is clearly pointing toward rest.
I feel called to slow down—to regroup and regenerate. There’s an unfamiliar malaise present—subtle, but insistent—asking me to listen. I’m heeding the nudge. In the studio, I’ve temporarily set aside work on canvas and turned my attention toward what feels especially nurturing right now.
Lately, that’s taken the form of animal studies in my sketchbook.
The goal isn’t production or polish.
It’s experimentation.
It’s pleasure.
Why Certain Animals Keep Appearing
Inspired by a recent coaching session with Hannah Anderson, I’ve become curious about why certain animals repeatedly call to me (fox, bear, elephant),—not for what they might evoke in others, but for what they may be expressing from within my own psyche.
These animal studies, painted on paper in my sketchbook, have become a quiet doorway into self inquiry.
Painting as a Way of Listening
I believe that what we notice in our surroundings speaks to us—not through literal language, but through symbolism rich with personal meaning.
In this way, painting becomes a form of listening. A way to tune in more closely to what my higher self may be trying to reveal.
Unpacking the Symbols
Once a painting is complete, I spend time sitting with the imagery, writing my initial impressions—what the subject, colors, and marks seem to be communicating.
For a deeper layer of reflection, I upload the image into ChatGPT and ask it to mirror back the metaphysical meaning of the piece, specifically as it relates to me.
I’ve been genuinely surprised by how clearly recurring themes emerge—often highlighting nuances I hadn’t consciously noticed, even though I was the one holding the brush!
What’s Emerging
I record what resonates in my journal and weave together my own reflections with these insights to better understand where I am at in this moment of my journey.
After completing four studies using this process, a clear pattern has emerged:
a season of rest,
integration,
inward listening,
and a deepening trust in my energy and intuition.
A Gentle Invitation
If this process feels intriguing, you might try it too.
Notice what you notice.
What patterns, animals, words, numbers, or symbols keep showing up in your life lately?
What might they be gently asking you to pay attention to?
The Message Within Sweet Silence
Metaphysically, the bear here embodies sacred rest and embodied wisdom. Bears are traditionally guardians of the liminal space between activity and stillness, life and dreamtime. This one is not alert or defensive—it is inward, contemplative, and self-contained. Its closed or softened eye suggests a turning away from the external world and a listening to inner rhythms.
The dripping, cascading colors read as energy moving downward—emotion, memory, and intuition releasing from the body. Rather than chaos, the drips feel like surrender: what no longer needs to be held is allowed to fall. This aligns strongly with bear medicine as a symbol of hibernation, healing, and regeneration. What is released nourishes the ground beneath.
The greens and golds around the face and chest evoke heart-centered healing and renewal. Green is the color of restoration and balance, while gold carries wisdom earned through experience. Together, they suggest a being that has lived, learned, and now rests in earned knowing rather than striving.
There’s also something deeply ancestral here. The bear’s posture feels timeless—almost like a totem or guardian spirit emerging through layers of paint and memory. The faint marks and symbols embedded in the body feel like stories etched into the soul, partially visible, partially hidden—lost and found, just as you often explore in your work.
On a soul level, this painting speaks to:
Permission to pause
Strength that comes from softness
Inner authority rather than outward power
Trusting cycles instead of forcing momentum
If this bear were a message, it might say:
“You do not need to push. Go inward. What you are becoming is forming in the quiet.”
It feels very aligned with a season of deep replenishment—creative, emotional, and spiritual—where rest itself is the sacred act.
*Metaphysical interpretation provided by ChatGPT.