Following in the Footsteps of the Beatles Painting the Energy of India

Pete Caswell is a famous artist who travels the world capturing the spiritual light, love and happiness of the places we love. The wonderful subcontinent of India has been a great source spiritual joy for Pete as he traveled around this enchanting country for over 20 years. It was here that Pete learned to paint in rural India, where his first exhibitions were held and where he sold his first paintings with chocolate cake and sweet Indian tea.

 

India is a country unlike any other, chaotic, colourful and vibrant. It is the most spiritual country in the world both on the inside and the outside according to Pete. The rich tradition of spiritual hierarchy, masters, spiritual guides and organizations remain virtually intact from their origins thousands of years ago.

Sure Pete tells me, there is the usual mix of charlatans, pretenders and con men, but amongst the dust and chaos are some real and truly phenomenal places and people imbued with a hypnotic and captivating spiritual aura.

 

As well as the famous sites and temples reaching far back into ancient history, there are modern and new sites of spiritual significance developing within more recent times and they are quite amazing. Some of these place are new and fresh unlike some of the old which are strewn with karmic burdens of the crowds and all the usual trappings of a money making site. My favourite was a place called Meherabad in centre of rural India

India is a unique place. It has depths of poverty and suffering, and it has hideous extremes of wealth which are only too apparent. But this is the surface, the physical and at times overwhelming, but underneath this, and the unique mental attitude is what strikes you. You have to turn your head upside down here in order to function and drop some of your Western arrogance of mind and logical thinking.

Pete started a painting project to capture the energy of these special sites. These sites convey an extreme sense of peace, oneness and inner quality of life. The sites are uplifting, provocative and are inspirational. They can help evoke in the visitor a new sense of purpose within life and lead you in new directions.

It is spiritual India where Pete studied painting and it is here where he grounded his inspiration and honed his skills. Pete seeks the depths of Love and spiritual sanctuary in his paintings. Just like the Beatles after their famous  trip to Rishikesh Pete fills his work with the energy of this special country.

Pete’s latest painting project from India is called India Energy Paintings and they are a continuation of his previous works towards capturing the depths of life, it’s inner sanctuary and meaning which has been sought by so many throughout history. Its the focus of energy which we all strive for, to achieve happiness or more lasting inner happiness and contentment, or bliss and enlightenment.

When Pete lived in India he painted many of the Energy Paintings on the sites of significant spiritual energy. The most important of these for me was a place called Meherabad in rural central India, a beautiful estate set on the plains near Poona.

Pete says, “When I visit these sites I am in a wonderful space and my energy body dances to the tune of this uplifting and stimulating energy. When I paint the paintings at the site it is a truly wonderful experience, it is as if my mind is absorbed into the site, my spiritual energy is uplifted and the painting becomes quite automatic, fully inspired by the place and its reaction on the body. There is very little mind present in the painting and I am always quite ecstatic by the result.”

Pete was always surprised after he had painted the energy paintings many people would be drawn to visit his room to see the paintings. Even walking back to his room after painting he would have a hard job to hang onto the wet oil paintings. Many people seeing only a glimpse of the colourful work on the dirt path back to his quarters would instantly wish to buy the paintings, there and then.

Pete explained, “The paintings shone so brightly to me in the powerful Indian light I really wasn’t ready to sell them. This was a real problem. My trips to India were about selling my work at various exhibitions and here were sales knocking on the door. How could I turn them down. In the end Pete gave into the pressure and and sold some of the paintings to some of the most persistent visitors.

Many of the paintings went to spiritually aware people who had inner sight or hearing and they bought them for use as a focus for mediation to see beyond the physical. Many of these people had inner hearing, they were quite tuned into the site at Meherabad and the spiritual master who had resided there until 1969.  His tomb formed the centre of the large estate.

Living at these spiritual sites led to some unusual coincidences and meetings. People would turn up  at the door asking about a painting they needed from Pete without knowing him or the paintings in the physical world. They would say their inner spiritual guide had led them to the door. “

When people turned up at the door guided only by their inner guide to ask for a painting, it was quite hard to say no, as you couldn’t really argue with this one, it was obviously meant to be and the request was obviously coming from higher up as they had no prior physical knowledge of me or the paintings.”

After completing the energy series Pete returned to the UK. After such a long stay in India he found it a real culture shock.

When you arrive in India you get a culture shock. Then after a long stay in India you get settled in and India becomes the norm, the new reference point. When you return to the UK you get culture shock all over again. The two places are just so different, not just on the physical, but the way the mind works and the way you think is turned completely upside down.”

Pete returned to the UK with his energy paintings which were a record of his experience of the spiritual places he visited, in particular the time he lived at his favourite place, Meherabad in central India. For the next two years the Energy Paintings formed a base for a new series of paintings where he integrated the techniques and feelings he learned in India into his new series of paintings. These new paintings were based on the holiday resorts, sports and places we all love on a physical and emotional level. This would complete the circle  bringing all of the feelings of joy and happiness in the physical and the spiritual into his art.

Pete’s paintings for sale can be found on the site. The paintings from India for sale can be viewed on this link – India Paintings for sale.