Beauty Of The Arts

Imam Ali once said, “be like the flower that vies its fragrance to even the hand that crushes it.”

We humans are like seeds. We belong to the garden. ‘But of what garden?’ we ask. ‘From what planting?’

We admit to pondering little about the matter of our growth in this Earthly garden. We barely discern the seed-like nature of ourselves; that the outer-life is a flower or husk, protecting or concealing our fragile inner life, an embryo of a new being-ness. Both pod and flower have a part to play if the whole self is ever to be born.

We search for ways to harmonize these often quarrelsome aspects. Will we ever succeed? If not, the difficult task of bearing new life onto the planet, life and vision and will, is bound to fail, with seeds falling on fallow ground.

Traditions also speak of the…

Friends, the expression on this yellow-rumped warbler appears as though he is mad.  I think it is the white eyebrows, but loved the feather details so excuse the extreme crop.  He was only a few feet away but he is a very small birdie.  A disclaimer, this was shot last spring with my old lens 100-400 mm Canon so I am comparing these results with the new telephoto 150-600 mm, I like the new lens better. til Tomorrow MJ

A new picture but the same subject…BOKEH!  I can’t help myself.  I focused on the olive tree once again and made sure the car reflections were positioned “strategically” in the frame.  This time I tried to make an artful image of it.

Bokeh Moon

Today it is pouring rain, there is a severe thunderstorm watch in effect, the skies are dark and dreary; the air feels heavy, ominous.

Today is a day for battening down the hatches, curling up in a snug blanket while waiting for the storm to pass.

I feel like this is my life as of late, always waiting for the storm to pass. During these storms, these daily battles I use painting as my comforting blanket, my solace.

Here is an owl painting that was constructed while I worried endlessly about my life; it brought me calm and chipped away at my feelings of helplessness. I painted this owl on a highly textured background; I fought the paint against the bumpy road of the surface, like I am fighting against the bumpy road of my current state of affairs.

Today it is pouring rain, it is dark and dreary, thankfully, tomorrow’s…

What would you like to become? I think about this most every day. I feel as though I am in a fairly constant state of being and transforming. I am always looking for the next new idea or experience. Not content to be still for very long I love being aware. It makes me feel alive and engaged. At times I am still and I contemplate what it all means and then I am off again. My artwork today is a representation of my latest leg on my journey. An extreme indication of a creative mind. I am compelled to visually extract my lessons into a physical realm and here they sit waiting for an unsuspecting viewer to wander by 🙂

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