Urban Contemplation: 13 – The French Quarter
The city series….
There is always music in the French Quarter
A journey in the French Quarter through a landscape of sound, imagery, and fine cuisine.
At Every Corner the Noise of Our Thoughts Intersect
The city series….
Sometimes the noise of our thoughts take us places we can no longer go
Illuminating the intersections of our lives….
When you arrive naturally at a state of meditation, inspired by the View, you can remain there for a long time without any distraction or special effort. There is nothing called “meditation” to protect or sustain, for you are in the natural flow of the wisdom of Rigpa. And you realize when you are in it that is how it has always been, and is. When the wisdom of Rigpa shines, not one shadow of doubt can remain, and a deep, complete understanding arises, effortlessly and directly.
This moment is the moment of awakening. A profound sense of humor wells up from within, and you smile in amusement at how inadequate were all your former concepts and ideas about the nature of mind. – Rigpa Glimpse of the Day
Sometimes when we are distracted by the noise of our thoughts, we can look within; to the light that illuminates and frees us. Knowing that at every corner, every self examination is the opportunity to renew our perception of the world around us and the thoughts that govern our relationships. – Walter W Smith
Urban Contemplation: 10 – Music for Entangled Thoughts – Lawrence English & Ai Yamamoto
The city series….
Music for Entangled Thoughts
http://youtu.be/gy1C5Jj6zNQ – Lawrence English & Ai Yamamoto – Plateau 2007
Detail of entangled thoughts and attached emotions
Where the Entanglement of Our Thoughts and Emotions Reside
The city series….
The ambiguity of a certain step
life and stolen moments….
where things are taken away
and given back with bated breath
while we intrepidly
hesitatingly
transcend the mundane
where things are like yesterday
and in every breath
life is given hope
like tomorrow’s dream….
the American dream
in the illusion of timelessness
where things are the same
on either side
of the entangled thought
and attached emotion
where the city sleeps
at the crossing of life and liberation
Everywhere I looked the City Hosted the Old-Timey Bikes
The city series….
A biking city is a beautiful city
a city
a bike
and streets to explore
we’re downtown
and all around
by the river
on the pier
stopping for art
ipod in ears
moving there
nestled here
we love the journey
yours and mine
with personal finds
a city
a bike
as one….
Across the River There’s A Place Not Far From Here
The city series….
The bridge that takes us there
it’s there just beyond my reach
a bridge to cross
yesterday I am here
in a present moment
happiness
tomorrow I am there
in a dream to share
ambiguity
across the river
on either side
it’s just the same
nowhere
now
here….
a place not far from myself
Urban Contemplation: 09 – Music in the Streets – Painting in the Air
The city series….
The sounds of the streets and the color of music
color takes a form
finding it
only takes
a moment
to listen
hearing the blue
seeing the red
feeling the glow
of fair music
painting in the air
….
sounds flow like palettes
of greens and yellows
just sitting
by you
feeling mellow
listening
smiling
and hearing colors…
and knowing
it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood
Urban Contemplation: 08 – Art Work Ahead
The city series….
Art work ahead on the city streets
Finding the way through the narrow streets
searching for the deeper sentiment
of thought
of ideas
drifting block by block
glancing right
turning left
hoping to find
colors that speak
forms that convey
it’s a beautiful day
a wonderful life
finding art everywhere
inside and out
where there is work ahead
on the city streets
All I Ask Is That I Am Allowed To Have A Voice
The beauty of art in all its various disciplines is the formulation of ideas. At the core of those ideas is a social, historical, political, and creative construct that merges our identity with our life experience.
All I ask is that I am allowed to have a voice….
I have a voice ... I have hope ... I have you to listen
why do i have a voice
is it to liberate
illuminate
educate
or
bring together the gathering of
ideas
dreams
consciousness
do I dance to give voice
paint to give voice
act to give voice
react to give voice
how am i heard
listen
and tell me
for
your voice whispers to me….
Tell me what your voice means to you. How do you express and connect with the inner longing of your dreams; the ideas that keep you up at night; the need to share something, everything with everyone you meet?
This post is inspired by the voice of Bill T. Jones / Choreographer, Dancer and Artistic Director
Share your voice….
The Dreams We Seek Descend Like the Colors Purple Blue and White
A dream is like a palette of colors we sleep with every night….
Dreaming in purple and blue
Moments that follow you everywhere are like the dreams that wake you from sleep….
The Granite Wall of Thoughts Still Remain
I look out beyond my surroundings only to find the granite wall of thoughts … leaving me perplexed….
It is in my thoughts that I face myself
Standing at the edge of everything … my back against the wall….
A Granite Wall of Thoughts
Sometimes we want to see things, but the granite wall of thoughts obscure our desires….
It's a granite wall of thoughts with green dreams
Moments Descend On My Mind Like White Red and Yellow Colors
Often the thoughts in color are just shaded in white….
Moments in thought
The Silence in Transformation
Towards the transformation that your Mind can see….
The act or process of transforming somebody or something.
Transformation 01
Transformation 02
One powerful way to evoke compassion, and to transform is to think of others as exactly the same as you.
“All human beings are the same—made of human flesh, bones, and blood. We all want happiness and want to avoid suffering. Further, we have an equal right to be happy. In other words, it is important to realize our sameness as human beings.” – Dalai Lama
Transformation 03
Transformation 04
when the View is constant
the flow of Rigpa unfailing
and the merging of the two luminosities continuous and spontaneous
all possible delusion is liberated at its very root
and your entire perception arises, without a break, as Rigpa – Sogyal Rinpoche
Transformation 05
Transformation 06
Do not make the mistake of imagining that the nature of mind is exclusive only to our minds. It is in fact the nature of everything. It can never be said too often that to realize the nature of mind is to realize the nature of all things. – Sogyal Rinpoche
Transformation 07
Transformation 08
Moving through the transformation that the Heart can feel….
Transformation 09: Heart
How Do You Negotiate Your Time Between the Things You Love
Searching for that time, seeing it just beyond the window….
Finding the time for things we love
Do you ever feel like time is slipping by, and the things you love are being left behind? And do you find you must choose between one thing and the other because of the lack of time?
Well over the past year I have found that I must negotiate my time wisely if I am to achieve some of my goals as an artist and pursue my love of outdoor adventure. During this fall period when the weather is so nice, I long for those exciting treks up and around the mountains of South and North Carolina. Yes, the mountains are calling, but then too is the late nights in my studio—in front of my computer, creating art, developing ideas, and writing.
What is one to do? My work schedule provides me with very little time for my personal activities. If I stay up late until 3 or 4 a.m., I do not have the energy for early rising and working out. The choices we make because of limited time, energy, and work schedules all play an important part in how we approach the things we love. A solution that I have found is to break up these different interests into separate yearly periods. With one activity being the most dominate. The past year my personal emphasis has been on my art, website and art blog with a minor contribution to outdoor activities. Instead of the daily schedule of work-outs (that I was consistent with 2 years ago), I opted for the big one day adventures such as all day biking, caving, zip-lining, and long hikes. As I approach 2012 and the New Year, I hope to perhaps find a strong 50/50 mix that includes gym workouts, outdoor adventures such as rock climbing, kayaking and perhaps even sky diving, while simultaneously furthering my artistic endeavors.
Do you find it difficult to juggle the things you love? How do you negotiate your time? Have your thought about 2012 and how to get the most out the New Year?
What do you think?
After the Inward Journey – Discovery
The human mind cannot create anything. It produces nothing until after having been fertilized by experience and meditation; its acquisitions are the gems of its production. – George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon
Creation is such an elusive thing, for the more we think we are in control, the more we remove ourselves from the actual creation. –Betty Jean Billups
After the inward journey there is a world of discovery
Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way. – Edward de Bono
There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns. – Edward de Bono
Seeing Inward
There is no one definitive creative path. There are many ways to be creative – not only intuitive ways but organized, logical ways, too. – Theresa Bayer
Seeing inward - the path to creativity
I change many things, discard others, and try again and again until I am satisfied. Then, in my head, I begin to elaborate the work in its breadth, its narrowness, its height, its depth… I hear and see the image in front of me from every angle, as if it had been cast, and only the labour of writing it down remains. – Ludwig van Beethoven
Observing Art for the Near Future
The creative process is a cocktail of instinct, skill, culture and a highly creative feverishness. It is not like a drug; it is a particular state when everything happens very quickly, a mixture of consciousness and unconsciousness, of fear and pleasure; it’s a little like making love, the physical act of love. – Francis Bacon
Keeping the spirit of creativity alive, finding color everywhere
Creativity is a lifestyle, and ideas are the product and lifeblood of that lifestyle. – Miles G. Batt
Portrait of a Friend
memories of a friend
holds my life in place…
A friend for life and in the afterlife
Yet Another Change … A New Look 02
After some thought, and a critique from a fellow artist, who I respect highly, I came to the conclusion that I would move the look of my art blog, via the background design, to its most simplistic. Therefore, more attention is given to the writing and imagery without the possible background distraction. I seem to always like a lot of things happening in my art and its presentation, and have to at times remind myself to find the ambient space that allows for more contemplation.
Below is the art I selected for this change. The piece is from my Silence Series, and is entitled Silence 04.
Silence 04
A Thought About Meditation from Domo Geshe Rinpoche
meditation for love
Weekly Photo Challenge: Opportunity 02
I took this photo during a 1993 lecture and art exhibit of my latest work at Atlantic Community College in Mays Landing, NJ. The lecture was a demonstration of various digital processing elements for the creation of digital art and video art. It was a great opportunity to talk with the students and introduce them to digital art. In 1993 digital art was just beginning to grow as a valid artist medium to many, and I was happy to share my knowledge, take questions, and inspire these would-be artists.
In the photo a Commodore Amiga 1000 computer, Super Gen video mixer, and a Panasonic camera for scanning photographs. Yes, times have changed, and now artists have access to more sophisticated hardware and software.
Artist lecture at Atlantic Community College 1993
Weekly Photo Challenge: Opportunity
This photo goes back to 1990 and the Highwire Gallery’s visit to Deventer, Holland. It was part of an exchange with the artist group of Deventer. We were exhibiting new work in their gallery and staying the summer. While cruising through the small, quaint, artist town, I happened to come across a small shop that had a poster of our exhibit in the window. The poster is just to the left of the woman standing in the doorway. Throughout the town, residents and shop owners, displayed posters announcing the upcoming exhibit. Going to the Netherlands via this exchange of artists and ideas, was a fantastic opportunity, and one I will never forget.
The poster in the window, Deventer Holland
Urban Contemplation 07: On Either Side of that Door It’s the Same
The city series….
Towards the open door….
caught in between
feeling things folding inward
there i stand
seeing things unknown
a future with no past
a past with no ending…
caught in between
magic and lost
a guiding light
a promised home
and there i stand…
with my intangible destiny
at the crossroad of life
before…
the uncertain door….
Featured video for this post … the artist “A Dancing Beggar” and the song “Returning” from the CD “Follow the Dark as if it Were Light”.
On either side of that door it's the same
The ambiguities of life are like the opening of a door. We never know for sure what we will discover on the other side.
But one thing is certain… on either side of that door it’s the same…there’s memory and hope.
What are your thoughts? When you arrive at that “uncertain door” what is your reaction? What is your hope?
n e w d i g i t a l s c a p e s 