EXPLORATIONS IN ART AND MINDFULNESS
Every day, priests minutely examine the Law
And endlessly chant complicated sutras.
Before doing that, though, they should learn
How to read the love letters sent by the wind
and rain, the snow and moon.
- Ikkyu, 1394-1481
Meditation.
Mindfulness is a non-conceptual experience. It watches thoughts and thinking, thus learning it does not lend itself to an intellectual approach. It is best learned in groups with an experienced teacher and success is dependent on personal practice. Learning mindfulness is very very simple, the positive effects however are dose related and require a certain effort over time very similar to exercising, learning a musical instrument or another language, although not nearly as difficult as these examples.
Painting.
Painting is an opportunity to abstract and reassemble this beautiful and poignant world in fields of color and form. I am especially attracted to landscape and the human form. It is a joy to paint for which I am endlessly grateful.
Drawing.
Existence is wanting though it does have its charms. Drawing helps me to strive for clarity and discovery in this regard. The labor of existence is the stuff of drawing. For me, that which is concealed is abundant, sensed and calls insistently. Drawing answers playfully, joyfully with a language of my own making, line and mark, darks and lights.
CLAY.
Clay is characteristically receptive, impressionable and records the encounter of earth and human truthfully and with depth, and nuance. I work with an indigenous un-amended red clay that in its authenticity and rawness has much to say to the potter and wears glazes and decoration lightly. It does not suffer fools.
