Still Winter Among the Birches - Image c Lynda Lehmann
Solitude - Image c Lynda Lehmann 2009
Thicket Before Spring - Image c Lynda Lehmann 2009
Whatever your beliefs, your culture, or your position, I wish you the best at holiday season. To my readers and blogging friends: May there be peace in your nation, peace in your home, and peace in your heart.
I love all of you and although I know I may not post much for the next three weeks, I will be thinking of you, and wishing you success and joy in all your endeavors, as well.
All images and text copyright Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved. If you would like to view my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed. The images above are or will be available at those and my other sites.
Looking for and finding natural beauty, is my life. It carries me through my days, cushioning me from life's disappointments and the tragedies of the human condition. I remember the day I walked around the shore of Echo Lake State Park in New Hampshire, snapping photos of tree bark. I approached this tall pine, among others, on a crowded beach, and stood just a couple of inches from the scabrous and meandering bark. The people sunning on the lake shore literally stared--no doubt they thought I had escaped from the "loony bin." What IS that woman doing, standing with her nose stuck against the trunk of that scraggly, old pine? (Smirk...)
I've always had to explain to people how and why I LOOK at things with great interest. I've been asked in recent years,"Why are you always looking up?" The answer, of course, is that I find great inspiration in the trees, sky, and clouds. And why shouldn't I? Chances are, those particular acquaintances might be more concerned with contemplating their navels.
I remember WAY back in my college days, when I carried an apple home from the dining hall at Penn State and a roommate made a quip about "pseudo-intellectualism." But I was in earnest when I commented on the form and exquisite color of the apple. Of course in those days of upheaval and rebellion, we questioned everything. Especially the "Establishment," the "military-industrial complex" and the other stale institutions of the status-quo. Now, in my ripe old age, I realize that more than anything, we have to question ourselves, as the basis for any positive change. Transformation begins with our own perception and intellect. We have to take responsibility for who we are, for our own attitudes, actions and reactions, before we can change the world.
I'm lucky that simple beauties change the world for me! If this means I'm a "simple" person, I'll take it. I think I'm blessed to find the beauty and mystery in small details some other folks might be "too busy" to discover.
NOTE: I did tweak the above photo a bit, to bring out the hues that were already there, in the pine bark.
All photos and text copyright Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved. If you would like to view my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.
I try to think outside the box. One way to do this is to envision myself living in an "alien" place, a locale or fictitious setting with which I'm not at all familiar in real life. Another way is to envision myself being of another scale, as big as Mt. Everest or as tiny as a Lilliputian. By doing this mental exercise I stimulate my imagination and refresh my perspective on my own little life in the context of the universe.
The photos above give us a glimpse towards the microcosm. The top one can be seen as a lush landscape of sunlit moss and woody furrows, that would be a challenge for any Lilliputian to navigate. The middle photo presents a rocky terrain of steep and foreboding cliffs and crags. The bottom image could represent a rough terrain of ruts and crevices covered with forest, that would also require great skill for any homunculus to cross.
For those of us who live in the United States, it's Thanksgiving week, time to revel in the joy of family, friends, and luscious meals. But I'm of the mind to give thanks every day. I cherish all of nature, the large and the small, the majestic and the mild, to be savored with all my senses. Okay, I don't mean I'm going to literally "taste" bark and lichen, lol.... But I rejoice in the splendor of tiny details I see around me all the time. From bark, pebbles, moss and lichen, to a pine needle resting precariously on a boulder or some other natural surface whose relative mass and solidity contrast its slight and attenuated form.
All through the year, as well as during Thanksgiving week, I give thanks for all of it: the holiday rituals and the whole world that is my oyster. I wish you joy and good fortune this holiday week. And more than that, may your senses be replete every day of the year.
All video and text copyright Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved. If you would like to view my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.
This short video presents sounds heard at the beach. First you will have to forbear the roar of a boat engine. But after that you will hear footsteps fading away on the spongy sand, the cries of seagulls and the sensuous, soothing sounds of flowing water. You can hear the peaceful sounds of children playing on nearby swings, their voices drifting in the background.
And of course, you can enjoy the patterns the water makes as it flows in from the open bay onto the beach, or over rocks and seashells. At one point, you can see the water flowing in an almost regular, diamond pattern, a configuration created by its deflection off the natural objects in its path. This makes me think of all the transferable and transforming energies in the universe, and patterns of physics, and those found in fractals....
You may notice at times, that the water seems to be bubbling out of the ground, perhaps from underground springs as much as from local drainage patterns.
I love to watch the ribbons of sunlight reflected on the water's undulating surface, and changes in the texture and rhythm of the waves.
I hope you enjoy my little nature video. One day I'll make another version with better editing! At present, I haven't the slightest command of my video editing software, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from sharing a bit of nature's beauty.
The Sacred Energy of Wild Places 13.11.2009 15:14:0 +0000 There is an energy at the core of Life, a sacred energy felt most apparently and keenly in those places we may refer to as "wild." For some of us, that place may truly be in a remote wilderness area. More likely it will be a place that is just a bit out of the way. But it seems to me that the place, whether near or far from the beaten track, will be a place that is as yet unexploited and unspoiled by the touch of man.
My husband and I discovered such a place about two weeks ago. One of our mini-excursions into the Maine countryside brought us unexpectedly to a wooded marshland. It was just a tad off of a main road that was not quite a highway, but a two-lane road well-traveled by local traffic.
We made a right turn on a street whose name I can't remember. What I do remember is that it was indeed, a "proper" town street-sign in white and green with a name bestowed on this road. But it was not in any sense your typical suburban or even country road.
I was stricken with my first view of the marsh. Forest encroached on all sides, rising above the area on gentle hills. The trees still retained some of their autumn splendor but were at least partly given over to the stark winter nakedness that makes their skeletons so much more gestural and poignant than their leafy summer counterparts.
I got out of the car and scanned the near distance. Woods, woods, and more woods, with a wetland in the middle that coalesced into a quiet stream that wound its way through the thicket.
At the side of the road, cattails abounded, rich in their brown fur and contrasting the more sparse occurrence of milkweed pod. Some of the pods were open to the skyward flurry of their gossamer white fuzz, while others remained closed and pregnant with the seed loads of future plants.
A huge beaver lodge graced the middle of the watery pool on the right side of the road, commanding the eye's attention, as would a mansion on the vast grounds of a manicured estate.
But this was no manicured estate. Although fairly close to the town of Norway in southwest Maine, it had all the trappings of a true wilderness. Bird calls of all ilks met my ears, like beacons of a distant time in the annals of Creation. The milkweed seeds, picked up by an intermittent breeze, sailed into the blue dome that reflected on the water below. Everywhere there was life. Thorns, red winter berries, the milkweed, swaths of emerald moss and the texture of the slightly churned water. Sweet pungent air, sparkling with sunlight. The auburn of spent foliage rimming the swamp.
I could almost hear our dear Mother Earth inviting me in her mysterious tongues to partake. She wanted me to embrace her, smell her, feel her caress, hear her song. She wanted to delight me. She wanted to pay homage to herself for her dignity, sustained in the face of ages of exploitation and consumption, by her own stubborn Being.
Years ago, I wrote a young adult novel (one of four, actually) about a teenage girl who has to leave the lowland plain between Brazil and Peru, to climb deep into the Andes. She had to undertake this journey because her tribe was dying out, and their only chance was for her to try to retrieve the ancient medical secrets of the Incas, from whom she had descended. The Boutiquin, the ancient medicine chest of the forest floor was dying out and only she, Liana, with the tenacity of the vine for which she was named, could make her way into the highland to fetch the ancient wisdom.
Along the way, repeatedly, she bent her head to the Earth and heard the Hum of Being.
In my writing, the "Hum of Being" was a contrivance to enhance the plot, an embellishment in my manuscript to bring home the feminist and earth stewardship themes of my book.
But last week, in that patch of wild made of forest and river and swamp, filled with sunshine and seeds and berries and birdsong, I heard the Hum of Being for myself. Have you ever heard it? What is your experience with finding yourself surrounded by the magic of a sacred place? For me, it is the among the very best and most inspiring of life experiences.
All photos and text copyright Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved. If you would like to view my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.
I had such a wonderful nature experience this past summer, that I feel it has not only enriched me, but actually transformed me. I'm not a calm person. But the more I opened myself to the patterns and textures all around me, the calmer I felt. It was as if the serenity of the ENDURING THINGS just oozed into my pores, all the way to my soul. I felt warmed and comforted. The more I looked, the more I saw. And the calmer I felt. I filled up on the great "Cup of Beauty" that is our world, and have made using my senses into a sort of mantra. On college campuses, back in the sixties, the motto was "Tune out and turn on." I never felt that was the way to go, and I'm more sure of it than ever. My mantra is "Pause to receive, rejoice, and BE." I believe that the ubiquitous beauties of the world can lead us to transcendence, if we open our hearts. All we have to do is pause and focus. Very simple.
The sunlight or clouds playing on the lake surface and the infinite forms, colors, and patterns of lichen, are just a couple of examples of the natural beauty that astounded me. I feel spiritually rich.
I'd love to hear about some of the details of nature that fascinate you!
All images and text copyright Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved. If you would like to view my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.
My take on this is that the truth is coming from this man's lips. All you have to do is look around at all the children who have been diagnosed with neuro and behavior problems, to know something is terribly wrong.
I believe that some vaccines have saved countless lives, as in the case of smallpox and polio. But we are now churning out vaccines for every condition, and in many cases, the damage they cause is worse than enduring a short-term disease. Common sense dictates that this may not be true for the aged or those who have other medical problems.
What do you think? Are you getting a flu shot?
Each of us has to decide what's best for ourselves and our families.
I'm in the process of preparing a longer post, but thought I'd share one of my new digital paintings with you in the meantime. I will be able to post more in the coming weeks, I hope, and I can't wait to visit with you!
Just wondering: does this image evoke any particular thought, mood, or concept for you? I DO see what the title implies, but then, that's just me and you will have your own reaction.
Personally, I LOVE the freedom of digital art, and the "clean" process that doesn't involve paints and finishes, because I don't always have time for traditional brush and pigment painting. Both digital and real-time painting have their benefits, and one of the perks of digital is that you don't have to involve your whole studio or house in the process (the "aroma" of fresh paint DOES make it all the way to my kitchen, at times....)
Art and text copyright Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved. If you would like to view my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.
We've all seen a number of You Tube videos. Some are mediocre and some are outstanding. In my mind, this one is unforgettable. I'm sure it will leave an indelible imprint on my consciousness.
It is at once a sermon and a promise, an homage and a litany. If you give yourself to it for a few minutes, I think you might agree with me.
The adornment and countenance of these people are haunting and beautiful. Their apparent relatedness to our Earth seems appropos to those whose lives unfold near The Great Rift. This video makes one ponder on the nature of beauty, wisdom, play, and inter-relatedness.
On the YouTube site, one of the comments was that these faces look sad. I agree, however, with another commenter who said these faces are full of awe and reverence. They are OF THE EARTH, and they KNOW it! They FEEL it in every fiber of their being, and express it constantly in their physical accoutrement.
Again, this video brings up the correlation between play, art-making, and BEING. These people have a deep connection to something that we, in what WE consider to be more "civilized" societies, can only grope for......
What do you think?
SHOUT BOX
Images c Lynda Lehmann. Please visit www.lyndalehmann.com to see more of my work. Or read my blog at www.innersights.blogspot.com.
"Peripheral Vision" is about nature, art, and the creative process that moves us closer to harmony with our precious planet.
Abstract painting, photography, digital art: writing novels, short stories and poetry: hiking, canoeing, and exploring nature: the spiritual aspect of making art: reading about the cosmos: traveling.
Sports:
I would rather play than watch! I always liked swimming, canoeing, softball, ice skating, and climbing trees.
Music:
I always return to classical as my favorite.
Movies:
Amadeus. Babel, The Color Purple
TV:
I rarely watch t.v. If I do, I like documentaries and educational stuff about nature and the cosmos, and old movies in black and white.
Books:
THE MIND OF GOD by Paul Davies
THE LIVES OF A CELL: Notes of a Biology Watcher by Lewis Thomas, M.D.
THE SECRET LIFE OF INANIMATE OBJECTS by Lyall Watson
ART AND PHYSICS: Parallel Visions in Space, Time, and Light by Leonard Shlain
SYNCHRONICITY: Through the Eyes of Science, Myth and the Trickster by Allan Combs and Mark Holland
THE ARTFUL UNIVERSE: The Cosmic Source of Human Creativity by John Barrow
Heroes/Idols:
Everyday people who do the right thing, inspire me. People who know how to be kind, inspire me. People who know that giving is also getting, inspire me the most.
