My Barn Burned Down

Archive for December, 2009

“I wish to urge students of the dharma who may have forsaken their creative impulse in favor of practice to realize there is no conflict between creativity and meditation. Creativity can be understood, in essence, to be the practice of our own nature and that nature’s expression. You may find your way in to the nature through creativity; or you may come out from the nature to express creativity. Both have to be appreciated as the best of our mind’s potential.” - Kongtrul Rinpoche

The last week of the year and the time everyone is thinking of New Year’s resolutions, new goals, what’s my life about?  I had the great good fortune yesterday to open the new issue of Buddhadharma magazine and read an article about Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche’s paintings! Well, it was really more about his process of painting, or taking his painting as the Path. Of course.

Once another  Rinpoche said to us at KPC that the gardens we were building were great, but that the world had lots of gardens and didn’t need one more; that we had to build them with pure motivation and intention to benefit and liberate beings and then the gardens carry a blessing. Well, I think the same is true of making one more painting. He mentions that he thinks the great artists, whose works continues to touch us over time, probably “got out of the way” during the process of making the art, even if later they got caught up in the fame, approval or rejection. It is that “egolessness” that comes through the art that is timeless and touches us where we live, in the natural vitality of awareness. When he came to the west, interestingly, he was struck by the art of Kandinsky and Picasso among others; those who gave over to the process without regard for public approval. And their art endures.

What this article pointed out, and clarified for me, was how to use the process of painting, the natural process of creativity (so it could be music, writing, any creative pursuit) to watch the mind, overcome grasping attachment, come to resolution, and experience what he calls the natural vitality by getting out of the way. He encourages all artists to use this method and produce paintings that carry the blessing of that natural vitality to the world, and benefits self and others.

I went right to his site to view his paintings, and voila! there is the mp3 of the talk he gave from which this article was written. The Q & A at the end has even more interesting teachings that were not all in the article,  and will benefit all who wish to use the activities in their life in harmony with their spiritual path whether one is a meditator or not.

So it made me think about my New Year’s resolutions more deeply, and how I might align my daily activities with my spiritual path, using each moment as a way to benefit self and others. How about you? What can you do in 2010 to make the world a little bit better for others?

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Wishing everyone a happy, peaceful day and hope the New Year brings you every blessing!

Nice, quiet Christmas Day as we had our family get together last night. The kids were high energy, the food was great and all had a grand time.

Shipped off the last two pet portraits on Wednesday, finished in the nick of….

Bailey Jane, Bichon Frise puppy:

Bichon Frise Bailey Jane Pet Portrait

This was painted in oils (Genesis Heat Set Oils, praise Buddha, or it would never have gotten done in time!) on a 6 x 12 gallery wrapped canvas. The BEST part was the email from the puppy’s Mom when she received it:

Dear Elizabeth,

You captured the sweet spirit of Bailey Jane on canvas!  The painting is magnificent!  It looks just like her!  Thank you so much for painting her and for sending the painting to me on Christmas Eve morning!  There never was a more perfect Christmas Eve gift!  I love it!  I wish you the very best this coming year!  I hope that we can get together this summer when I bring Bailey Jane for a visit.

Then she emailed everyone a picture, then a second picture, with another note:

This photo shows the colors better.  I cropped it for a close up view.  I love it, love it, love it!  I was feeling tired before the package came!  Now I am back in the Christmas mood and can get busy cleaning!

THANK YOU!

It’s not that I am bragging, I’m sharing because (you other artists will understand), when it leaves my easel, the voice in my head is chanting, “It’s not very good, she’ll hate it.” So this really made my day, too!

German Shepherd Pet Portrait

A last minute portrait I rushed through but was pretty happy with, Kuro. I think he’s a German Shepherd mix. His facial bone structure was a challenge and I see why artists study anatomy. To ‘get it’ I had to visualize the underlying bones and eye sockets.  This one is a 9×12 in oils on gallery wrapped canvas.

My grandchildren all were over the moon with the paintings I did for them, which I posted previously. Funny, the one I thought would not care about it, Garrett, being only 3 years old, was AGOG. He opened his “Bear” painting (and he had his REAL “Bear” with him of course) and exclaimed, “OH, it looks just like BEAR!” Then he carried the painting around in a hug along with the real bear saying “Now I have two Bears!”. Adorable. Somebody said later, after mountains of gifts had been opened, that they thought the paintings were the big hit of the night. It made me realize that hand-made things from the heart really do touch the heart and gave me deep happiness that I could make them all happy for a moment.

Again, Merry Christmas!

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Cuy and Friend Pet Portrait

Peace on Earth? If dogs and cats can…..you’d think we could, too.

This is painted in Genesis Heat Set Oils (I LOVE these paints!) on 11 x 14 gallery wrapped canvas. Shipping off to customer this AM; only 3 more to finish before Monday! Already sent off my donations to Tara’s Babies and Garuda Aviary, so thank you to all my customers on behalf of the dogs and parrots! Happy Holidays, and Peace on Earth. Please.

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By Artist Don Gray: Fallen Limb

I am reading a wonderful book called Meeting the Buddhas by Vessantara, and although I’ve read it before, it feels like I’m reading it for the first time.  When I was a wannabe artist I read it from the standpoint of wanting to understand the archetypal imagery used in Tibetan Buddhism and in particular, thangka paintings. Funny thing, that now that I’m actually learning to paint, I’m reading it and it is clarifying the spiritual path I’ve been on for almost (oh, gawd) 30 years.  The author takes you through the meaning of the use of mandalas and visualization in the Vajrayana method of practice and so you go with him on a poetic tour of the mandalas of the Five Buddha Families (which, it turns out, is a map of our own mind).

Much I could share here, but in keeping with the art theme of this blog, I was struck by Ratnasambhava’s mandala, and how it incorporates the arts and beauty as a method for refining the mind; the author speaks of being able to enjoy beauty – in nature, art, music – as a step towards being able to eventually make the leap into the very refined energy of the nature of reality.

I know that I have a busy mind and it is true that when something of beauty registers on my mind, my mind STOPS, at least for a nano second, and relaxes. All meditation teachers tell you that that is quite a feat actually, to relax the mind.  (More about that tomorrow, when I tell you about the other book I’m reading My Stroke of Insight – a brain scientist experiencing her own stroke and how when the mind chatter stopped she had no frame of reference for her-self.)

By Don Gray: Streak of Sun

But back to beauty and simply stopping in the moment and experiencing it. There are different things that will grab each one’s mind as ‘beauty’, and these are two paintings I have seen this week that did it for me.  I don’t want to analyze why these did it for me (although my busy mind certainly WANTS to get right on that); I’d rather just sit and experience the beauty of what the artist has conveyed. I hope they give you a nano second of beauty and relaxation as well.

And then, so as not grasp onto it a “mine”, I offer this beauty to all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the past, present and future as my teachers have taught us to do. May all beings be well, happy, peaceful and prosperous.

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Boston Terrier Pet Portrait

As the holiday deadline bears down on us, I’m trying not to freak out. I’ve got a couple of pet portraits I MUST finish this week in order to varnish and ship on time and I keep reworking things to ‘get it perfect’. Of course, for a Virgo, “perfect” never comes so I end up (in my mind) with “good enough I guess”. But this guy, even though he’s just a 6×6 painting, seemed to take FOR-EV-ER. Paintings with many different colors are easier for me. Being able to show the form with shades of black and white are difficult. I had to go back to my pencil drawing training to even see it with my eyes. But I love Boston Terriers and hope I captured that WILD EYE look they get before they go out to destroy something.  As always, 30% of the proceeds from the sale of this painting will be donated to animal rescue work. You can bid now on this painting!

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