Ooh, I’m all inspired! Better stop before I write a book.

Hope that helps in some way – it helped me.

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“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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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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Walney Pond, Chantilly, VA

Yesterday I went on my first plein air painting trip! I am always impressed with seeing artists out with their easels set up and seeing them complete a full painting in one session. Usually the style is impressionistic/expressionistic,  so I thought, well, that shouldn’t be too hard. oy vay. My first mistake was deciding to try plein air combined with just learning oils. (I am used to acrylics). Wet into wet painting is a whole new ball game and everything kept getting overmixed and turning the same color.  The next mistake I discovered was not blocking in the main areas of the scene onto my canvas. I ran out of room for the pond reflections-plus inverse sky.  Pfew. A lotta learning the hard way. After three hours I decided I had to let the thing dry and finish it later from photos.

My first attempt at plein air painting. (No LOL zone)

What I had not experienced before was how challenging it is to even see the colors of nature when you are looking right at it! I actually felt my brain struggling with “water is not blue” because clearly, on a totally overcast day, the water was mostly tree reflections and dark green, brown, gray….not blue. And the bank of trees were obviously made up of individual trees with many different colors….of GREEN. Okay, that tree is green but I can see it next to the next tree which is green, but really red green, next to bluegray green….oy vay again.

But it was great fun, as it was part of a Meetup.com group and hanging out with other aspiring artists was invigorating. The location was gorgeous and I decided that plein air painting and painting from life in the studio are my goals. I definitely recommend you try it!

Here’s one plein air painter’s blog I follow for inspiration: Tom Brown.

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My First Pet Portrait: Samantha, 1999-2008

One of my favorite quotes is, I think, an old zen saying: “My barn burned down. Now I can see the moon.” It sums up how I try to approach life, finding the blessings in life’s ups and downs. In 2008, for probably the fourth major time in my life, “my barn burned down”, and I had to reinvent my life. Besides my spiritual practices, I found that returning to those long neglected paintbrushes helped me find my way out of the dark. After reading many artists’ blogs and finding so much inspiration from them — not just about how to paint, but more about how to have the courage to paint anyway — I decided to start blogging as a commitment to myself to join this community. I just put up my first ‘for sale’ paintings on eBay and I cannot believe the negative self-talk and anxiety that has plagued me all day. But I refuse to listen. I know they’re not as skillful as I’d like, but I feel if I wait until I think they’re “good enough” I’ll be dead first! Finally, tonight, I feel that it’s fine if they don’t sell, I feel happy I had the courage to step out into this world of art.  Later I’ll tell you all the wonderful artists and resources I’ve found online so that if you, too, want to know the healing power of color and a paintbrush you can come on in. The water’s warm.

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