Mahakassapa, 2015. Digital painting. Size variable.

Nick's walk, 2015. Digital painting. Size variable.

marker, 2015. Digital painting. Size variable

across the river, 2015. Digital painting. Size variable

Lotus 20-15 Digital painting. Size variable

I once read a text called the Yoga of the Great Symbol. I don't claim to have comprehended it completely, but one concept has stuck with me over the years, namely "the union of the moving and the non-moving." One way of thinking about this concept is in terms of time and timelessness. I guess the key point is that from the point of view expressed in the text, neither of this pair of opposites describes ultimate reality.

I am thinking about this today, because someone posted a video on Facebook which described the formation of complex molecules in the explosions of stars... Super Novas. The conclusion of the scientist is that we are made of stars. The science is fascinating, but the conclusion is simplistic in a catchy kind of way. Our bodies may be very well be made of the residue of stellar dust, but to paraphrase Thich Nhat Hanh, we are neither the same as stars, nor different. Reducing reality to one concept or another, even a lovely one like being made of stars, is a limit to the freedom of open mind. I could say we are manifestations of limitless cosmos, but that's just another concept.

Scott Beall, an excellent jazz guitarist, asked me to project some pictures during his performance with his trio at the Towne Crier in Beacon last night, February 13. Here are some of the new images from the 64 that were projected on two large screens. Other images appear in this blog elsewhere.

The Midnight Hour 2015. Digital painting. Size variable.

Evening Song 2015. Digital painting. Size variable.

Amitabha 2014. Digital painting. Size variable

In Buddhism Amitabha is "The Buddha of Immeasurable Life and Light." Seems appropriate that this should appear on my screen at this time of year. 

Round the Old Campfire 2014. Digital painting. Size variable.

Round the Old Campfire is a song we sang when I was at sleep-away camp over 50 years ago. People have gathered around campfires for thousands of years. Some of those people picked up charcoal sticks and made marks on cave walls. I make my marks with a Mac and software. Still singing and trying to stay warm.

This is the full image of the piece that I cropped for the art on our holiday card this year. Please click the thumbnail to see the entire image.

A Gift 2014. Digital painting. Size variable

Pictures are emerging in groups. Here is a bunch that I completed over the last week. Four of these are meditations on the equilateral triangle. The fifth just happened.

 our house

 elegy

 frosty

just because

 message to a friend

Recently I have been trying to simplify my pictures and have been working in a more abstract vein. Inevitably, it seems, complexity creeps in. The pictures always end up evoking something or someone in the everyday world. One of the things I keep telling myself is that every instance of the particular manifests the universal. Perhaps it is also true that the universal only manifests through the particular. One thing is for sure, making these pictures gets me to a different place in my mind. Hope something similar happens when you look at them.

Below is a selection from a series of spirals. (As always, click on the thumbnail to see a larger jpg)

 last light of the day

 bowie in space

 hide and seek

 with this ring

Karlos

be peace 2014. Digital painting. Size variable

The picture above is the second in a series. The first picture is called speak peace and can be seen in a recent post, below. We'll see if a third pops out somewhere down the road.

Below is a sequence of images called a walk in the woods. As usual, the imagery (and the narrative) came as a complete surprise to me. The first picture is a kind of entrance and then the next is perhaps the heart of the forest. The third reminds me of a climb up a hill. There seem to be many nest-like structures in the weird trees. And then, low and behold, I get to a spot where a cross appears. This is perhaps the biggest surprise, since I am a Buddhist. But, I am from the West, so as Jung pointed out, you can't really do much about where you're from. The last and most complex picture is, in essence, a summation of the others. The dynamic composition suggests that perhaps there is no end to this particular walk.

All of these can be printed up to 80 inches wide. 

a walk in the woods 1

 a walk in the woods 2

a walk in the woods 3

 a walk in the woods 4

 a walk in the woods 5