*Art in Nature; Living Art; Mandalas

Art in Nature

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I am not a conventional artist…

but I have a deep desire to be creative – it is like a hunger that must be satisfied at regular intervals. When I was younger, a mother and housewife, I found the only time I could paint or draw was when I was ill – and that wasn’t very often, thank God – but it was the only time I sat still!

I have renovated 3 houses  and that was when my creativity got a chance to play big time!

After my children had left home and I had left my marriage, I started a different expression of art – Living Art – and that can take many forms.

When I am out exploring I leave some art or something creative out in Nature. It doesn’t matter if anyone else sees it – Mother Gaia will come and take it to her private gallery when you are not watching.

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The solitary intimacy and impermanence of Living Art is very satisfying.

But it doesn’t always have to be a picture. Abstract, surreal, or symbolic art is very acceptable.

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Jackson Pollock was an artist with a difference. After days of being in some ‘altered state’ his soul reached out to the blank canvas in front of him. His life was heavily influenced by alcohol and many said that his art was just a mess, but then people started to see something rather deep and intriguing in it.

Ed Harris plays Pollock in the film biography:

Private art has no such pressures – you don’t have to ‘perform’.

Have a go at the Jackson Pollock – style crazy website below – it is a blank screen and when you move your cursor across it, or click on it, something very wonderful happens.

Jackson Pollock_by_Miltos_Manetas

Experiment and enjoy!

Living Art

Living art speaks for itself. I have not progressed to cine film (yet) so here are some examples I particularly like:

Mandalas

Mandalas are a very old form of art,  traditionally practiced in Buddhist communities – they are a meditation or a prayer. To create an energy in mandalas one works entirely intuitively. The sand mandalas of India take many hours, if not days and weeks to create. During the deep concentration while creating a mandala one can receive healing revelations.

Visionary Art Intensive with Alex and Allyson Grey, Omega Institute, July 2010:

Healing Mandalas

I work with the Healing Nature of Spirit and collect feathers, stones, shells and even bones to create a healing mandala:

This one was created in memory of 20 airman who lost their lives in a plane crash in Dorset, in 1945, and the pilot who died later. I had collected all the feathers during several months prior to knowing what I would use them for and the night before I made the mandala I sorted them into groups – I had 20 feathers in each group with one special one in the centre!

More on the sad ending here, by Peter Clare

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This is the centre – a pair of Gold-finch wings, which I had found on a decayed bird close to where I live. Finding complete wings is a rare thing as dead animals are usually carried off by carrion-eaters within a few hours.

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And this one I made in gratitude for the abundant harvest we had last year. Not only was my garden exceptionally successful with fruit and vegetables, much of which I could preserve, the hedgerows were just overflowing with fruit.

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I so love my camera!

Photography

is a fantastic form of living art. My sister and brother-in-law devote much of their lives to their extraordinary photography, and their dedication has paid off, taking them to a comparable status with professionals. This is a photo they took on one of their many ‘holidays’ (photography extravaganzas!)

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Moving Art and Gratitude for the gift of  this day, today. This is the beautiful film art of Louie Schwartzberg and some very wise words.