Chicken and Tomato Fantasy. Finished.

I am really happy to have finished this one. It was started before my laser surgery and finished four days afterwards. We are so lucky to have access to such medical expertise. My eye is still sore and a little cloudy but hey I can still paint. It has been framed and can be seen in my exhibition at The Blue Angel Cafe, Findhorn.

I have been dreaming a lot lately and this seems to be finding expression in my ' unrealistic and dreamlike paintings ' The dreams do have a message for me I am sure, if I can only work it out! Perhaps I am going to be coming back as a blue chicken, or even a tomato! Who knows? 

Wild Horses. Dream or Nightmare? Sold.

Sold a framed print of this painting of Wild Carmaque Horses Galloping through mud and sand. These horses were clearly spooked by something. If they came to you in a dream would it be a nightmare and what would it mean. Would they symbolise your desire to run away from everything that is stifling you?

Anyway sold three pictures this week and I am happy to say my laser eye treatment seems to be a success. Fingers crossed! I hope to resume painting tomorrow and will finish Chicken and Tomatoes in that case.

Chicken and Tomato Fantasy

While working on Ten Tomatoes I thought I would like to combine an earlier painting with tomatoes. So this is Blue Chicken among tomatoes. It is obviously not meant to be reality but merely a bit of a fantasy, a dream or simply a colourful fun painting which would cheer up an empty wall, maybe in the kitchen. This is the progress so far. I hope to complete it when my eye permits. It will be 40cm x 31cm 

Love is the Master. By Jalaluddin Rumi

Love is the One who masters all things;
I am mastered totally by Love.
By my passion of love for Love
I have ground sweet as sugar.
O furious Wind, I am only a straw before you;
How could I know where I will be blown next?
Whoever claims to have made a pact with Destiny
Reveals himself a liar and a fool;
What is any of us but a straw in a storm?
How could anyone make a pact with a hurricane?
God is working everywhere his massive Resurrection;
How can we pretend to act on our own?
In the hand of Love I am like a cat in a sack;
Sometimes Love hoists me into the air,
Sometimes Love flings me into the air,
Love swings me round and round His head;
I have no peace, in this world or any other.
The lovers of God have fallen in a furious river;
They have surrendered themselves to Love's commands.
Like mill wheels they turn, day and night, day and night,
Constantly turning and turning, and crying out.

John O'Donohue. Divine Beauty

My son Julian bought me a book recently. It is titled Divine Beauty ( The Invisible Embrace ) and is by John O'Donohue the author of Anam Cara.

In an earlier post I referred to the universality of Spirit or higher and more beautiful energies. A quote from this book says it more eloquently than my post but it is exactly what I was alluding to.

Beyond the veils of language and the noise of activity, the most profound events in our lives take place in those fleeting moments where something else shines through, something that can never be fixed in language, something given as quietly as the gift of your next breath. Days and nights unfold in the confidence and continuity of sequence. Most days take no notice of us; but then every so often there is moment when time seems to crystallise. A voice changes tone and a deeper music becomes audible. A gaze holds and a hidden presence is glimpsed.

If like me you are drawn to a book that you can pick up, read a few paragraphs and then spend time thinking about the profundity of those paragraphs, then I recommend this book to you.

Meditating on Spirit

Waiting to have my eye laser treatment has given me lots of time to think. I am meditating more and generally being less physically active.

When we meditate we THINK we go inside and connect with whatever our particular belief system calls spirit, be it God, Nirvana, Shiva, Allah,The Beloved etc etc.What we actually do is open up to subtle energies that are neither within us nor outside us. These energies are everywhere but because our normal external and internal input is on a gross level we are only aware of them when the mind is still and able to turn away from the gross energies. Whatever our belief system or non we are all accessing the same thing. The tragedy throughout humanities existence is that we take charge of this spirit, call it something different depending on our religion and then claim it is unique and only through our religion is it true. We then package it in ritual, systems and doctrines which we go to war to defend or impose on others. Actually and obviously this higher energy does not have a name, I am just calling it Spirit for convenience. That one religion has unique access to Spirit is quite incredible to believe when you actually stop and think about it but we are programmed not to. It would be nice if we could take the religion out of spirit and put the spirit back in religion.

The painting is one of my more meditative paintings. It is called Rhapsody in Blue. The original is sold but prints are available.

Short sighted old git

To all the kind folk who wished me luck or expressed concern about todays laser eye surgery, heartfelt thanks.

However after seeing the specialist today he decided to carry out this proceedure next Thursday the 26th January. The prognosis  nevertheless is very good so should be back painting within a week or two.

Another sketch painted

As I wait for my eye operation I was thinking of seeing with awareness. When we sit and sketch or paint a scene that work will instantly connect you with that place in a way no photograph can. This is because we look with focused awareness. I have some ( very bad ) paintings I did in Chile twenty years ago and when I look at them I can remember the place name and the families who were having a picnic nearby. However when I look at a photo of the trip I can't remember where they were taken even though there are some memories. So being able to see is different to really seeing with full awareness. Obviously I am now very aware what a wonderful gift sight is and using it to paint and really see is a double blessing.This is another sketch from the Gerry Active 2011 Tour de France. I painted over the sketch just before the Ten Tomatoes work. As with my other sketches and paintings from that trip they are not my best work. BUT they are lovely reminders of the place and time. This is another nice little corner of St. Enemie sur Tarn.

Ponytails in La Gomera

While on holiday in La Gomera I was intrigued by the extraordinary number of men wearing their hair in Ponytails. Most of the tourists in La Gomera are German and it seemed they fell into two distinct types. First the Ponytail set. All ages, all shapes, laid back and obviously feeling it was cool to wear their hair long. Secondly the athletic types, out jogging early and late or setting out for a hike with boots and trekking poles. Non of the second type favoured Ponytails. A third sub tribe, a minority, favoured afro type or long hairstyles and could be found sleeping on the beach or sitting around the little church near the La Playa end of Valle Gran Rey. I never did find out the reason for so many Ponytails but all three tribes were pleasant as was this lovely island.

Original Chicken Painting Sold

Sold this original painting yesterday. I was fond of this painting so I am pleased to say it has gone to some old friends in Norfolk. Ray is a talented painter so it is a complement to me that his lovely wife Dee persuaded him it was good enough. It is a birthday present for their daughter Nikki. Nikki and her daughters keep hens and apparently one hen is a speckled hen like the one in my painting.

Ten Tomatoes

I feel very attached to this picture. I painted this on the 5th January on holiday in La Gomera. The very next day I suffered a loss of vision in my left eye and it was eventually diagnosed after several more days as a tear in my retina. I was advised laser surgery was needed quickly to stop the tear spreading. Accordingly flew back to the UK and went to the emergency department in Inverness. I have surgery on the 18th. I am sure this will be successful but if not look out for very abstract paintings in future. So you can see why I will remember this painting. I hope you like it.