Thinking and developing Contemplation is Yellow and Compassion is Violet. Planning four large abstract canvases.
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This video was shared by Andrea and we watched it in class. Very inspirational as we embark on our journey and consider what our lives will look like post-MEd. I have been thinking about my painting for Contemplation is Yellow and Compassion is Violet. The initial piece in pastel is not vivid enough. It is too busy. What I saw was brighter, like this... But it was also simpler. Like this... The idea is slowly forming.... I am going to use bright colours but in abstract. How do I represent the interaction between the two lights/ concepts over time. Contemplation and Compassion getting bigger and smaller , bigger and smaller....?
Taken from private correspondence Mar 7th-17th 2017. Andrea- I've got to get this on a larger screen and sit with it. Andrea- I'm going to try to get it on my TV. What size is it in real life Helen? Dorota- It made me smile when I saw your piece and comment Helen. It is so powerful and I would like it larger and sit with it too to see what happens. Paul Valery has this phrase I love "the stains of the pure instant". Maybe that's where art, strong memory sensations and/or meditation meet. Andrea- Also I put your piece on my desktop, I sat with it just now. For me it feels like my eyes when they close. Which brought to mind this song, "Eyeoneye" by Andrew Bird. So I play that, and sit, and your piece vibrates. And I a hear a theme of working with compassion in the song too. Taken from my journal March 7th 2017 This image came to me during MSC retreat during a guided meditation practice on compassion. We were asked to breathe in compassion for ourselves then breathe out compassion for a loved one who is suffering and eventually the world. I saw swirls light and colour, yellow and orange with a focal point of violet. The violet light in the centre radiated out, getting bigger and smaller with my breath. The image stayed with me. Important insights have come to me in this way. I drew it quickly with pastel, trying not to overthink and just to extract the image from my mind's eye. I typed out the statements from the meditation on my typewriter. Breathe in compassion for me. Breathe out compassion for you I took a risk and shared my experience, art and writing with Andrea and Dorota. We have decided to work together on an art exhibit for our comprehensive exam. We have begun to exchange ideas and what we have been working on.
I am playing with these ideas Intersubjectivity Art as Contemplation Beholding The interface between art and mindfulness The relationship between contemplation and compassion as an extension of my Contemplation is Yellow pieces If Contemplation is Yellow, is Compassion Violet? I am reading the Zen of Creativity: Cultivating Your Artistic Life by John Daido Loori (2005). I am wondering about art as a contemplative practice. I wonder how I can combine mindfulness and art. In meditation, images have come to me that give me insight. I think I am becoming more trusting of other forms of knowing. This quote spoke to me;
"Creativity is also an expression of our intuitive aspect. Getting in touch with our intuition helps to enter into the flow of life, of a universe that is in a constant state of becoming. When we tap into our intuition, whether in our art or simply in the day-to-day activities of our lives, we feel a part of this creative momentum." (p.g. 57) Loori, J.D (2005) The Zen of Creativity: Cultivating Your Artistic Life. New York: Ballantine Books I was very happy to read this article by Heesoon on learning from Zen Arts. When I draw or paint, I lose sense of myself and become the what I am drawing or painting. I am about to go to Japan and I'm excited to learn more about Zen practices.
"Zen as practice is about re-animating our consciousness so that "new leaves will spring from the doorpost." Zen arts are concrete, sensuous ways to accomplish this re-animation of the self and the universe. The key to Zen arts is, to repeat, resting or arresting the hyperactive intellect by means of complete absorption in what is perceived or experienced. What results is intensification of consciousness through concentrated and sustained attention. All Zen arts provide ways to achieve this intensified consciousness. Such consciousness is no longer divided into the subject and the object, the perceiver and the perceived. The two poles of perception are integrated into a seamless unity, and as a result, a tremendous sense of vitality is released. This is how we re-animate the universe." Bai, H. (2003). Learning from Zen arts: A lesson in intrinsic valuation. Journal of the Canadian Association for Curriculum Studies, 1(2), 1–14. "When there is a crack in my mirror, I can't see myself as I am- all I see is the crack. The crack tells me that there is something wrong with me, that I'm not enough and this is how others see me, too. It's not a question of finding a better mirror. It's about seeing beyond the crack. I am not, nor ever will be, perfect. But I don't need to live for approval. I need to live for acceptance and joy in the unique, worthy, lovable, beautiful, sacred being that I am and to celebrate the same thing in others. That's seeing beyond the crack. I'm learning to love my imperfections; in the end, they make me who I am, in all my flawed glory." (pg. 111)
10 things I am grateful for:
1) My husband Neil 2) My dog Dave 3) My family 4) My friends 5) Books 6) Colour 7) Paint 8) My eyes and sight 9) The beach and mountains 10) My home and having a home 11) Yarn and knitting 12) Art "The beginning of wisdom is the same as its attainment: wonder. The truest statement in the world is "you never know". There is always something to evoke wonder, to wonder about, because this world, this life, this universe, this reality is far more than just the sum of its parts. Even the slightest detail contains much more. The overwhelming awe and wonder we feel teach us more than we can ever glean or come to know of things. In the presence of that wonder, the head has no answers and the heart has no questions." (pg. 99)
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Helen Kennett-BaconOriginally from South Yorkshire in England, I've lived with my husband Neil in Kitsilano, Vancouver for 10 years. We are fur-parents to our French bulldog Dave, I am a Registered Psychiatric Nurse specialising in ADHD. Archives
April 2017
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