Serendipity is Nature's Generosity

Lamb's Ears - Image c Lynda Lehmann

I've been wanting to get back to painting, because painting is my first love.  I had promised myself that my next post would be about pigment instead of pixels.  But nature intervened and threw me a curve.  
I had all but given up on finding anything pixel-worthy on my walk today, when I stumbled upon these dried "Lamb's Ears" plants (as a friend of mine calls them).  They are just slightly wilted from the cold, which has been intense for a December on Long Island.  But their light gray-green color was outstanding against the auburn of dried, fallen leaves.
It's sometimes hard to find subjects to shoot on suburban streets, unless one comes across a wooded area or something at the very edge of the street. In order to respect people's privacy, or should I say their feelings about privacy, I never point my camera towards a house.  That's why I so enjoy getting out of the neighborhood to the larger outdoor spaces with my camera.  Not only is there usually more to shoot, but I feel free to point my camera in any direction.
Nature came through again today, with a subject that I feel holds a good deal of beauty and mystery.  I've seen this cluster of plants in the same location before, but today the light was right and the colors just popped! Whenever I take in a scene or object of beauty, I feel rich. So today held a tiny bit of serendipity for me.
I hope you found beauty and a touch of serendipity in your day, as well!    
Reposted from Peripheral Vision blog.  All images and text  are copyrighted material, and may be used only with written permission (email is okay) by the author/artist, except where syndication rights have been granted. All other rights reserved. Please visit my primary art site at http://www.lehmann.myexpose.com/gallery if you would like to see my paintings and more of my photography and digital art!

Inklings of the Sublime

Magical World - c Lynda Lehmann 2009

Shimmer - c Lynda Lehmann 2009

Waterscape IV - c Lynda Lehmann 2009

Web of Light - c Lynda Lehmann 2009

I had such a wonderful nature experience this past summer, that I feel it has not only enriched me, but actually transformed me. I'm not a calm person. But the more I opened myself to the patterns and textures all around me, the calmer I felt. It was as if the serenity of the ENDURING THINGS just oozed into my pores, all the way to my soul. I felt warmed and comforted. The more I looked, the more I saw. And the calmer I felt.

I filled up on the great "Cup of Beauty" that is our world, and have made using my senses into a sort of mantra. On college campuses, back in the sixties, the motto was "Tune out and turn on." I never felt that was the way to go, and I'm more sure of it than ever. My mantra is "Pause to receive, rejoice, and BE." I believe that the ubiquitous beauties of the world can lead us to transcendence, if we open our hearts. All we have to do is pause and focus. Very simple.

The sunlight or clouds playing on the lake surface and the infinite forms, colors, and patterns of lichen, are just a couple of examples of the natural beauty that astounded me. I feel spiritually rich.

I'd love to hear about some of the details of nature that fascinate you!

All images and text copyright Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved.

If you would like to view my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

Consciousness

Consciousness - c Lynda Lehmann 2009

I'm in the process of preparing a longer post, but thought I'd share one of my new digital paintings with you in the meantime. I will be able to post more in the coming weeks, I hope, and I can't wait to visit with you!

Just wondering: does this image evoke any particular thought, mood, or concept for you? I DO see what the title implies, but then, that's just me and you will have your own reaction.

Personally, I LOVE the freedom of digital art, and the "clean" process that doesn't involve paints and finishes, because I don't always have time for traditional brush and pigment painting. Both digital and real-time painting have their benefits, and one of the perks of digital is that you don't have to involve your whole studio or house in the process (the "aroma" of fresh paint DOES make it all the way to my kitchen, at times....)

Art and text copyright Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved.

If you would like to view my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

The Real Magic

The Real Magic - c Lynda Lehmann 2009

Autumn is a magical time of year. In the state of Maine as in many other places, nature is going through its Rites of Passage by changing its behaviors, forms and patterns in advance of the coming winter. The paradox is that as it passes into dormancy, rest, or even hibernation, concentrating its resources in order to burst with new life in the spring, it seems to be at its most beautiful. In the time of transition the phenomenal sights are fleeting, but linger long enough to inspire us with anticipation of more life experience and joy, in the future.

Please click on the image to see a larger version. All text and image c Lynda Lehmann 2009. All rights reserved.

If you would like to view my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

The Season Of Singing Has Come

This is my latest painting now available for sale at Red Bubble. Enjoy!

It's Been A While!

Family Ties
Textured Acrylic on Deep Gallery Wrapped Canvas
16 X 16 X 1.75 inches.

Being an artist in the midst of today's technology can certainly be a challenge!

While the resources for exposure are almost endless on the internet it can also be an all-consuming task to maintain your online presence.

It's been a while since I posted anything here on my blog and today I would like to share this new piece entitled "Family Ties".

When I originally painted this one, I just wasn't sure...you know how we artists are, we can never decide if we like something or not and we are way too hard on ourselves. How many pieces have you painted over and had someone come to you and ask where it is?...too late...ooops! We can never get it back once it's gone!

Anyway, I didn't do that and "it is what it is". I knew that I did love the simple "rawness" of it and it has since received some wonderful, positive feedback from fellow artists, which is always good.

As artists we must learn to always go with our gut instinct.

Festival

"Festival" is one of my recent paintings. It's an active and colorful abstract with an impasto surface, lighthearted and slightly humorous. Acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas, 36 x 30 inches. Image c Lynda Lehmann. I've entered this piece into the Saatchi Gallery "Showdown," so if you like it, you can vote for it (two seconds and just two clicks) between June 11 and June 18 at the following link. Thanks for your support!
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/showdown/index.php?showpic=24843

Child's Play

This abstract acrylic painting is 30 x 36 inches on gallery-wrapped canvas. Whimsical and childlike, the challenge of this piece was spatial. "Child's Play" reminds me of the colored plastic shapes I enjoyed as a child, setting multi-hued, plastic triangles and rectangles against a shiny black background. That toy probably inspired my first conscious awareness of my fascination for form and color. Image c Lynda Lehmann. Available at http://www.lyndalehmann.com/

Colors of the Sun

No matter how much I read in the way of explanation, certain phenomena continue to amaze me. For instance, the concept that sunlight contains all the colors of the spectrum, and the colors of all things are determined by the way in which their particular molecular structure reflects/refracts sunlight. Consider the colors of a rainbow against a gray-green stormy sky, or the colors and patterns of Aurora Borealis. Or the hues of flowers.

Color as an inherent property of variations of molecular structure seems so marvelous, intricate and amazing a scheme to me, and so improbable. In fact, the existence of color in all its rich, gorgeous and mellifluous variations, seems entirely unlikely to unfold by virtue of the laws of science. If color is an adjunct form or system of ordering within the complexity of the universe, why such an extended nomenclature? Hence I am driven again, to believing in miracles. Not in a Biblical sense, necessarily, but in the sense of something awesome and extraordinary. Whether such miracles derive from the exigencies of evolution or by the hand of God, is beyond both my knowledge, ability, and desire to expound upon. Suffice it to say that my sense of awe is piqued by such seemingly serendipitous gifts of organized complexity.

In spite of a number of books that address the marvel of the apparently self-ordering qualities of the universe, I cannot conceive of the ubiquitous and layered complexity that makes up our world. In this painting, "Colors of the Sun," I was paying homage to the wonder of color. Light from the sun contains all the colors in our visible spectrum. So essentially, sunlight casts layers of color all over our world. Acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas, 30 x 36 inches.

If you would like to see more of my art please visit www.lyndalehmann.com. Or read my articles at http://www.creativityportal.com/articles/lynda-lehmann/. Image and all text c 2007 Lynda Lehmann.

Abstract Butterfly

I was just playing around with some digital images the other night and came up with this cool butterfly. Thought I'd share it.