Rush of Water, Hiss of Foam

Sorry to repeat myself, but I think I've made a great improvement here, over my last post. This is a cut and edited version of my latest amateur beach movie. I've put back the original soundtrack with wind and water sounds. I hope you enjoy it. When the music pauses, listen to the waves!

I loved making it, and hope to learn more about the video editing software. It's on my long list of goals....

Thanks for your visit and for sharing this with me!

Video c Lynda Lehmann but available on YouTube for embedding. Re-posted from "Peripheral Vision" blog.

The Beautiful, Beckoning Wood

The Beautiful, Beckoning Wood - Lynda Lehmann c 2010

The arbor gleams. Trees gesture, dance and sway, playing with the showering gold of sunlight. Vines crawl and meander, yet always ascending. Textures pop and reflect the underlying vitality, setting the precedent for "Form." Wood wet with past rain glistens orange and lush vines play a rich green counterpoint. Shadows vignette the drama, and my heart leaps joyously into the cauldron where Creation plays out its evolving domain.

Note to My Readers: I want the above paragraph to stand alone, hence this note. My husband and I walked on the Long Island shoreline the other day, enjoying the sunshine and the January thaw. I was serendipitously graced with this image on the way out, at which point I was resolved to my day's photo-taking being over. It was getting late and the light was fading from the part of the shore we had been walking on. But we emerged into the sunlight and there it was: one of the most beautiful forest scenes I have witnessed: the bright side-lighting, the moisture on the trunks that brought out the rich colors of the bark, and the complements of orange and green. I hope this image brings to mind for you, some of your favorite moments of encounter with nature. I'd like to hear about them!

Image 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 Nature of Pine Bark: Beauty in Every Line and Pore

The Beauty of Pine Bark - Lynda Lehmann c 2009

Looking for and finding natural beauty, is my life. It carries me through my days, cushioning me from life's disappointments and the tragedies of the human condition. I remember the day I walked around the shore of Echo Lake State Park in New Hampshire, snapping photos of tree bark. I approached this tall pine, among others, on a crowded beach, and stood just a couple of inches from the scabrous and meandering bark. The people sunning on the lake shore literally stared--no doubt they thought I had escaped from the "loony bin." What IS that woman doing, standing with her nose stuck against the trunk of that scraggly, old pine? (Smirk...)

I've always had to explain to people how and why I LOOK at things with great interest. I've been asked in recent years,"Why are you always looking up?" The answer, of course, is that I find great inspiration in the trees, sky, and clouds. And why shouldn't I? Chances are, those particular acquaintances might be more concerned with contemplating their navels.

I remember WAY back in my college days, when I carried an apple home from the dining hall at Penn State and a roommate made a quip about "pseudo-intellectualism." But I was in earnest when I commented on the form and exquisite color of the apple. Of course in those days of upheaval and rebellion, we questioned everything. Especially the "Establishment," the "military-industrial complex" and the other stale institutions of the status-quo. Now, in my ripe old age, I realize that more than anything, we have to question ourselves, as the basis for any positive change. Transformation begins with our own perception and intellect. We have to take responsibility for who we are, for our own attitudes, actions and reactions, before we can change the world.

I'm lucky that simple beauties change the world for me! If this means I'm a "simple" person, I'll take it. I think I'm blessed to find the beauty and mystery in small details some other folks might be "too busy" to discover.

NOTE: I did tweak the above photo a bit, to bring out the hues that were already there, in the pine bark.

All photos 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.

Reflections on Summer's Passing

A Still and Solitary Time

Water Tapestry

Beneath the Surface

Sunset With Wake

Peace

autumn lays a cold hand on the lake
as its shores slip into evening shadows.
twilight's reminiscences bring joy and sorrow to bear.

under a painted sky i envision the freezing of the lake and the winter gale.

loneliness is in the air, in that settling autumn hush,
as seeking shelter becomes the point of it all.

another season of my life has passed
but in the sureness of beauty, I am comforted.

in the peace over the chilling land, i am replete.

- Lynda Lehmann c 2009



All photos 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.

All in the Same Place

Touch of Autumn - Image c Lynda Lehmann

Reach - Image c Lynda Lehmann

Idyllic - Image c Lynda Lehmann

Here are three views of trees leaning over a lake in southern Maine, taken a week before the onset of autumn. They protrude from the fertile bank within mere feet of each other, practically at the same point. Each tree is different, in species, form, and the texture and color of its bark and foliage. Yet each is the same: leaning for sun and sustenance over the shallows in the fading afternoon light.

Lush with life, resplendent in diversity, our planet sings the songs of its seasons.

What are some of your favorite sights, in autumn?

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.

Moon Lakes and Night Voices

Moon Lake - c Lynda Lehmann

i cannot sleep.

a pale shroud has overtaken the darkened world
and shadows quiver in rhythm of moonlight.

released by luster of illumination,
voices rise from deep recesses of mind and forest

where dreams and animals meet
to share mystery.

their discourse rises on sleek silver strands, to the night wind.

life force has the wisdom to know its own sustenance,
the Life Force whose glow burns brighter in its knowing.

voices merge--chirps and squawks, calls and whispers--
melding past and future, history and infinity
to tell of their knowing.

and i know that their knowing is so much greater than mine.

i cannot sleep.

i drink as well, from the vast cup of silence,
the silky intervals of chastened night
that channels the voices...

those murmurs of God and Infinity that
all at once
calm and discomfort my soul.

i cannot sleep.

i must not sleep.

--Lynda Lehmann c 2009

All 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.