I am made to love the pond and the meadow, as the wind is made to ripple the water. Henry David Thoreau
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Further, in our association with indigenous peoples, we began to appreciate the profound sense of realism they manifested in their ritual communion of the human soul with the deeper powers of the universe. In these earlier cultures, the universe was experienced primarily as a presence to be communed with and instructed by, not a collection of natural resources to be used for utilitarian purposes. The winds, the mountains, the soaring birds, the wildlife roaming the forests, the stars splashed across the heavens in the dark of night: these were all communicating the deepest experiences that humans would ever know. The inner life of humans, the joy and exaltation we experience in celebrating our place in the great community of existence, these depended on our experience of a universe that provides us with both our physical and our spiritual nourishment. All this was recognized as the world of soul. Bill Plotkin, Soulcraft
We talk about health as a possession, something you have and are responsible for maintaining. But I see our health as like a tripod, a dynamic thing: One leg is your relationship with all other human beings. It’s not possible for you to be healthy when there are people living under a freeway overpass in cardboard boxes. Your health is dependent on theirs. The second leg is your relationship with all in the world that’s not human. If you have only these two legs, you can try to live a good life, but it’s like walking on stilts. The third leg is what gives you a place to rest, and that leg is your relationship with the unseen world, everything not described by the other two. Having all three constitutes health. That’s where it lives. This tripod sustains you. You don’t exist as an individual without these relationships. Stephen Jenkinson
A plague has stricken the moths, the moths are dying Their bodies are flakes of bronze on the carpets lying Enemies of the delicate everywhere Have breathed a pestilent mist into the air. Emilie Conrad ∞ Life on Land
Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage—to move in the opposite direction.
E. F. Schumacher Watercolour, gouache & pencil on balsa panel.
Arousing our connection to the *sacred in the mundane* speaks to our highest levels of responsibility. In my work, I explore my sense of wonder and awe at the natural environment. So many of the processes that are essential to life are invisible to the naked eye. I love the <often> slowed-down speed of things moving underwater. When diving, I used to love launching myself off the top of an underground cliff and floating gently down to the sea floor ... it's the closest thing to flying I have experienced while awake.
My first koi. I hope it will be one of many. I love combining painting
and drawing in the same piece. They each require me to be in a different headspace, working at a different rhythm. Downtown LA. Planes of light ... The taut steel wire looks ethereal when
layered & lit from above, juxtaposed with the rough brick wall which anchors it. San Jacinto State Park. The contrasts here are many...
Visually, between the desert & the snow <8500 feet above the valley floor>, & and the abrupt temperature change; the shadowed white/grey tones of the pillowy snow, and the taupe/brown skeletal winter bushes… |
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