Not Quite Daily Paint

"Abstract Landscape VIII" (a study) and "Abstract Study" - acrylic, ink, pastel on aquabord, 6" x 6"

My daily paint-a-thon was temporarily derailed by a fabulous Thanksgiving week and then a much needed surgery for my dad.  Today's pieces were created over the last five days, a bit at a time between festivities and hospital trips.  My self-imposed challenge was to take two identical boards and media (including the colors) and create two abstracts: one an abstract landscape and the other a true abstract.  This project was amazing fun and quite magical!

What I discovered while working two boards at a time is the beauty of eating a tangerine.  You might be wondering if I've lost my mind here, but bear with me.  I've been streaming some dharma talks by Thich Nhat Hanh, the  Vietnamese monk known for his ability to make buddhism understandable to anyone.  One of his talks is about the practice of eating a tangerine really as a metaphor for how to remain in the beauty of the present moment.

Being present is challenging for a type-A multitasking productivity-oriented person like myself. And yet it is what I need most.  The practice of eating a tangerine without thinking of anything other than the tangerine - its taste, texture, smell, relationship to the air, water, soil, clouds, people and how it feels to eat it - is actually really tough!  If you don't believe me, give it a try.  Count how many times your mind wanders away from the tangerine.  But it is a beautiful, peaceful, restorative practice if you stick with it.

Painting these two pieces simultaneously was like eating a tangerine.  I was so engrossed in the colors, textures, lines, movement of the ink on the board and the magic appearing before me that I felt fully and completely present.  My mind was a blissful oasis of "now."

Go spend some time with your fruit!  Fruit, like art, is a meditative and restorative practice. 

These pieces are available, with or without framing.  Inquiries: imajenation@gmail.com.  Free piece of fruit with every purchase.