The Great Transmutation

The Great Transmutation

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The Great Transmutation
oil on cradled wood panel
24 x 36 x 1.5 inches
This item is unframed but ready to hang
(click on the image to purchase)
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may the wind deal kindly with us
may the fire remember our names
may springs flow, rain fall again
may the land grow green, may it swallow our mistakes

we begin the work
may it continue
the great transmutation
may it continue
a new heaven and a new earth
may it continue
may it continue - DIANE DI PRIMA

I find myself seeking solace in mantras.

Chants, of a sort, which my mind can fall into, soothing in their familiarity and rhythm. A pattern of words to return me to my breath, to the present moment, to calm. Di Prima's poem is a grand piece of rhythmic words to refocus on the things we long for and the things we wish to abolish. A reminder of what is good and what is the line in the sand.

Following Dotty Seiter's practice of noticing is a real game-changer for me. A daily morning walk over the same old bridge, across the same vast river, toward the same tall buildings - and yet. And yet with practice there are new things everywhere; good things, bad things, neutral things, but things. Observing is a practice. May it continue.

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​About the art: 'tis the season for revitalizing murdered paintings! Here is yet another brutally bludgeoned piece in which the pattern of the paint-over became the impetus for a new abstract. Following the paint tool me way, WAY out of my usual style and into something dreamlike and surreal. Heaps of layers and glazes on this one. Getting those dark, dark, DARKS was the goal. Oooh la la!