'Brush With Fame' on Sunday 28th May 2017 - a tremendous initiative by the Bucks Open Studios organisers to encourage people to visit artists studios in the coming weeks. I was one of the lucky artists to be there, in Milton Keyes, painting Michael Praed's portrait over 4 hours. After the first hour of nerves I settled into the process (it has been many, many years since I last did a portrait). It was wonderful that so many people, including other artists, really appreciated my unusual approach to doing his portrait as an abstract painting using mixed media (acrylic, liquid water colour). Watch this space, more portraits to come... Here we goThe end resultPhyllotaxis is the arrangement of leaves around a stem. When these patterns use one more spirals, as shown, the results are stunning. Yet all leaf growth patterns are incredible as plans have evolved to ensure that every leaf is touched by the sun's rays, minimising shadows and maximising space. Water collection is optimised as it flows down to the plant's roots. In Costa Rica they have designed an orchard using the principles of sacred geometry. Trees are planted on a spiral formation around a central core, mimicking the plants own growth patterns MusicMadeVisible app Music has always been associated with cymatics, the geometry within sound waves, and there are many examples where cymatic imagery is used as a visual, dynamic art form complementing the originating sounds. It is VERY exciting that John Stuart Reid, inventor of the CymaScope, has launched MusicMadeVisible. It is an app that allows anyone to capture the dynamic geometry of their musical creations, or recorded sounds such nature and even their our own voice! It is a brilliantly accessible way to harness the power of the cymascope and the apps potential for creating art forms is limitless. Here are examples of the cymatics of two very different types of music - Pink Floyd's 'Welcome to the Machine' and dulcet tones of 'Clair de Lune':
GREEN symbolism Known as the ‘fulcrum colour’, green is the midway colour on the spectrum. Neutral in temperature, green brings physical equilibrium where positive and negative are balanced. Green has a strong kinship with Nature, helping us connect and empathise with others and the natural world. Instinctively we seek green when under stress as it creates a feeling of relaxation, calmness, space and balances the emotions. Because of this green is one of the major healing colours. In Buddhism, vernal green is the colour of life and pale green the kingdom of death and everything pertaining to death. In Christianity, vernal green represents immortality and hope, the growth of the Holy Spirit within humans, life and spring. Green was the colour of the Trinity and the Epiphany in Medieval times. For Celts, green symbolised the Earth Goddess. Green marked the beginning of the ‘Great Work’ for alchemists and was used in preparation for transmutation of base metals into gold. Green symbolism, extract from 'The Hidden Geometry of Life'. Greenery is a fresh and zesty yellow-green shade that evokes the first days of spring when nature’s greens revive, restore and renew. Illustrative of flourishing foliage and the lushness of the great outdoors, the fortifying attributes of Greenery signals consumers to take a deep breath, oxygenate and reinvigorate. Greenery is nature’s neutral. The more submerged people are in modern life, the greater their innate craving to immerse themselves in the physical beauty and inherent unity of the natural world. This shift is reflected by the proliferation of all things expressive of Greenery in daily lives through urban planning, architecture, lifestyle and design choices globally. A constant on the periphery, Greenery is now being pulled to the forefront – it is an omnipresent hue around the world. A life-affirming shade, Greenery is also emblematic of the pursuit of personal passions and vitality. Wishing everyone a very happy 2017 2 + 1 + 7 = 10 the Divine Light The end (01...10) is also the beginning, it is the eternal Moment. In astrology the 'Wheel of Fortune' works with the 'Star' so we have a year filled with hope and optimism. As we start a new cycle of the numbers the Wheel turns and brings in a new 9 year cycle. 'Follow Your Star' and in every eternal moment be centered, fully conscious of your dreams and choices as they influence the direction of your path and circles you move in. Fill your Self with light and be like a radient star. Shine through the veils of illusion to reveal your true Self to the world. Every image I create is imbued with symbolism - sacred geometry of shapes and patterns, light and colours, flowers, animals, Gods & Goddesses… All are visual expressions of the science manifesting reality. Images for connecting into with your Mind to enhance your experience of reality. To see more in my abstract and conceptual art look beyond the surface images and think of them as a 'thought forms' to blend into and work with. I often post one of my pieces with a short interpretation and insight for that day. As examples here are a couple that I posted on my facebook page in December 2016. Enjoy! Infinity and EmotionsEmotions colour our lives. Every time you are triggered by events in your life to feel blue (sadness), see red (anger, hate), feel green (with envy).... they happen to reflect back and show you the inner work you need to do along the Spiral path towards the inner, central Self where unconditional Joy is experienced. Look at the subtle images within the paintings, which were not created intentionally. For example I see a swan at the centre. Swans symbolise grace, the awakening power of the inner Self, balance, inner beauty and the 'rising glory' of a new day. Unfurling PotentialAs 2017 approaches here is a thought for the new year. Allow your potential to unfurl to reveal you in all your splendour. Awaken your senses, exeperience the colours of life and learn from them.
Up the Hill! was the result of 5 hours of non-stop painting and a 4pm dead-line. It was intense! Unfortunately I didn't manage to finish but was close enough. Having painted abstract and conceptual for a few years it was strange to be painting a structured building again. I was on Tower Hill (red X on map) and positioned myself in shade for most of the day; many other artists boiled in the sun and there were a few of cases sunburn. A pop-up exhibition followed and presentation of prizes by the Windsor Mayor. All the artists were treated to a delicious buffet and drinks. It was great fun and I look forward to next year!
A startling blue durable pigment called YInMn blue has been licensed for commercial use 7 years since its discovery and it has already found its way into the hands of some artists. Chemist Mas Subramanian and his team discovered the pigment in 2009 at Oregon State University while they were conducting experiments connected to electronics. It is one of those 'happy accidents', an unexpected discovery like Bluetac! With a unique crystal structure the compound doesn't fade, even when exposed to oil or water, and it is environmentally friendly. "Ever since the early Egyptians developed some of the first blue pigments, the pigment industry has been struggling to address problems with safety, toxicity and durability,” said Subramanian (existing blue pigments include ultramarine, made from ground lapis lazuli, and toxic alternatives such as cobalt blue and Prussian blue). "Now it also appears to be a new candidate for energy efficiency,” Subramanian adds, referring to the colour’s ability to reflect light and potentially keep buildings cool. The Shepherd Color Company is involved in commercialising this exciting new pigment. Can you see its vibrant blue hue? Recent evidence suggests that that, until modern times, humans didn't see the colour blue at all! In an interesting article in Business Insider, Kevin Loria breaks down the evidence behind the claim, which dates all the way back to the 1800s when scholar William Gladstone noticed that, in The Odyssey, Homer describes the ocean as 'wine-dark' but he never uses the word 'blue'. Every language first had a word for black and for white, or dark and light. The next word for a colour to come into existence, in every language studied around the world, was red, the colour of blood. After red, yellow appears and then green. Finally blue appears in every language. The only ancient culture with a word for blue was the Egyptians, they were also the only people that had a way to produce a blue dye. So before blue became a common concept we may have seen it, but not known we were seeing it. Blue is rare in nature. Even the sky or bodies of water (like a lake) aren't blue often. Philologist Lazarus Geiger’s research shows that even in scriptures describing 'the heavens' still don’t necessarily see the sky as 'blue'. Jules Davidoff traveled to Namibia to investigate and conducted an experiment with the Himba tribe, who speak a language that has no word for blue or distinction between blue and green. He discovered they couldn't pick out blue from green, but could discern very subtle shades of green that were not visible to most of us. Another study by MIT scientists in 2007 showed that native Russian speakers have a word for light blue (goluboy) and dark blue (siniy), and can discriminate between light and dark shades of blue much faster than English speakers.
INDONESIA - Solo River banks in Java Excavated in the 1890s, the site in Java revealed bones of what appeared to be an ancient human, surrounded by animal remains and shells dated between 1m - 700,000 years old. Similar fossils have since been found in Africa and elsewhere in Asia. Palm-sized shells found alongside the body's are very interesting as they are decorated with abstract geometric patterns. These are the earliest evidence of abstract art. AFRICA - Blombos caves ochre
The Java art is very similar to the 70,000 year old ochre etchings found in the Blombos cave Africa. This astonishing cave is home to a veritable stash of art materials. Read more here. These first examples of abstract art are similar to the triangular Grid of Life, and basis of what it is 'to be', a design that is found in the symbolic systems of every culture and also in nature. 3 creation, 6 fertility and 9 maturation - this is the trinity of numbers linked to the Grid of Life. |
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