The Power of Limits: Proportional Harmonies in Nature, Art and Architecture by Gyorgi Doczi Shambhala Publications Ltd 978-1-59030-259-0
György Doczi (1905 - 1995) practiced architecture in Hungary, Sweden, Iran, and the United States. He initiated a permanent exhibit on form in nature and art at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, and was a founder of the Friends of Jungian Psychology Northwest.
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Yantra - A Tantric Symbol of Cosmic Unity by Madhu Khanna Thames and Hudson 978-0-50027-234-3
Madhu Khanna is a noted Indian people historian of religion and noted and tantra science based in Delhi, India. Her first degree was from Oxford and she has several other academic accolades and awards. She has written several books, 'Yantra' being the most popular, and has contributed to three national projects, as well as several research projects for the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts Mahu Khanna - Google Scholar Square, Circle, Triangle by Bruno Munari Princeton Architectural Press 978-1-61689-412-2 This week's Recommended Read is an excellent book called Square, Circle, Triangle by the acclaimed giant in 20th Century design, Bruno Munari (1907 - 1998). He was an artist, designer and inventor in several fields of the visual arts - painting, sculptor, graphic design, industrial design and film. He produced many children's books and toys. Also non-visual arts, with his fascinating research on games, didactic method, tactile learning, kinaesthetic learning and creativity. A hugely prolific talent. Another fantastic supplement to my books as he provides plenty of extra examples of these three simple, fundamental shapes in different cultures and applications (games, design, architecture, sculpting...). The simple book cover says it all! At the bottom of this post are YouTube links to interviews with B Munari and other interesting material.
Crystal & Dragon: A Cosmic Two Step by David Wade Destiny Books, US 978-0-89281-404-6 This week's Recommended Read goes into pattern sharing in depth! "Crystal and Dragon" by David Wade is fascinating. A great supplement to my The Hidden geometry of Life since I summarise pattern sharing in two chapters. Similarly he is an artist and sculptor living in the UK. On my list of kindred souls I would like to meet. David has also written about patterns for Wooden Books. Exploring the interplay of form and energy, David Wade takes the reader on a journey through the world of successive ages from Plato's conception of the ideal form and the ancient Chinese philosophy of change to the modern scientific view of structure and indeterminacy as embodied in the laws of physics. FREE GUIDED MEDITATIONSFor over a year now I have been loading a guided meditation (also called visualisation) virtually every week on my YouTube channel - Karen L French. It all started when with a guided meditation using my painting Wish for a mind body spirit event during lockdown in 2020. Having such a great response I decided to offer a range of guided meditations using my artwork and images for a variety of purposes. As these are channeled I have no idea what they will be about! Except for the monthly full moon meditations that are proving very popular. Every meditation incorporates symbolism, such as sacred geometry, colour, planets, the Elements and they are very effective. A SELECTION of the meditations can be found on this website. For the full range please visit my YouTube channel - Karen L French.
John Watson SchoolJohn Watson School is a community special school located in Wheatley, Oxford. It "offers a relevant and balanced education that recognises individual achievement and prepares each individual well for their future lives". The Arts are very important part of the school's curriculum, serving many purposes. It allows many of the children to express their emotions and experiences in a safe and therapeutic way. Some of the children are also quite talented young artists! New Beginnings and Hope'New Beginnings and Hope' is the theme of an Oxfordshire Artweeks inspired art exhibition in Spring 2021 at the school. "The aim of the week was to celebrate our student’s work after a particularly challenging year and every student has a piece of work represented in the final display. Each pupil joined in with a week of creative experiences involving painting and printing, taking photographs and making sculptures." Every class selected an artist they felt inspired new beginnings and hope and the children painted their own version of one of their artworks. The results were stunning! Each piece of art reflected the personality and styles of the individual children. In many instances the art provided valuable insights into the children's inner selves and perceptions of the world around them. A VITUAL GALLERY is available to see on the school's website. A small selection of the magnificent artwork is in the gallery below. Wish Upon a StarIt was an honour to be selected as the 'muse' by Adele reception class (5 year olds) as an artist reflecting 'new beginnings and hope' in their artwork. Out of the blue I received a lovely email from Jennie Eyles, telling me her class were using Wish Upon a Star as the inspiration for their own artwork to, 'send a message out to the universe'. The class were using it to engage in their own sensory exploration. Jennie had discovered Wish on the Oxfordshire Artweeks website. Well done Adele class! Your artwork and exhibition were amazing. I really enjoyed meeting you all, seeing your art, and your stunning tie-dye t-shirts. Adele reception class - 'WISH' ARTWORKSAfter a wonderful tour by Deputy Head Sue Woodward a group photograph with a few of the children was taken beside the Tree of Hope. Each child had hung a dove or rainbow decorated in their own way, sending out their hopes into the universe.
Paint Along With KarenAt Cornerstone Arts Centre (on 14th March 2020) I ran a Paint Along With the Artist workshop as part of International Women's Week. Using acrylics has the main benefit of drying fairly quickly so we could add layers and do some acrylic flow with some success. The them was going to be zoning areas of square blocks but it became very apparent that I could not 'box' people into doing this. Instead I encouraged different shapes of colour areas. Acrylic flow then integrate or differentiated these zones, plus it added an element of chaos to the order. This certainly contributed to energising the artworks, which were very static. 'Expression' by Karen L French Well done to the 7 artists for their stunning 'expressions' of themselves!
Arms of a Cross mark doorway into the square setting out stable foundations on the earth. Each door also is a doorway out into the regions of the cosmos. Through these you enter the model gradually moving into the central bindu via the 9 layers, or chakra. Each of these 9 levels have a distinct shape, name and are associated with a number of aspects of the Great, or Supreme, Mother. In essence, you enter the constructs of the physical world and our bodies, bound within it, to ultimately experience the union of Shiva and Shakti in the Point of unity at the centre, the highest peak of the mountain.
Every yantra has a mantra(s), tones in ancient Sanskrit that activate and invoke the power of the geometric model. During Sri Yantra puja about an hour of these are chanted by the swami. The presiding deity of the Sri Yantra is Maha Tripura Sundari, the Great Mother. Each layer radiating out from the bindu has mudras, or deities, residing within them. This is describe in the Sri Devi Khadgamala Stotram, a hymn to the Divine Mother, which 'bestows a garland of swords upon those who recite it, symbol of the energy that enables us to transcend attachment and rise on the spiritual level'. This Sanskrit stotra is a progressional worship of the many Goddess forms within the Sri Yantra and is considered as the highest form of worship to the Devi (Godess). This is a simplified description of a multi-step, sacred ceremony that is many centuries old, with layers of rich symbolism. Doing a full worship is extremely difficult to do properly and few can do it! The Sri Yantra puja is said to remove all negative things from your life. Experiencing the Sri Yantra PujaThis summer Jaswinder Chali kindly invited me to join her and participate in a Sri Yantra Puja held in the Adhya Shakti Mataji Temple in Uxbridge, UK, a great honour. It was the first time Acharya Umesh Tiwariji (Instagram: Acharya Shri Umesh Tiwari) had visited the UK. He is a noted master trainer in the Sri Yantra Sadhana from Shrishri Vidhyadham. You can experience the mantras of the Sri Yantra Puja by Acharya Umesh Tiwariji in the youtube video below.
STEP 1 - First a Brusho water colour background was created, a chaotic cloud of potential, of many vibrant colours in the void. Then I had the urge to create circles in random locations. 3 'major' circles resulted, each a container and also a point, placed a-round a central copper circle. This middle copper circle is the focal Point of the painting. Creating accurate circles with clearing defined edges is tricky. Any slight deviation or indent immediately shows. Straight edges are much easier! All the circles were made using 3 layers of lustre, applied with circular strokes, then polished and sealed. STEP 2 and 3 - More circles of copper lustre were added, moving freely about the energetic domain. They all lie outside of the space delineated by the Trinity. Each of the 'major' circles in the Trinity were haloed by a geometric shape - red circle:green square (space), green circle:pink circle (time), rose pink circle:green octagon (Directions). These 'major' circles are bound by force fields (symbolised by the yellow lines) to create a sacred space. 3 is the number of creation, of Mind Body Soul, different states of Being (such as liquid, solid, gas). From the Centre of 3 a created Being emerges. The central copper circle, or sphere, has a crystal code within it that is the basis of the structure of the Being emerging out of the quantum field. In Step 3, gold lines and patterns where then added around each of the shapes. Recognising the sacred nature of the creative process through the use of geometry and colours from light. QUANTUM BEING - So much like the emergence of a form of being out of the Void, constructed out of geometry and light, so too did the geometric grid in the painting Quantum Being emerge out of the canvas.
Using it as a meditative tool for visualisation you can either focus of the centre and move outwards to see what form of being emerges, providing you with some insight for interpretation depending upon what is created. Or, you can choose your own body, or that of another object/animal/person/plant, and move inwards into their central code in the quantum field. At the end of your meditation move back to the point where you started. Reflect on the impressions you had as you move in and/or outwards, and also any insights you gained. After 7 months of planning and preparation LiterArties' first exhibition is underway...with 5 more exhibitions to follow in 2019, and more in the diary for future years! The Jam Factory Exhibition 27th February - 16th April Our Private Viewing last night was great fun!
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