Ice Abstract: Nature's Subtle Palette and Dynamic Design

Ice Abstract - c 2011 Lynda Lehmann

Nature never fails to fascinate.  In every season, in every kind of weather, at every time of day, intricate patterns and textures captivate the eye.  My prize for walking the beach on a bitter cold day last week, besides almost-frozen toes, was this view of cracked ice along the side of the road.  I think it makes a beautiful abstract.  
I'm forever marveling at how accidental arrangements can be so arresting and gorgeous.  The Earth's natural processes produce patterns, textures and designs that outdo the best capabilities of the human hand and eye.  
What have you seen in your locale this week, that made you feel blessed with the serendipitous beauty of nature's grand design?

All images and text on this blog are copyrighted material, and may be used only with written permission. All rights reserved. Please visit my primary site at http://www.lyndalehmann.com/gallery if you would like to see my acrylic paintings and more of my photography and digital art. I hope you enjoyed your visit to my blog!

Ponderosity: From My New Series of Small Abstract Expressionist Paintings

Ponderosity - Lynda Lehmann c 2011

An artist friend recently told me that she likes my black and white paintings and I had to ponder on the appeal of black and white.  

I've always loved design and I think painting in black and white gives a very graphic allure and perhaps a stronger design/compositional sense than using color.  Using color most often makes the color the "truth" of the painting, at least for those of us whose wild color-love becomes unleashed when we dip our brushes (or other tools) into lush pigments.
This small painting on gallery-wrapped canvas measures 11 by 14 inches, and except for a few linear brush strokes applied at the end, was done with a palette knife. 
According to Dictionary.com "ponderosity" is a related form of "ponderous," an adjective which means:

1.

of great weight; heavy; massive.

2.

awkward or unwieldy: He carried a ponderous burden on hisback.

3.

dull and labored: a ponderous dissertation.

Here's wishing you an artful day.  May nothing too ponderous come your way!
Note:  I'm aware that I have a code glitch or two on my page, and I'll eventually figure out how to fix it!
All images and text on this blog are copyrighted material, and may be used only with written permission, except where syndication rights have been granted. All other rights reserved. Please visit my primary site at http://www.lyndalehmann.com/gallery if you would like to see my acrylic paintings and more of my photography and digital art. I hope you enjoyed your visit to my blog!

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In Silence Lies Beauty: Gesture and Lace in a Snowy Forest

Gesture and Lace - Image c 2011 Lynda Lehmann

Hermann Melville said, "God’s one and only voice is silence."  Somehow I agree.  It's only in moments of silence that we can even begin to grasp the magnitude of the beauty all around us and the profound miracle of every day.


A snow-shrouded forest is a great place to experience the joy and fullness of silence.  Why is silence full?  Because silence allows us the space to let go of conscious thoughts, goals, and all the usual preoccupations that we carry around with us from day to day.  Silence gives us a moment of pause in which we may become aware of our own Being.  In silence, we own ourselves; we own the moment.  Silence lets us "be," if Being is what we want.
Silence asks nothing of us but to befriend her.  Silence will not ask us to defend ourselves.  Silence is forgiving.  She is a balm to our souls.  
Silence is not Golden, but she is buoyant, transparent and transforming.  Listen to Silence if you want to find your Heart.
I was astounded with the beauty of the forest on this bone-chilling day when I walked with my husband at a nearby state park. The landscape was frozen and rigid in the vice-grip of winter.  Yet the trees maintained their winding and undulating forms, held on to their grace under the assault of bitter cold and high winds.  Because the temperature has been so low this week, little melting has taken place, even on the blacktop that usually warms in the midday sun.  

Snow Berries - Image c 2011 Lynda Lehmann

There was so much to see in this transformed land of delicate lace-work and graceful forms: the rolling hills, the frosted berries and dancing trees.  The contrast of bright white snow clinging to twigs, trunks and branches against a background of afternoon shadows, really brought out the beauty of the arbor.  When we left I was again replete again with nature's beauty, though my toes were nearly frozen.
I love silence.  But I know some folks find silence tedious or even frightening.  Do you look forward to moments of silence or do you find yourself avoiding it?

Together in Beauty - Image c 2011 Lynda Lehmann

All images and text on this blog are copyrighted material, and may be used only with written permission, except where syndication rights have been granted. All other rights reserved. Please visit my primary site at http://www.lyndalehmann.com/gallery if you would like to see my acrylic paintings and more of my photography and digital art. I hope you enjoyed your visit to my blog!

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A Dog's Life and The Ides of December

It's a Dog's Life

Please Don't Make Me Go Out in The Snow Again!

I'll Be Good, I Promise!

I'm giving December the boot!  What a month.  It started with my husband getting the flu, which lasted for well over a week.  His ended, then I promptly came down with the same stuffed head with aches, fever and chills.  Then the tumult of the holidays set in, and our daughter and son-in-law arrived 3 days before Christmas with their 95 pound over-sized pooch.

On Christmas Eve we went to a family gathering which because of logistics, we had catered for the first time this year.  Right after the party and with a blizzard fast approaching, we drove daughter and hubby to the airport for their long-awaited trip to Galapagos. The long-anticipated trip was to be their joyous, albeit-late honeymoon, coming a few months after their July wedding.

No sooner did my husband and I arrive home after the round-trip to JFK in Christmas Day traffic, but the first of several phone calls came in.  The flight was leaving at midnight, without them!  To make a long story short, the airline had overbooked their flight.  So they spent the night in the airport, and flew out around 4:00 in the morning.

They arrived on their tour a day late, after four or five unscheduled plane changes, no sleep at all, carrying heavy LONG backpacks that I couldn't have managed for even five minutes.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we had all gotten food poisoning! At least 12 people who had assembled from different households, took ill a few hours after the family Christmas party.  And  to confirm my worst expectations, daughter and her hubby puked their way across South America, all the way to the Galapagos. It was Gatorade and Pepto-Bismol, all the way. On top of all that stress and exhaustion.

I was sick for the second time in a month, the blizzard was thick around us, we had to push their hyperactive Rhodesian Ridgeback hound  out the door by her butt because she did not want to go out into the snow, and we worried all week about the kids being sick and strung out on their travels.

Gran'dogger is adorable but totally ornery.  She commanded all our attention for the week they were gone; it was all we could do to keep up with her antics.  When she had properly anointed every inch of our hitherto pristine yard with abundant pee and poop and given us the run-around several times, refusing to come in when called while we watched helplessly from the deck with empty leash in hand, we knew we were outwitted by the willful canine.

She wouldn't come in from the yard even when bribed with teaspoonsful of her favorite peanut butter, but managed to lick just enough off the spoon to taunt us before she whirled out of reach. We stood and watched in awe as she tore across the yard 30-40 times without tiring, flying like a Greyhound and leaving new track marks around a few choice trees and shrubs, tossing the outdoor mat with a vengeance, and even trying to pull a mature Yew out of the ground by its roots!

So goodbye, December!  Glad to see you go....  And goodbye, Gran'dogger, and please don't come back to stay with us again for at least a year!

All images and text on this blog are copyrighted material, and may be used only with written permission, except where syndication rights have been granted. All other rights reserved. Please visit my primary site at http://www.lyndalehmann.com/gallery if you would like to see my acrylic paintings and more of my photography and digital art. I hope you enjoyed your visit to my blog!

A Magical, Mesmerizing Meditation for the New Year: The Fantasy Art of Sara Deutsch

Now that the busy holiday season is past, we could all do with a few moments of quiet contemplation.  Sara Deutsch is a very talented, prolific and passionate artist friend whom I met a few years back at one of the online artist's sites/communities.  I've always loved her beautiful, fanciful and imaginative work.  To me Sara is all artist: a woman of gentle soul who immerses herself in myriad creative activities and loves to share her love of life and the universe with others.  You can view more of her magical and whimsical work in her portfolio.

Here's how Sara describes herself and her work in her bio.
"Sara Deutsch is a visionary artist who focuses on creativity as a healing force and the computer as a mystic friend who lets her paint with light, and leads her into the heart of nature and the infinite wisdom of the Spirit.  Each painting is a blind date with the Unknown as she listens to the heart and the mood and color of  the moment.  Sara's life journey led her into many worlds. She trekked alone in the Himalayas for 18 months, and lived in virgin jungles of Hawaiian Islands, eating fruit and wild vegetables.  She draws upon doctoral study in Psychobiology and East/West Psychology, years in a  contemplative order, cross-cultural adventures, multimedia explorations. and  26 years offering Creative Arts Therapy, arts in education workshops and expressive arts college classes."
Sara, thanks for sharing your very creative and lyrical vision with the world!  Watching your video today brought me some welcome respite from the frenetic pace of December.  You can't change the cold weather, but you can warm hearts!

All images and text on this blog are copyrighted material, and may be used only with written permission, except where syndication rights have been granted. All other rights reserved. Please visit my primary site at http://www.lyndalehmann.com/gallery if you would like to see my acrylic paintings and more of my photography and digital art. I hope you enjoyed your visit to my blog!