Cascade

Cascade - Image c 2010 Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography

Autumn leaves ready to fall create a cascade of color, suspended and flapping in the wind like a curtain.  

Natural beauty is a transient state, peaking in its majesty for a short time before changing form and entering a new phase of life cycle that may, perhaps, be equally captivating.

Because beauty is fleeting, like life itself, it becomes all the more precious and poignant.  Life is both precious and poignant, and so we must be thankful for our short domain on Earth.  

To proceed without being mindful of the wonders in life and our individual blessings as well, is to be out of touch and perhaps even arrogant.  I think of friends whose lives have been taken too early, and I know that I must rejoice and be grateful for the gift of every day. 

All images and text on this blog are copyrighted material, and may be used only with written permission by the author/artist, except where syndication rights have been granted. All other rights reserved. Please visit my primary art site www.lehmann.myexpose.com/ if you would like to see my paintings and more of my photography and digital art.

Foot of the Tree

Foot of the Tree - Image c Lynda Lehmann 2010

Gnarled, nicked, worn and splintered but always intertwined, trees roots rib the forest floor in a matrix of organic relationship, growth and mystery. Though their twists and turns may evoke dependency and struggle, tentativeness and uncertainty, a strong and enduring quality permeates their presence, as well.

Just like the groping roots and tangled vines, we are organic; we are of the Earth. As do the roots, vines and branches, each of us must move not in a straight line towards our goals, but in fits and spurts, past curves and detours, to reach them. Wish not for a straight and obvious path, but for the strength and tenacity to find your way.

All images and text on this blog are copyrighted material and may be used only with written permission by the author/artist, except where syndication rights have been granted. All other rights reserved. Please visit my primary art site www.lyndalehmann.com if you would like to see my paintings and more of my photography and digital art.

Drinking the River, Touching the Mist

To the Far Horizon - Image c Lynda Lehmann 2010

Solstice Flow - Image c Lynda Lehmann 2010

I turn my face towards the descending mist. I feel its softness on my skin. Barely visible--both gossamer and fleeting--it hovers between the downcast sky and pungent earthy realms. Its delicate power transforms the forest into Chambers of Joy, humming with life process, inspiring and humbling me.

Oh Cathedral of Grace, full of scent and motion, press the moisture of life gently to my cheeks as it anoints the oaks, pines and hemlocks with sweetness, making them supple and new, coaxing shimmering manes of fresh growth.

I am intimate with the river. Fervently I soak in the reverberating tides, those mysteries translucent but steady. Eddies of lace, pathways of stone, forge ahead in your yin-yang dance of ages.

I walk enchanted through verdant halls, wanting for nothing. I am as complete as the damp patch of earth under my feet, swelling with emerging life.

The Sacred Grounds rise to my consciousness as the Perfection of the Universe.

Rush - Image c Lynda Lehmann 2010

Sacred Meeting of Water and Stone - Image c Lynda Lehmann 1010

All images and text on this blog are copyrighted material, and may be used only with written permission by the author/artist, except where syndication rights have been granted. All other rights reserved. Please visit my primary art site www.lyndalehmann.com if you would like to see my paintings and more of my photography.

Reaching for the Solstice

We walked on a beach along Long Island Sound this past Sunday. The day was overcast, so the colors of the day stood out. I'll be posting "Beach Foundlings" from that day, man-made or altered objects found on the beach, and a variety of more natural beach images, in coming posts.

Today I'm sharing just this image of a hill facing over the shoreline and water. The woods were finally showing signs of color, emergent green and amber evident on slender veins of new growth. The air was soft and not too cold, and I was taken with this view of the fertile pre-spring arbor: ready to burst with life, replete with possibilities and energy of fresh growth and brushy splendor. So delicate, yet full of awesome power...

Life renews itself in Spring, and with the changing of the season, comes new hope.

My most fervent hope is for our survival on our magnificent green, blue, and amber planet.

Images and text c Lynda Lehmann. If you would like to view more of my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind, where you can choose from several sizes and paper types or buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

Gateway to Mystery

Gateway to Mystery - c Lynda Lehmann


With its musk and mystery the forest beckons, and holds me in its warm embrace. I'm taken by the glow, the lush, rich and intricate tapestry of living things. As the canopy closes around me, I'm forced to silence; the arbor seems more real than real, amazing and transforming me. And I know from the exhilaration I feel, that I exist.

Text and image c Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved.

If you would like to view more of my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my gallery at Imagekind .

Layers

Texture is the most enduring and ubiquitous underpinning of form:...certainly a calming, meditative and appealing world for both the eye and mind.

Texture is everywhere we look, and nature's paintbrush is capable of stunning feats. I hope you enjoy the rough-hewn beauty of tree bark as much as I do.

Image and text c Lynda Lehmann.

Bark in the Park

No reference in this post to barking dogs intended, although yes, I've encountered many vocal pets in local parks. It's about "barkscapes." I love to enjoy the natural beauty of both the macrocosm and the microcosm. I think I've learned to take in both simultaneously, through the lens of my camera. And having a "real" microscope that I received for my 12th birthday, also opened my eyes to the amazing and often gorgeous detail below the threshold of our everyday vision.

I think that texture is the most universal underpinning of form--it's everywhere and part of every object, either natural or man made. (Now, f only I could hold my SONY D-SLR more steady! I'm looking for a lightweight monopod that will do the job, so if anyone has recommendations, I'm open to them. My tripod is just too heavy to tote around.)

Here are two photos of the same tree. A sycamore, perhaps? One is at "regular" focal distance and the other is a close up, though not quite a macro shot. In the second shot, I tweaked the colors just slightly and adjusted the brightness and contrast, to bring out the beautiful pattern. I think it makes a good abstract, don't' you?

One of Robert Genn's newsletters at his Painter's Keys site http://www.painterskeys.com/ was about Miksang, the art of seeing detail in everyday things. I tried to find the link to the article to post it here, but my computer started opening multiple windows and I had to close down, because my task manager wouldn't cooperate. You can search for it at his site if you want to read it.

After I read it, I realized I'd been practicing Miksang practically all my life!

My photographs and paintings are available for purchase at http://www.lyndalehmann.com/ and some of my other sites, which are linked there. Images and text c 2007 Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved.

Autumn Dazzle

I count among my blessings the freedom to enjoy nature's beauty a little bit each day. That's why I try to remember to carry my camera when I walk.

Today was blustery and cold, but the sky was an intense blue and the sunshine pouring over everything lit the trees on fire. I often miss seeing the peak color, but I managed to see some of it today. I will savor the glow long after this gorgeous, blazing afternoon has faded into dusk.

A picture speaks a thousand words. I hope you enjoy these photos, as I enjoyed taking them. I also hope that everyone who celebrated Thanksgiving felt blessed with warmth, good food, love, and spiritual riches.

If you are interested in purchasing any of these images, you will find them for sale as matted archival prints on my site at www.lyndalehmann.com , and eventually on Imagekind and Art.com as prints that you can purchase plain or matted and framed.

Light Makes All Things Real

Pine Bark, Echo Lake

Barkscape VIII

The Nature of Pine Bark

Illlumined



Light makes all things real.





Images and text c Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved. You can view more of my work or purchase my photos at www.lyndalehmann.com

Life of a Tree

The life of a tree is revealed not just by its height or its growth rings, but by the marks and scars its days have wrought upon its bark. The bark reveals the character of a tree in the same way the lines on a person's face show his or her age. The bark speaks of hardships endured, as well as of life-force and survival.


Text and image c Lynda Lehmann. If you would like to see more of my work, please visit www.lyndalehmann.com . Thanks for visiting!

Inconceivable Unfolding of a Palm

The title says it all. The name of this palm escapes me because I was too busy taking photos to write it down. Regardless of its name and and species, it was clearly designed and engineered by an unseen intelligence of a higher order. The structure of this tree, viewed at a local arboretum, is unbelievable!


I remember some course work in industrial design in college, when we talked about angles creating structural integrity and strength, a principal applied in architecture, packaging, and other forms of design. The most common example is probably corrugated cardboard, with which we're all familiar. But no human endeavor can ever rival the design and structural adaptations in nature!


Image and text c Lynda Lehmann. Please visit www.lyndalehmann.com if you would like to see more of my work.

A World of Their Own

A woman and three children ensconced by the spread of a magnificent tree, totally absorbed in the private world they are sharing. What would our world be like without the drama and beauty of such magnificent trees?

Trees give us not only beauty and add dimension to our world, they give us shade, provide animal habitat, wood for all our human "creature comfort" needs, and hold the soil in place. They grow everywhere in amazing diversity, until we raze and burn the forests.

We can all help the Earth and help to insure human survival by planting an extra tree or two in our yards, or by sending in Action Alerts that address issues such as clear-cutting for industry and rainforest preservation. Join the World Wildlife Fund or the Nature Conservancy or the Rainforest Action Network, to put in YOUR two cents! (See links to other environmental organizations in the sidebar of this blog.)

The way I look at it, the "Tree of Life" is at the heart of life.

Text and image c Lynda Lehmann. You can purchase this print at www.lyndalehmann.com.

Primeval Wood

The woods deep and dark, beckon with a play of sounds, smells, and textures, calling us to open our senses and refreshing our spirits. Deep inside us, there's a chord that is touched in each of our hearts; we know by instinct that this tender arbor is a sacred place, where life begins and ends in a tapestry of ever-unfolding beauty and mystery. Light and shadow preside over the blossoming and waning, the pouring forth and fading away, in an immense and awesome saga of life.

Image and text c Lynda Lehmann. "Primeval Wood" is available at www.lyndalehmann.com .

Glory Sky

My husband and I are in Maine, where he is trying to transform a log cabin of sorts into a livable house with modern heating and plumbing systems, new rooms and exterior, etc. The whole nine yards. All with his own labor--a monumental task!

But it's not all work; we take every opportunity to smell the roses (well, okay, the musk of the forest). We love Maine because in this state, the land still stretches in all directions, fertile, lush, and unspoiled by the excesses of people and civilization. Right now it's cloudy and cool up here, but I'll gladly take it over the heat of most of the northeast. Of course the ugly effects of global warming often reach into this region, and will surely do so more often in the future. But that's another story.

When we live here among the pines, we often retire early. I like to watch (through the window) the light of day fade from the lake and far shore, as the silence of the Maine night sets in like a balm to my soul.... Never have I heard such a profound and deep silence. A total silence, smooth and deep and calming. It's a silence you can count on. I like to wake up, just to listen! Of course, sometimes the plaintive calling of loons on the lake is a special treat. Or the wind, wailing out of the hills of New Hampshire's White Mountains, to the west of us.

I think it was Nietzsche who said "The one and only voice of God is silence." I believe he had that right.


If you like my photo and would like to purchase it, please feel free to ask me to post it on my Imagekind site. Text and image c Lynda Lehmann. http://lyndalehmann.imagekind.com