Beauty in Demise: An Example of Paradox and Dichotomy

Beauty in Demise - Photo c Lynda Lehmannn 2014

This is a studio setup inspired by some beautiful, lush branches of an orange tree that a good friend brought me to photograph.  I did a series while the leaves were still lush green, with bright, juicy oranges and delicate white blossoms attached.  
A week later, when the leaves had dried out and withered, I was stricken by the beauty/ugliness dichotomy and how the simple curling of individual leaves conjures "life" as a whole as well as some possible bird or animal forms.  I then contemplate "the wholeness of things," as I like to call it, when one example or kind of form evokes another, at another level of being.  From atoms to cells to tissues, organs, and organisms, similarities abound on a grand scale.  From the micro level to the vast universe, underlying principles that can't be articulated but only vaguely perceived, bind the cosmos into that elegant "Oneness" that scientists and quantum physicists refer to. 
If you would like to read a book that explores formal and functional similarities in biology and the greater universe as well, and will pique your sense of wonder, you might want to try The Lives of a Cell, by Lewis Thomas, M.D.  It's a fascinating read that affirms Dr. Thomas' subtitle: Notes of a Biology Watcher.  And it will give you prickles of what C.S. Lewis calls the feeling of "the numinous," that exhilarating and just slightly eerie feeling of awe and wonder that informs your spirit and lets you know that you in your humble human capacity, can still perceive great and mysterious things that are beyond our full apprehension.
I tried to arrange these leaves to get the most pleasing negative space, because I have always enjoyed negative space as well as the forms contained within.  As my painting style has most often been frenetic, full of furiously looming form and texture, working with photography to achieve a more minimal composition is a welcome move in another direction.  Have you done any minimal drawings or photos or penned a "minimal" poem lately?

Note: You can click on each photo to see a larger version. 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 sites listed in my sidebar if you would like to see my paintings and more of my photography and digital art, or make a purchase.

"Petallurgy" Digital Floral

 

Petallurgy - Image c Lynda Lehmann

SOLD today at Art.com
Note:  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 sites listed in my sidebar if you would like to see my paintings and more of my photography and digital art, or make a purchase.

Gorgeous Dancing Peonies Floral Fantasy

Peony Fantasy - Image c Lynda Lehmann

I just got my blog back in order today, after a tenuous try of the dynamic views, which seemed to bury a lot of features and lists I wanted to show.  I didn't have time to write a post today, but I'll share with you my latest digital floral, made from one of my photos and processed in Photoshop.  I hope you're having a great, late-summer day!
NOTE: You can click on each photo to see a larger version. 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 sites at http://LyndaLehmann.imagekind.com/ or http://www.absolutearts.com/lyndalehmann/ if you would like to see my acrylic paintings and more of my photography and digital art. You can find a list of my other sites and links in my blog's sidebar. Or google my name for more links. I hope you enjoyed your visit!

Gorgeous Pink and White Carnation Poster

Gorgeous Pink and White Carnation Poster by WaterSky
Find more matted prints

This elegant, lush Carnation is available now as a poster at my Zazzle Watersky Shop, and a variety of other items with this image will soon be available for gifts, as well: mugs, tees, magnets, buttons, postage stamps, and more.  I'm so glad I photographed this lovely Carnation on Mother's Day.  It really is one of the prettiest Dianthus I have ever seen!



NOTE: You can click on each photo to see a larger version.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 sites at http://LyndaLehmann.imagekind.com/ or http://www.absolutearts.com/lyndalehmann/ if you would like to see my acrylic paintings and more of my photography and digital art. You can find a list of my other sites and links in my blog's sidebar. Or google my name for more links. I hope you enjoyed your visit!

Golden Cluster

Golden Cluster - Image c 2011 Lynda Lehmann
 

I wasn't going to post to my blog today, but I was so impressed with these roses that I saw on my walk that I wanted to share them with you!

I hope everyone has had a good day.  It's going to be sweltering here on Long Island for the next few days, with high humidity, so it may be my last walk until a cold front moves in!

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!

Serendipity is Nature's Generosity

Lamb's Ears - Image c Lynda Lehmann

I've been wanting to get back to painting, because painting is my first love.  I had promised myself that my next post would be about pigment instead of pixels.  But nature intervened and threw me a curve.  
I had all but given up on finding anything pixel-worthy on my walk today, when I stumbled upon these dried "Lamb's Ears" plants (as a friend of mine calls them).  They are just slightly wilted from the cold, which has been intense for a December on Long Island.  But their light gray-green color was outstanding against the auburn of dried, fallen leaves.
It's sometimes hard to find subjects to shoot on suburban streets, unless one comes across a wooded area or something at the very edge of the street. In order to respect people's privacy, or should I say their feelings about privacy, I never point my camera towards a house.  That's why I so enjoy getting out of the neighborhood to the larger outdoor spaces with my camera.  Not only is there usually more to shoot, but I feel free to point my camera in any direction.
Nature came through again today, with a subject that I feel holds a good deal of beauty and mystery.  I've seen this cluster of plants in the same location before, but today the light was right and the colors just popped! Whenever I take in a scene or object of beauty, I feel rich. So today held a tiny bit of serendipity for me.
I hope you found beauty and a touch of serendipity in your day, as well!    
All images and text on this blog are copyrighted material, and may be used only with written permission (email is okay) by the author/artist, except where syndication rights have been granted. All other rights reserved. Please visit my primary art site at http://www.lehmann.myexpose.com/gallery if you would like to see my paintings and more of my photography and digital art!

The Weave of Life

"Grounded"  -  Image by Lynda Lehmann c 2010

An expression of love for texture as the underpinning of all the Form(s) on Earth.

Observing the details of nature makes us mindful of the wonder and cycles of life, and our own mortality.

THE WEAVE OF LIFE

I move in firmaments of texture

concavities minute as

bumps of binary code

strung like lights in my mind.

I am visual, viewing the universe

in hieroglyphics:

scratches on glass

grass waving in the breeze

silver bangles in lake water.

In and out,

Consciousness swells

before the place

where streams of words

meet Comprehension.

I will die

dissociated from wisdom and certainty

as do all others,

alone on a Rock

where tides flow to Eternity.

Yet still alive,

I choose the arbor path,

a tactile path imbued with inklings of

water, bark, moss, lichen

and wisps of tattered clouds

dancing among treetops,

to savor the likeness of all things

and their interaction:

the Splendid Shining Weave of Life.

******

All comments and constructive criticism gratefully accepted! I don't know anything about poetry--have not studied it since high school--but still I have the compulsion to write it from time to time.

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 at  Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography if you would like to see my paintings and more of my nature photography and digital art.

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.

A Bee and A Ladybug

A Bee and A Ladybug - Image c 2010 Lynda Lehmann

Nature is always full of surprises.  I shot this image on my walk today.  Looking closely at this patch of Daisies, it seemed strange enough to find a huge bee perched so close to a Ladybug.  But it was a green Ladybug, of all things!  Or maybe she is another kind of beetle that I'm unable to identify. 

If you enlarge the photo, you can see her just to the right of the bee.  Do you have any knowledge on this?  Have I missed the evolution of orange Ladybugs to green? 

A Ballet of Blossoms

Peachy Petals - Lynda Lehmann c 2009

Watch the petals of irises sway, billow and gently gesture in the breeze. It's like watching a ballet: the dance of sweet spring air over translucent sheaths of brilliant color, orchestrated interplay of air, color, and light....

Irises may be my favorite flower, for their intricate, sculptural forms, whose graceful spatial relationships flourish in 3-D. I think they're much more interesting than tulips, for example, whose colors are just as beautiful but whose petals form a more symmetric and predictable, cup-like structure. As with the process when I paint, I enjoy variety and a few surprises!

The closer I move with my eye or my view through the camera, the more I see of the fantastic architecture of the flower kingdom.

What's your favorite flower?

All 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.

In Every Inch, a World...

Texture Play - Image c Lynda Lehmann

The wild woody plexus knows
its own emergence
and certain of the sun,
wills itself to life.

Wrinkled welter of the arbor
yields to efflorescent splendor,
and springs forth in joyful verdure
to grasp the azure sky.

****

In the tangle of the thicket,
intimations of Everything...
and in every inch, a World.

- Poems c Lynda Lehmann




Bark Abstracts c Lynda Lehmann

(Note to my dear blogging friends: Any and all constructive criticisms of these two little poems are invited and will be gratefully accepted. What would you change? Which words would you leave out? Would you change the line breaks?)

HAPPY SPRING, EVERYBODY!

All images and text c Lynda Lehmann. If you would like to view more of my art, 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.

Garden Harmony

Gossamer Peach

Garden Harmony

Sometimes the scenes in our gardens are of such harmony and grace as to be truly an inspiration, even among the weeds or wildflowers that may take root there.

Not only do our gardens emerge and bloom in predictable patterns, year after year, but they delight us with unanticipated surprises, as well. I think we should be thankful for both the predictable beauties, as well as the continual serendipity of unexpected combinations to delight the eye and calm the soul.

All 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.

Basking in the Light of Spring

First Crocuses on the Sunny Side of the Building
Image c Lynda Lehmann

Ever notice how sunlight seems to bring everything alive? In darkness, we see nothing. It's almost as if reality vanishes and our imaginations replace the world of every day. During night-time, we become more subjective. Our anxieties may come out to play havoc with our moods. Dreams flourish, along with the memories, wishes, perceptions, and fears that are embedded in them.

Thank goodness for the light, that makes all things real. The light of day is so reassuring. Perhaps it's because it's ingrained in us that we need the sun to live on this planet. Not only for warmth and energy, but for the viability of the food chain.

I believe we can also create our own light. It's not as potent as the light of the sun, nor as far-reaching. But our creativity can light the world, for ourselves and others.

When is the last time you made a point of encouraging someone's creativity? Do you have a partner, friend, student, or neighbor whom you have spurred on to the personal power that's part of inner-directedness and self-actualization? What is life, but the endless and ongoing challenge to master ourselves and shine our light into the darkness?

Many of us will be celebrating one holiday or another in the coming week. Some of us may just be celebrating the advent of spring. Whatever our culture, position, belief or creed, wherever we are:

May each of us live this week with
peace in our heart,
peace in our mind,
peace in our spirit.

The responsibiltiy to transform the world
begins with us.

Wishing you joy and light!

All 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.

A Hint of the Wild Places: Dimensions of Opulence and Mystery

A Hint of the Wild Places

Dimensions


Opulence


The fullness and fertility of early summer are evident in every blossom and in this lush rose.

Above, green leaves frame this vibrant blossom beautifully, and hint at secret dimensions.

At the top, a Monarch perches on a sunlit wildflower. Nature is always beautiful in form, color and glowing light, even if the butterfly you want to capture won't cooperate by standing still!

Flowers are the sexual parts of plants, but they are more than that. New dimensions to explore, the intricate architecture of nature to revel in, symbols of the season of growth and fertility, the magic of color and scent in our universe. Perhaps most importantly, they play a significant role in the food chain.

Blossoms are full of that alluring mystery that gives us little shivers--the recognition of something miraculous going on in the process of nature's unfolding.

Here on Long Island, we've been blanketed by a dirty crust of ice and snow for a couple of weeks now, with unusually chilly temps and a cutting rawness to the air. So I wanted to do a post that would remind us all of spring!

All 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.

Harmony

Just like the complementary colors (magenta and green) in the quietly unfolding leaves of this beautiful plant, the human soul is capable of great harmony. In a meditative state of mind, peace and affirmation may become as real and present as the unassuming, quiet glory of this foliage. Image c Lynda Lehmann.

All 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.

Serendipity: The Unexpected Beauty of Peach-Colored Irises and Pink Peonies

Precious Peony - Image c Lynda Lehmann

Peachy Petals - Image c Lynda Lehmann

I had the pleasure of finding these blooms on a recent walk. Some days I find only spent or wilted flowers, but this past Monday, my luck was good. I felt blessed to encounter these lush specimens at the peak of their glory! I shot with a small aperture for depth of field, because of the depth of the blossoms. Hope you enjoy them!

I'd like to dedicate them to Janice Thompson at Drinking the Moon. Janice is bedridden with a bad bout of arthritis. I'm sure she'd love to have our visits to her blog to see her lovely poetry and nature images, and that would cheer her a little when she's able to get up. I hope you feel better soon, Janice!

I'll be busy building a cabin into a house this summer, with my husband, so you'll probably see less of me here on the blogosphere. But I'll try to post and comment, although maybe less often. I couldn't resist posting these beauties today. Now why doesn't MY garden look like this?

Poised in Perfection - Image c Lynda Lehmann

Images 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 .

Flowers, Flowers, Everywhere....

I try to walk every day that weather and time permit. With each walk I enjoy the air, the sunlight, and views of hills and trees. Our neighborhood looks out at a harbor and Long Island Sound, as so many North Shore neighborhoods do, and the glint of water is never far away. I always come home feeling great, having imbibed in a bit of air and exercise, and lots of beauty.

What makes my walks really special is when I remember to take my camera along. Right now I have a SONY digital-SLR and it's a bit heavy. But it's worth the work of toting it in the hope of grabbing some good nature or garden shots as I go. Sometimes I take my monopod, but that gets in the way at least as often as it's helpful. I'm sure that one of these days I'll trip on it outright, and go flying down one of the steep hills here, camera still in hand. Be that as it may, every find of a beautiful object or scene is a gift, and if I manage to get a decent photo of it, the gift keeps giving. I feel very rich to have my passion fulfilled and the camera putting so much joy in my life, on a regular basis.

All the above shots except for the purple and white orchids were taken just in the past three days, as I labored up and down the hills of my small town, searching for window pots and hedgerows close enough to the street to photograph. I hope you enjoy them, as I'm enjoying sharing them with you!

All the above images are or will be available at Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or you can buy them framed at Imagekind, should you be interested in purchasing them.

Spring Flame

I'm uploading this image to wish you all a happy and bright spring! We passed the most beautiful flowers hanging in window pots outside a local Long Island restaurant today, and I shot them in spite of a stiff and maddening wind. I manipulated this one in Photoshop, repeating a single blossom to make the composition.

It was my first day out since last Tuesday. Seems I had a little bout of flu, and now I have to catch up on all your posts! I hope you've had a better week than I did, although all things considered, I have nothing to complain about. Happy spring!!

Image c Lynda Lehmann. If you are interested in purchasing this image or any of my art, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography. Or you can buy it framed at Imagekind.

Ethereal

"Ethereal" Image c Lynda Lehmann

Petals clasp sweet sunlit air.

Roots reach deep to suckle Grace.

Graceful tulip drinks her love, grateful for

dear Earth's embrace.

Poem c 2008 Lynda Lehmann

Serendipity was finding this majestic tulip in my garden, upon returning home from a walk. I ran to get my camera and caught it just a minute before shade enveloped it, swallowing all the gorgeous highlights. Only a day later, this beautiful bloom was past its glory. But what a glorious flower it was! The photo is from last year, but since we're not having much in the way of blooming here yet, except for crocuses and hyacinths, I'm posting it to celebrate spring. It's the perfect time to find renewal in both nature and in ourselves. I hope you enjoy my photo and poem and I wish you a happy, healthy, and creative spring!

Text and photo c Lynda Lehmann. "Ethereal" is available for purchase at Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or you can buy it framed at Imagekind.