Three New Digital Painting Fantasies

Sunlight Through the Clerestory

Night Lanterns

Rage of the Minotaur


Even with the sparkle of the holidays, it's good to step back from the partying, over-eating, interactions and distractions, to get a sense of who we are. For me, making any kind of art fills the bill. It's sure beats stuffing on holiday goodies, for satisfaction. For me, it's a kind of euphoria that's always attainable. And will be, for as long as I have my faculties.


So let me take this opportunity to wish you all HAPPY HOLIDAYS and every imaginable blessing in the coming year. May all your dreams come true, and may you feel joy in your pursuits, as I do in making images.


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.

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.

Fish Fiesta 2

This is the second version of a digital painting I did a few months back, but it works well, I think, in these colors--better than the first version. I did it in Painter, but have not even watched the tutorial for this program yet. I think I'm having "Beginner's Luck" because I do like some of the results I've gotten thus far. And I've had a lot of fun with it. Hopefully, by this time next year I will have found or made the time to learn something about the software.

Hope you see the humor and whimsy in it! Image c Lynda Lehmann. You can purchase this print at http://www.lyndalehmann.com/

WAITING

A long line of slatted wooden porch chairs in an abstract pattern, seems to be waiting for sitters, or perhaps something else!

A large part of our lives is spent waiting for one thing or another. How much time we spend waiting is probably due to our expectations of life: do we believe in predestination or waiting for the hand of a higher power to intervene in our behalf, or do we take responsibility for our fates in spite of our varying beliefs in Deity?

Many of the world's cultures have, I believe, a myth of a sort of Cosmic Jester embedded somewhere in their mythology. According to books I have read, whose titles escape me at the moment, this notion is so prevalent, almost universal, that we have to question why this is so. It seems the Jester is seen as a sort of intermediary between the physical and spiritual worlds, i.e. between man and God. The Jester is the force responsible for synchronicity, or what I would call "meaningful coincidence." When one's life takes ironic turns and "special" or remarkable events seem to coincide with personal milestones or rites of passage, this becomes a tantalizing notion. Most of us have at least a few recollections of events in our lives that seemed to present us with some unique personal meaning, especially "fitting" for us as individuals living in the greater cosmic soup.

Which moves me into thoughts of energy, the eloquence and organized chaos of the universe, etc.

No matter where each of us stands on these issues, it's fun to speculate. No one knows the answers, and I suspect that truth is as fluid as the ocean. If only we could see the whole picture....

Which activities and passions we choose to pursue during our short lifetimes, determines who we are and shall further become, while we wait for answers.

Text and image c Lynda Lehmann. "Waiting" won a Special Recognition Award at a Period Gallery juried exhibition. A matted archival digital print of "Waiting" is available at www.lyndalehmann.com, on the last page of the site.

INTRODUCING KAREN BAUDER

I want to introduce you to Karen Bauder. I've been so impressed by Karen's generous spirit, skills, and creative energy that I wanted to feature her on my blog. Where did we meet? Well, on the internet, of course. I've only known Karen for a few months through WWAO, Worldwide Women Artists Online, of which we are both members. In just a few months, I've seen Karen call on her web design and writing skills to make or modify several websites, and she's always ready to include, feature, and acknowledge her fellow artists. This is my tribute to Karen for her creativity, wit, and the big heart that goes with them.

Here's what Karen has to say about her art and artistic journey:

I started at my father's side as a child; listening to his wild adventures and watching him touch paint to canvas. Under his tutelage I developed a passion for art. I studied art & philosophy while getting a degree in design and became a professional artist with work collected all across the United States, Canada, England and India. I am an abstract artist creating in paint and pixels and pulling images from my imagination. Two of my digital works are currently on display in Germany at the Art World Project and one will soon be appearing in the Mendocino Arts Magazine in California. You can currently find me creating full time in my studio in Texas, still listening to my father's wild adventures as he now sits at my side watching me create.

Karen's passion comes across in her enthusiasm and in her work. She calls herself the "Accidental Artist," but I think her wonderful personal attributes are no accident. And I love her art, as well! As you can see, her digital abstracts are unique, conceptual, and visually stunning.

You can view more of Karen Bauder's art at her two primary sites:

Dreamwork Digital Art & Photography:

http://dreamworkdigitals.com/

The Accidental Artist:

http://accidental-artist.blogspot.com/