The Fabric of Earth

The Fabric of Earth - c Lynda Lehmann


This is an old photo I took years ago when flying home from Arizona, where I'd had an extended visit with my family.  It's not a great photo. I shot it with a digital point-and-shoot that probably captured less than 5 mega pixels.  So it's grainy, as well as having been shot through the airplane window.  The funny thing is that when I found this image while cleaning out some Photoshop files tonight, I remembered that very moment when I glanced out the plane window and saw this spectacular view of mountain ridges (which I presume were the Rockies).  I had that wonderful impulse of Joy, expressed by a quiet "Wow!" that we all get from time to time when we see something awesome and beautiful.  We have a sense of its largess and significance, although we might not be able to define why.

It seems that somehow, taking photos not only reminds me of a given moment in time, but that I can also, often remember my state of mind, even that very moment of Consciousness, that fleeting minute during which I was treated to a glimpse of something Profound.  I knew I was seeing something important, because it gave me pause, not only to feel a sense of joy, but to contemplate the Wonder of the Universe, the Wonder of Being.  And so I must conclude that taking photos of the natural world cements my Consciousness in Moments of Beauty, anchoring me more closely to the Heart of Life, if you will.

When I'm lying on my death-bed, I don't want to define myself by my riches, possessions or popularity.  I don't even want to define myself by the highs and lows of my art journey, or by how I assess whatever successes or failures I may have had.

I want to define myself by my relationships.  That means relationships with other individuals,  those outside myself with whom I have chosen to spend segments of my life, and by my Relationship with the Universe.  This will depend on how many Moments of Beauty I have beheld (to use an old-fashioned word) and how many I've taken into my Soul that will forever Enrich, Inspire, and Nourish me, even as I pass from this Earth.

NOTE:  I've capitalized various words to give them emphasis.  Not proper usage, I know...

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!

Celebrating the Ubiquitous Beauties of the World: Artistic Impressions by Lynda Lehmann

Photo c Lynda Lehmann.

Here is the link to some of my articles on creative process, written awhile back and published at Creativity Portal.  I hope you enjoy them.  My favorite is "Art and Power".

Celebrating the Ubiquitous Beauties of the World: Artistic Impressions by Lynda Lehmann

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!

The Monastery Within

The Monastery Within

Fading into the distance, the arches of the monastery at Imperia Vecchia seem to connote the passage of time. The tiny figure staring out at the far end might symbolize the smallness (or perhaps the significance) of the individual, in the stream of human history.

How do you think about your life?  Do you regard each human life as significant or as just a grain of sand blowing in the wind of the cosmos?  How do you reconcile your own smallness and subjectivity with the vastness and competing interests in the universe? 

My particular accommodation is to look for beauty every day, in nature and in the people I know.  What works for you?  What activities, goals, or values do you turn to when you get the existential "blues"?

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!

Paths of Death, A Poem Both Cynical and Hopeful

No Escape - Image c Lynda Lehmann

A passionate few verses about the way we live in our modern world, 

in words both cynical and hopeful...

PATHS OF DEATH 

Venal flawed existence

flouting

preconceived verbalizations...

No thought to language or

aspiration to meaning,

all yearning for truth 

adulterated--politicized--

on Benches of Greed.

Where are the heroes?

Oh, let me sing you.

Do not fling yourself on the altar of

your conscience's death:

mind sacrificed to paltry truths,

enunciations carrying the weight of tin.

Flap not on empty windows

or abandoned domiciles

of Mind-Once-Given

then dubiously relinquished

to Purveyors of Delusion...

those Butchers of Truth who

bleed their fare

over civilization's thin veneer.

Run from the blade to

find your heart

away

from Paths of Death.

c Lynda Lehmann 2010.  All rights reserved.

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.

Creating False Value: The Mark of Emptiness?

Mad Dogs and Solipsisms
Acrylic on Canvas, c 2009 Lynda Lehmann

This is not a "feel good" post. So if you are depressed today, wait to read it until you're feeling better, or skip it. I don't want to bring anybody down.

I have to say that in all the fascinating options for meeting people, communicating and interacting that are available to us on the web, we've maybe come to an impasse. When everybody is trying desperately to be seen, or heard, or branded, and to sell themselves as a CEO, SEO or expert in multiple facets of every kind of business, the frenzy overpowers any potential for quality or meaning. We're hearing too much about actions and reactions to and from our social networking sites on mainstream newscasts these days, leaving less time to report critical news from around the world. We proudly report numbers, in our love for having amassed vast quantities of essentially anonymous and dis-interested "followers." What does this prove? Are we in kindergarten? Enough is enough, already. Let's talk.

This is only my opinion. Just as we have too many TV channels to choose from, and nine out of ten of them offer trash: the cheapest, basest forms of titillation and over-stimulation in the name of entertainment--however violent or wanton and forever dwelling on the darkest depths of the human soul--we are inundated with sites promising us the best exposure and experience for this and that. I've been drawn to them as much as anybody else, I'm ashamed to admit. Where is our intellectual perspective?

Well, aside from becoming virtual Cyborgs (no pun intended) in our over-reliance on artificial intelligence, we are becoming even more distant from the ability to maintain internalized systems of moral values, taking it by rote instead, in heaping doses, from our respective churches, synagogues and morality gurus. You can't claim to be "religious" if you're a hater (of all who differ from you in their choices) or if you've forgotten the sounds of the human voice, or the cues of lowered eyes, a chuckle, or a facial tic. Or the aroma of blossoms in spring....

Come forward, people, and let's share our humanity instead of our projected, pre-packaged slick personas, fashioned in the need to point people toward our product or creed. Let's communicate honestly and openly about real issues, instead of using social media for their opiate value. Let's be real and forget about presenting ourselves as gurus and experts and financial whizzes, and just talk....

I had to vent tonight. These questions have been on my mind for awhile, and I think they might be questions worth pursuing. Is it because we are jaded by a cultural mindset that proclaims in so many various ways that "More is better?" Are we becoming more neurotic and compulsive in our need to connect, yet somehow defeating our need by being spread so thin? How do you feel about the effect social networking has had on you and the people you know? Do you think our need to create "false value" to sell ourselves, reflects personal insecurity and cultural and economic decline?

As with everything, balance and judgment are requisite. Any behavior, unchecked, can become pathological. For both individuals and societies. If you and your life are not really being enhanced by the quality of your interactions on the web, don't be afraid to back off! Sit down and have a good talk with yourself, for starters. And don't forget that YOU are your best friend!

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.

HELP HAITI NOW!

The human condition leaves much to be desired. Now we have the Haiti earthquake, reminding us that none of us are immune to natural disasters. Death is the great equalizer.

To me, it’s important to hang on to my values in the face of disaster and in spite of personal trials and tribulations (which of course pale when compared to the more dire scenarios unfolding around the globe).

I think, for all of us, when there is tragedy in the world, it's important to do SOMETHING to help! If you can’t rush off to a foreign land to rescue people, help your ailing parent or neighbor. Or make a donation, however small it may have to be....

As the death toll in Haiti rises, and we are numbed by the scope of the tragedy, let's get our minds and hands in gear to make donations. If you think you are poor, envision being a small child sleeping in the chaos and rubble of the street without parents, food or water. Send money for a blanket or a few gallons of water!

CNN has an extensive list of organizations who can help. I just made my donation to the American Red Cross. You can do it by phone or online. I did mine online in about one minute's time. I only wish I had done it yesterday. People are suffering.

Let's send more than love and prayers. There's no time to waste; lives are waning.

Let's start the New Year with empathy and compassion. Here's a link where you will find many choices of organizations who will send aid.

http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/impact/

All text copyright Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved.

If you would like to view 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 the Stars: Serendipity and Bob Johnson's Blog!

Thinking back, I remember writing a post or two on the idea of coincidence, or synchronicity. Whether you attribute the coincidences in your life to God, to accident, "just the odds," fate, luck, ESP, or some kind of Cosmic Jester, it's interesting to contemplate how these events effect our lives.

In one of my posts I described what I thought was an interesting coincidence in my life, relating to a family trip to Bussana Vecchia, Italy. And now I have another for you.

One evening a little over a week ago, my husband and I stole an hour from the ongoing saga of our house construction, to spend out on the lake, watching the changes of twilight. I shot a lot of too-dark water-garden type images, enjoying the process in my usual fashion.


Then the moon caught my eye, and there I sat in a moving boat, clicking away at the rising sphere. I knew I wouldn't get good results, but I had to try it anyway. I remembered Bob Johnson's wonderful Black Holes and Astrostuff blog, and all the great sky, moon and star photos HE has taken. I had mentioned him before, but there in the boat, I sang Bob's praises to my husband, for his enthusiasm and expertise in teaching us about the heavens.

My thoughts turned to autumn and the anticipation of living in our new space, the house we have been rebuilding for ten years. Why did it take so long? Because we used our own labor, mostly my husband's, and did as much work as we could fit in over each summer. Soon I will have high decks to sit on, I thought. I told hubby that it would be fantastic to sit up there and look at the night sky with a telescope, as the Maine nights (when they are clear) are like black velvet, studded with diamonds. He agreed.

In the comments on my blog a day or two later, came a message from no other than Bob Johnson. "Hey Lynda, you won something, come see..."

I went to Bob's blog for a wonderful surprise! I had won, along with two other of Bob's randomly chosen blogging friends, a TELESCOPE! How unbelievably timely! A "Galileoscope" by name, with what Bob says are very good optics for the money.

Now I can stargaze from my deck, and learn more about astronomy. Bob even recommended a few books on the subject. I can't thank Bob enough for his generosity and for trying to awaken in his blogging friends, the same mindfulness of the heavens that he feels! KUDOS to you, Bob, for your inspiring and informative blog, and for sharing! As Bob knows, I've named my Galileoscope "The Bobascope" in honor of him. Thanks for enriching my life, Bob!

If you aren't already familiar with Black Holes and Astrostuff, stretch your horizons with a visit. You will also find his posts on his recent trip to China there, along with commentary on the sky show he saw from across the world. Don't forget to wish him a Happy Birthday, as I'm pretty sure it's this week. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BOB!


Above is one of my BAD moon shots from our aluminum 17-foot boat, which was rocking on the lake, of course. I know I will do better, with a little help from my blogging friends. (Who says we don't build community? )

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.

The Yin and Yang of Water: Light and Shadow, Spray and Stone

Fluctuating Trunks

Spray and Stone

Amber

Shimmering Pool

Composition in Water and Stone

Taking It In

Water Pebbles

Wild Water, Sacred Stone

To me, metaphors like "The Tree of Life" or "The Perennial Stream" refer to God, to all of Creation, The One, the Universe, ALL, however you want to say it. It's the same thing: the generative power/miracle at the core of Life, that allows us to BE, as individuals and in diversity and relationship, connected to the larger scheme.

I see in all of nature (humankind included) the principle of differentiation and diversity, yet needing to, at the same time, stay aligned and empathic with The Whole.

A river flows downstream from the mountain above, as a singular, dynamic entity. But all its rhythms and patterns change as it turns, trickles, charges, and eddies over the changing terrain. As it is with the blowing leaves and the boughs on the trees.

We lose our personal power if we try to live it in a vacuum, isolated or unmindful of The Whole. Just as we lose our personal power if we attempt to guard or hoard it. We must interact, in concert with the larger truths of LIFE beyond our personal subjectivity.

I dedicate this post to all my blogging friends and especially to Max, because our discussions inspire me. You can read about paradox and duality, or Yin and Yang, at Wikipedia.

All text and 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, where you can buy my prints plain or matted and framed.

Thoughts on The Tree of Life

Tree of Life - Image c Lynda Lehmann

Witness the great tree: the overarching Tree of Life.

It spreads and reaches....
soaking in light from above
to nurture the growth
of all its branches.

We are like the twigs,
works-in-progress growing,
turning, striving, streaming
and
bifurcating from branches
larger than we.

We are each rooted in
humanity, as each branch
springs from the tree.

But on a tree,
divergent branches although separate,
do not turn on themselves,
nor on others.
Nor do they ridicule those
weaker tentacles whose growth
does not rival their own.

Because they remember
being tender shoots
themselves,
barely differentiated from the flesh
of the great trunk,

they know their origin,
respect it,
and are humbled.

Mindful, they know their attachment
to something greater:
a force that nurtures them while still
enlisting them to provide.

There are no outcasts among branches.

Nor scorn for angling off
in a different direction.
For each twig and branch
sees its own way
towards the light.

****

The branch reaches far
yet gives thanks for its base,
its connection to
the larger tree.

No branch stands
on a pinnacle
to proclaim its sovereignty.
Lording not, over others.

Nor does it claim
more than its share
of root's nourishment
or succor of light.

A single branch
is gangly, awkward, lost...
unrelated...
yet a tree brims

with the hope
of all levels of life
reaching
for more of itself.

A branch splintered
from The Whole,
loses stability, sustenance, meaning.

Embedded in its cells,
the code,
calling for contribution
but not conformity...

to evolve in concert with The Whole.

We have much to learn
from mingled branches
that together stand proud, as
the Tree of Life.

A World of Their Own - Image c Lynda Lehmann

MY BLOGGING FRIENDS: Just a note to tell you that this will most likely be my last post for a week or two, because of other projects I have to attend to. Everything is fine; I'm just busy.

I WILL however, visit your sites and comment, and respond to your comments here. Any constructive criticism on the poem is most welcome! And I'll be back to post as soon as I can. Love and peace to you....

Journey - 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.

Monolithic Thinking and Imagination Deficit

Origin of Mind - c 2005 Lynda Lehmann

Ronald Isom wrote a post called The Primacy of Imagination on his blog Metrogadfly Documents, that piqued on one of my pet peeves. He describes people with rigid mindsets that will not allow for input or processing of new information, and certainly not for any level of rational debate.

I know a few people like that, whose picture of the world is so fixed as to allow not one iota of doubt to enter their minds, that their "picture" might be stilted. They are so busy defending their rigid snapshot of the world that wonder, creative impulse, empathy, and a feeling of connectedness are impossible for them. They are truly alienated from the universe, walled in by monolithic thought.

While I respect the feelings of such people and recognize that nature and nurture may have come together in such a way as to foster such traits in their personalities, their resistance often makes it difficult for other people within their spheres of influence, to express themselves!

What's your opinion on this subject?

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.

The World Needs You...

Changing of the Light c 2008 Lynda Lehmann

This week I've read a few blog entries that express a negative mindset brought on by the events of the week. Many of us here in the US, and especially in New York State, feel sickened by the behavior and ensuing scandal unfolding around a man we thought to have integrity. We're also worried about the price of gas, the cost of flour, unemployment, and the rupture of the economic bubble. As if that's not enough, we have antibiotics in our water at the same time that resistant strains are continuing to rear their ugly heads. We have an epidemic of STDs among teenagers, an epidemic of tornadoes and other extreme weather events made worse by Global Warming, and ongoing and pending wars around the globe. I could go on and on, and I know you could, too. Many of us are feeling overwhelmed, depressed, and just plain negative.

I think this is partly due to our forgetting to look at things holistically. I think we have to try to find love in our hearts no matter what is happening around us. If we look to the outside world, we will never find it. The human condition is pathetic. But it is also glorious. As for the “pathetic” part, we can transform it only one person at a time, by transforming ourselves. All the evils that we hate to see on the daily news are, in my opinion, propelled by the lack of a healthy and mature self-love. It is a lack of mature self-love that makes a person unable to love others, and to act, therefore, in greed and unbridled self-interest.

How should we define "healthy self-love"? Certainly we're not referring to vanity or narcissism, but to the inner confidence and coping ability engendered by a rational processing of life's experiences. We're talking about a willingness to look at cause and effect rather than buying into oversimplifications, and being mindful that there are infinitely many more positive behaviors, motivations, and transactions turning the world on any given day, than there are evil, negligent, or selfish deeds.

Our perception of the world, or our "generalized other," to borrow a term from psychology, begins with the expectations we have of ourselves, of our own behaviors and motivations. If deep down inside we know we are needy, greedy, and urgent, then we will look for those traits in others. If we operate from a position of strength and self-love, on the other hand, we will project the same onto other people more often, and find more of our inner resources left intact to meet our challenges. And one of our challenges is to carry on in love and good faith while remembering that the headlines are just that: announcements of misdeeds. What about the thousands, indeed millions of people who care for their families, perform their responsibilities, or perform their jobs well and with honesty, every day? They are the salt of the earth, the heroes. The guys in the headlines are the exception. They are the frayed and stained dirty laundry, the seamy underside of the human condition. But they remain, thank goodness, the exception. And eventually, they get hung out to dry in the sun of justice, however imperfect the system may be.

If we can see the world in a changing light, maybe we can find our way to a better world. So let's remember to look at the whole picture, and shine our light into the darkness! The world needs us.

What do you think?

Sacred Patterns: Light Creates Shadow

When we take the time to really LOOK at things, age-old patterns are revealed to us. These are the patterns that transcend time and particulars of age, place and species. I see, in the late afternoon light molding these leaf portraits, hints of cosmic power that I cannot understand, but that I know has endured through the ages. I don't believe the diversity and order of the universe are just coincidences, borne of chance and random combinations of circumstance. I believe they are orchestrated by a higher intelligence beyond our comprehension. It disturbs me that humans have a need to provide distinct and rigid definitions of this power and to try to assert the truth of their particular conception. From our need to label things in order to provide ourselves a coherent and comfortable self-definition, comes war, misery, death and destruction.

What matters to me is that there is light and that miracles unfold at every level of the universe. What matters to me is that I believe in God. I sometimes feel the universe is crying at our inability to see the light. It's a paradox that light creates shadow, and people crying out for peace and security, create war. I believe in God, but not in the divisiveness of any dogma that is taken to extreme. Each leaf is different yet the same as all other leaves. Each human is unique and yet part of a larger humanity. When will we see that we are One Humanity?

The above images are"The Enigma of a Leaf," "Curls," and "Sacred Patterns," and will be available plain or framed at my Imagekind site http://lyndalehmann.imagekind.com/ or from me directly at www.lyndalehmann.com/ . All images and text c 2008 Lynda Lehmann. To view more of my work please visit www.lyndalehmann.com , where you can view more than 500 other images, both paintings and photographs.

Almost Perfect

"Almost Perfect" - Photo by Lynda Lehmann, c 2008

A pink Camellia basks in the subdued and filtered mid-winter light of a greenhouse. This one is blooming earlier than many of its still-dormant counterparts. Within the contours of its delicate petals is a delineation of order, peace, and unassuming beauty. The slight blemishes at one or two of its petal tips, do not mar its overall magnificence. Perhaps in seeing this we can remind ourselves that to find the beauty within us all, is not to imply that we must fulfill an ideal of perfection. Maybe we, like the flower, are beautiful and complete--each of us--in spite of our imperfections.


Tonight before you go to sleep, why not concentrate on all the good and kind and decent things you have done today or in the past week. I hope you will find your personal beauty in that meditation, and be graced with sleep as serene as this quiet flower!


Image and text c 2008 Lynda Lehmann. If you are interested in purchasing this image, please visit my sites at Imagekind orLynda Lehmann Painting and Photography

A Prayer for One Humanity

MATRIX

by Lynda Lehmann

We are not strangers, walking on separate shores.

We are not strangers, toiling at tasks not akin.

We are not strangers, flowing from different founts.

We are not strangers, flailing weary against tempest's din.

We are not strangers, tossed on disparate streams.
We are not strangers, crossed by whim of dissimilar fates.
We are not strangers, called by night winds unmingled.
We are not strangers, molding edifice from unmixed clays.

We are not strangers, flinging stones into monolith waters.
We are not strangers, adrift in remote galaxies.

We are not strangers, wandering lands not primevally bound.
We are not strangers, sailing different-hued seas.

We are not strangers, plucking seed from alien pools.

We are not strangers, repelled, in polar descent.

We are not strangers,

pretentious, autonomous fools!

We are not strangers,

traversing Infinity's frame.

We are Cosmic Dust, crowned with stars,

One Silver Light....

warmed by the same Amber Flame.

Wishing everyone joy and peace at holiday time and always. We are One Humanity. See you in 2008!

The above image is "The Storm Breaks." Poem and image c Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved.

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.

Urban Wallpaper

These photographs are part of my "Urban Wallpaper" series. I'm interested in how street scenes (including local architecture) reflect and reveal trends in a particular culture, as well as some larger truths about the human condition. In this shot, manikins command the attention of passersby on a New York City street.

Waiting for the Long Island Railroad. The person standing on the other side of the tracks could represent a parallel reality, or vis a vis the schoolgirls, a subjective/objective dichotomy or personal/impersonal paradox.

While the rich pride themselves on their "gated communities," the poverty of a neighborhood can be assessed by the number of locks and barriers on its doors and windows.

In a Lookist society, human beings are reduced to commodities.

Exiting the train into a maze of steel and reflective surfaces.

"The Gates," by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, was a large scale art installation whose effect was to bring together people from all places and cultures in a new kind of experience. The experience of strolling among the giant saffron "Gates" and seeing them unfurl across Central Park, reached across political and religious barriers.

View of Manhattan from the west. I like the contrast of the open water of the river, with the crowded skyline.

I hope you've enjoyed these photos. If you want to see more of my "Urban Wallpaper" series, you can check out my "exhibitions" at www.absolutearts.com/lyndalehmann . All images and text c Lynda Lehmann. Thanks for looking!