Sea Lace and Sadness

Rimmed in Foam

This has been a sad month for my husband and me.  We have lost three friends in the past four weeks or so.  Three people full of life and wonder and vitality.  Where their energy has gone, no one can comprehend.

  

 I am reminded of the preciousness of life.  We are all buffeted by the tide, often surrounded by circumstances beyond our understanding or control.

Sea Lace

Yet life remains beautiful, offering us moments of beauty and contemplation at unexpected times and in unexpected places.  Thank goodness for those times when visions of natural beauty quiet the mind and heart and give solace.

Steadfast in the Tide

Like the boulder half submerged and pounded by endless waves both large and small, we endure through pain and adversity.

The Jetty Points West

We take comfort in the love we feel for those who have passed.  We know that the love they showed and our love for them, endures in our hearts.  The sun will set, but we know with some certainty, it will rise again. 
To the families of those who have passed, I wish a sense of comfort and peace in knowing that the pain of their loved one has ceased.  They are part of something larger than we.  Even as our hearts swell to bursting with pain we know we are part of the Stream of Humanity in a larger, incomprehensible Eternity. 

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!

More Views of Nature at the Shore...

Alone in the Surf - Image c Lynda Lehmann

Piping Plover - Image c Lynda Lehmann

Chums - Image c Lynda Lehmann

True Grit - Image c Lynda Lehmann

Stranded - Image c Lynda Lehmann

Sea Wreath - Image c Lynda Lehmann

Rock of Ages - Image c Lynda Lehmann

Here are some of the sights that have given me peace in the past few weeks. I hope they do the same for you.

The photo "Stranded," which I know I've posted before, was taken at a very picturesque and interesting spot on the beach, where the remnants of a rotting wharf of years past, has taken on a life of its own. My husband thinks huge boats must have pulled in to the Long Island shore here, to haul out sand from local sand mines. I'll have to research that and let you know. At any rate, the "ruins" of all these wood pilings offer many interesting views and create a Stonehenge type environment. I'll be working up my other shots to show you soon.

On another note, please bear with me while I re-design my page! I hope you get out into the sparkling sunshine today. I had intended to do just that, but at this rate, fiddling with my template and settings, I'm not likely to make it past my desk!

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

Rush of Water, Hiss of Foam: Scenes from a Dazzling, Sunlit Beach Walk

I did not turn on the wind filter on my camera, as I wanted to share with you the howling of the wind and the crashing of the water. But those sounds ended up drowning out most of my commentary/narration, so I replaced the soundtrack with Beethoven's "Pastorale." I hope you like it, and enjoy the sights of this beautiful, pristine day on the beach.

I may re-do the video at a future time, with what's intact of the original soundtrack and a little tighter editing of the visuals. Now, if I can only learn to hold my camera steady and handle that movie-editing software! I can't wait to catch the next seagull performance over the waves....

Thanks for stopping by. I wish you harmony and creative bliss.

NOTE: Just click out of the ad if it's in your way. It's a condition of using a YouTube provided recording.

Slats and Dips

Slats and Dips - Image c Lynda Lehmann 2010

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.

Glimmers of Solitude

Near the Point - Image c Lynda Lehmann

Beach Bouquet - Image c Lynda Lehmann

Glimmer of Solitude - Image c Lynda Lehmann

A moment of quiet contemplation, surrounded by nature, will calm the beast in us. Most of the time, anyway...

Giving one's self permission to steal away for quiet moments is a good way to decompress, throw off the shackles of everyday busy-ness and the pursuit of creature comforts, to let some air into the soul. Where do YOU go, or what do you do, to take take pause and contemplate? Do you seek out a favorite natural setting, or do you just sit down near a sunny window with your favorite cup of tea or coffee? What works for you?

If we never live today, tomorrow never comes. This is one of the few things I feel certain of! May you have a wonderful day, lived in balance and harmony and mindfulness of the moment. Each moment of each day is a moment that will never come again.

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.

Beach Tapestry

Beach Tapestry - Lynda Lehmann c 2010

Image 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.

Sounds of Water

This short video presents sounds heard at the beach. First you will have to forbear the roar of a boat engine. But after that you will hear footsteps fading away on the spongy sand, the cries of seagulls and the sensuous, soothing sounds of flowing water. You can hear the peaceful sounds of children playing on nearby swings, their voices drifting in the background.

And of course, you can enjoy the patterns the water makes as it flows in from the open bay onto the beach, or over rocks and seashells. At one point, you can see the water flowing in an almost regular, diamond pattern, a configuration created by its deflection off the natural objects in its path. This makes me think of all the transferable and transforming energies in the universe, and patterns of physics, and those found in fractals....

You may notice at times, that the water seems to be bubbling out of the ground, perhaps from underground springs as much as from local drainage patterns.

I love to watch the ribbons of sunlight reflected on the water's undulating surface, and changes in the texture and rhythm of the waves.

I hope you enjoy my little nature video. One day I'll make another version with better editing! At present, I haven't the slightest command of my video editing software, but I wasn't going to let that stop me from sharing a bit of nature's beauty.

Preening Seagull Dance: A Nature Video

I didn't have time this week to write a long post, so I thought I'd upload this short video I shot on the beach this past winter. Or maybe it was early spring; I guess that depends on your viewpoint and how literally you take the calendar!

The snow was still melting on the beach, it was a mild day, and this seagull was up for a good cleansing bath. I thought his behavior was so animated and interesting, and I'm glad he let me get close enough to capture it. Nature is so full of wonders!

Please bear with me in that I'm posting and commenting less than usual, as we are still in the throes of house construction and remodeling. I didn't forget about you, and hold my blogging friends dear.

I hope to be more "present" soon. I hope you're having lovely late-summer days, filled with warmth, discovery, and wonders of your own making.

All video and 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.

Sea Foam and Stones

Sand Furrows with Stones

Wet Rocks at Water's Edge

Washed Up

At Rest Within the Streaming Tide

Foam

Sea winds whipping
water to foam,
refresh my soul.

Bright pebbles, steadfast
through time's turbulence,
teach patience.

Rugged beach, wild with
brine, bird and breeze,
renews me.

****

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.

Signs of Life After Winter: Sand, Stones, Gulls, Shells, and Foam: Visual Notes from the Beach

Companions

The Preening Puddle

Timeless

Interior

Colony

Codependency

Bubbles, Sand, and Stone

Beauty Underfoot

I wanted to share these images from yesterday's beach walk with you. I hope you enjoy them. I certainly enjoyed all the teeming and emerging life forms that I saw on the beach, before it began to rain on us!

I am postponing the next Bussana Vecchia post to share these with you. And I have more of these beach images to come, including a wonderful performance of a preening ritual by the seagull seen above. But first, I have to find a file format converter to change my movie from MOV to MPG format, in order to edit it. Can you possibly recommend a video format converter? I appreciate any input on this, as I do love the video and want to post it. It's much better quality than my last one.

HAPPY ALMOST SPRING, EVERYONE!

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.

Earth Speaks In Many Voices

Listen closely: she is talking to you!

Life force flows in murmurs from the ground. Water gives and seeks more life, springs from unseen spaces to follow sand to sea. A great continuum. Serenity drifts on passages of life's long song.

(I tried in vain to get away from the house construction sounds, but it's been ongoing. Rather than let it disturb my mood, I listened more intently to the sounds of trickling water and screeching gulls. We will ALWAYS have our distractions to contend with, lol...)

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.

Seeking Serenity

The serenity of twilight, a time when the light of day fades into that magic in-between period when dreams start to form and summon the darkness and somnolence of night...

I feel serene tonight and don't have much to say--doesn't happen often--but I wanted to post this shot anyway.

Hope it makes you feel peaceful, as it does me... Image c Lynda Lehmann. Unmatted print, 8 x 11 inches. I can crop it to an 8 x 10 print and mat it for you, but it will lose some of its panoramic quality. Available at http://www.lyndalehmann.com/