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!

Where My Heart Loves to Wander

Little Secrets of the Forest

The Forest Primeval

Lichen Puzzle

Rugged Terrain

Expectant, I break with the path to enter the forest gate. I know I have a pact with the forest, under whose canopy, worlds open. Engrossed by sweet, green-tinted shade spangled with glimmers of sunlight, my senses tingle. Wide-eyed I stand, compelled by the richness of possibility: here in the world of shadows and translucence, anything is possible.

I move on. The woods close around me and beckon me further. The sound of my tread is its own music as my feet pad over gnarled roots, soft beds of moss, and the tough flanks of boulders.

I feel the stretch of my calves and hear also, the rhythm of my breathing; only the murmur of the trees is more compelling. I bathe in green splendor, glad for a moment of reverie.

Here in the forest I own myself, I am fully and freely me. The covenant is with the Life Force. And I drink at its fount.

Life looms larger. More real than real, this arbor now--heaving in sync with the wind that enters its vaulted, verdant halls.

Dark hollows quiver with guarded truths, the quiet symbiosis of their parts to the whole. Wholly holy, in tune with itself, integrated and diverse, at rest in activity, steadfast but quick in growth and new life, the forest sings to me in a crescendo of beauty.

And I applaud with my soul.

Lichen Painting

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.

Between Heaven and Earth

Between Heaven and Earth - Image c Lynda Lehmann

Between heaven and Earth the clouds form, to bring the rains that fill the rivers and foster life all over the planet. Not only that, but they make the sunny days that will inevitably follow, seem equally welcome and miraculous!

If you look closely at the left-hand side of the image, you can see some rain falling. And thankfully, the river on the right is still viable. Taken at 500 mph from the airplane on our recent trip to Arizona.

Image 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 .

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.

Thoughts Brought on by Snowfall

I was looking for quotes from Romantic and Transcendental poets tonight, to go with my post of these snow photos, when the thought occurred to me to write my own. I had fun doing it, and I hope that in spite of my inexperience as a poet, these thoughts will resonate with you on some level.

*****

We are the matrix, Essence of One, whose face we know but look not on, enough to countervail our strife. It's men who fashion war from life.





Fluffy whiteness wraps the world, in expectation fresh and new--even as every sign of life, is covered by the winter's dew.




Made equal by the blowing drifts, all objects claimed by nature's shroud, fall back to states of innocence, wherein the world by winter's grasp, becomes a clean slate, waiting, new....

*****

Impartial sky shakes flakes of white, as minds shed hazy, unformed thoughts, into the pale, impartial night.

*****

Children flourish in the play, the snow has brought into their day. Seeing hills and trees and sky with eyes that shine with wondering "why?"





Quiescent places, frozen yes, but ready to spring at life's behest--to action, bloom, fresh hue, and scent. Life spins emergent, not yet spent.

*****

All images and text c 2007 by Lynda Lehmann. All rights reserved.


The above photos, top to bottom, are "Matrix," "Winterbloom," "Drifts and Shadows," and "Shadow Reach," and are available for purchase at www.lyndalehmann.com .

My Interview at Creativity Portal

"Creativity Portal" online is featuring me in an interview by Molly Childers, as part of her series on creative people in the arts. It's about my creative journey and how I feel the process has effected me.

Regarding the result of Molly's and my collaboration, Chris Dunmire, publisher of Creativity Portal, has said:

"In my opinion, this interview is one of the most inspiring testimonies to the rewarding, spiritual depths one can experience on the path of being an artist....I don't want anyone to miss reading this--I've made it Creativity Portal's home page feature this week."

The interview will also be featured in Creativity Portal's July 1 newsletter. My thanks to Chris Dunmire and Molly Childers for inviting me to be part of this series. Here is the link, if you would like to read it.
http://www.creativity-portal.com/bc/molly.childers/careers-lehmann.html

You can also read the write-up Chris has given me on her personal site, at http://www.chrisdunmire.com/, if you like.

The above painting is "Cosmos," acrylic on canvas and for sale at www.absolutearts.com/lyndalehmann. Image c Lynda Lehmann.