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 .

Blue Genesis, The Texture of Life, Damariscotta Dream

A few of my friends have asked me how I manage to paint when we are in Maine, working on the house. So I'll tell you that I paint at the top of the garage, where I have no running water. I have to carry it across the street and up a LONG flight of stairs in containers, and use it sparingly to rinse my brushes, seen here. Often I leave them soaking and keep my fingers crossed that they won't mold or rot before I can use them again. It's inconvenient. But hey, where there's a will, there's a way!

Here are a few of my recent paintings. I've done ten of them in the past few weeks. Which was a good thing--I had not touched brush and pigment for the past four months, as that big ole' train called "life" kept coming at me with other things!

Blue Genesis - Image c 2008 Lynda Lehmann

Damariscotta Dream - Image c 2008 Lynda Lehmann

The Texture of Life - Image c 20008 Lynda Lehmann

The Texture of Life has been loaded for the SAATCHI SHOWDOWN round that ends on September 29, so there are just two days left to vote. I meant to post this sooner, but it got away from me. http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/showdown/index.php?showpic=165621

A great big THANK YOU to my blogging friends for your comments, and for sharing your thoughts and interests on your blogs!

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.

Amber and The Matrix

The Matrix - Lynda Lehmann c 2008

Life grants us choices, but each choice carries a paradox. Like the stream and boulders in the photo above, we are called to a delicate and tenuous balance. For all humanity, reason must come to bear in creating this balance. Action without reasoned thought leads to disequilibrium, and chronic imbalance leads to destruction.

We must struggle to reach informed opinions. If we act only from "the gut" we will shut out reason. In the Age of Information, being adrift in a sea of conflicting viewpoints and alleged "facts" requires us to carry the compass of wise and reasoned thought. As the water flows eternally over the stones in the stream, we must find a solid core of reasoning to guide us through life's flux and uncertainty.

Amber - Lynda Lehmann c 2008

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.

Evidence of the Infinite

Evidence of the Infinite - Image c Lynda Lehmann.

Although my husband works from 7:30 in the morning until between 4:30 and 6:00 every evening, we try to make time for at least a half-hour sunset boat ride. After a full day of construction work, dirt, and stress, it's good for the soul!

Here's a glorious expanse of sky at sunset that makes one ponder the mysteries at the heart of the universe. At least in has that effect on me..... Shot from a rocking aluminum row boat in the middle of a Maine lake. I never tire of photographing sunsets or golden-rimmed clouds: it's a form of madness. I hope it inspires you as it did me.

I have a whole series of images from just this one magnificent sunset that changed from moment to moment like a vast kaleidoscope. I hope to post these soon, so you can see the amazing variety of spectacle that unfolded within a short period of time, maybe 15 minutes or so. I'm finding the time to post a lot this week, at least so far, but please don't feel any pressure to comment on all of them!

Image 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 .

Sparkles, Sparkles, Everywhere!

What is more joyous than a child expressing his or her innocence and wonder while playing in a pristine natural setting? It's my guess that he has noticed the bands of sparkling light playing on the clear, cool water of this White Mountains stream. Image c Lynda Lehmann. Taken in New Hampshire.


If you would like to view more of my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my galleries at My Imagekind Gallery or My Artist Rising Gallery, where you can buy my prints plain, or matted and framed.

Wading in the Primordial Pool, Bear Road, and Other Sights from Maine

Occasionally we are presented with a particular view or glimpse of nature that seems to tap on the universal stream of human history, consciousness, and striving. For me, the primordial pool is such a place: it evokes memories, longing, and dreams for the future. Taken at Diana's Baths in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Image and text c Lynda Lehmann.



A father and his young daughter revel in this beautiful, refreshing and exciting natural environment. The different configurations of boulders at Diana's Baths make the water cascade in so many patterns and rhythms, each with a different sound that together, create a symphony. Nature has many voices and projects its magic into every nook!



Both the fields in the foreground and the mountains unfolding in the distance, are bathed in the yellows and oranges of a brilliant and inspiring sunset. Taken in the Lakes Region of Maine.



The surface of this tree, pecked, furrowed, and encrusted with mossy bark, makes an interesting topography. To me it looks like vast tracts of rolling hills punctuated with river and forest. Part of "The Living Surface" series.



Several recent reports of a black bear mother and four cubs make walking down this country road a bit less appetizing! Though it would be fascinating to see them, a mother with her cubs in the vicinity is more likely to attack. Appetizing for the bears, maybe....


If you would like to view more of my art or make a purchase, please visit Lynda Lehmann Painting and Photography or my galleries at My Imagekind Gallery or My Artist Rising Gallery, where you can buy my prints plain, or matted and framed.

As we all know, life takes over and there are times when blogging has to be put on the back burner. I think this is only the second or third time I've posted in that many months. I have yet to write my Roadside Ramblings post, but I thought I'd at least share these images with you. They're all recent uploads to my art sites and I just grabbed the captions. I'm still behind on awards and other blogging matters, but I think that what matters the most is to post and stay in touch with other bloggers. I've missed my blogging friends and hope you've all had a happy and creative summer. Ours has passed in a hail of steady, heavy rain and messy construction activities!

Last Light: A Spiritual Twilight

An inspiring and incredibly beautiful sunset, seen from the middle of a lake in southern Maine, near Sebago Lake. Image c Lynda Lehmann.

I haven't had much time to post or make the rounds this past six weeks, but hope to make up for lost time! I'll be starting a series of posts called "Forest Views & Roadside Ramblings," just as soon as I can get around to it. I hope you're all having a great summer!


Image 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.

Under the Sea: from "The Living Surface" Series

I've long been interested in texture as the most ubiquitous underpinning of form. It's everywhere, on every surface of the visible world as well as in the micro world and at larger levels of the cosmos. Lately I've been concentrating on the textures of bark and the colonies of lichen and moss that grow on it. I've been lucky to find more texture on the surfaces of trees than I had dreamed I would, and I'm excited about trying to capture the variety of forms and colors I find there.

So I'm doing a new series, which I'm posting as "The Living Surface."

The colors in this shot were all present and in the distribution that you see them, on the tree. I just enhanced the contrast and colors slightly, to bring the color out. I think this shot looks like an undersea landscape, don't you?

Image 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 .

I'm Today's Featured Artist at Imagekind!

Shell and Satin - Image c Lynda Lehmann

I just want to let my blogging friends know that I'm a featured artist today on the front page of the Imagekind site. It's http://www.imagekind.com/, if you want to take a look while I'm still on there. I hope you're enjoying your day!

Image 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 .

Scenic Nature-Zen and a Study in Opposites: Spray and Stone

Sparkling River Gems - Image c 2008 Lynda Lehmann

Pebbles glisten in the froth and foam of this energetic stream, while the foam changes pace and pattern to rim the rocks in festoons of white bubbles.

Dazzled by the Sparkling Stream - Image c 2008 Lynda Lehmann


These girls wade into the clear, cold water pouring out of the White Mountains into Diana's Baths, a scenic and serene spot in eastern New Hampshire. I feel they must be as fascinated by the glimmer and colors of the rocks sparkling beneath the waters rippling surface, as I am. Nature welcomes them into this beautiful and pristine pool among the boulders.

Dance Over Boulders - Image c 2008 Lynda Lehmann

This boy's smile and lithe step say a lot about his sense of joy and discovery at this beautiful scenic spot on a New Hampshire river. His stance is graceful and puts him in a visual harmony with the curve and flow of the boulders.

Spray and Stone - Image c 2008 Lynda Lehmann

Also taken at Diana's Baths in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, this shot is one of contrasts: between light and shadow; the delicateness of the spray and solidity of the stone; between what is ephemeral (the water's flow) and what is enduring (the mass and steadfastness of the boulders.) It is also a study in textures and the more subtle colors of nature's palette.

Thanks for sharing the joy of nature with me!

Images and text c Lynda Lehmann. You can buy these prints in several sizes, on a variety of papers or framed, at my Imagekind gallery or Artist Rising. The links to these and my other sites are in my sidebar.

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008)

My daughter sent me this joyous You-Tube video today. I loved it so much, I couldn't resist sharing it with you.

It will give you the shivers. It brings home the idea that we truly are ONE HUMANITY! Underneath our gorgeous diversity, our humanness is the same. All over the world, joy is expressed with smiles, dancing, and laughter. :) ENJOY!!!

Layers

Texture is the most enduring and ubiquitous underpinning of form:...certainly a calming, meditative and appealing world for both the eye and mind.

Texture is everywhere we look, and nature's paintbrush is capable of stunning feats. I hope you enjoy the rough-hewn beauty of tree bark as much as I do.

Image and text c Lynda Lehmann.