Tuesday, January 13, 2009

January 16, 2009


" The deepest sound is silence. This may seem paradoxical only if we regard silence as an absence of life and vibration. But for a meditator, silence is sound unified with all of its opposites. It is both sound and soundlessness, and it is in this confluence that the power of meditation emerges."

365 Tao: Daily Meditations
Deng Ming-Dao

5 comments:

Julie said...

Just would like to say that I am enjoying your blog immensely. Your photos are so wonderful - thought provoking. They have had a wonderful calming affect for me and have encouraged me to take the time to look around my world more carefully and patiently. There is so much beauty and mystery all around us every day - your photos definitely show that. This also seems like a great idea for getting creative juices flowing again it one were in a slump :-)
Thanks for sharing...

Jackie said...

What wit and fun, at the same time I can sense the focus within. I love the 'contradictions' of the Tao I Ching. I think that if I can be more silent and focused and 'in the presence' within, I will see the world--and thus my art--better with-out. A perfect photo for my inquiring state! Thanks yet again.

Anonymous said...

This one brings back a flood of memories. I was a little old to be a hippy, but remember the times well, even though I didn't completely understand them (all the pot and drugs). Simon and Garfunkel burst on the scene with the song The Sounds of Silence, a gift to all of us who were so stunned and numbed by the assissanation of John Kennedy. I was powerful then and still sends a powerful message. Hear it here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhdGkZ6Fngw
This was not the silence of meditation, but the silence of fear.

lindad

Anonymous said...

I look at this site everyday. Thank you, Jane, for these thought provoking pictures, ideas and lessons. In "real" life I am a piano teacher, and one of the hardest concepts for kids is that the rests in music (the silence) are just as important as the notes. I think that ties in with this quote and is something I try to remember all the time. There's a lot to be learned in silence.

Fay's Fun said...

I love the stories in this photo.........
is it a restaurant? is it a family party in someone's kitchen?, what is the photo of? why is he reading (or making out to - his frown lines are going the wrong way for reading -- is he REALLY listening to the conversation?? and not finally ..
what beer is it???????????
A great story photo.... thanks Jane.
Fay

November 20, 2008

November 20, 2008

November 20, 2008

How does color set a mood? The soft gray and white of the carpet, the cat Marshall, and the sunlit window contribute to to the sense of calm repose. What does blue mean to you or me? We all have symbolic associations for colors; some based on personal experience and some instilled culturally. 

The cobalt blue of the vase provides a point and counterpoint to the composition, in addition to providing elements that balance.
Keeping the cat in the lower third of the composition weights the image and is another visual door into the picture world.

November 19, 2008

November 19, 2008

November 19, 2008

This picture tells several stories. It references the human desire to order the world around us - the lettering on the wall establishes the alley as a No Parking zone, and the broken glass-  jutting out at the top - is another message of fear and frailty. Whoever lives behind this wall wants to be left alone.

But there is beauty in the contrast of the rough brick surface and the smooth translucency of the broken glass bottles. A contrast of textures makes for an interesting composition. And the abstract nature of the printed letters against the structure of the bricks would be worth emulating in another sort of composition.

There is as much beauty in decay as there is in a bouquet of fresh flowers. And aren't decay and fresh growth just two different spots on the same continuum?



November 18, 2008

November 18, 2008

November 18, 2008

The Hydrangeas offer a lesson in the effective use of color. The pale blue and lavender are roughly the same value, so they balance each other beautifully. I am challenged to mimic that combination of analogous colors on silk Habotai!

This photograph would be considered beautiful even without the red-orange and yellow flowers at the bottom. But the addition of the complements to the blue and purple creates a focal point and generates some nice contrast because of the complementary pairing. And imagine how different this composition would be, were the red-orange and yellow at the top instead of at the bottom. The current placement adds important visual weight.

November 17, 2008

November 17, 2008

November 16, 2008

November 16, 2008
Being and Non-being

Substance and Light

November 16, 2008

We join spokes together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole
that makes the wagon move.

We shape clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside 
that holds whatever we want.

We hammer wood for a house,
but it is the space inside
that holds whatever we want.

We work with being,
but non-being is what we use.

Tao te Ching; Verse 11
Stephen Mitchell translation