Explorations in the Wilderness

Surprised by It's Own Unfolding / 30" x 60" / acrylic on canvas

 

 

 

 

 

 I have been exploring the Adirondacks more this summer. Hiking, paddling and listening to this gorgeous, generous landscape. The air sparkles with clarity, the sky sizzles with blue and my heart soars with gratitude for being alive in this wild world.

I have had the privilege of sharing this time with Walt who is on a unique journey of his own which he has written about most articulately HERE. I encourage you to read this insightful piece of writing and follow along with us as we climb and paddle our way through the rest of the summer and into the Autumn.

These are two newly completed paintings that will be exhibited in my upcoming Adirondack Pop-Up exhibition being held at a private "Great Camp". Please contact me if you would like to attend (August 15 & 16).

Holy Fire

"When you walk across the fields with your mind pure and holy, then from all the stones, and all growing things, and all animals, the sparks of their soul come out and cling to you, and then they are purified and become a holy fire in you." 

~Martin Buber

A Communion of Subjects / 48" x 36" / acrylic on canvas

Sekon Rock / 48" x 36" / acrylic on canvas

Soul Floating in Cosmic Star Sky

This painting was inspired by two recent experiences, both were gifts from dear friends. The first one was described in the previous blog post about a moonlit arrival by boat on an island. The second was another experience of night and the sensation of my soul rushing out and up into the star filled sky.

Soul Floating in Cosmic Star Sky / 24" x 30" / acrylic on canvas

We decided around midnight to take a boat out into the middle of Upper Saranac Lake and float. It was the loons that lured us there with their shimmering calls across the dark water. No moon. No light at all when we turned off the boat lights. Darkness. Then we looked up and fell into a sky of stars. A swath of spilled milk filled with galaxies spread over the heavens from north to south. The Milky Way, dazzling in it's beauty, punctuated with the streak of a falling star every so often. We floated, the loons sang and I became the sky. The night is when we are most in touch with our intuition, when logic and reason step down and our instincts come alive.

What will we do when we have obliterated all the darkness from the planet? When we no longer can look up and see the stars? Will we forget them? Will we forget how tiny and insignificant our small and short existence is on this planet? Will we forget to be awed and humbled by gratitude. I pray that we remember to preserve the darkness and the stars for our grandchildren.

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
~Albert Einstein

Green Balm

We arrived by boat, at night, under a waxing moon. The boat sliced through the ink blank silence and deposited us on an island. The darkness was complete and enveloping. The brightest light was the moon above. I was home.

I could feel tension leaving my muscles as my limbs softened in recognition of the tree limbs. The wilderness reached its arms up to meet my soul which in turn seemed to leap up in recognition.