Out of My Mind

Acrylics and stenciled papers on stretched canvas, 10 x 10 inches

This is a piece I did a couple weeks ago...and I haven't been inspired to paint since then.  Part of me wants to keep trying different things, and that's the part that tends to keep me from painting at all...because I frequently feel uninspired to do whatever's next.

The part of me writing this post at this moment says, "If you paint something you like (like this piece), then do more like it and see how things evolve over time."  Think I'll start listening to that voice.

The winner of last week's stamp giveaway has been notified.  Thanks to all who entered.

This week's giveaway is another set of fountain pens.  These are both Jinhao pens from China, both medium nib.  They come with a converter, meaning you can use whatever ink you like.  If you're unsure by looking at it how to fill the converter with ink, refer to JetPens website for instructions (like the last pen giveaway winner did).

To enter the drawing, either leave me an email here, or include your email address in the body of your comment to this post.  I'll do a drawing on Wednesday November 4 and I'll email the winner directly.  

Personally I prefer the Platinum Preppy (Japanese) pens.  They just work better for my hand.  Although I suppose you could now call me a fountain pen aficionado, the truth is, I'm more interested in having a lot of different ink colors to write with than having a lot of more-expensive pens to write with.  The Preppys, as well as the Jinhaos, are at the bottom of the line, price-wise.  I admit to having more than 20 Preppys now, and more in my cart at Jet.

In addition to JetPens, I've recently been turned on to Goulet Pens.  Goulet has several more brands of ink available, in unbelievably fantastic colors.  I'm building an order for inks there.  

Okay, the Out of My Mind part:  I've discovered that a HUGE part of Buddhist practice is getting in touch with one's body.  I never imagined that that would be the case, even as I flirted with Buddhism for years before actually beginning to practice.  Practice isn't about having "peak experiences," or becoming permanently "enlightened," or becoming a saint, or, or, or...  It's about experiencing reality, the sensation of our life at this very moment.  And those sensations are happening in our bodies.

All of us, though, us humans, spend the majority of our time in our heads, and not in functional thinking either...but in self-centered stories, melodrama, opinions, judgments, fantasy conversations and arguments, defensiveness, thoughts of retribution, etc., and ad nauseum.

How interesting is this -- when we say something like, "Are you out of your mind?!", we're typically referring to something that someone has concocted with their mind, something that sounds out of the ordinary, and we say that thing as though "being out of one's mind" is a bad thing.  In reality, to not be in one's mind, to be focusing on what's going on with one's body, is a good thing.  Although good and bad are judgments and that's not the point I'm trying to get across.  It's just interesting to me that what's really so is not what we've been led to believe.  Most of what we've been led to believe about life isn't true, actually.  We have to find out for ourselves.

I bring up this whole thing about practice being focused on the body because I, like the rest of us and especially like us women, was raised to hate my body and to not trust it.  It's been a very long road for me making peace with mine, and that's only happened in the last few years.  I suspect that one of the reasons it took me to long to get to Buddhist practice is because I wanted so badly to be "out of my body."  To transcend my body, which is what a lot of folks think Buddhism is about, although in reality it's just the opposite.

A lot of words...but it's good to talk now and then.  Have a great week.  Thanks for reading.  Blessings.

Greetings!

I was inspired late last week to make a set of two dozen greeting cards, with old photos, stampheads, and book text bits.  It was a blast.

And then on Monday I made a bunch of little graph paper notebooks using paint chips as covers.  Also fun.  The holidays are coming...
 

The winner of last week's 8x8 inch painting giveaway has been notified.  Thanks to all who entered.

This week's giveaway is a pile of old postage stamps, about three-quarters of which are stampheads. To enter the drawing, either leave me an email here, or include your email address in the body of your comment to this post.  I'll do a drawing on Wednesday October 28 and I'll email the winner directly. 

Growing Up

Paper collage on painted matte board, 8 x 8 inches

Now that I've shared with you what I spent my summer doing, and had and shared my big breakthroughs (the mother of all awakenings, in my case)...

I'm feeling like being quieter again, less wordy.  I am feeling a lot of joy now, and an aliveness that feels new to me.  An up-on-the-edge-of-my-seat-ness about making practice my life and working with everything that comes to pass, without judgment. 

However, I do have a lot of things to giveaway, so I'll continue doing weekly giveaways for the foreseeable future, whether or not I feel like talking.

The winner of last week's pen giveaway has been notified.  Thanks to all who entered.  There'll be another pen giveaway in the next week or two.  A note about entering:  If something I'm offering appeals to you, please do enter.  Your chances of winning are excellent.  Not that many people have been entering.  I don't think I've ever won anything in anyone else's blog giveaway, but I suspect that's because so many people enter those -- like upwards of 200 or more.  You've got a really good chance here, so do enter.

This week's giveaway is a painted collage with handmade paper on an 8 x 8 inch canvas panel.

To enter the drawing, either leave me an email here, or include your email address in the body of your comment to this post.  I'll do a drawing on Wednesday October 21 and I'll email the winner directly.

Also -- if you're interested in a list of the best of the Buddhist-practice books I've been working with, email me for that.

Have a great week.  Blessings.

Other Matters

Acrylics on canvas panel, 12x16 inches

I have been painting, as my last posts have indicated despite my missives being few and far between for a while.

Spent a week or two a few weeks back previewing a variety of acrylic texture gels and pastes, for my own edification.  Most of what I created I subsequently didn't like -- in fact, I threw out two panels that were unrecoverable after slathering them with a number of different gels/pastes, following to the T one of Golden's demo videos.  Yucky mess.

This painting isn't any of that.  I did this a couple months ago.

Before I go any further, I want to welcome back a handful of readers who got dropped from my in-house email list way back in September 2014, when I switched email programs from Windows Mail (no longer existent) to Mozilla Thunderbird.  This only came to my attention last weekend...so I manually added them again.  My apologies to those of you in this group.

The winner of last week's giveaway has been notified.  Thanks to all who entered.

This week's giveaway is a fountain pen duo.  The one on the left is a Platinum Preppy from Japan, medium nib, that uses cartridges.  It comes with a couple extra cartridges.  The pen on the right is a Jinhao from China, and it has a converter so you can use any ink you want.  This one is also a medium nib.  Additional cartridges for the Preppy are available at JetPens.
    

To enter the drawing, either leave me an email here, or include your email address in the body of your comment to this post.  I'll do a drawing on Wednesday October 14 and I'll email the winner directly.

I haven't read any novels in the last couple months, but I've seen some cool stuff via Netflix or online.

• Silk -- Brit legal drama from a couple years ago (I streamed it but it's also available at Netflix)
• Gerhard Richter Painting -- documentary on Richter's life and painting
• The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
• John Adams -- HBO miniseries
• The Wrecking Crew -- documentary about studio musicians from the 50s, 60s & 70s
• Patrik, age 1.5 -- heartwarming Swedish film
• The Salvation -- Danish western in America

Have a good week.  Thanks for reading.  Blessings.