Inspired

November Art @Shakti Vinyasa Yoga studio in Ballard

I'm almost ready for my show at Shakti, opening November 14th. I've made 8 new paintings and may just squeeze out a couple more this week! Check out their website  to read my updated story about what inspires the imagery and history of my art-making life. I should have that done this weekend.

This show is called the "Illuminated Body," as I see the human vessel - among other things represented in my images - as a vehicle for the light of God/ Goddess, the Creator, and the Vital Force to shine through. In Chinese medicine the word "shen" means the glow or essence quality that shines through the face and it's expressions. Echoed in the truism, "the eyes are the window to the soul," the quality of shen whispers the soul's condition. In medicine, as in art, the healer/ creatress' job is recognizing the qualities of the vital force, expressed through pattern and shape, color and form.

The new work is both more figurative and more abstract. I did the whole "getting out of the way" thing and "letting it flow through me" with all of the new stuff.

I've used collage elements in some of the pieces to add texture and depth. Here are a couple of older examples of collages:

 

and here:

 

So that's enough of a teaser. Hope you can make it down for the opening. If not, the show will hang until January 7th, 2010.

Art in the making

Here is a peek into how I make a work of art.

First, I take a piece of canvas and send it through the sewing machine. Sometimes it's random, other times very deliberate. Then, I stretch it over a wooden frame and prepare the surface with a special glue. This prevents the paint from leaking through the other side.

Then I stand back and wait to see an image make it's presence felt. I like to allow the random chaos of stitched lines suggest a place to start.

Then I start to pull an image out of the canvas like this:

As you can see, I am following the random lines as well as filling in areas I would like to develop more fully. This process can take a while. As I work more on each piece with color and line, I turn the canvas in all four directions, studying each angle. Sometimes I end up developing the end result based on a new direction that "works" better. 

Here is the final result:

 

The name of this painting is "Sorceress." She is the inspiration for many of my new paintings I'll be showing at Shakti in Ballard, November 14th - January 7th.

Viral art and the art of viral marketing

Life imitates art, and art surely imitates life.

See new paintings by artist Ryan Heshka on the theme "Envirus" at Seattle's Roc le Rue gallery. 

Is XMRV the cause of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

Here's another virus-focused article from the NYTimes that discusses the link between a retrovirus named "XMRV" and symptoms of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), once condescendingly referred to as "yuppie flu."

Symptoms of CFS include muscle and joint pain, headache, fatigue not relieved by rest, mild fever, and other symptoms. It seems to most often affect women ages 30-50.

Retroviruses are also associated with diseases such as HIV and leukemia.

Viruses got you down? Don't go for a flu shot!

I've been slacking off on the blogosphere. I've just been so darn busy figuring how to get from point A to point B lately. See, I'm moving to Minneapolis soon, where the snow is deep and the people are deeper. I wonder if the viruses are hardier?

The one I'm now hosting that seems to be snacking on my brain. Not that I'd ever get or recommend the flu shot...check out this great article from The Atlantic magazine. Though they quote false facts concerning how useful vaccines have been, you'll think three times before considering it...

The Illuminated Body

Just found out today that I'll be having a show in Seattle at SHAKTI Vinyasa Yoga Studio in November. The opening reception for The Illuminated Body will be Saturday November 14th from 6-9. It coincides with the Ballard Art Walk, in a cool neighborhood with great galleries, bars and restaurants. I'll have my favorite DJ spinning the music vibe and I'll bring some  treats also. The show runs through January 7th.

I plan to show all new art that resonates with the theme, the Illuminated Body. I look forward to focusing on the many ways our bodies are filled with light, inspiration, the breath of life and love.

Feminine and Masculine: the eternal duality within

A friend commented recently that the female figure in one of my paintings steps forward with the right foot, symbolic of a masculine or yang energy. I was intrigued because I spend a lot of time contemplating the duality of feminine & masculine energies within us, and how we express those qualities.

I cultivate the balancing of my internal energies with the external world; internal being ying, external being yang. Our world is so masculine-dominant that we can forget the importance of spaciousness, relaxation, fullness/roundness, and self-nurturing - favoring efficiency, speed, stimulants, and work instead. Much of our self-created conflict, the wrestling with those two forces, sources addiction, anxiety, and depression.

I strive to create a quality of harmony in my paintings that comes from finding peace with the marriage of yin and yang, receptivity and achievement, surrender and goal-focusing. I identify my imagery with a movement called Visionary Art; creating affirming images of human experience that inspire and open doors to self-reflection.

Nonconformity is uber creative

Being unique, bucking the trends, and thinking outside the box are constitutional for this  fresh-thinking guy: Chris Guillebeau finds ways to travel first-class - cheaply - while working from his laptop. In the middle of a recession. While promoting the idea that people quit their jobs in favor of enjoying life more fully.

Packed with down-to-earth honesty, unconventional wisdom, and exciting visionary thinking, there is something for every creative, artistic soul on this site.

His approach to life and work is refreshingly unconventional indeed.

new link to inspired creativity

Thanks "Orna Ross" for linking to my list of recommended movies!
Check out her site for more ideas on stimulating creativity.
Kindred spirits connect.....

Favorite movies to inspire creativity

Before Night Falls, The Red Violin, Amadeus, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Whale Rider, Like Water for Chocolate, The Sea Inside, and anything by Jim Jarmusch. These movies have inspired me because of their portrayal of the creative life or simply for their breathtaking beauty.