16 April 12 Circling

"Circling" Copyright Lauren T. Meyer 2016

I was heading into the YMCA when I saw a close friend.  She invited me to join her for a "Circling" get together.   I had never heard of it, yet she glowed as she spoke  and I figured I'd skip a swim and experience something  different. And it was unlike anything I'd experienced before.  There were about 30 people in a large living room  already sitting on various chairs in a circle.   One  person volunteers to be questioned.  They answer  while trying to stay present with themselves without  going off into explanation or story.   Every word matters. The challenge is to experience this moment and  acknowledge, name, and share feelings that come  up while relating to another... waaay harder than it seems, and so Berkeley.

A Gift of Reflection: Essential Wafers

Balance Dark and Light.  2016 Copyright Lauren T. Meyer

I have wonderful exchanges with people who see my art, and I want to share their reflections with others who enjoy my imagery. Tonight at Dance Jam Berkeley I took 3 paintings and taped them to the wall behind the check-in table.

I also put a bowl of "Essence Wafers" to select from before one stepped into the dance room.

The Essence Wafers are 2" dia watercolor paintings.  They reflect peoples essence back to them.  I asked what they want to call into their lives in the new year.  A woman told me "articulation" and I ask her how that would feel and she says,  she wanted to feel in the flow intensely, so I wrote "Acuity" on her wafer.  When asked about the coming year, a man said he wants to bring compassion to the world through music.  I wrote "Ignite Intention" on his wafer.  Reading that surprised him and his face lit up thinking about it that way.  It was a lot of fun. I AM an artist and have "Permission" (what I wrote on my wafer) to be as big in the world as I care to be.

Standing in Movement

I met a lovely man as I was taking a walk in the neighborhood.  He is a professor of comparative literature at Cal. We walked together enjoying the beautiful plants in people's yards.  We walked to my house and I showed him my paintings.  His response was beautiful...."the roundness calls me, there are no edges in your paintings. Circular things have no beginnings and no ends. they are constantly in movement, the eye can't stay anywhere, the paintings are dynamic, not static.  They are open ended and up to the imagination for the viewer."
What a treat.

Reflections of the Divine

We see images of beautiful, young, thin women in magazines and media. 

 I'm offering paintings of women that reflect our divine nature.  

If we are alive, life force energy flows through us, it does not care what size you are.

 To remember or acknowledge this fact, is to feel our own divinity.

Experimentation

Spending time in my studio is a luxury. 

To experiment and explore what happens with pigment on the paper intrigues me. 

To stand back and consider what imagery has emerged thrills me.

This painting makes me think of the horizon and distant mountains to climb, while the foreground reminds me of the present, with issues that need to be addressed and tasks that need to be completed.  Please let me know what you see or feel about this one.  Thanks.

Looking through the lattice of the present into the horizon of the future

Sometimes I get so caught up in the present,

I can't imagine the future 

or vice versa:

Sometimes I get so caught up in thinking about the future,

 I am not present in the present.

2015 is here! Time to....

May 2015 allow you:

Time to dance

Time to love

Time to live

Time to be....

Thank you for supporting my art practice and sharing your time with me.  

Happy New Year!

Hoʻoponopono

Hoʻoponopono (ho-o-pono-pono) is an ancient Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness. 

For the past few times that I have swam at the Y, I pick someone in my life, repeat their name over and over to see them in my mind's eye, then say the Ho'oponopono.  It feels like I am swimming more slowly, yet the time goes by more quickly...how can that be?  The clock reflects I'm swimming at my usual pace... strange.  It is a lovely meditation to offer my family, my friends, and myself. 

I had a painting that was not working, and the paper was getting too wet to paint on. There was so much pigment on the paper, that I took the syringe my dental hygienist gave me, and filled it with water and started to write with the water blast, washing away the pigment and revealing the first layer of color on the paper.  It was fun and satisfying.

Vesta: Goddess of Fire in the Hearth (and Womb)

My Wiccan friend, Neala, has offered to send guidance in following the phases of the moon phases.

The Goddess in You

Creative dates: June 2 - 15

Moon phase: new moon waxing to full on 6/12

As the Sun grows stronger and the days grow longer, we move into the full strength of the sun. The high spring rites of Beltaine have recently past (May 1) and the magic of Litha or Midsummer's Eve (June 21) approaches. 

The fruit is on the vine, on the branches, and awaits the ripening kiss of summer days. It is a time of growth and bringing things to fruition. 

For this two week period we bring our focus to Vesta, the the Goddess of Fire.

She is the Goddess of the hearth in every facet: the hearths of our Hearts, our Homes and our communities. She dwells in the flames of every altar and fireplace. Vesta means simply “hearth” and comes from the same root meaning “to shine”. 

Vesta is the Goddess of the hearth and home - the central Fire that sustains human life with heat and food. She is a Goddess of nourishment and warmth; of the home, womyn and family. 

Find your self amidst the flow and eddies in the river of life

May 28, 2014

When I arrived with painting in hand, again, the altar design was perfect for my painting, as if we had planned ahead.  The Theme was to come back to your self, and what a challenge that can be with the river of life flowing so quickly.  When I take a moment to find my self, it's as if I'm caught in an eddy to catch my breath as life continues it's frantic pace.  Yet it is the eddies that give my life meaning and moments of connection and joy.

Essence (sold)

Let your Essence out of it's confines.  The theme was "baggage"  Eva brought luggage and boxes labeled with feelings and notions that weigh us down.  She had paper and markers so we could write what our personal confines are and "release" them.  I had imagined a trunk, but the box I painted looks somewhat like a coffin, which suggests the ultimate release of one's essence....death!

Beyond the Veil

My painting practice before dance continues to surprise me.  I was overtired and painting alone, thinking of a friend's boyfriend who has surrendered to the stomach cancer killing him from the inside out.  We had just been chatting that to be by his side as he gets closer to the "veil" is a first row seat to a process we don't have much experience with or words for.  So I painted bright colors of life and then painted the dark on top, in the shapes of flower petals.  Overtime, the darkness will overtake his life force, but for now, his process is unfolding beautifully.

When I arrived at the dance hall, the only place for the painting was "behind the veil", which seemed perfect to hide the imperfect painting.  And again, the colors of the altar were in concert with the colors of the painting, including a touch of red to match the velvet buddha.  Quantum Collaboration made visible!

After the dance, the veil was lowered and the painting was revealed. 

The Honey surrounding the flower

Open the window to the west and disappear into the air inside you. 

Near your breastbone there is an open flower. 

Drink the honey that is all around that flower.

(Kabir)

Riding the Dragon

The Altar design by Kathleen was perfect. The flowing gold fabric suggesting flow and journey. It was draped along the wall creating space for our paintings as if we had planned it, but we all know now that it is Quantum Collaboration...no verbal or written communication necessary :)

We danced with John Vigran in our hearts, (our dance teacher, Eva's, husband) as he had emergency triple bypass open heart surgery last week. Suzanne's painting is on the left, titled Dragon's Breath, as the theme from Eva that morning was Riding the Dragon...with gratitude for the support of their friends who rode the dragon with them through this death defying-life affirming journey.

≈

Washed Ashore

I love to do washes, and washed ashore took all of 8-10 minutes..super fast.  And the Altar was perfect for it...again!

All together Now...a series

The yellow wall of my office is messing with the color registration, sorry about that.  They all have gold dripping in them that reflects from different angles of the light.  Any one have a wall big enough to do these justice?

More Rain...Sun Peaking Through

We've had more wonderful rain, but the weekend coming is supposed to be sunny and beautiful.  This is the third in a series that I've done within a week. All 21x21"  I'm in love with them.

Rainy Days 2

More rainy days here.  Can't stop dropping paint on paper.

Rainy Days

Eva's theme last night was robotics, the opposite of fluidity.  But the day was rainy and I let the paint do it's thing...drip down, drip down, down.  Suzanne brought a painting done by a 10 yr old elephant in Thailand when she was there last month.  Nothing robotic about elephants!

Uniqueness

The Altar designed by Kathleen, with Suzanne's painting on the left and mine on the right.  The theme was Uniqueness

Eva took some of my cards and pasted "invitations to dance" on the back, like "Dance as if your eyes are closed" and "Dance as if gravity doesn't apply to you" and "Dance as if you are tethered to the center of earth wherever you step"

I'm thankful for her initiative. She's requested more cards so she can take them to Canada and Switzterland for her international dance sessions. What an honor.

This was my painting last night, although not quite unique as I had painted "in the beginning" a few weeks ago. But that painting was promptly sold and I wanted to see what else would emerge in the same vein.  Sunset wash behind the flow of fire and the grounding of the Lotus petals.