Monday, 29 October 2012
Monday, 15 October 2012
NEW piece- "The Hidden Beauty, Motion & Evolution of the Great Mother" 40"H X 30"W acrylic on canvas. Selling for 375.00 and on public display at the Concordia Hospital. 10% of sale proceeds goes to the Hospitals Foundation. Contact Ms. Leanne Juer for purchase at ljuer2
I have been designing various pieces over the years that represents the power and mystery of the feminine power of the great "Mother" Gaia or perhaps known in other cultures as Sophia- the bestower of secrets and sacred knowledge. I painted this piece in various shades of green to reflect nature and the undulations are the dance of the feminine or even the serpent, a long time cross-cultural symbol of life, creation and knowledge. We find the double helix symbol of two intertwined serpents and Anthropologist Jeremy Narby writes in his fantastic book: The Cosmic Serpent-DNA and the Origins of Knowledge that the serpent "makes light of the sexes, and of the opposition of contraries; it is female and male too, a twin to itself, like so many of the important creator gods who are always in their first representation, cosmic serpents...Thus, the visible snake appears as merely the brief incarnation of a Great Invisible Serpent, which is casual and timeless, a master of the vital principle and of all the forces of nature. It is a primary old god found at the beginning of all cosmogonies, before monotheism and reason toppled it." The enormous serpent Typhon in Greek mythology is incarnation of the earth forces and the child of the earth goddess Gaia. To South American Shamans the great anaconda Ronin surrounds the entire earth conceived as a giant disc that swims in the great waters. The Taoists represented the caduceus with the yin-yang which symbolizes the coiling of two -serpentine and complimentary forms into a single androgynous principle. From India to the Mediterranean the symbols of serpents entwined about a central axis represented the art of healing and even today the caduceus remains a prominent symbol in Western medicine. The piece represents many things in many ways- the mythological serpent, the feminine spiritual and hidden power of the Earth, light & darkness and the constantly evolving biological mechanisms found within nature.
Saturday, 13 October 2012
"Wisdom" 24" X 24" acrylic on canvas. SOLD- this piece was sold to a discriminating client of deep spiritual belief who took to the painting immediately. Wisdom is a piece that speaks to the interior nature of spiritual and objective knowledge which i believe permeates many "fields" of space. Dr. Ervin Laszlo in his amazing book Science and the Akashic Field-an Integral Theory of Everything speaks of a vast fundamental meta-universal field of energy and knowledge that is highly coherent and integrated much like a vast living organism. "A cosmic field that underlies and links all things in the world is a perennial intuition, present in traditional cosmologies and metaphysics. The ancients knew that space is not empty: it is the origin and the memory of all things that exist or have ever existed." The image is elegant, with depth, motion, and a notion that all portions of elements are 'connected'.
Thursday, 11 October 2012
NEW PIECE "Luminous Mystery" 18" X 18" acrylic on canvas and for sale ($250.00) and on public display at the Concordia Hospital. 10% of sale proceeds goes to the Hospitals Foundation. Contact Ms. Leanne Juer for purchase at ljuer2
I really like this piece, it was difficult to see the piece leave my living room wall where many fresh new pieces display after coming down from the studio. Its always terribly heart wrenching to see them leave- like a parent seeing their child leave the nest. There's a primitive visceral feel to this piece, something ancient yet something modern, a futuristic hieroglyphic. Its related in style to an earlier piece i did- "Equinox", similiar but different. I also have a large canvas that i'm currently working on that is similiar in style that i have on the go in the studio. I've been working on pieces like "Luminous Mystery" all summer that are lighter in colour, have a 'summer feel' and full of playful positive energetic light. If you see this piece up close it is heavily textured, course, with many paint layers so it contains a certain depth, a certain character.
The Phenomena of 2012
I have been struck by the eloquence and brilliance of author Daniel Pinchbeck in his 2012: The Return of Quetzacoatl which has successfully embraced so many diverse ideas, indeed while conventional media and the public dwell on 2012 as the date of the 'end of the world' i think we have to take a deep breath and take a lead from Pinchbeck and his researches. We do know that the ancients, regardless of the culture, shared a common idea of cyclic not linear time, that the natural world and our universe follow cycles from birth, youth, maturity, to death/sleep, and renewal (it has its correspondence in our seasons- of spring, summer, fall, winter and spring once more, to cosmological cycles of the birth, life, collapse and explosive rebirths of universes, and even has correspondence in Freemasonic ritual/structure). Today, we do see potential collapse or impending change applicable to all sectors of our current civilization- economic and political changes, significant environmental changes, indeed the signs are upon us this current civilization can't sustain itself as it has without dire consequences. At the same time of impending collapse and revolutionary change, we find a dawning new consciousness sprouting globally that is counter-cultural to what has existed by way of new technology, science, culture (ie: in integral and transpersonal art which celebrates knowledge, beauty and the sacred that is counter to the empty, materialist, pessimistic art movements of the 20th century), economic models that offers us humanity a shift in a positive direction to a new age of freedom and liberation. It is curious to find that correspondent to what is happening in the world today we have sacred writings that indicate or point towards coming changes. The ancients predicted successive ages of change as the Mayans predicted a new dawning Fifth Age set to begin on or about Dec 21st 2012. Astrologers have long known of the Platonic year (a time period of approximately 25,800 years) and each Platonic year was divided into twelve periods of 2,150 years with the new age of Aquarius begin on or about the end of the 20th century. Mayans and astrologers alike knew and expected change with each successive cycle passing and beginning. It should be pointed out that NO new age comes 'cleanly after a definitive period-for example the transition between the Picean era (the current era we are leaving) and the Aquarian age (which we are entering is expected to take almost 200 years give or take. Rather than getting wrapped up in holocaust scenarios practiced by dogmatic or obsolete religious models informing us of an forever impending apocalypse or Anti-Christ that never seems to come i believe reason and logic should prevail and rather than asking ourselves how and when we think the world will end, we should rather be spending our time influencing and working with how it will change. Curious that the Aquarian Age is said to be a period defined by 'brotherhood' (a coming together of humanity) and communication (interesting to note how the internet and social networking is currently evolving) as well as pronounced feminism (unlike the Picean Age which among other things was defined by Patriarchal domination) and spirituality. As Pinchbeck writes: "..the only way we can avoid or mitigate the likely effects of imminent cataclysm is through rapid evolution of collective intelligence." As he further states: [American scientist/inventor] "Buckminster Fuller liked to say that you do not change a system by criticizing it: If you really want to change things, you find ways to make the old model obsolete." The real message of 2012 is that change will always be around us, but how can we rationally, intelligently and collectively deal with these changes in a positive and beneficial way? My own contribution as an independent person is to deliver a message through my transpersonal art and personally practice leaving a smaller footprint on the world- water harvesting, home gardening, using less gas/electricity through conservation, insulating my home, using energy saving devices etc. The great lesson of 2012, i believe, is to help facilitate beneficial and intelligent improvement in your community ("Think globally act locally"), change your consciousness and be aware of the qualities inside of you and all around you to try to do better and be better. I am reminded of the Gnostic wisdom of the Nag Hammadi Scrolls "Gospel of Thomas"(still considered heretical writings by the Catholic Church) in which the apostle Thomas asks Jesus when will the Kingdom of Heaven come down to earth? Jesus enigmatically answers "what you ask for is already here and all around you but men do not see it." In other words, the Kingdom is already here but it is what we see, or perhaps don't see, that must be changed [our consciousness] or improved. The "Kingdom of God" will not come down to earth by some external influence that is to be waited for or anticipated, it is to be fostered and built by our own collective action here and now. I believe enlightened Gnostics knew this as much as Mayans and other spiritually influenced cultures and people around the planet but it is time that humanity woke up, matured and take responsibility for what it is and should be, begin to work towards building a paradise on earth together.
I have been struck by the eloquence and brilliance of author Daniel Pinchbeck in his 2012: The Return of Quetzacoatl which has successfully embraced so many diverse ideas, indeed while conventional media and the public dwell on 2012 as the date of the 'end of the world' i think we have to take a deep breath and take a lead from Pinchbeck and his researches. We do know that the ancients, regardless of the culture, shared a common idea of cyclic not linear time, that the natural world and our universe follow cycles from birth, youth, maturity, to death/sleep, and renewal (it has its correspondence in our seasons- of spring, summer, fall, winter and spring once more, to cosmological cycles of the birth, life, collapse and explosive rebirths of universes, and even has correspondence in Freemasonic ritual/structure). Today, we do see potential collapse or impending change applicable to all sectors of our current civilization- economic and political changes, significant environmental changes, indeed the signs are upon us this current civilization can't sustain itself as it has without dire consequences. At the same time of impending collapse and revolutionary change, we find a dawning new consciousness sprouting globally that is counter-cultural to what has existed by way of new technology, science, culture (ie: in integral and transpersonal art which celebrates knowledge, beauty and the sacred that is counter to the empty, materialist, pessimistic art movements of the 20th century), economic models that offers us humanity a shift in a positive direction to a new age of freedom and liberation. It is curious to find that correspondent to what is happening in the world today we have sacred writings that indicate or point towards coming changes. The ancients predicted successive ages of change as the Mayans predicted a new dawning Fifth Age set to begin on or about Dec 21st 2012. Astrologers have long known of the Platonic year (a time period of approximately 25,800 years) and each Platonic year was divided into twelve periods of 2,150 years with the new age of Aquarius begin on or about the end of the 20th century. Mayans and astrologers alike knew and expected change with each successive cycle passing and beginning. It should be pointed out that NO new age comes 'cleanly after a definitive period-for example the transition between the Picean era (the current era we are leaving) and the Aquarian age (which we are entering is expected to take almost 200 years give or take. Rather than getting wrapped up in holocaust scenarios practiced by dogmatic or obsolete religious models informing us of an forever impending apocalypse or Anti-Christ that never seems to come i believe reason and logic should prevail and rather than asking ourselves how and when we think the world will end, we should rather be spending our time influencing and working with how it will change. Curious that the Aquarian Age is said to be a period defined by 'brotherhood' (a coming together of humanity) and communication (interesting to note how the internet and social networking is currently evolving) as well as pronounced feminism (unlike the Picean Age which among other things was defined by Patriarchal domination) and spirituality. As Pinchbeck writes: "..the only way we can avoid or mitigate the likely effects of imminent cataclysm is through rapid evolution of collective intelligence." As he further states: [American scientist/inventor] "Buckminster Fuller liked to say that you do not change a system by criticizing it: If you really want to change things, you find ways to make the old model obsolete." The real message of 2012 is that change will always be around us, but how can we rationally, intelligently and collectively deal with these changes in a positive and beneficial way? My own contribution as an independent person is to deliver a message through my transpersonal art and personally practice leaving a smaller footprint on the world- water harvesting, home gardening, using less gas/electricity through conservation, insulating my home, using energy saving devices etc. The great lesson of 2012, i believe, is to help facilitate beneficial and intelligent improvement in your community ("Think globally act locally"), change your consciousness and be aware of the qualities inside of you and all around you to try to do better and be better. I am reminded of the Gnostic wisdom of the Nag Hammadi Scrolls "Gospel of Thomas"(still considered heretical writings by the Catholic Church) in which the apostle Thomas asks Jesus when will the Kingdom of Heaven come down to earth? Jesus enigmatically answers "what you ask for is already here and all around you but men do not see it." In other words, the Kingdom is already here but it is what we see, or perhaps don't see, that must be changed [our consciousness] or improved. The "Kingdom of God" will not come down to earth by some external influence that is to be waited for or anticipated, it is to be fostered and built by our own collective action here and now. I believe enlightened Gnostics knew this as much as Mayans and other spiritually influenced cultures and people around the planet but it is time that humanity woke up, matured and take responsibility for what it is and should be, begin to work towards building a paradise on earth together.
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
"Nature Loves to Hide" 16" X 16" acrylic on canvas- SOLD. This title of this piece is actually a quote by a pre-Socratic Greek Philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus (c.535- c.475 BCE) whom i admire for his mystical and transcendental writings. This painting is darker, mysterious yet playful and in motion reflecting the deep secrets and nature of Nature itself. Nature does not easily give up her secrets and there is much indeed to know and investigate through science but also through a less scientific but subjective transcendental approach. And i speak specifically to such wonderful books as "The Cosmic Serpent" by Anthropologist Jeremy Narby or a long forgotten book "The Secret Life of Plants" published in the 70's by Tompkins & Bird. Fundamental consciousness, energies and realms of other dimensions lies all around us and connect every living and even 'non-living' thing -a basic idea the bulk of humanity hasn't become cognizant of yet and this painting, and others like it (in my 'Nature' series) visually speak to these fundamental concepts.
I read a terrific article by Ms. Carol Ann Raphael who comments in an article she wrote called "the Beauty We Create" (Enlightenment Next magazine, March/May 2009). Historically art & beauty were synonymous but with the chaos of the First World War the Dadaists [anti-war, anti-bourgeois avant-garde leftist movement] reacted to the horrors of war by rejecting beauty and meaning. And what became valued on a large scale was the "shock of the new" (Art Critic Robert Hughes) or "objects & images that flaunt their disdain for beauty and serious content and universal truth" which were selling and popular.
However, since the 20th century the return and recognition of the importance of beauty as a central consideration which can benefit art, to provide it with purpose and meaning, Ms. Raphael comments can connect us to something deep & fundamental. Visionary, scientist, priest Pierre De Chardin wrote: "more primordial than any idea, beauty will be manifested as the herald and generator of ideas." Chardin seems to have known the importance and impact of beauty and the power of art which imbeds it. Beauty seems to have a life and quality unto itself that is or can be deeply spiritual and evolutionary in function- indeed a power to generate life and ideas. Ms. Raphael rightly comments in my humble opinion that "restoring the centrality of beauty in art may signal more than visual relief from the tawdriness of todays [postmodern] art." Perhaps we can begin to see a pendulum swing in a better direction that takes us from 'art' that might be defined as inhuman (hanging animal carcasses), shocking (religious icons submerged in urine) or flagrant (British Artist Damien Hirst's $100 million dollar human skull cast in platinum and studded with diamonds) to a deeper, meaningful or transcendental art which connects us to ourselves, or speaks to larger aspects of consciousness and the meaning of life. I think an art form where i can celebrate beauty, mysticism and the unknown wonders of our existence is one that i can contribute to and be proud of.
However, since the 20th century the return and recognition of the importance of beauty as a central consideration which can benefit art, to provide it with purpose and meaning, Ms. Raphael comments can connect us to something deep & fundamental. Visionary, scientist, priest Pierre De Chardin wrote: "more primordial than any idea, beauty will be manifested as the herald and generator of ideas." Chardin seems to have known the importance and impact of beauty and the power of art which imbeds it. Beauty seems to have a life and quality unto itself that is or can be deeply spiritual and evolutionary in function- indeed a power to generate life and ideas. Ms. Raphael rightly comments in my humble opinion that "restoring the centrality of beauty in art may signal more than visual relief from the tawdriness of todays [postmodern] art." Perhaps we can begin to see a pendulum swing in a better direction that takes us from 'art' that might be defined as inhuman (hanging animal carcasses), shocking (religious icons submerged in urine) or flagrant (British Artist Damien Hirst's $100 million dollar human skull cast in platinum and studded with diamonds) to a deeper, meaningful or transcendental art which connects us to ourselves, or speaks to larger aspects of consciousness and the meaning of life. I think an art form where i can celebrate beauty, mysticism and the unknown wonders of our existence is one that i can contribute to and be proud of.
Monday, 8 October 2012
A NEW PIECE- "Axis Mundi VII" is another new piece, acrylic on paper 22" X 30"and currently on display and for sale at the Concordia Hospital in Winnipeg. Contact Ms. Leanne Juer at ljuer2
I love the concept as it speaks to ancient ideas that an axis runs between heave and earth, between the physical plane and that of an unseen spiritual plane. The Hebrew Kabbalah relates that when God wanted to know itself it had split itself from a singular entity into two (or more) and at that moment the physical universe(s) came into being. God created a central axis or 'tele' upon which everything revolved. The axis mundi has been depicted culturally/symbolically in many different ways -it is the North Star upon which all the stars revolve around; Jacob's Ladder in the Old Testament from which Jacob had his lucid dream and he 'saw' heavenly beings coming and going between the earthly plane and that of the higher planes; it is depicted as an omphalos stone (a naval of the world) of the ancient Greeks; it has been depicted as a vine, serpent, winding stairway, maypole, tree, totem, pillar or sacred altar found at the centre of every Freemasonic Lodge (their altar symbolic of the Ark of the Covanent) which connects the earthly plane to the heavenly. There is indeed beauty and power in this symbol of connection.
A NEW piece- "The Monolithic Secret Descending" 18" X 18" acrylic on canvas. I think its a great piece, feels superb and like any activity you intuitively know when you have 'hit it'. It 'feels right'. Its currently on public display at the Concordia Hospital with 10% of sales going to support the Hospital's Foundation. Selling for $275.00. Contact Ms. Leanne Juer for purchase at ljuer2
I believe being a transpersonal artist involves the synthesis of so many things- representing all manner of ideas, philosophies, sciences into a visual representation built with sacred and personal intention.
I saw this really great definition of Transpersonal Psychology (Wikipedia) which is perfectly aligned to the visual artist who practices with this orientation: "A school of psychology that studies the transpersonal, self-transcendent, or spiritual aspects of the human expereince; transpersonal experiences may be defined as experiences in which the sense of identity or self extends beyond (trans) the individual or personal to encompass wider aspects of humankind, life, psyche or cosmos."
I saw this really great definition of Transpersonal Psychology (Wikipedia) which is perfectly aligned to the visual artist who practices with this orientation: "A school of psychology that studies the transpersonal, self-transcendent, or spiritual aspects of the human expereince; transpersonal experiences may be defined as experiences in which the sense of identity or self extends beyond (trans) the individual or personal to encompass wider aspects of humankind, life, psyche or cosmos."
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