Monday, June 8, 2015

Nature, The Ultimate Artist And Teacher?

Kanaskin Lake, BC
I think the artistry of nature has always astounded humans.  To view its sheer vastness, its startling beauty can leave us with only an oooo or an awww coming out of our cake holes.  A lot of art is either inspired by the natural world or seeks to imitate it.  As an abstract artist I'm not so interested in art that seeks to imitate the natural world though I can see how an image of a stunning scene above the couch would bring peace and joy to a home.  I am more interested in the translation of the natural world by the artist into form that evokes some feeling or response in us.  But that is my particular preference. Art is like spiritual practice in a way.  No one thing suits us all and so the many expressions of art. In a recent talk, Stephen Batchelor commented that the Buddha said his teachings were like medicine. Batchelor reasoned that not everyone has the same "illness" so not everyone needs the same medicine. So for art, if it feeds our soul, not all of us are nourished by the same thing. Even the same person may need different food at different times. Sometimes our soul requires peace, sometimes fiery inspiration.

Above Dawson City, Yukon, after midnight
Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, a teacher in the Bon tradition, likes to remind of the healing and nourishing qualities of the natural world, how just a short time connecting with the natural world can improve our state of mind and health. The earth can ground us, the sun can warm us and inspire joy, the water of a stream can remind us of the natural flow of all life.  A big sky offers a feeling of spaciousness and the wind shows us how things just move on through.  We can focus on these aspects of the elements to help us become more spacious, inspired, grounded or flowing or we can simply experience it all without thought and be nourished by it's wise and welcome presence in our life. Especially if we spend a lot of time indoors (and most of us do) or in cities, it can be interesting to commit to spending more time immersing ourselves in the natural world and experiment with its impact on us.

Rain passing through at Kinaskin Lake
As I travel through northern BC and the Yukon I am struck by the sheer expanses of untouched wilderness. With less tree cover than I am used to in the rain forested area where I live my heart is deeply touched by the spacious feeling of the big sky.  There is a drama to this landscape, it's wild openness, it's ability to startle, it's rough beauty. One feels a privilege in being able to witness it; to see the alpine tundra with it's permafrost along the Dempster Highway, to see a Ptarmigan half white still from winter, flowers bursting everywhere, wise about the shortness of opportunity. Vastness and drama are the words that come to mind when viewing this landscape.  One gets a sense of the forces of nature, the strength and intractability of the natural world.

Tombstone Park, view from Dempster Highway
To spend time in this open place, to watch weather pass through, experience the strangeness of 24 hours of light and it's effect on the body, to watch bears saunter out to the road with little regard for our presence, reminds me of our smallness in the grand scheme of things.  Someone recently remarked about all the talk of "saving the planet" but in fact what we are really concerned with is saving ourselves.  When you see the vastness of the natural world one senses the planet will survive despite the grave damage we may do, that it will remain in some form long after we have, in our greed and ignorance laid waste to ourselves.  If this sounds negative in some way, it is not meant to, it is simply a reflection based on the seeing the strength, intractability and vastness of this landscape.  With a bow to the unknowable source and presence of it all.

19 comments:

  1. Another good read and wonderful photos Carole.

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  2. Carole, you have put into words the way I feel in the vast expanse of landscape. The awe of it all. Enjoy!

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  3. I thought of you as we went through Prince George! Nice to see you here.

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  4. Beautiful photos, I love nature and all of its many forms, though like you I don't paint landscapes I am inspired by nature at every turn and it always finds it's way into the work.
    I am lucky as I get to hike twice a week and I am surrounded by nature living in Taos, NM. xoxo

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  5. Your landscape in NM is filled with drama too. So beautiful around Taos. Happy hiking :)

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  6. My natural world view takes my breath away most days and in the midst of it is ordinary lives...mine included. Your photos pick up on the beauty and vastness of your travels.

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    1. Hello MaryAnn, yes I think you live in a beautiful place. That beauty does feed the artist's soul for sure.

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  7. Lovely photos! And Lovely area! And I love your description of how it impacted you... Very poignant. I especially like your statement in the last paragraph - and agree :) Not negative at all - just seeing from the vaster view :) Bows to the source indeed...

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  8. hello Christine, so nice to see you here. The larger view is important to remember for sure, both humbling and awe inspiring. bows to you as well.

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  9. Carole - sounds like a great trip! Nature is also my advisor and moderator. I try to never forget that Nature is not a separate entity, but one that I am part of and a participant with. I am also Nature. Thank you.

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  10. It was! I like that, nature as advisor and better still we are part of that nature, fully connected and animated by it, if only I can remember that :)

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  11. So true. That explains the big sigh and goofy smile that happens every time I get back to SSI from the city. I think I'm a forest dweller at heart. Although I suppose trashy back alleys are nature too, nature minus humans is a healer without equal. Good one!

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    1. it's all nature, in some form, it's true but I guess what us humans need sometimes is that part of nature the recharges and nourishes us?

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  12. Stunningly beautiful photos, Carole. After three weeks walking the wild coast, when sometimes ours were the only footprints for miles, coming back to town is extremely painful. So many jarring man-made noises! I could quite easily become a recluse living in a beach shack somewhere along the wild coast.

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  13. ah, yes, what feeds our soul! your holiday sounds amazing. I remember my daughter telling a story of returning to London after a 2 week silent retreat in the country and feeling completely disoriented by all the noise and commotion, just as you describe.

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  14. You must have a great camera as your images are so beautiful... plus your artistic eye... really shows your - and our- connection to the beauty of nature.

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  15. Thanks for this great article! Really loved it! Alina
    www.allmeditate.com
    www.zenhabits.net

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  16. Carole, Could you share the link to the workshop with Tenzin, I clicked on the link and it went to another teacher. Your paintings continue to inspire me. They are so beautiful.

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