After Yesterday Before Tomorrow

Saturday's Flight 9"x12"

What you already are

Before the picnic

The ground of awakening

In the presence of a tree

Collect no jewels

A time of bewilderment

An inside job

Already free

No lock on the gate

Where hope is born

The idea of a journey

In the present tense

As you really are

Taking Refuge

In your present condition

Below the mind's radar

The truth about yourself

Sudden Radical Insight

No matter what

Some block is gone

A door has opened

Stepping outside

Not a bunch of thoughts

The whole world wants to stop here

A simple thing, Transformation

Lift your face to the sky

Rushing Toward Beauty & Building Resilience

8"x10" Footprints On The Earth Oil & Cold Wax

While I was painting this afternoon I noticed at one point, how much I was in a hurry to get a part of the painting that I didn't like covered up. That little palette knife was just doing 90 in a school zone.  I could feel the rushing, the almost breathless way I went after the offending spot.  And I thought to myself, "isn't this interesting?  What's that all about?"  And it struck me that this is very like me in many parts of my life, this lack of tolerance for the imperfect, for the messy, a reaction that often leads to feelings of frustration.

Feeling sick?  Let's get that out of the way.  Messy kitchen?    Messy life?   Let's get that cleaned up. A Longing for problems to disappear in a poof.  Hmm... in a hurry to make the ugly; beautiful, the imperfect; less flawed.  A magnetic draw towards beauty and perfection.  Definitely encouraged by our culture, I think we all have this in varying degrees.

8"x10" Uncovered Oil and Cold Wax

And aiming oneself in the direction of clean and tidy and beautiful is a fine intention, let's not get weird here. It's perhaps the rush away from mess and chaos, that requires reflection.  And how we handle the movement from what we "find undesirable" to it's counterpart is vital to our well being, I think.

It came to me how much depth and complexity I rob myself of, when I hurry to get things all "nice" without appreciating the nuances of messy.  Perhaps I miss finding the interesting hidden line or shape, or a new direction in a painting I am in a hurry to get resolved.

16"x16" Tethered  Oil & Cold wax

Maybe I am thinking about things in this way because I've been dealing with a dental adventure that found me having a tooth extracted last week.  Around the same time I came across a German doctor who writes about finding meaning in illness. His take is that the healing lives in the more complicated crevices of understanding, buried in the deeper meaning of our symptoms, instead of in the headlong rush to get those symptoms out of the way. In the same breath that it makes sense to me, I also want to get on with what interests me (some habits die a slow painful death)!  I've gathered my arsenal of natural remedies and am marching my little holistic army toward that dental infection.  The inclination to be well is fine, don't get me wrong, it is the energy we bring to it that's important, I think.

I was reminded of the quality of "resilience" in my work, my health and some frustrating encounters with Samsung's customer service this week. I listened to a talk by Joan Borysenko a couple of weeks ago on "stress hardiness" or resilience and it really resonated with me. Unfortunately I can't link you to that talk because it's no longer available but here's a similar one. She talked about the 3 C's of stress hardiness: 1. Commitment- a sense of purpose and engagement with the world.  2. Control- a belief that our actions can make a difference.  3.  Challenge - an understanding that life is constantly changing but viewing that change as exciting rather than scary.  Here's a nice little blogpost someone wrote about it.

I am really working on #3, viewing the less desirable ones as exciting.  How about you? I wish you a stress hardy week.

Wise Effort

Zendotstudio Buddhas at Rawsome Cafe & Juice Bar 

I am thinking about "wise effort". It is  in my mind after listening to a great dharma talk last night by Andrea Fella that you can find here. It is true you can make all kinds of effort but not all of it is wise. I know a bit about this myself. My repetoire of "effort sans wisdom" includes effort fueled by force, effort soaked in wanting things to turn out a certain way, and effort that floats on the marshmallow of delusion. Perhaps you have your own special flavour of effort?

Four of us have been hard at work around "the farm" this last several weeks so I have had occasion to see different kinds of effort in action. Lots of work has taken place. Some very dirty cedar siding had been washed, many weeds have been pulled, dirt has been moved, logs have been bucked, meadows have been mowed. I myself have been guilty of over- effort, the kind where you unwisely use up all your energy and are reduced to an aching heap.  I have witnessed grim effort, where not much fun happens on the job. There have been half efforts and unfocused effort. I have also witnessed bright effort that flowed with enthusiasm and effort meant in part to be an example to encourage others. I never knew there were so many nuances to effort.

In her talk Fella reminds us that wise effort is intertwined with mindfulness and concentration. If we are mindful our effort will be bright and considerate of the task at hand. Concentration supports an effort that is strong and focused.  When I think of effort I am often reminded of Jeane's tag line over at ART IT, "you must make an effort to put things into motion".  These words have echoed in my ears from the first time I read them. Simple, direct and true.  Jeane is an inspiring example of wise effort.  She works consistently. Perhaps this is one of the most important and difficult aspects of effort, this ability to unflinchingly sustain effort.   And I have been awed by the integrity of her effort. This woman has painted over or burned work I would gladly have hung on my wall! And her new work is an exciting testimony to effort she nourishes on good humour, faith and confidence.

Chris Gay half of the duo that owns Rawsome Cafe

Some of my art is currently hanging in a place built on wise effort. I have watched Jim Maurice & Chris Gay steer their business and follow their dreams to arrive at the awesome Rawsome Living Foods Cafe & Juice Bar. They create raw food with integrity and mindfulness, works of edible art and deliciousness. If you are in the neighbourhood drop in and try one of their many goodies. I recommend the raw bagels and cream cheese and the Village Greens juice. And never leave without dessert!

Buddhas watch over cafe customer

Summer seems the season of energy, filled with sun and light and warmth. So what better season to consider our use of effort, to re-dedicate ourselves to something that is important in our lives? Where will you shine the light of your wise effort this summer?

Juicy Art?

Fairfield Artist's Tour

Here's a little peek at some of the set up I had for my in home Christmas show.  I had some fun shots with people in them but didn't feel good about posting people's pictures without their permission so alas all you get to see is the empty dining room.  Set up will be a little different this time.

I have somehow managed to end up in a space where I am not feeling rushed or stressed (how did that happen??!) and just chugging along getting things done.  Maybe it's when you have so many things on the go, you just give it up after a while.  It's kind of like the really intense Zen retreats where they are trying to push you to experience the unreality of self by intense periods of sitting and lack of sleep.   At a certain point it just all dissolves.  I am theorizing now about where the stress went!  Just to keep things interesting this week I threw in a doctor's appointment, a haircut, a dentist's appointment and  a long ago planned evening at the Opera (this Saturday night) a first for me.  Oh and some friends will spend Sunday night here before flying to England on Monday.

Somehow I have managed to keep reminding myself that a lot of things just aren't that important, remembering the comments of the Zen master to his disciple.  I have also tried to focus on enjoying the process of getting ready!  This morning as I was sitting it came to me that it was important to not push away the stressed out, fearful part of me, that part of compassion (which we always seem to think should be directed toward others) was to embrace it all, the stressed out me (if that's what comes up), the settled me.  It's so easy to want to reject all that we deem unpleasant, undesirable but if we can be a big enough container (this is a term Joko Beck uses) we can hold it all, the good the bad and the ugly (oh, oh I might need to get out cowboy boots to do that).

So if you're in the neighbourhood, drop by and say hello.  Here's the link to the  website  http://www.galendavison.com/fast_2009.htm#L   for the tour so you can find me.  There are lots of wonderful artists in the neighbourhood and it's a lovely walk through the cherry tree lined streets of this old neighbourhood right now.  Many of the houses are a similar vintage to mine (1914) when there was a mini building boom in the area.  Lots of "Art's & Crafts" style homes and lots of variety.  The gardens are looking quite splendid in their Spring finery.  The local shopping street in the Cook Street Village is filled with places to linger and find treats: the 4 coffee shops (Cafe Fantastico on McKenzie has the best coffee),  Bubby Rose's Bakery is filled with delicious lunch goodies and bakery treats.  Then there's Ethiopian Food, Thai Food and Sushi in the old house on Mckenzie St.  One Fish, Two Fish (an offspring of Red Fish Blue Fish) has set up a cart next to the old Dry cleaner's and serves some tasty treats.  Then there's pizza across the street and a you can finish off the day with a glass of something at the Beagle if you are so inclined.  I've heard rumours that the weather is supposed to be quite Spring like (the other day it was snowing cherry blossoms in a gust of wind!)  I opened the front door and in they came.

So stop by if you can.  Otherwise I will try and snap a few photos without faces so I can post them for all to enjoy.