Artwork in progress

A Phoenix for 2012

2012-01-01T14:07:00.000-08:00

Developing the twin themes of flying and fire, riding the thermals.

Sunbird

2011-12-16T11:41:00.000-08:00

....continuing the theme of the Phoenix....

Firebird takes wing.

2011-12-06T15:08:00.001-08:00

A fleeting image appearing during contemplation of Fire in the Six Element practice. The drawing is a very quick and tiny sketch. It is a much smaller picture than you are seeing on your screen. I made it sitting in a tent in a Norfolk garden on Saturday.

Aviary of WIld Flying Thoughts

2011-11-12T09:29:00.001-08:00

Today, reading Hillman, I came across an image he's taken from Plato of the rich and crazy mind as a wonderful aviary of wild flying thoughts. Here are two pictures of wild flying thoughts. Each image tells a story and is evocative of its own truths.

White bird on Dark Background

Birds soaring upwards

Sailing the WInd 2

2011-10-08T15:09:00.000-07:00

Here is another picture. There is a bird sailing the wind but the picture is not really meant to be a figurative painting. It is an image of air and space and light. The background landscape holds ambiguities of water, mountains, islands, forest or other possibilities to engage the viewers imagination. The bird's destination is a mystery.

Sailing the WInd

2011-09-17T16:10:00.000-07:00

Today I made a picture of a bird sailing the wind.
Watching the seagulls, I was reminded of the work of Peter Lanyon and Georges Braque.
Have you ever watched a gull ride the thermals? Here is Peter Lanyon's painting of a thermal http://bit.ly/r8q30H so evocative of Cornwall's coast with its currents and sea mists, so expressive of Lanyon's strong feeling for the elements. I imagine it as a record of his experience of gliding on the winds. I shall never forget how he was to die tragically in a gliding accident four years after he completed this picture.
A bird flies through Braque's studio http://bit.ly/qHlkar. It comes from a series of late paintings which are amongst my all time favourites for their spatial sophistication and complexity.
On the ceilings of the Louvre Braque's birds fly. They are framed by a 16th century richly carved ceiling. There is an apparent simplicity to the design. I admire his masterful handling of space and form. Here is a sketch he made for this http://bit.ly/nL7Ffz and here the context which frames them.http://bit.ly/paB1FP

Amitabha (from my sketchbook)

2011-08-27T08:06:00.000-07:00

Cornish Unicorn

2011-07-29T13:57:00.000-07:00

I'm re posting an old favourite for the collaborative artists project Buried Treasure that invites art bloggers to go into the depths of their blogs and dig for buried treasure and repost an old favourite. This picture emerged during time spent in a solitary caravan in Cornwall in April 2008, a place full of myth and magic where one might imagine Merlin appearing from the mists.

Strawberry Landscape

2011-05-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

Nothing beats the taste of summer strawberries. I bought a punnet of freshly picked fruit at the Devon roadside. This image evokes for me the tangy flavour. A drawing of a strawberry and leaf prints become forms in the landscape.

Collage in gold and yellow

2011-05-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

Trawling through old sketchbooks I found a gold and yellow collage I assembled in an Anglesey caravan at the sea's edge on the Full Moon Day in 1993. Years later, another May Full Moon brings celebrations of Buddha's Enlightenment!

Blue Angel

2011-04-25T06:21:00.000-07:00

Whence did she come?

Whither she flies?

Second Dead Sea Sketch

2011-03-13T13:50:00.000-07:00

A hazy day, the beach hard and salty, dust in the air.

Dead Sea Sketch

2011-03-11T16:06:00.000-08:00

Beneath an Umbrella at the lowest place on Earth

Dragon Lion of Earth and Alchemy

2010-12-16T14:38:00.000-08:00

Three seahorses

2010-12-11T10:06:00.000-08:00

Here is an alert and spiky creature in the ocean depths.

My dragon, seahorse and horse pictures are available as a 2011 calendar. Contact me if you're interested: artist@buddhist-pics.com

Sea Rider

2010-11-28T12:55:00.000-08:00

From sky to ocean, the journey continues towards the ocean depths.

Night Rider

2010-11-26T14:32:00.000-08:00

The sun and the moon are shining in the sky.

The journey continues.

Fire Dragon

2010-11-14T13:13:00.000-08:00

Today's creature from the imagination

Winged Horse of Fire and Earth

2010-11-07T10:34:00.000-08:00

Imagination takes flight

Continuing my series of winged creatures of the elements

Akshobya, Dark Blue Buddha of Time of Dawn

2010-11-06T08:33:00.000-07:00

I painted this a few years ago. Today I wish to connect with Akshobya's imperturbality. Touching the earth I breathe in.

Detail of Akshobya painting. Acrylic on card.

Dragon of Air and Fire

2010-11-05T16:17:00.000-07:00

Here is another dragon. She is perched on a rocky outcrop of volcanic lava.

Study in Alizarin and Burnt Siena

2010-11-03T18:06:00.000-07:00

One of Wednesday's quick sketches

Dragon of Earth and Ocean

2010-11-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

another dragon sketch, depths stirring....

Blue Horse

2010-11-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

Lacecap Hydrangea

2010-10-09T15:09:00.000-07:00

today's sketch:
autumn in the air,
fragile dry petals
trembling in the breeze

Sea Dragon

2010-09-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

Here is another dragon from my recent sketches.

Scary?

A Dragon in the Mist

2010-09-19T17:46:00.000-07:00

An old theme revisited.

A wee drawing from my sketchbook.

A dragon emerges from cloudy space.

lotus appearing

2010-03-19T14:29:00.000-07:00

YELLOW LOTUS

2009-10-31T14:46:00.000-07:00

A study from my summer sketchbook comes with memories of summer warmth.

SIMHAMUKHA-Lion headed Dakini

2009-10-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

I painted this for my friend Adarsha. I remembered our collaboration on this piece. It was the first anniversary of his untimely death on my birthday: 2 October. Just before he died I'd posted a set of images of the development of this picture (see my blog post). After a final set of small adjustments. I believe the work was complete, although we never had the conversation in which we agreed that this was so. Re-visiting the image I find a sense of dynamic engagement that reminds me of my friend's warmth and playfulness.

Peacock feather

2009-10-22T15:38:00.000-07:00

A detail from a painting of an anonymous Bodhisattva.

A theme for the coming weekend.

cosmos pic

2009-04-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

Here is a wee painting from my meditation diary in 1988.
It is a very small picture of a cosmos which is a daisy like flower.

Stupas for My Dad

2008-12-04T15:05:00.000-08:00

Stupa with African flavour for my Dad

2008-12-04T14:02:00.000-08:00

SIMHAMUKHA

2008-09-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

HERE ARE A COUPLE OF IMAGES OF MAMAKI

2008-08-27T17:18:00.000-07:00

This week I received an enquiry about my paintingss of female Buddhas, from someone with a particular interest in Mamaki. I just sent her a few photos.

Wave - April Collage

2008-08-03T07:06:00.000-07:00

A QUICK APRIL COLLAGE

A piece made from scraps of wrapping paper in the Spring
Another little boat,buffetted by waves, continuing the voyage.

Wingsail Voyager

2008-07-28T17:11:00.000-07:00

WINGSAIL VOYAGER: A collage I made in 2002.

The boat is a crescent moon with wings for a sail. There is a
full moon and another little boat nearby. The image is influenced by Cornwall and Cornish artists and Japanese prints. I wanted to create a spatial paradox with the elements of the composition.

When I read Gautier's poem L'Ile Inconnue it reminded me of this picture of mine.
english.agonia.net/index.php/poetry/171088/print.html

Tara's Face

2008-07-26T06:25:00.001-07:00

here is a close up of the painting in my last post

Tara's Rainbow Skirt

2008-07-26T06:12:00.000-07:00

i painted this 10 years ago as a commission and to the specification of my "patron".. It hangs in a meditation room at the North London Buddhist Centre. I hadn't seen it for years. Tara's hands are now white. The pigment I used to paint her hands pink was unstable and has faded. These pictures show what the original colours looked like. The Victorians used to hang little curtains across their watercolour paintings to solve this problem. The medium I used is gouache. Red fades quicker than other colours as owners of red cars might discover.

Unicorn seen in Cornwall

2008-07-25T14:22:00.000-07:00

here is a sketch from my trip to Cornwall in April.