Month: July 2013

Wise Enough to Play the Fool

“This fellow is wise enough to play the fool;
And to do that well craves a kind of wit:
He must observe their mood on whom he jests,
The quality of persons, and the time,
And, like the haggard, check at every feather
That comes before his eye. This is a practise
As full of labour as a wise man’s art
For folly that he wisely shows is fit;
But wise men, folly-fall’n, quite taint their wit.”
― William Shakespeare

 

So the fool writes on. Working with the tarot and especially on the Fool Trump entry, I can see the wisdom in Shakespeare’s words. As a writer and artist constantly looking for feedback and wanting to use it to inform and not control my creative decisions I really get it. Not so much, “They don’t like the dark stuff I should go back to angels and sacred religious symbolism or pretty designs” as “Maybe I am not yet communicating these thoughts / images in a way that people can relate to” This blog is a dance of communication because by the time I get feedback on it it has been completed and so I gage moods, both that of my audience and what they have liked before and my own, what I may need to communicate at any given time. It can be a delicate dance but always a worthwhile one.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Dreamscape 11Dreamscape 11 by G A Rosenberg

 

Follow Her DownFollow Her Down by G A Rosenberg

We Are All Magicians

“Not only do we all have magic, it’s all around us as well. We just don’t pay attention to it. Every time we make something out of nothing, that’s an act of magic. It doesn’t matter if it’s a painting or a garden, or an abuelo telling his grandchildren some tall tale. Every time we fix something that’s broken, whether it’s a car engine or a broken heart, that’s an act of magic.

And what makes it magic is that we *choose* to create or help, just as we can choose to harm. But it’s so easy to destroy and so much harder to make things better. That’s why doing the right thing makes you stronger.

If we can only remember what we are and what we can do, nobody can bind us or control us.”
― Charles de Lint, The Mystery of Grace

 

Have you created anything today? Have you written a poem or filled the air with music? Have you raised a smile on someone’s face where there wasn’t one before? Have you drawn a picture or made a mud pie or established a business transaction? Congratulations if you have done any of these or about a million other things than you are a magician. You have created something out of nothing and that kicks ass. It’s amazing the number of things we can bring into this world that can make it a better place. There is also negative magic where we create something that is intentionally harmful and unfortunately many of us do this without realizing our power. It’s amazing the amount of power we have for happiness or sorrow. So often we feel powerless and all too often that is an excuse because we are frightened of just how much we wield.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Volcanic ThoughtsVolcanic Thoughts by G A Rosenberg

 

The Tower From BelowThe Tower From Below by G A Rosenberg

Surrendering Ignorance

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”
― Stephen Hawking

 

Ignorance is a difficult thing to admit to. So often when we find ourselves in conversation with others and they start talking on a subject we know little about we feel the need to claim more knowledge than we have. I have missed out on much by doing this. There is so much out there on so many subjects that even in our areas of interest it is all but impossible to know everything. Ignorance is not a crime. I am ignorant of many many things and hopefully I am gaining greater courage with time to admit my ignorance. It seems that pretending to know or understand something when I don’t may be the easiest way to hold on to ignorance that I can think of. Even when I do know something, I may not grock it from the perspective of the person I’m speaking to. By being open to all and treating each person as my teacher I can only learn.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Peacock's FuryPeacock’s Fury by G A Rosenberg

 

Indigo PulseIndigo Pulse by G A Rosenberg

Living the Story and Surfing the Tale (A Thought Stream)

“Do not lose hope — what you seek will be found. Trust ghosts. Trust those that you have helped to help you in their turn. Trust dreams. Trust your heart, and trust your story. (from ‘Instructions’)”
― Neil Gaiman

 

Trusting my story often means surfing through the plot twists… I’ve learned that no matter what happens that I am still alive and that anything that seems worse will often improve… if a plot twists ends up with me leaving the party (dying) than this may have to be rethought… Not every good deed goes unpunished and every bad turn becomes a teacher…especially if you see it as furthering the plot…perhaps that is the secret to perspective..see even the bad things that happen as part of the story…perhaps this may be an advisor as well. For every decision that comes our way ask yourself “Does this serve the story?” I’ve heard worse advice..and if you believe that this is only one of perhaps an infinite amount of stories we will experience, perhaps not even one of the better ones or perhaps the most sublime, perspective increases… either way enjoy the tale.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Her Spirit Within the Wolf Conforted HimHer Spirit Within the Wolf Comforted Him by G A Rosenberg

 

Canine VortexCanine Vortex by G A Rosenberg

Rapture and Art

“The goal of life is rapture. Art is the way we experience it.”
–Joseph Campbell

 

There is something about creating art and sharing it that is both enriching and blissful. It has definitely been a way to connect with people on a profound level and I am grateful for the art that flows through me and for each of you that looks at my pictures and reads these words. It has been a gift and one that I hope continues. I have gained a greater appreciation as well for the art that I look at whether it is that created by others or just the aesthetics of the world I live in each day. When I am out, I find myself snapping photos almost continuously of things that may seem silly to most but that strike me as sublime, whether it is the angle of a plant or flower or a shadow or even the texture of a particular wall or sidewalk. Lately some of my photos have been finding their way into my art so again there is that sense of exchange.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Winged FlightWinged Flight by G A Rosenberg

 

PileUpFive Star Pile-Up by G A Rosenberg

Techniques of Art and Study

“People ask, ‘How do I go on with my studies, if I believe this, what do I do next?’ You BE next. You’re doing it right now. There’s no next. It’s right now. Right now. Everything you’re doing is a vehicle to wake up.”

– Ram Dass

 

Lately I’ve been looking at my art with a bit more of a critical eye. Which ones are in the top two to five percent that will become portfolio pieces (and signed prints)? Which ones have I done to learn a technique or scratch an itch that may one day be better? Which ones have I done to fill a page or because I know that people like it when I play in that way? Even more important, which images still live in me whispering and speaking, which are the true images that have either come through clearly or that I worked on with clear intention and so they breathe in unique ways? Each of these pictures have something going for it, else they end up discarded and unseen (or recycled when I have a better understanding of what it wants to be and that happens too, sometimes months later. I love what I do and I love the opportunity to share it with you.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

AutopilotAutopilot by G A Rosenberg

 

Flights of FancyFlights of Fancy by G A Rosenberg

Bumping into Walls

“Stupidity is like bumping into a wall all the time. After a while you get tired of it and try to look the situation over and see if there’s a doorway somewhere. I think most people eventually do look for the doorway and stop bumping into the wall”
― Robert Anton Wilson

 

How often must we make the same mistakes before we learn? How often do we choose to trust others rather than ourselves? How often do we refuse to listen to what we tell ourselves? How much do we need the lesson and how do we get past it so that we can free ourselves to learn more? I agree it has to happen sometimes and some of our mistakes we fall in love with too deeply so that it takes us that much longer to get past it. Luckily even there such infatuations do not last forever and even that burst of pleasure we get for bad behaviour will pale before the joy of getting over it.
Blessings G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

MaelstromMaelstrom by G A Rosenberg

 

Cross SectionCross-Section by G A Rosenberg

Flowers poke out through the Holes in My Road — Thought Flow

“Normality is a paved road: It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it.”
― Vincent van Gogh

 

Normality is a comfortable walk? Perhaps for some, I have never found it so but then it seems it is a road I have oft missed. I stand estranged from most it seems, the Fool on the hill, the Joker in the deck, ever leaping and having thoughts that others don’t. Not necessarily clearer thoughts or better ones but different. Still they suit me and if I find that my thoughts and fancies keep me alone even when surrounded by loved ones well, that happens too. The more mainstream I have tried to be, the more I pave my road, the more flowers and weeds grow through. Perhaps paving in grape jelly is not the way to go? Seriously, or maybe frivolously I know that my road being its own that it probably is normal for me and others well enough have stuck with me that they must get some entertainment even if its just the strange colours.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

A GuardianGuardian by G A Rosenberg

 

Fusion in the Heart of a StarFusion in the Heart of a Star by G A Rosenberg