Month: February 2015

World Creation

 

“Don’t wait for it,’ I said. ‘Create a world, your world. Alone. Stand alone. Create. And then the love will come to you, then it comes to you. It was only when I wrote my first book that the world I wanted to live in opened up to me.’”
— Anais Nin

 

Create a world for you and me
use all the tools at your command
Sing us a vision of the land
and draw us in with crayon
I’ll dramatize our situation
and we’ll share each scene
sharing the best lines
as we walk beneath the stars
We’ll dance a ballad
that only lovers may interpret
a pas de deux awakening feelings
leading to passion
We’ll create this dream together
using all of our arts
and then live there
in the universe we made
— G A Rosenberg

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

A VisitorA Visitor by G A Rosenberg

 

DecarabiaDecarabia (#69 in Goetia Series) by G A Rosenberg

 

The Artist’s Dilemma

 

“I could paint for a hundred years, a thousand years without stopping and I would still feel as though I knew nothing.”
— Paul Cézanne

 

There is so much to know and understand. On the mundane level, we struggle constantly with the social pressure of dealing with structures that have broken down and doing it in a way that we can still feel human. On the emotional we learn with each relationship and type of relationship about what we want, how to deal with the other and how to be compassionate and loving even when that involves moving on or becoming more direct. On an intellectual level we are exposed to a constant barrage of new information amidst a cultural bias against critical thinking about any of it. On a spiritual level we need to learn to integrate our highest possible selves with our shadow and struggle sometimes between the two.
Artists bridge many of these gaps. We represent each of these struggles. We use symbolism and tell stories and show the basic dichotomies at all levels of human existence. Yet it is one thing to illustrate the human condition and another to understand and resolve it. I don’t know that any artist can do this. Oh we can show different points of view and inspire people to think and feel. Yet in the end, we are all working on these things ourselves.
I love the book Illusions by Richard Bach. In it, a character is given a Messiah’s Handbook full of profound sayings that illuminate his existence. Yet the last line of the book is “Everything in this book may be wrong.” At the end while something I say or illustrate may profoundly affect someone, I am left with the realization that it may be wrong or at least incomplete. Perhaps that is the ultimate artistic dilemma. That we can describe and show insight into the human condition but provide little resolution.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

Winged SkullWinged Skull by G A Rosenberg

 

PetalsPetals by G A Rosenberg

 

Awaiting Its PreyAwaiting Its Prey by G A Rosenberg

 

Where’s the Magic?

 

“While you live… you have a duty to life…. The fey wonders of the world only exist while there are those with the sight to see them…. Otherwise they fade away.”
— Charles de Lint

 

Today in the grass
I didn’t see a butterfly
I was too busy talking
on the phone.
It flew on unseen
and I never knew what I missed.
The sun went down
Beautiful fire lit up the sky.
We walked on the beach
I was so focused on telling
you about my day
that the chill remained.
The crickets sang
and in the distance
a busker blew a soulful song
on her saxophone.
I was listening to club music
on my iPhone.
I wish there was magic in my world.
— G A Rosenberg

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

DesolationDesolation by G A Rosenberg

 

Electrifying PresenceElectrifying Presence by G A Rosenberg

 

At Night The Memories Return

 

“There is no sun without shadows, and it is essential to know the night.”
— Albert Camus

 

At night
the memories return
shadows of the past
The mellow ones come at dusk
The good times gone
that bring wistful smiles
At midnight I am swept
by images of love
Romantic evenings and
pleasant ones spent with friends
I know that I will build similar memories
yet none as good.
the haunting ones come at 3 AM
they keep me restless
in the art of second-guessing
that leads slowly to Dawn’s slow acceptance
The ghosts dance through my dreams
and leave me waking in peace.
— G A Rosenberg

 

Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Butterfly Daemon in ReposeButterfly Daemon in Repose by G A Rosenberg

 

Harlequin's Realm AbstractedHarlequin’s Realm Abstracted by G A Rosenberg

 

A Truer Gift

 

“There is no meaning in life. The meaning is in sentences, meaning is in symbols that symbolize life. Life itself does not have a meaning because that’s what meaning refers too, meaning refers to life. To look for meaning in life is like looking for trees on a map. You can find squiggles that represent trees but you won’t find the trees there. The squiggles only represent the trees or the rivers. You can’t wash in a river on a map, you gotta find a real river”
— Robert Anton Wilson

 

Do you know what I mean? Do you grok what I’m saying? Do you stand under my words and comprehend them? When you look at a picture or read a poem what does it reveal to you? Is it what the author or artist intended to convey or have you found something independent of their intentions that allows you to take ownership because it has brought you to something or something to you that no one else has seen?
I get real pleasure when someone points out something in my pictures that I had not consciously put there. Oh often when they point it out, I see it but somehow they have taken something that I created and breathed new life into it. In this small way my art has grown beyond me. So when someone says “I love the face that you put in there”. I smile and thank them for being so observant. They have revealed to me something that I had created without realizing it. I can’t image a truer gift.
Blessings, G

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

Power From the CentrePower From the Centre by G A Rosenberg

 

MurmurMurmur (#54 in Goetia Series) by G A Rosenberg

 

Setting Intent : Home

 

“I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.”
— Langston Hughes

 

Unstuck by the wind
like a leaf torn from its branch
I have traveled
Through lands, cultures, and idea streams
I’ve gone far.
Anyplace I’ve wanted
I have voyaged to
I have yet to experience coming home.
Home is a word, a concept, an ideal
a reality that states where we belong
yet this journey moves me forward
ever restless, ever learning
ever yearning for that simple
destination.
Son now I’m building life, setting purpose
courting angels, courting demons
searching for a friendly heart
If I named a place, I’ve gone there
so I know I’ll find this too
winds up, I’m off once more
heading home.
— G A Rosenberg

 

Click on images to see full-sized:

 

The Broken OracleThe Broken Oracle by G A Rosenberg

 

Opalesque SunriseOpalesque Sunrise by G A Rosenberg