The Zen of Visual Imagery — Image by kenne
I love all facets of making visual imagery, e.g., writing, music, cameras, catching the moment, editing the moment to share my perspective of the experience — I could go on and on. For me, visual imagery is a passion.
In recent years I have been able to spend more time with this love, even getting into digital video and taking on a lot of digital media projects. However, as with any endeavor, doing it full-time can reduce the love affair to being just another relationship — creativity suffers in the relationship and obsession overtakes passion. To maintain a harmonious balance between passion and obsession, I:
- Don’t do what I love full-time.
- Make sure the love is surrounded by other endeavors.
- Surround yourself with passionate people.
By balancing passion with obsession, we can maintain the thrill in the passion. Georgia O’Keeffe had a passion for the desert, but it was her obsession with how to represent it that led to her imagery of bleached bones. One can have a passion for mountain climbing and have a goal of reaching the top, but as Robert Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance has written, “To live for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top.” Only then will you experience real passion; only then will you indeed be alive.
— kenne
Related articles:
- Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert Pirsig) ~ September 26 @ 7pm (pclreads.wordpress.com)
- Auctions: Take a Private Tour of Georgia O’Keeffe’s Ghost Ranch House (curbed.com)
Wow I`m a painter too but this one really captured my attention
well done thanks for sharing 🙂
. . . for me, there is so much symbolism in the bonsai I originally photographed. Thanks for the comment.
Love the image of the Bonsai! So intense, and love the juxtaposition of the angular with the grace of the tree. On the subject of Georgia O’Keefe, now there was a phemominal presence. I was told about her by a artist I am online friends with in New Mexico. She mentioned her in an email as being her favorite artist, so I looked her up and was captivated for hours reading about her, and viewing her wonderful art. What a phenom! What a lad
And then there is Keene, bringing another portion of the desert ecology to us, with both poetic expression, and images we would be without but for him, Thank you Keene for sharing your corner of the globe with us with your keen eye! (pun intended)
. . . as always, your comments are most appreciated. When it comes to art, we’re all connected, with some more than others — it’s kind of spiritual in that it just goes deeper.
That was supposed to read “What a lady!” oops!
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Reblogged this on Becoming is Superior to Being and commented:
I guess I’m in a Zen mode today, especially when it comes to balancing passion with obsession. “To live for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top.” — kenne
THAT is a Tree of Life!!