Archive for the ‘quotes’ Tag

Inspiration   4 comments

“Inspiration” Stained Glass Art by kenne, of kenne

“It behooves any of us who would mediate on the subject of artistic inspiration to open the doors wide into the night
and welcome into the house the spirit of inhabitable awe.”
— Edward Hirsch

What can be truer than the doctrine of Inspiration?

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Experiencing the Van Gogh Immersive Exhibit — Scottsdale   1 comment

Experiencing the Van Gogh Immersive Exhibit (Scottsdale, June 15, 2022) — Image by kenne

We have wanted to see the Immersive van Gogh exhibit for some time.
So, since we had planned on attending Jeri and Ron’s 50th Anniversary,
June 16-18 in Palm Springs, we drove up to Scottsdale on the 15.

The exhibition, conceived by Creative Director Mathieu St-Arnaud and his team at Montreal’s
world-renowned Normal Studio,
is an immersive experience that features more
than 300 of Vincent Van Gogh’s iconic artworks and takes the art lover

into a three-dimensional world that exhilarates the senses.

“I find comfort in contemplating the sunflowers.”

— Vincent van Gogh

Video by kenne

“I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?”

— Vincent van Gogh

Sunflowers — Photo-Artistry by kenne

“I am always doing what I cannot do yet, in order to learn how to do it.”

— Vincent van Gogh

Leaves On A Log — Photo-Artistry   Leave a comment

Fall Leaves on Log Painting-blogLeaves On A Log — Photo-Artistry by kenne

Went looking for faith on the forest floor,
and it showed up everywhere.
In the sun, and the water,
and the falling leaves,
the falling leaves of time.

— Neil Young

Morning Rainbow In The Desert   Leave a comment

rainbow-1-of-1-blogMorning Rainbow In The Desert (Tucson, Arizona, September 29, 2016) — Image by kenne

All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Curiosity   Leave a comment

Store (1 of 1)-4-2_children blog

“Curiosity is one of the great secrets of happiness.”

— Bryant H. McGill

Store (1 of 1)-4-2_contrast blogGeneral Store In Rural Sonora, Mexico (January28, 2016) — Images by kenne

“Philosophers and small children thus have an important faculty in common.
The only thing we require to be good philosophers is the faculty of wonder…”

— Jostein Gaarder

Growing Through My Work — It Is More Fun Than Fun   1 comment

Douglas Springs HikeEastern Collard Lizard — Computer art by kenne

Universal patterns inform creative symbols
and the symbolizing mind of the creator.

The ancient Greeks called such patterns archetypes.
Archetypes or not, history is always there,
but ahead of it there is a future
not determined by anyone or anything,

but contingent on the products of our creation. 
It is we who make the future,
and our imagination of the future
affects who we are and what we do now.

— Frank Barron

Universal Flight — Pursuing Your Personal Legend By Learning To Trust Your Heart   Leave a comment

Vultures (1 of 1) grunge art blog“Universal Flight” — Computer art by kenne

“When a person really desires something,
all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream.”

“. . .when we strive to become better than we are,
everything around us becomes better, too.”

“The closer one gets to realizing his destiny,
the more that destiny becomes his true reason for being.”

― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Sisters   1 comment

Wedding Day 8.2.03 - 400 sisters B-W blog“Sisters” Joy and Jody (June 2, 2003) — Image by kenne

Sweet, crazy conversations full of half sentences,

daydreams and misunderstandings

more thrilling than understanding could ever be.

― Toni Morrison

Old Habits   Leave a comment

Thanksgiving (1 of 1)-6-Recovered art blogOld Habits — Image by kenne

Right discipline consists,
not in external compulsion,
but in the habits of mind
which lead spontaneously
to desirable rather
than undesirable activities.

— Bertrand Russell

#####

Friend!
Get up so you can hear
the Assyrian dog howling.

— from Landscape With Two Graves and an Assyrian Dog by Federico García Lorca

 

Clouds Over La Milagrosa Canyon   6 comments

La Milagrosa Canyon (February 28, 2014) — Images by kenne [Click on any of the images to see slideshow.]

“Aren’t the clouds beautiful? They look like big balls of cotton…
I could just lie here all day, and watch them drift by…
If you use your imagination, you can see lots of things in the cloud formations…
What do you think you see, Linus?”

“Well, those clouds up there look like the map of the British Honduras on the Caribbean…
That cloud up there looks a little like the profile of Thomas Eakins, the famous painter and sculptor…
And that group of clouds over there gives me the impression of the stoning of Stephen…
I can see the apostle Paul standing there to one side…”

“Uh huh… That’s very good…
What do you see in the clouds, Charlie Brown?”

“Well, I was going to say I saw a ducky and a horsie,
but I changed my mind!” 

― Charles M. Schulz, The Complete Peanuts, Vol. 5: 1959-1960

Hi, Little Friend   Leave a comment

Tuesday Nature Walk-0595 blog“Hi, Little Friend” — Image by kenne

There comes a point in your life
when you realize who really matters,
who never did, and who always will.

– Unknown

The Ultimate Sacrifice   2 comments

Tuesday Nature Walk HDR blog-“The Ultimate Sacrifice” — Image by kenne

It is common when leading nature walks in Sabino Canyon to talk about the signature cactus of the Sonoran desert, the saguaro. One of the common bits of information is to point out how the young saguaros are near trees that help provide protection to this very slow-growing Sonoran desert plant. These trees can be mesquite, palo verde or ironwood trees, and are referred to as “nurse trees.” The faster-growing nurse tree provides shade and shelter from the harsh desert elements, and as the saguaro grows, becoming more acclimated to the desert sun, the nurse tree may die, leaving the saguaro alone. As the saguaro grows larger it may compete for resources with its nurse tree, especially where several saguaros are receiving protection from the same tree, which may hasten its death. Even so, the faster-growing tree will not outlive the typical life of a saguaro cactus.

kenne

“Sacrifice is a part of life. It’s supposed to be. It’s not something to regret. It’s something to aspire to.” 

― Mitch Albom

Desert Spring Computer Painting   3 comments

Desert Museum-9768_art blogDesert Spring Computer Painting by kenne

“What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.”

— Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Capturing The Moment — Wolfgang, Peter And The Navajo Woman   7 comments

Wolfgang P. Theiss

When Wolfgang and I first met by the pool two years ago, we would talk about philosophy and share other common interest topics. Often, conversations would begin on whatever book he was reading by the pool.

Two years ago, Wolfgang spent about three weeks here in southern Arizona, enjoying the hot summer sun. It was not his first time visiting Tom in Tucson, and he indicated he would be visiting again next year. But, that didn’t happen – I didn’t ask why distracted by the pleasure of seeing him again.

Since Joy and I had just returned from vacation, I assumed he had just arrived. However, he had come while we were gone, during which time he and Tom made a road trip to northern Arizona and southern Utah and was now in his last week here in the states. 

Wolfgang was anxious to share the time they spent in the Navajo Nation territory, taking in some of its natural beauty. However, his most memorable moment was a conversation he had with a Navajo woman, whom he greeted in Navajo. Although his Navajo vocabulary is limited, she seemed to be impressed. Upon departing, she told him that he would speak in Navajo when he comes back. 

“No, I won’t,” Wolfgang said.

“That’s the right answer,” she replied.

Now Wolfgang has a kindred spirit in the Navajo Nation. 

As in the past, I was curious as to what Wolfgang’s poolside reading was. As the title was in German, I only know the author’s name; Peter Sloterdijk. I now plan on reading some of Sloterdijk’s work, especially learning more about his theory of the human as a practicing, training being, which may give me additional insight on why “becoming is superior to being,” and the process of becoming (improving) as individuals and groups can result in a more convivial society.

Related to this thought, I shared a poem I first heard in the late ’50s from my high school English teacher: 

“Good, better, best,

Never let it rest,

Till your good is better,

And your better is best.” 

This little poem has been my life’s anthem.

(Until recently, the author of the poem was unknown, but a recent Google search gives credit to professional basketball player Tim Duncan. Look at what media exposure can do for you!)

We also talked about the concept and philosophy of “feathering,” which I will post later.

Keep on feathering, my friend.

— kenne

 

Wolfgang P. TheissWolfgang P. Theiss — Images by kenne

Entering Life’s Thorny Stage   2 comments

   Virginia & Outer Banks 2013Image taken at Shale Ridge by kenne

                          

“There is a Thorn—it looks so old,
In truth, you’d find it hard to say
How it could ever have been young,
It looks so old and grey.
Not higher than a two years’ child
It stands erect, this aged Thorn;
No leaves it has, no prickly points;
It is a mass of knotted joints,
A wretched thing forlorn.
It stands erect, and like a stone
With lichens is it overgrown.

. . . first stanza from William Wordsworth’s, “The Thorn”

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