Bamboo of Color

Bamboo of Color

Here is another fairly early sumi-e created with Japanese Watercolor. This painting was created approximately one month following my very first attempt at painting after experiencing my stroke. This painting was a lot of fun to do and a personal spiritual journey into art. At this point in my recovery painting, I felt more 'at one' with the brush. I had done my meditation before starting my artwork. I felt calm and had no preconceived idea about how this sumi-e was to look. I let my brush lead me into the painting rather than trying to force the brush strokes into any shape.

With this painting, I let the spirit of the bamboo talk to me and guide me. I forced nothing and let my idea that I was painting with my non-dominate hand after a devastating stroke just 'be'. This was the first time I had been able to achieve that place and I was pleased with the result. Compared to the first sumi-e I shared with you in my last blog post, I had made serious advancements in my attitude and in my mind and in my painting.

The original framed sumi-e has a happy home in the collection of an art collector in Carmel, CA. The artist seal = Year of the Boar.

Casey Shannon Studio

Returning to Watercolor--Briefly

Abstract Waterfall

What fun! A little playing with watercolor. I decided the other day to post a watercolor on this blog. Not my present medium but a medium I dearly love and have created with extensively in the past. It's fun to play with paints and colors and just let your mind go! Another way to enter 'a journey into art'.

Sumi-e (my current medium and breath of life) for me is serious business. A meditation and very spiritual experience. Having a little fun with watercolor was very refreshing for me. It was a return to art days past. I will dabble in watercolor from time to time. I enjoyed it. I wonder if the fairies might play and sing by my waterfall?

This image is called Abstract Waterfall and was inspired by the beauty of nature and the spirit of water. Water is ever changing. It is pure. And, it can speak to us words of wisdom, if we slow down long enough to listen and contemplate. A babbling brook is so peaceful. A waterfall is magic. The ocean is power. Rain is cleansing. Water--we can not live without it nor would we ever want to.

A ZEN POEM
A sudden shower-
I am riding naked
On a naked horse.
~ Issa Kobayashi