Jazz & Samsara: Winter 2009

In the first few months of 2009, I turned to nature, memory and music for inspiration. In March I attended a workshop which inspired a studies of the Tibetan Wheel of Life*. These bodies of work taught me to pursue my interests in whatever form they took. They also refreshed my love for collage and mixed media.

January to February 2009: In January, I took a drawing marathon with John Lees. He encouraged us to experiment with different materials, including ink wash, collage, watercolor and bleach. With John, I felt liberated to make whatever came to mind: I began with collages of my brothers and the Texas landscape; an unexpected visit to a jazz concert inspired a series of drawings and collages, which later merged with the animal imagery.

Close Your Eyes and It's Passed...
11" x 17" watercolor and ink on paper
January 2009

Goats and Brothers

11" x 17" watercolor and ink on paper

January 2009

Brothers & Pugsly the Cat

each 11" x 17" watercolor, ink, collage on paper

January 2009

Horses in Landscape

each 11" x 17" watercolor on paper

January 2009

Sketches of Jazz Musicians

each apx. 3" x 5" pencil on paper

January 2009

Jazz in Texas Landscape

11" x 17" watercolor collage on paper

January 2009

Deep Blues

8" x 10" mixed media collage on paper

January 2009

Jazz Collage Series

each 17" x 24" mixed media collage on paper

January 2009

Horse Jazz

11" x 17" watercolor on paper

January 2009

Emo Pictures

each 11" x 17" watercolor on paper

February 2009

Horse Jazz Lovers

29" x 17" acrylic on paper

February 2009

Large Jazz Collage

36" x 36" watercolor gouache on paper

February 2009

Horizontal Jazz

9" x 22" watercolor gouache collage on paper

February 2009

Life's Cycles

26" x 20.5" watercolor and gouache on paper

February 2009

This piece was inspired by Joseph Campbell's writings.

March 2009: Tibetan Wheel of Life

In March, I attended a workshop by Derek O'Neill in New York. He talked about many things but what stuck with me was his teachings on the Tibetan Wheel of Life. The Tibetan Wheel of Life* (samsara) is the chain of successive rebirths and deaths that comprise our existence. It is the dream that we create and are subject to, unless we attain the awareness that leads to liberation.

The innermost circle of the Wheel contains a pig, a rooster and a snake, representing respectively, the greed, ignorance and jealousy that keeps us trapped on the wheel. The next circle shows the two paths one can take: the light path to enlightenment or the dark path to further suffering.

The six sections of the next circle depict the six realms of existence which are subject to birth and death. Clockwise from top: the god realm (paradise until your time is up!), the demigods (who fight with the gods), the hungry ghosts (always hungry but mouths are size of pins), the hell realm (again, not permanent), the animal realm (not very fun), the human realm (suffering and little joy). The outermost circle shows the twelve causes or attachments that link us to the wheel. They include ignorance, emotions, desire, grasping and death.

I am grateful to have received these teachings from Derek and will continue to study them. The following works of art are interpretations of the Wheel, made with acrylic paint and mixed media collage on paper.

Tibetan Wheel of Life (red)

29" x 22" watercolor, gouache and acrylic on paper

March 2009

Tibetan Wheel of Life (blue)

32" x 24" acrylic on paper

March 2009

Large Wheel of Life 1

54" x 48" acrylic on paper

March 2009

Large Wheel of Life 1 (detail)

Here you can see the inner circle with the pig (greed), snake (jealousy) and rooster (ignorance), the next circle showing the two paths (light and dark), surrounded by the six realms of existence (gods, demigods, hungry ghosts, hell, animals and humans). Each realm contains a Buddha who holds the key to escaping that particular realm. Recall that even the god and hell realms are impermanent.





Large Wheel of Life 2
54" x 48" acrylic on paper
March 2009





Large Wheel of Life 3
54" x 48" acrylic and pastel on paper
March 2009




*You can look up more about the Tibetan Wheel of Life online:
Himalayan Art
Buddha.net Interactive Tour
Wikipedia (with links at bottom)