Holiday Cards

my collage paintings are sketches in relationship

really, this is what my work is about now ----------------->

A Celebration of Life.




i have heard often that art is about self expression.  although self expression how?  who is this self?  are there other selves beyond this self?  which self is interacting with the materials?

what about nature?  the real, tangible stuff like the forces of nature, the elements and the building blocks, the chemicals.  the qualities behind the elements and elementals - the Virtues?

what about my relationship to time in a painting?

my relationship to the world?

and to others?

and then these sketches.  they all seem more valuable when in relationship to other ones.  like a story being told.

the sketches come about in the doing mostly.  in the nowest point in time.
then they congregate, conglomerate, congeal, gather and some of them to relate the most basic virtues in life:

strength, balance, poise timing
clarity, purity, compassion and kindness
sincerely, honesty, dignity, respect
contemplation, meditation, source awareness and self awareness
charity, chasity, reverence, service
gratitude, prudence, generosity, perserverence
resolve, articulation, deep listening, economy of speech
commitment, mindfulness, responsibility, practice
attention, appreciation, allowance, acknowledgement
affection, equality, regard, reverent rejoicing
cleanliness, sobriety, restraint, discretion, resolve, release, trust, confidence
grace, eloquence, patience and humility.

(from the wheel of the virtues Man-dha'-Lic Shield - E'aysha April 2011)

the story boards.

The wish paintings. once committed to turned into something else the very next day.  This seems the way in creative commitments. there are many.  Each moment requires that level of focus and then the next piece is
there and grace comes to help ease the letting go of it all.

The Wishing Paintings

I am making a new series of collage paintings called 'the wishing paintings.'   they are made especially for certain wishes a person might make.

Right now it is about nyc and how great Central Park is.  It is called "wishing love on Central Park."


I have yet to find out what the next wishing painting is about.  I am stretching a canvas right now and know I will use some of my sketches to go into it.  I am waiting to see what it is will be the wish.

A reminder, anytime you might see one of my pieces and 'wish' to have one.  Especially to continue the wishing that the painting might be inspiring - write me a note by going to my shop  and clicking under my cat icon the little blue box that says

"contact"

and we can play the 'would you take this amount for the painting?'  game.

xo

tob

no second guessing - please

Sketch
Photograph
digital painting
print
glue onto panel or canvas
acrylic paint
varnish for shine and to protect for centuries


This has been the ball of wax I had developed over 15 years ago that I have been perfecting and coming back to.

Have I ?   yes, done countless experiments on other surfaces, different paints, different subject matter,....la la la la laaaaaaaaaaa.

Here is me not second guessing {again} :

1.  K N OW    my materials are at hand as well my subject matter.

2.  A L L O W   recyclings of imagings and sketches old bits of paintings.

3.  T R U S T    i now have what it takes to form and reform images into the 'right' balance in a painting.

Thats a wrap on the K  A T.

r a n d o m acts

bug-house-hippo
dan-barn
cat-car
bugg-chair

M A R K E T V A L U E

H E L L O  ! ! ! !

Does anything  suit your fancy in my shop?   - see over to right hand side -------------->

I have recently joined my own imaginary international energy exchange program where you can talk to me about a price that comes into your head and feels true and then I will communicate back to you about whether it feels right to me.

This way of doing business is based on the law of equal energy exchange. {E E E }

Somehow in my mind everything {energy}  balances out.

*******
all art is priceless. A L L ART no matter who does it when, where and how.

MARKET VALUE is the amount anyone is willing to pay for a piece of art.

addendum:  Hear say that 'serious' artists spend more time than 'random acts of art' artists usually on painting.  IT is a type of commitment to the process of being an artist.  Does this aggregate in karmic points of energy on the scale of more worth?  That's a good question.

I have to become empty and DO do do

which do you like better?  the goat with or without the white animal bears?
trying too hard can be the death of art.  on which thing was i trying too hard?  can you tell?

n0v9

n0v9, a photo by tobin eckian on Flickr.

In the land of paint and not the land of marketing and selling is a different place to be in, where magic happens.

Sew what?

New sewing machine refurbed at the ready!, a photo by tobin eckian on Flickr.

I had 2 sewing machines. I thought I 'must' use them in my work to make something for my etsy shop and CHameleon gallery. This one is a Christmas present. How could I not incorporate it into my Work??

Today I put the sewing machine somewhat away from the painting table at the farm. Working on a vest from a too big sweatshirt.

The machine in the Town I will use to make a rug from my boys old blue jeans. And then, some nice skirts for me that I have figured out the design for using an old tshirt for the hip part and ruffles made by pulling two bask thread lines.

nov8

nov8, a photo by tobin eckian on Flickr.

when i remove all the things i was doing to distract from the feeling of uncomfortable of making more paintings, possibly, seemingly meaningless, even tho i KNOW that everything leads to everything...

then i stop making little messes and go back to the canvas with my sketches and begin AGAIN!

holidaycandle

holidaycandle, a photo by tobin eckian on Flickr.

I made this year's holiday card on the fly without realizing I was doing that.

"may your Spirit be bright" during this Holiday Season.

x tob

thank you

For a New Beginning

In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.

Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.

Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life's desire.

Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.

~ John O'Donohue ~

(To Bless the Space Between Us)

friday ~ seasons change

the colors are starting to turn and startle me.  I will not give up my peace however.

I dusted off my globe that was a Christmas present from my parents in 1972 to be used in aiding my new paintings which are a type of travel blog meets elementals and elements of earth, water, air and fire.

i like my Pinterest boards ~

my link:   http://pinterest.com/etobineckian/

This is a sketch to remodel a downstairs bathroom on the farm at SingingLand.

what i like

the sights and smells of turning into Fall ~  

soup when the chill tickles my nose ~ my first in making an 'egg drop' soup!

making charms for a charm bracelet  ~

Painting maps based on the 4 elements of earth, water, air and fire that I make up:

When I am where I am supposed to be

Settling down.  I had written this poem 3 weeks ago about the events in my Life:

 Whilst come shifting tides
and sand sculpting the landscapes
into new shapes
unrecognizable

both homes say 'different now!'
now "shake yer feet"
come down again
- Trust-
a new terrain.

Everything is new.

you will

you can

you have found your way

into something built in clay.

Settling down

like light, light snow

like the kind that falls on leaves

old pathway

new tracks

I go as quietly as I can

I go.

I have to go.

So this is where I've been

under the weather?

storms at sea.

folded sails.

opening again

to see

direction!

The Bear Dream

I watched as the bear went up to a couple houses adjacent to my family's home.  He was looking for a winter bed, his name, Goldilocks.

We lived out in the fields and woods, but for him, it felt like a city full of thought-forms that crammed closely as city buildings, the crisscross of multiple power lines all saying "should."  Every door was shut to him because he was a bear in a neighborhood not fit for a bear.

"Why, my radar says three-hundred years ago my ancestors slept here?"

Everything changes.  What does not change?  The eternal integrity of the ever present spark of original divine blueprint.  That is what does not change.

I am the bear.  When I do not find a place to be free of static electricity then I turn on myself with claws in the air ready to pounce down and crush my very beingness.

morel mushrooms are a delicacy I wish I could find  in the wild to eat.

The morel moral of this story is:

Be kind to what I have now while imaging everything, every little bit having a place in probability twelve. (even when that place is the recycling center ).


What is probability twelve?  It is a feeling.


I have begun writing my stories now that I am back on the farm as my base.

Where I keep my items for sale now

Where I keep my items for sale now  ON My Beloved FLICKR Site.

Etsy has been fun. {don't GET me wrong!}

However, it is the type of playfulness that after 7 years+  starts to eat away at some of my quantum.  Although I still might keep my etsy shop ~ with new items........the vote is still out.

You can also visit me to touch some of the art that really exists.

The Land Rose up to Sing to Me this Morning

I am a co creator with Source and it helps to send my energy vertically.  Beauty is like a force or a virtue.  My intention is to generate the vision of beauty.

Items offered for sale  

the last day of august

Where was my life supposed to be?  Is it here on SingingLand still? (question already  answered in previous post about 'what I like about camping.') Less days in Newburyport, more days here.  Here where I used to start my days, every morning except maybe one - by this window.

I have lived here longer than anywhere else during my current lifetime. 16 years I have lived on the farm in NH.  I have moved 18 times.

One Reason I Like Camping

I like to use the same eating utensil over and over again.  When I go camping that is what it is like;  The same cup, fork, spoon and knife.

I have seen myself until very recently as a camper in my life.  I travel back and forth from New Hampshire to Newburyport.  In the city I have one special silver spoon that I use and a silver fork that has a hole in the handle.

Yet when it really comes down to it.  I am through with this type of camping lifestyle.  I am ready to move back to the farm where I belong.  Where I can have chickens again.  and Bees.  (does anyone out there have any spare bee hive parts to get me started?).
 

New Fire Pit ~

the outdoor tyvek worked, what else is going on?

yes.  I say to ritual morning blog posts.  I can always add photos later when more moveable. finding camera, remembering what is useful to post -  I placed some instagrams on facebook and twitter from my phone.

I did make a successful tyvek painting. (insert photo).  Right now it is wrapped around a tree on the farm.  It might look better hung between two copper poles.  It also could use a coat or two of fixative.

this is how blogs work:  you write something, and then add the tags somewhere at the bottom I am hoping, can not see bottom from here and forget how blogger works.  then when people do a search for 'tyvek' or 'painting on tyvek'  which I did when wondering about painting on it - my blog comes up in google search and then maybe someone clicks on my blog and sees something that sparks them and they get in touch with me in newburyport or actually visit my etsy site - and voila, a connection is made!

it is too foggy to glue anything today so the large 20 inch drum will have to wait for repairs in becoming the next 'map' canvas - I am creating a series of maps.

I am working on a new series of mobiles, a new kind of quilt, and my ongoing watercolors.

xo

tobin eckian's photostream

tobin eckian's photostream on Flickr.

my flickr stream