While on retreat at Tassajara Hot Springs, nestled deep into a remote valley in California’s Ventana Wilderness, I was drawn to investigate basket-woven strips of acid-washed, patinaed metal at the bathhouse. As I snapped away with my camera, I began to glimpse alternate dimensions within the abstracted shapes and colors. Back at home I played with images that piqued my imagination, saturated their colors, and in some cases reshaped and built on original forms to create what I call Voyages. Printing the resulting images back onto metal seemed natural, now at home on my garden wall.
During Covid I completed this short animation that I had conceived of years ago while exploring geometric shapes and mandala imagery. This is a tribute to the many stories held in stone, bones of the earth, and to poet Charles Simic (1938-2023) who wrote one of my very favorite poems, Stone.
Just for fun…
Relaxing, stress reducing!
“20 minutes a day of art is as beneficial as getting enough exercise and sleep.”—Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross, Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us
The older I get, the more I’m reminded of essentials for a fulfilling life—love, creativity, play, awe, and wonder.
I’ve been creating mandalas using nature photography as their source for many years. Recently, I discovered the fun of making mandalas with Photoshop’s symmetry tools and quickly became captivated by an exploration of lines, forms, and shapes. Play is truly the key here. The simple joy I experienced creating these pieces inspired me to share some of my favorites in this “adult” Mandala Coloring Book.
My challenge as a photographic artist is to explore and unpack the meaning of beauty and its role as catalyst — growing our capacity to imagine, inspire, create and love the world around us in all its forms. A momentary encounter with beauty has the potential to change your day. An ongoing conversation with beauty, especially in the natural world has the power to change your life. — Gail