2012.01.13 06:00 - Regarding Reality: Paint it Red

The Guardian for this special Regarding Reality meeting was Maxine Walden. Eliza posted this session.

Eliza Madrigal: hm, I like the box... but now it is floating mid-air :)
Eliza Madrigal: And, Hello
Eliza Madrigal: :))

--BELL--

Maxine Walden: hi, Eliza and O, nice to see you both in the light snow!
oO0Oo Resident: Hi Bleu, Eliza
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Maxine, Bleu, nice to see you as well
Bleu Oleander: hi everyone :)
Maxine Walden: hi, Bleu
oO0Oo Resident: Hi Maxine
Maxine Walden: :)
Maxine Walden: New Year being good to everyone?
Maxine Walden: so far?
Bleu Oleander: so far so good :)
Eliza Madrigal: feels ages into the new year now :)
Bleu Oleander: you?
Maxine Walden: :)
Maxine Walden: yes, good, thanks.
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Pema :)
Bleu Oleander: hi Pema :)
Pema Pera: Hi Maxine, and everybody!

Maxine Walden: Interesting, Eliza, I'm having a thing about time too, it is just whizzing by
Maxine Walden: hi, Pema!
oO0Oo Resident: Hi Pema
Pema Pera: I just wanted to show up and say hello and goodbye -- I'm in the bullet train between Nagoya and Kyoto, and about to enter a series of tunnels where I will loose my wireless internet connection
Maxine Walden: faster than a speeding bullet....Pema
Pema Pera: I had hoped to take an earlier train, but didn't succeed. :(
Eliza Madrigal: :(
Eliza Madrigal: time waits for no man
Pema Pera: in any case, I wish you a wonderful session!
Bleu Oleander: nice to see you however breifly :)
Pema Pera: thank you :)
Eliza Madrigal: in this case anyway :)
Maxine Walden: sorry, thanks for speeding by, Pema
Pema Pera: (^_^)
Maxine Walden: talk about time whizzing by!!
Eliza Madrigal: indeed :))
Bleu Oleander: whizzes by faster by train
Eliza Madrigal pictures Pema in a flume
oO0Oo Resident: :)

Maxine Walden: yes, similar thoughts, Bleu...couldn't get it together to ask if Pema could do an Einstein thought experiment while in the train...you know one of those relativity thought experiments
Bleu Oleander: yes :)
Eliza Madrigal: "how fast does no-time go?"
Maxine Walden: :))
Maxine Walden: good question!
Maxine Walden: maybe a segway into what has been meandering in mind: the more I read the less I know....as if new thought bits take the mind in so many directions...and things can feel speedy...
Maxine Walden: speedy and a bit fragmented....does that resonate for others?
Bleu Oleander: yes, can identify with that!
Maxine Walden: :)
Eliza Madrigal: a strong parallel, yes
oO0Oo Resident: :)
Bleu Oleander: reading 3 or 4 books at once .... trying to catch up and never seem to
Eliza Madrigal nods
Maxine Walden: oh, yes, Bleu! Know that feeling, sort of exhilerating, but also can feel pulled in different directions....
Bleu Oleander: yes, definitely
Maxine Walden: that yearning to 'catch up' ...in itself it can pull my mind apart
Bleu Oleander: a footnote can become a rabbit hole!

Eliza Madrigal: It can be sort of interesting to watch what I think should happen and what does happen, can give peace with a wider view.. that there are seasons and times when I'm gathering or finishing, etc
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Zen :)
Bleu Oleander: hiya Zen
oO0Oo Resident: Hi Zen
Maxine Walden: hi, Zen.
Maxine Walden: say a bit more, Eliza?
Zen Arado: Hi all
Eliza Madrigal: I've just noticed myself that there can be many open or outstanding projects, books... and then a kind of 'wrapping up' that happens at once
Eliza Madrigal: so paying attention to one's patterns is informative
Maxine Walden: ah, yes, do you find a natural timing for the wrapping up, as it were? As if your mind 'knows' when it is time?
oO0Oo Resident: patience with incompleteness?
Eliza Madrigal: yes, and a panic usually precedes that :))
Eliza Madrigal: yes
Maxine Walden: :))
Bleu Oleander: ha!
Maxine Walden: panic?
Zen Arado: different bits of knowing coalesce?
Zen Arado: insight
Eliza Madrigal: yes, "this is all too much what have I done everything is wrong oh no"
Eliza Madrigal laughs
Bleu Oleander: haha!
Maxine Walden: oh, yes, that familiar 'criticism'
Bleu Oleander: have heard that here also!
Eliza Madrigal: :))

--BELL--

Maxine Walden: :)
oO0Oo Resident: reminds me of Shiva cycles.. expansion, contraction.. spreading out materials/setting up.. then completing/winding up
Eliza Madrigal: cycles, nodding

Maxine Walden: could it be that there is inner terror of being overwhelmed that triggers a sentinel , which cannot appreciate the creative chaos?
Maxine Walden: and this contributes to the cyclic experience of expand and contract?
Zen Arado: or just our fearful ego ?
Maxine Walden: indeed, zen

Eliza Madrigal: trying to make time conform to a bullet train model maybe
Bleu Oleander: or just life is messy and then you clean it up?

Maxine Walden: been thinking, bleu, whether art forms may be ways of 'containing' that creative chaos, giving it form which is comforting
Bleu Oleander: I think so Maxine
Maxine Walden: do you have some thoughts there?
Bleu Oleander: I live with creative chaos ... it comes out on canvas sometimes
Zen Arado: my life is always a mess....how do I clean it up?
oO0Oo Resident: constraining .. like a limited palette..time, space, consequence
Bleu Oleander: one paint brush at a time Zen
Maxine Walden: :)
Zen Arado: :)

Bleu Oleander: red always works for me
Maxine Walden: ?
oO0Oo Resident: :)
Zen Arado: fingers in too many pies
Maxine Walden: finger paint, zen, each finger a paint brush?
Bleu Oleander: painting the whole canvas red helps me begin to clairify
Eliza Madrigal: interesting, Bleu

oO0Oo Resident: i do think it is about overwhelm on some level.. ultimately.. because there are no limits

Zen Arado: don't know what the connection is between my life and my painting
Maxine Walden: really? interesting...can you say more about your process, bleu
Bleu Oleander: a white canvas is intimidating
Bleu Oleander: once I paint over it i settle down
Zen Arado: I bought a new book on abstract painting
Bleu Oleander: and can create
Zen Arado: want to incorporate 'real' elements
Eliza Madrigal thinks you should paint plums Zen, since fingers are in pies :)
Maxine Walden: some claiming of the intimidating canvas by painting it over?
oO0Oo Resident: :)
Zen Arado: :0
Bleu Oleander: yes, Maxine
Maxine Walden: :), zen, and Eliza
Bleu Oleander: becomes a comfortable space then

Zen Arado: first exercise you cut a cabbage in half and photocopy it as a basis for a painting
Maxine Walden: very interesting, bleu!
Zen Arado: :)
Eliza Madrigal: and unusual, red is a bold color!
Bleu Oleander: yes
Eliza Madrigal: I once painted a wall red and couldn't think when I was near it :)
Maxine Walden: :))
Bleu Oleander: bold enough to push me
Eliza Madrigal: ah
Eliza Madrigal: wow
Maxine Walden: push you toward exploring your creativity, bleu?
Bleu Oleander: yes, push me to starting at least

oO0Oo Resident: the blank canvass is also everything at once, where as red is a clear direction
Maxine Walden: interesting, O!
Bleu Oleander: a white canvas will sit there ... a red one will call me into the process
Maxine Walden: ah...
Eliza Madrigal: a strong arrow
Bleu Oleander: exactly Sam
Maxine Walden: a beckoning

Zen Arado: if you see a new painting of mine entitled 'infinity Unfolded' you won't guess it was painted form a cabbage :)
Maxine Walden: :)
Bleu Oleander: I'm going to try that Zen
Bleu Oleander: sounds fun
Bleu Oleander: might make a nice texture for sl
Zen Arado: yeh intricate patterns in cabbages
Maxine Walden: Yaku, hi, great to see you
oO0Oo Resident: something to put in the folds of the brain

Eileen Lancaster: oops
Eliza Madrigal: Hello Yaku, and Hi Eileen
Zen Arado: Hi Yaku
Eileen Lancaster: hello :)
Zen Arado: Hi Eileen
Yakuzza Lethecus: good morning everyone
Bleu Oleander: hi Eileen
Bleu Oleander: hey Yaku
Maxine Walden: please join us Eileen if you wish. We are exploring aspects of our inner creativity
Eliza Madrigal: welcome :) I'll IM you about the group
oO0Oo Resident: Yaku, Eileen :)
Maxine Walden: thanks, Eliza
Zen Arado: and cabbages :)
Bleu Oleander: creative cabbages
Zen Arado: :)

--BELL--

Bleu Oleander: exploring our inner cabbage :)
oO0Oo Resident: of cabbages and rings... what baggage?
Eliza Madrigal: brussel sprouts are just fancy cabbages :)
Bleu Oleander: many beautiful designs in nature
Eliza Madrigal: mmm

Zen Arado: people like to see real elements in abstract paintings I find
Zen Arado: it's more comforting I guess
Zen Arado: they think they understand them then
Zen Arado: the mind grasping for understanding always?
Bleu Oleander: people see real elements in abstracts even when they're not there
Maxine Walden: Do you think that observers of art 'see' things that are meaningful to them, sort of select elements which they can relate to?
Zen Arado: yes I know Bleu :)
Bleu Oleander: yes, Maxine

oO0Oo Resident: brain is tailored for pattern matching
Zen Arado: yes..especially faces or human forms
Bleu Oleander: sensory input is just one aspect of perception
Eliza Madrigal: this is part of why I find wall gazing so comforting
Zen Arado: our brains are constructed to look for such forms I guess
Maxine Walden: :)

Eliza Madrigal: Welcome back Eileen :)
Eileen Lancaster: hello everyone :)
Bleu Oleander: hi Eileen
Maxine Walden: hi, again, Eileen
Eileen Lancaster: I'll sit with you
Maxine Walden: great
Zen Arado: good :)
Maxine Walden: We may also project inner images onto the outer world, creating the reality we 'see'
Zen Arado: yes Maxine
Zen Arado: same thing really
Zen Arado: or not 'really'
Zen Arado: :)
Maxine Walden: :)
Bleu Oleander: :)
Maxine Walden: maybe 'this' maybe 'that'.
Zen Arado: like in optical illusions our mind seems to have little control
Zen Arado: scary

Maxine Walden: One thing that fascinates me is that we may perceive our inner reality in terms of what we 'experience' or maybe more accurately what we project onto external reality
Zen Arado: our vision is all learned too is it not?
Maxine Walden: I expect to experience or see in the future what I have experienced in the past...
Zen Arado: yes..we expect things to behave in the same way
Bleu Oleander: like a reality shortcut
Maxine Walden: hmm

oO0Oo Resident: often a subtle irritation/flickering at the edge of the canvass.. where it is bounded.. maybe like the discursiveness versus completeness feelings... inner outer boundary too?
Zen Arado: how do we drop that and allow a fresh mind in the present?
Maxine Walden: say more, O?
Bleu Oleander: not always beneficial to drop that though
Maxine Walden: interesting question, zen

oO0Oo Resident: estimations of the content are working always with boundary

Bleu Oleander: time can be of the essence sometimes
Zen Arado: well even becoming aware of its illusory nature?
Zen Arado: a boundary the mind provides Sam?
Zen Arado: a bounday that need expanding?
Bleu Oleander: is there such a thing as a "fresh mind"?
oO0Oo Resident thinks of Pema's space that contains all spaces

Zen Arado: don't think so Bleu..but perhaps we can approach that with practice?
Eliza Madrigal: informative to see mind drawing things and letting those go and other things arising in that same place seemingly
Eliza Madrigal: I've certainly been questioning the road work near my home... it can't really be going on for the last 20 years? :)
Zen Arado: or at least see through some of the clouds :)

--BELL--

oO0Oo Resident: http://is.gd/5W5oQm
Maxine Walden: If I understand what Zen and O are suggesting the question of boundary as describing a 'safe' space may be among us. Bleu suggested that the canvas becomes less intimidating when she paints it. Is that painting over the canvas establshing a 'safe' boundary, a contained space for her creativity?

Maxine Walden: If I venture into the unknown, without a sense of a boundary to hold me together, I may feel panicky and lost, or dispersing into space...an aspect of 'the more I read the less I know'. Just musing about protective boundaries
Bleu Oleander: it's like a first step
Bleu Oleander: like walking in fresh snow
Zen Arado: maybe the critical part of our brain doesn;'t want us to venture into the unknown
Eliza Madrigal: decisiveness
Eliza Madrigal: Ty Samúð , hadn't heard of miksang
Bleu Oleander: interesting link Sam, ty
Zen Arado: wants to stay griunded in the safe and comfortable
Zen Arado: yes it is interesting TY Sam
Zen Arado: like so many painters I know just copy photos of local landscapes
Zen Arado: we cling to security in other areas of our lives also?
Zen Arado: sorry for my typing
Eliza Madrigal: same tree looks quite different each day often.. so then one notices the light and shadow perhaps
Eliza Madrigal: Monet and other painters would paint the same thing from the same view many times
Zen Arado: everchanging
Eliza Madrigal: ah, and Bleu too
Zen Arado: yes like Monet's haystacks
Eliza Madrigal: glass block :)
Bleu Oleander: :))

Bleu Oleander: sometimes narrowing your visual field helps one see more deeply
Zen Arado: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=mon...w=1440&bih=739
Zen Arado: wow long link
Maxine Walden: :)
Zen Arado: so amazing how he made haystacks so beautiful
Zen Arado: we take that for granted
Bleu Oleander: haystacks not unlike the cabbage .... takes an artists eye
Zen Arado: but I guess they ARE beautiful

Maxine Walden: :) the changing internal and external 'environments' expressed in the different portrayals of the haystacks?
Eliza Madrigal: :))
Zen Arado: and the beautiful harmoniouis colours
Bleu Oleander: not everyone sees the beauty in nature in quite the same way
Zen Arado: I don't think that is how he reayy saw them? artsitc licence
Bleu Oleander: the haystacks were beautiful to Monet, but just hay to others
Zen Arado: really
oO0Oo Resident: Interesting feeling boundaries of this photo.. and words are interesting too
http://is.gd/LbvZUM
Maxine Walden: yes!
Bleu Oleander: panoramic awareness .. interesting phrase
Zen Arado: interesting Sam
Maxine Walden: very interesting, Sam. thanks for bringing that link to us

Eliza Madrigal: can feel almost embarrassing in a way when someone shows you something that was 'there all the time'
Bleu Oleander: Ordinary Is Extraordinary ... is a theme for my art
Zen Arado: I think many are put off art and other activities because they are too concerned with the end result and not just becoming immersed in the process
Maxine Walden: :), know what you mean, Eliza
Zen Arado: as Chogyam intimates

--BELL--

Maxine Walden: ah, the boundary to the hour :)
Maxine Walden: have to go. Great conversation! Thanks, see you all soon, I hope
Eliza Madrigal sees Maxine's train arrive
Bleu Oleander: this session has inspired me to start a new series of paintings ... thank you everyone!
Maxine Walden: :))
Eliza Madrigal: Thanks Maxine :)) Yay Bleu!
Maxine Walden: not a bullet train, tho :)
Eliza Madrigal grins
Zen Arado: bye Maxine
Yakuzza Lethecus: bye maxine
Maxine Walden: bye for now
oO0Oo Resident: :) Thanks everyone
Zen Arado: Bye Bleu
Eliza Madrigal: Bye Bleu and those departing
Eileen Lancaster: bye Maxine!
Yakuzza Lethecus: and bleu, all leavers
Bleu Oleander: bye all ... take care :)
Yakuzza Lethecus: hey arch
Archmage Atlantis: Ku Ku Ka ah Du
Eliza Madrigal: Hi Arch, Korel, Luci
oO0Oo Resident: Arch :)
Korel Laloix: Heya
Zen Arado: Hi Arch, Korel, Luci
Lucinda Lavender: HI Everyone:)
oO0Oo Resident: Korel :)