If “Beauty is truth, truth, beauty,” as Keats claims, then what do my paintings of flowers, my attempt to capture the truth of those quintessential expressions of beauty mean? Aldous Huxley in The Perennial Philosophy interprets Keats claim as meaning “Beauty is an immediate experience, and this immediate experience is identical with Beauty-as-Principle, Beauty-as-Primordial-Fact.”
Deborah, I'm always reticent to comment because I feel like sometimes I'm on one mountain top and you are on another but yet somehow we still meet in the valley. I think the key word in your piece is "fleeting". The depection of beauty in all art is really a cry about its ephemeral nature and thus, religious. Religion itself is our attempt to out live ourselves, to be more worthy than just our own bodily time and space. But I think Huxley is right, to divorce "beauty" from the human body and assign it as a twin of truth and something that isn't of our worldly domain but something as Shelly would say, we aspire towards, reach towards. But keep painting flowers. I love the sense and completeness in an art that is of one thing, kind. We can find that keatsian beauty / truth in all things - if we look at it long enough.
I'm always interested in hearing your thoughts, David, whether we agree or not. I'm not sure we're as far apart in our thinking as you may believe though. Huxley's Perennial Philosophy is a favorite of mine and aligns with my thought, which is not religious but more of a Zen-like, spiritual nature: Vast emptiness, vastly full. Both are vital and beautiful.
The delicate, yet complex beauty of a magenta and purple fuschia or an orchid reminds me that despite the ugliness that exists in our world, the natural wonders of our planet are truly sublime and awe-inspiring.
One of the things I enjoyed during the lockdown was walking the quiet, still streets of my city and seeing all the flowers and the colors. The silence was so profound, that I could almost hear the flowers grow and reach toward the sun's rays.
Yes, I feel humbled and awestruck by such beauty, and like you on those walks, so very grateful to be able to experience that. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.
"A Burst of Gold in the Garden" ! Brilliant! But, really, all of them are lovely. I like your whimsical way with paint. I dabble in acrylics and watercolors myself so I can appreciate your process.
I love painting. Sometimes I just need to get away from writing, words, and just play with colors and shapes. It's so freeing. As you can tell I'm experimenting with different mediums.
Deborah, I'm always reticent to comment because I feel like sometimes I'm on one mountain top and you are on another but yet somehow we still meet in the valley. I think the key word in your piece is "fleeting". The depection of beauty in all art is really a cry about its ephemeral nature and thus, religious. Religion itself is our attempt to out live ourselves, to be more worthy than just our own bodily time and space. But I think Huxley is right, to divorce "beauty" from the human body and assign it as a twin of truth and something that isn't of our worldly domain but something as Shelly would say, we aspire towards, reach towards. But keep painting flowers. I love the sense and completeness in an art that is of one thing, kind. We can find that keatsian beauty / truth in all things - if we look at it long enough.
I'm always interested in hearing your thoughts, David, whether we agree or not. I'm not sure we're as far apart in our thinking as you may believe though. Huxley's Perennial Philosophy is a favorite of mine and aligns with my thought, which is not religious but more of a Zen-like, spiritual nature: Vast emptiness, vastly full. Both are vital and beautiful.
I'm reminded of this famous passage from a Richard Feynman interview - Ode To Flowers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSG9q_YKZLI You may enjoy it.
The delicate, yet complex beauty of a magenta and purple fuschia or an orchid reminds me that despite the ugliness that exists in our world, the natural wonders of our planet are truly sublime and awe-inspiring.
One of the things I enjoyed during the lockdown was walking the quiet, still streets of my city and seeing all the flowers and the colors. The silence was so profound, that I could almost hear the flowers grow and reach toward the sun's rays.
Yes, I feel humbled and awestruck by such beauty, and like you on those walks, so very grateful to be able to experience that. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.
Wonderful colour. The flowers dance with life.
Thank you! I really appreciate that.
I would be happy to have any of them on my wall.
"A Burst of Gold in the Garden" ! Brilliant! But, really, all of them are lovely. I like your whimsical way with paint. I dabble in acrylics and watercolors myself so I can appreciate your process.
I love painting. Sometimes I just need to get away from writing, words, and just play with colors and shapes. It's so freeing. As you can tell I'm experimenting with different mediums.
“Blue Poppies Dancing in a Vanishing Vase”, that's a beauty... i felt today.
Thanks, Patrick, that means a lot. It's a favorite of mine, inspired by one of Odilon Redon's paintings, as we the Bouquet with Butterflies