Sampler

I could just has well have called this 'doodles' as I didn't have any ideas and just played around with the different brushes.  I came across some nice effects.

I feel I am getting much better at using the software but I don't seem to have many images that I want to express at the moment.  Maybe its because the writing is going better and my brain is focused on words rather than images.

Yellow chamelion

This morning I saw two yellow chamelions, one very small hanging on a bean plant and the other much larger on the trunk of a tree near my house.  I was really surprised at how yellow they were considering that neither of them were anywhere near anything yellow.

I love these creatures.  The way they look and their huge eyes which seem to be looking in a hundred different directions at the same time.

When I did the picture I noticed that the yellow of the chamelion was reflecting the yellow I had put in the sky.  It was a bright day today so perhaps they were just reflecting the sun.

Mind map

Today I have been working with Kireet looking at the best way of creating three ponds on the lower field that always floods during the monsoon and where, consequently, it is almost impossible to grow anything.

We decided that three interconnected ponds would hold the water while providing at outlet at the end where surplus water can drain into the nearby lake.  The soil from the ponds will be used to make terraces on which we will plant fruit trees.

This picture is not meant to be an actual map although the field might look a bit like this from above.  Rather it takes all the elements of the design - the ponds, the soil and the grass - and holds them together.  Its a picture about the elements of what we are going to achieve, hopefully over a three year period as we don't have enough money to do everything immediately.

A moment of intensity

I received this picture today from Bob and Jean who I visited when I was in the UK.  I didn't have the time to go and stay so it was quite a fleeting visit.

As always I felt that despite all their illnesses and problems there is a lot going on with and around them on many levels.  This picture seems to capture a moment of intensity between Jean and myself and it brought back wonderful memories of my very short time with them.

Too tired to draw

This is a very good picture of what I felt like tonight.  I have had a very busy day but I feel very content with what happened and not too frazzled or wired up to sleep.

Despite feeling too tired to draw I wasn't too tired to draw what it felt like.

The Ashram at night

Yesterday evening I went out for a meal with Bindu and Tim who Bindu stayed with while she was in London.  It was a really lovely evening with good conversation and good food on the roof top of an upmarket restaurant in Puducherry.

On the way back Bindu suggested that we visit the Ashram.  I was amazed as I didn't think it was open at night but apparently it stays open until 11.00pm.  Tim said he hadn't been there at night since the 70's when he first came to Auroville.

It was really beautiful with a palpable strong and still energy.  The samadhi was very bright from the lights shining down on it and in the intense darkness around it the green of the plants and trees seemed to hang in the air.

In a whirlwind

I didn't have an image in my head when I started drawing today but this was what I created.  I feel it is about the situation I am in at the moment with a lot of energies whirling around me. 

Its not unpleasant and I don't feel I am getting knocked off my feet - so far.

A surprise snap

This morning I spent going around Auroville doing various jobs like getting cash, filling in arrival forms etc. As part of that I went to the Lively Boutique to see about getting some Indian pants made for my niece.  I took pictures of all the material available and when I saw this one knew it was my picture for today.

I really love all the different colours and textures that it shows.

Meltdown

Had a difficult situation to deal with this morning when I heard that the conflict at the farm which we tried to deal with yesterday had escalated.  They had a meeting this morning where they were supposed to sort something out which instead turned into a free for all and meltdown.  

This is how I imagined it, based on a description by someone and what I know about the people involved.  Everything melting down into a sludgy puddle that doesn't do anyone any good.

It doesn't look very hopeful unless there is a change of heart between then and tomorrow when we all sit down together to try and work something out.

Different realities

Today I went to the first meeting which is the start of a mediation process between two conflicting groups on one of our farms.  The object of today's meeting was to try and come up with a practical arrangement for the farm; to create a temporary status quo which will not be disturbed while the mediation process takes place. It was very difficult and although progress was made it is going to take another meeting to come up with an agreement.

What struck me were all the different realities that were being expressed.  The mediator was wonderful at acknowledging them and yet trying to go beyond them to move things forward to the needed preliminary decision.  My picture is a visual representation of the energies I saw and felt.  At first I thought I was visually describing the different people, but then I realised that I was describing different realities which didn't necessarily relate to just one person.

I also saw that to bring these energies together cannot be sorted out mentally; they have to be lived and acknowledged. The next step after this is to go beyond them to create a unity.

Self portraint

I really enjoyed doing this picture and learnt a huge amount, including some of the simple things that I have been wanting to learn for some time.  Like how to change the canvas size and how to flip pictures around.  I also tried out some new brushes and techniques.

Slowly slowly I feel I am learning more and getting more confident in being able to use the hardware and software to do what I want.  Although of course there is still a way to go.

Practicing again

Since we don't work on Saturday mornings I was able to spend an hour or so practicing with my new graphics tablet and software.  I am gradually coming to grips with it although annoyingly I can't download the manual.  There are some simple things that I still can't figure out how to do.

The pleasure of the above was in the creating of it and the things that I learnt while doing so.

Swarms of ants

This morning as we were working we found ourselves in the middle of huge swarms of flying ants.  This happens after wet weather and usually at night.  It was quite an experience working  with all the ants flying around us.

It was very difficult to take a picture which showed what was happening.  The ants were very small and only the closest ones showed up on the photo.  This was the best I could do.

Soggy

It is not the monsoon but rain is relentlessly falling and everything feels soggy and dark. I went out this morning to try and get a picture which would express this.  

I found that drips are hard to capture on a photo.

I thought this was the best one that shows the saturation of the earth with water and everything dripping wet under a grey sky.

Dream come true

Before I had my hip operations about seven years ago I suffered from arthritis and very stiff hips.  

I remember before the operations dreaming that I did a forward bend and could feel the top of my body against my thighs.  This was such a peculiar feeling that I remember waking up in shock.  Yesterday at a yoga class I did a forward bend and had this feeling in reality.

This time the feeling made me laugh because it seems that sometimes dreams do come true.

Practising

This is the first real picture that I have done on my new graphic tablet and I am very pleased.  Not so much with the actual picture but how in the process of doing it I have learnt a lot of things about creating pictures using this medium.  

I thought the software would be easy to use because I have something similar on my iPad.  Although some things are familiar there are a lot of new things to learn both about how to handle the new tablet and the software.  My hands are aching with the effort of manipulating the pen and the software is still doing unexpected things.

A few days ago I got really frustrated trying to create a picture and decided this was no way to carry on as I could see myself giving up completely if I wasn't careful.  I have invested a lot in the hardware and software and I must learn to do it step by step.  For the next few weeks I will practice with it every day as if it were a musical instrument.

Re-connecting

Today I worked in the garden for the first time since I came back.  It has taken two days for me to start to align myself with the local time.

As I worked I felt myself re-connecting with the land as well as with all the connected people.  It was as if filaments went out from me into the earth and then out to all the people who are connected in some way with Buddha Garden.

Back

After six weeks I am back in Buddha Garden.  

Once here I had the incredibly strong feeling of the energy that had brought and holds me here.  It feels like it keeps me on the edge, but the energy is very strong and holds me in place when I align myself with it.  So it feels dynamic yet safe.

This is the first picture I have created ever since I went away.