The best advice that was ever given to me about photography came from my good friend Infinity Rain – who I am sure many of you know a lot…
The best advice that was ever given to me about photography came from my good friend Infinity Rain – who I am sure many of you know a lot better than I. It came at a time when I was feeling rather disheartened with photography, and going through a bit of a bad patch as far as the quality of my shots was concerned (whether this was actual or just perceived who can say? Art is so subjective like that!). She told me that when I was faced with a shot, to actually stop and contemplate it for a good five minutes, slowing the breathing and actually going into a meditative state before pressing the shutter. OK, so I know that isn’t always possible depending on your subject matter, but by and large for still life I have found it an invaluable technique. The first time I tried it, I ended up with a shot called The Ghost Road Which I rather like (though I’m afraid it doesn’t make a very good print). So will someone please tell me why, oh why, oh why do I insist on going out to take pictures with other people? The wife suggests going out for a walk, so I grab my camera and off we go. I sit there trying to compose a shot and she walks on – so I’m semi-conscious of the fact that she’s waiting for me to catch up. So I rush. Blur the shot, screw up the composition and generally waste time. In fact, I’d have been better off not bothering taking my camera and just enjoying the walk – but you know what it’s like. It’s like an umbilical cord. We need to be surgically removed from our cameras. Many of us will likely be buried with them. Worse still for me is, I have a friend. His name is Ian and he’s a photographer too. The other day we decided to take a trip together to my favouritest of places Marwell Zoo. The only problem is we both have a massive competitive streak – so not only are we stood there chimping our photographs and trying to outdo each other, we’re trying to outdo each other by numbers: calling across to each other “How many did you get of that one then?” “12” “Ha! Well I got 20” and so on. “How many memory cards have you used so far?” “How many gigs?” “How many pics?” And in the race for numbers, quality comes a long way down the list. I think at the end of the day I’d taken about 350 pics of which I’ve used about 10. So I’m not going to go taking pictures with people any more. My walks will be taken alone, my trips will be taken alone. I shall get up early for the best light of the day, I shall go out and find the best locations, and I’m going to find that place of peace where I can take my time, meditate, breathe, compose and finally click… Ian has invited me to take a trip with him to Monkey World sometime later this year… Now where’s that 2GB memory card of mine?
Art and what it represents to me…. For a long time I struggled with my artist within, I fought it, I tried everything else. No matt…
Art and what it represents to me…. For a long time I struggled with my artist within, I fought it, I tried everything else. No matter what I did I could not seem to thrive anywhere else. It is one of the only things that settle my mind, my soul my everything. My art is who I am just expressed on the outside… it may not make sense to many, not even to me sometimes but for some reason it puts me in a space of meditation, a space of inner peace, a reflection, an observation, a state of now. What else can I truly ask for.
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WALKING MEDITATION Take my hand. / We will walk. / We will only walk. / We will enjoy our walk / without thinking of arriving anywhere. / Walk peacefully. / Walk happily. / Our walk is a peace walk. / Our walk is a happiness walk. Then we learn / that there is no peace walk; / that peace is the walk; / that there is no happiness walk; / that happiness is the walk. / We walk for ourselves. / We walk for everyone / always hand in hand. Walk and touch peace every moment. / Walk and touch happiness every moment. / Each step brings a fresh breeze. / Each step makes a flower bloom under our feet. / Kiss the Earth with your feet. / Print on Earth your love and happiness. Earth will be safe / when we feel in us enough safety. / - Thich Nhat Hanh -
Today, Dan at EmptyEasel chose me as this week’s featured artist. He wrote a very perceptive review of my Ikeba…
Today, Dan at EmptyEasel chose me as this week’s featured artist. He wrote a very perceptive review of my Ikebana Art. What pleases me most is that Dan didn’t know a thing about Ikebana prior to seeing my work. He is a very knowledgeable art critic and that is exactly how he approached my work. He looked without any pre-conceptions. He has made some very insightful remarks which I hope will help people here on Redbubble and the art buying public to appreciate the Art of Ikebana. This is my homage to the late Sofu Teshigahara, the founder of the Sogetsu School and modern Ikebana. Here’s the link to the EmptyEasel review: Baiko’s Ikebana Art
LOOK AND SEE!
LOOK AND SEE!
Friday Journal, I was just thinking maybe we could all share about emotions such a happiness joy sorrow anger and how you apply pract…
Friday Journal, I was just thinking maybe we could all share about emotions such a happiness joy sorrow anger and how you apply practicing positive ways of dealing with the negative emotions to achieve the positives on the spectrum such as tranquility joy and happiness… I personally would prefe to live in a bubble and since joining this Red Bubble I have found so many outlets for so much emotion found alot of healing and pray to continue this journey Well I love Friday Journal responses for I find that I heal and learn through each one of you and your spirits so I will throw this out there Have a Great Night and Many Many Blessings and Regards Amber Elizabeth / lil ol me:)
It was really delightful to be informed by Karen Cook that my “Love Is Lighting Up Somebody…
It was really delightful to be informed by Karen Cook that my Love Is Lighting Up Somebody Else’s Darkest Moments is being featured side by side with Karen’s at the RB’sFeatured Wall Art And Greeting Cards :D It’s my first feature there, so exciting!! :D Many thanks to the Singapore Group for featuring both Heartstrings and Wish Upon A Star too!! :D My sales in zazzle have also started to pick up, I have 4 sales this week… Sales at Zazzle was really slow for me initially…no sales for first 2 months, it got really discouraging…but thought I would just press on and see how,glad I did because I made close to 20 sales in the last 1 month plus or so,really counting my blessings everyday for that. I am about 3 plus months into Zazzle :D I want to mention special thanks to Ujean for being that constant beacon of light for me at zazzle…for those who are in Zazzle, maybe like me,you may feel like a small fish in the ocean,so tiny and lost there at times. Ujean visited my gallery many times and often gave me encouraging comments and suggestions,enough fuel from her to help me last another 3 months,haha! Thanks so much Ujean! :D Here are the cute small items I sold this week :D Many thanks to Susan who bought the Love Mediations products, our dear Midori who bought Mountain Whispers Button and a lady named Holly who bought the Love Is Lighting Up Somebody Else’s Darkest Moments Button :D
Mahalo nui loa for your gift of Aloha! _Thank you so much to the buyer for your purchase this morning of a framed print of this love…
Mahalo nui loa for your gift of Aloha! Thank you so much to the buyer for your purchase this morning of a framed print of this lovely Hibiscus! / I very much appreciate your kindness and I sincerely hope you enjoy this displayed in your home. Please let me know how it looks when you receive it. I would love to know who purchased this, but if you prefer to remain anonymous I understand. Thank you so much!! Mahalo!! E pili mau na pomaika`i ia `oe! Aloha e Malama pono Sharon Mau
Aloha kakahiaka, mahalo nui to the anonymous buyer who purchased three of my prints Monday 11 May 2009. I very much appreciate your k…
Aloha kakahiaka, mahalo nui to the anonymous buyer who purchased three of my prints Monday 11 May 2009. I very much appreciate your kindness and I sincerely hope you enjoy these images displayed in your home. Please let me know how they look when you receive them. I have other images as well. There are many colours and varieties on Maui so if you would like another colour you only need let me know. I would love to know who purchased the lovely Hibiscus, but if you prefer to remain anonymous I understand. Thank you so much!! Mahalo nui loa!! E pili mau na pomaika`i ia `oe! Aloha e Malama pono Sharon Mau 1x Laminated Print: Aloalo ~ Tropical Hibiscus / Medium / Black Border with Artist’s Details / 1x Laminated Print: Tropical Hibiscus / Medium / Black Border with Artist’s Details / 1x Laminated Print: Ula Aloalo Hanohano for a Tropical State of Mind / Large / Black Border with Artist’s Details /
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/ Realities Visiting and dreaming / Are the realities of the hope-world. / Crying and obtaining / Are the realities of the prayer-world. / Silencing and becoming / Are the realities of the meditation-world.Sri Chinmoy Thank you so much to the Group Moderators
Sanctum, my first all black and white work, was double-featured on Sat…
Sanctum, my first all black and white work, was double-featured on Saturday, June 20, 2009 by the All Things Black and Abstract Digital Art and Writing groups on Red Bubble. The All Things Black gallery features images with a predominantly black subject. ABSTRACT DIGITAL ART AND WRITING or ADAWG, as it’s popularly called, focuses on written prose and the art that illustrates it. It’s unusual in that it combines the two mediums for a unique and fascinating gallery. Sanctum is my first feature in each of these groups. I’m grateful and deeply honored by the acknowledgement of this digital fine art piece. Sanctum employs a black and white room made up of only 2 graphic source elements: 1) a stained glass window, and 2) a checkered floor. The floor was brought into several separate layers, each of which was twisted and distorted. The end result of that was drapes, then placed, shadowed, and reflected on the floor to create a three-dimensional room. Sanctum is my challenge entry into the Everyday Women group black-and-white challenge. Most of the great entries there are photos of women in everyday circumstances; and this piece doesn’t fit so well. But without the challenge, I would not have been inspired to create it. I am so thankful, I did!! it’s one of my personal favorites todate. Once I discovered the All Things Black group, I also entered it in their Black and White challenge. The Black and White Room (scaled to 494×331 from 5000×3335): / Link to: Sanctum Portrait / If you would like me to create a special portrait of you in the Black and White room, just bubblemail me! :D
Mahalo a nui loa to all my cherished family, friends and group members for your kindness and wonderful encouragement. I very much appreci…
Mahalo a nui loa to all my cherished family, friends and group members for your kindness and wonderful encouragement. I very much appreciate your gifts of Aloha and every single message. This morning someone purchased a greeting card. Mahalo nui loa, thank you so much! He pua laha ‘ole / A rare, prized blossom / Hau’oli, Hau’oli’oli / Joy, Happiness Tropical Plumeria / Ke’anae Peninsula Maui Hawai’i Copyright © Sharon Mau 2009 / My images do not belong to the public domain. / Reproduction is strictly prohibited / All rights reserved
I am plucking away at a Spanish guitar up at the top of the hills overlooking the sea as the sun sinks into the evening horizon. There is…
I am plucking away at a Spanish guitar up at the top of the hills overlooking the sea as the sun sinks into the evening horizon. There is a peaceful quiet as the wind chimes sing eerily over my chords. My friend and travel companion is reading and the people we’re staying with are preparing our last dinner on our last night here. There is a quiet bliss here almost like that found in successful meditation. This is what you look for in a relaxing holiday –quiet, which is only broken by the rhythm of the tides or the whistling of the wind, to contemplate life with all of the excitement ahead seeming like the storm out there somewhere in that never-ending water, so distant from the present. Naxos (the largest of the Cyclades islands off Greece) is a beautiful island and it has not yet been completely invaded by tourists and hotels. Yet there is enough to excite the visitor. The beaches are splendid and are probably the most attractive feature of the place. We spent most of our time at Kastraki as it was nearest to us but the two best beaches were the isolated and beautiful Pyrgaki beach and the more vibrant St. George’s Bay which was right next to the main town. We spent many lazy afternoons just lying on the beach before going out to the town in the evening and these beaches are just as good as any that you’ll find in the med. The town is full of bars and restaurants and there are two clubs, one of which was only open on Fridays and the other was impossible to find. We spent most of our times drinking cocktails. I think I must have tried up to 20 different cocktails throughout my week there. Most of the bars were good but the highlight was definitely the one called Bintsi where you could sit right next to the water. However, the nights were hardly wild. When we got drunk we only got merry, not smashed, and we were probably the only people there who were looking for excitement. There was that one night where we probably should have been chucked out of a bar and it was certainly my fault. We were watching the Man Utd vs Arsenal match in a bar and being an Arsenal fan I got very upset when Arsenal conceded two stupid goals and then had a last minute goal disallowed meaning that we lost a game which we had absolutely dominated. Like Arsene Wenger I instinctively had to take my frustration out when van Persie’s goal was (rightly, unfortunately) disallowed. However, unlike Wenger, the cocktail glass which I smashed into the table was a bit more fragile than the water bottle which Wenger booted. Yet it was Wenger who got sent out to the stands while we sheepishly walked away of our own volition. The rest of the evening was spent with me ranting, making stupid phone calls to people back home and stealing crap from the market stalls for no reason other than for some desire for the excitement of the broken glass incident to continue. This did result in me gaining some pretty nice (almost certainly fake) Ray Ban sunglasses. Other than the bars and restaurants the main town does have some interesting historical sites with the Sanctuary of Delian Apollo (I have no idea what significance it holds but we got some photos of it as it is apparently the main feature of the island) and a castle also. There were also plenty of shops with all sorts of Greek souvenirs and there were also some very pretty churches. We did go for a couple of long walks around the island and saw some of the villages at the top of the hills in the middle of the island from which we were able to see some wonderful views of the island. There was one walk in particular that will stand in my memory, walking along Pyrgaki and down Kastraki where we walked through the sea whose tides massaged our feet after we had climbed all sorts of boulders to get over the hill between the two beaches. It was a long and yet so peaceful walk which allowed for excellent meditation and I think that it was doing this that I got the closest to feeling at one with Nature that I have ever come. The longer the walk went on the more it reminded me of Jack Kerouac’s Mount Desolation in ‘Dharma Bums’ – I just wanted it to go on and on as was the feeling of peace that filled me. This is no place for anyone who looks to holidays as either a means of getting absolutely wasted or of experiencing an exotic culture (incidentally these are the things that I usually look for in holidays), but it was ideal for relaxation and contemplation with the beaches, cocktails and stunning weather (hot but not too hot). It allowed me to contemplate the excitement ahead of going to university and yet like a storm in the ocean, uni seemed so distant to where I was at that moment. It was an ideal place to escape and let go of the usual noise of life back in the UK. It was only football that interrupted the meditative state of that holiday in Naxos.
Aloha ‘oe, mahalo nui loa, thank you so much to the anonymous buyer who purchased one of my calendars. It means so much to me that you en…
Aloha ‘oe, mahalo nui loa, thank you so much to the anonymous buyer who purchased one of my calendars. It means so much to me that you enjoy my work, thank you!! / / Aloha e Malama pono, / Sharon / / / /
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