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Rene and Me

Homage to Rene Magritte

This is on the heels of the previous post relating to my choice of artist brand or logo. In the Asian art tradition it is customary to create a stamp to go on each print or original. work. The Inglis apple core logo is my digital stamp or “chop.” I created this work before my website got launched in Nov ’08, over three years ago. The idea behind the title “Homage to Rene Magritte” was to honour a man who amazed me with his work as far back as the Sixties. Yes I do actually remember the 60’s. Having read through Taschen’s excellent book on Magritte I came to realize that he had a vision of realtiy that was very plastic, and very childlike in the best sense. Yes, a train could emerge from a fireplace. It could really rain bowler hatted men. And a single apple could eclipse a room. Depends on the position and perspective of the observer. He had a very Zen-like view of reality, although I doubt he would want to put any label like “Zen” on his work. I’m not sure he even liked the term surrealism. His painting of a pipe, titled “This is not a pipe” completely rips off all the labels. As Frank Zappa once sang “Lick my decals off, baby.” Right on Frank and Rene and  Zen, too. Because the great Chan (zen) teachers, in their infinite compassion and deep wisdom really want us to let go of all concepts, to see the shining non-relative completeness of everything.

So this is my humble attempt to do something Magritte-esque (another label, non?) A rain of apple cores. If you visit the website you will se an animated version of this work. Enjoy. And please, whatever you do, don’t label it good or bad.

If you are interested in the deeper significance of the choice of an apple core for my artist logo please see the previous post: Inglis, Ego and the Applecore Logo. Thanks for showing up on MyArtistEgo.

Awaken

Awaken Six

This is one of many mandalas from the Ajalon show (see previous 2 posts). It symbolizes awakening to Pure Awareness or enlightenment in the Zen sense. The circular pattern was “hand” drawn using a CAD program, then the linework was enhanced with Corel Draw, then hand colored with Corel Painter 10. Who knows how many hours went into this one. Hundreds. A high definition digital copy on a CD for your monitor or a high resolution giclee print, any size, of this beautiful mandala can be ordered if you contact me through my website at http://www.artbyinglis.com Of course, the Inglis logo will be much reduced.

Yes Awaken ~ Ajalon part 2

Well its been a year and a half since this show but the memory is still clear as day. I am in the back of the beautiful old theater in Gettysburg running my digital paintings created especially for this show….176 in all, sequenced to the music. Onstage are my friends. Ajalon, progressive rock group extrordinaire, playing Awaken by Yes as their encore. One of the most amazing pieces of truly spiritual prog rock music ever created. The shivers go down my spine as Johnathan Sindelman starts the opening arpeggios. Then Jennifer Newberry’s clear voice is heard….”high vibrations go on”. And so it begins. Well, enjoy it for yourself. Part 1 above. Yes, I will do more of this kind of work. If you are a musician of any genre and are interested in a dialog, please contact me through my website athttp://www.artbyinglis.com. Thanks.

Well its been a year and a half since this show but the memory is still clear as day. I am in the back of the beautiful old theater in Gettysburg running my digital paintings created especially for this show….176 in all, sequenced to the music. Onstage are my friends. Ajalon, progressive rock group extrordinaire, playing Awaken by Yes as their encore. One of the most amazing pieces of truly spiritual prog rock music ever created. The shivers go down my spine as Johnathan Sindelman starts the opening arpeggios. Then Jennifer Newberry’s clear voice is heard….”high vibrations go on”. And so it begins. Well, enjoy it for yourself. Part 2 above. Yes, I will do more of this kind of work. If you are a musician of any genre and are interested in a dialog, please contact me through my website athttp://www.artbyinglis.com. Thanks.

Form and Emptiness

 

Seed within seed 7

This painting could be considered Op Art for the new millenium. I wrote this in 2004 around the time this work was created:

The computer is a fascinating art medium with rapidly expanding possibilities. The images shown here were created using a CAD design program, a graphic illustration program and a paint program with thousands of gradated colors. This work (as well as the other mandalas on my website) evolved as part of an experiment in pure geometric form and color, based on the circle.

In Buddhist cultures circular art evolved into highly formalized expressions of spiritual states or realms. In China the first mandalas appeared, depicting realms of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. In Zen the circle appeared as an Enso (Japanese) a spontaneous ink-brushed circle, symbolizing timeless perfection and wholeness. Tibetan Buddhist monks have developed a unique ritual, creating intricate and beautiful sand mandalas. They then return form to emptiness as the sand is whisked away after completion. Most artists would be aghast at the notion of destroying their work after months or years of creative effort.

In the movie “Pollock”, about the pioneering abstract painter, there are some amazing scenes in which the artist seems to be dancing as he creates his images. He is squeezing pure color directly from tubes onto the canvas and moving paint with brushes, sticks, and hands. His motion becomes part of the final product. Of course, creating digital art is much less physical. One sits, relaxed, yet focused. Hand motion, using a graphic pen on a digital tablet, instantly becomes a shape or color or line on the screen. One can zoom in or out, seeing the whole or concentrating and working on a tiny section.

In creating these images the final results were not predetermined, although many choices were made along the way by the “artist”. The programs and computers were developed and produced by countless people. So in the act of creating these images was there a single artist or doer? Or only a “doing”?

Digital art can appear or disappear at the mere touch of a button. Hundreds of hours of work gone in a flash, yet available when the hard drive “wakes up”. A print can be made which has a certain lifetime or the image can be displayed on a screen. However the “original” is really just………. ones and zeros. Form? Emptiness?

Indra’s Net

This has been one of those ever unfolding works although I feel it is near completion. What is Indra’s Net or Web? In Buddhist teaching, all things are interwoven or “interbeing” and each individual “thing” is supported by each other thing. In this painting we see humanity, symbolized by the two female figures, emerging from the Earth, our physical home. Our place in the Universe seen from a scientific perspective is that each one of us is a tiny human in a vast impersonal mechanical cosmos. Is that true? If you go outside in a clear night and look up at the Milky Way what do you actually experience? Are you a tiny “thing”? Or are you clear open capacity for all those stars? Check to see, don’t take my word for it. In some mysterious way we contain all. Zen calls it the One Mind which is No-mind. So in the painting, the two women are shown larger than the various earths, because each of us contains the whole. The background pattern represents the interconnectedness aspect. There are several Earths because we each have our own vision of reality. Which is correct? Mine or yours?

Indra's Net

Zen and Art

I just returned from a three day Chan (Zen) retreat on Vancouver Island and today is my processing day. I can feel the creative energy beginning to build from the retreat and will be doing some marketing work tomorrow as well as sending off some prints to another happy customer. If you are an artist my advice is the more clarity you have in your mind, the better your art will be. I understand that much art flows from angst and pain. I am talking about a different level of functioning here. Pure awareness is what we are made of. That needs to come up and find form if you are really an artist. Its very simple and has nothing to do with the needs of the ego. Pure awareness gives rise to both the ego self and all forms in the world. Yes this can be experienced, not just conceptualized. When you put your digital pen or your brush to canvas or screen, something miraculous is happening! The big question is “Do you see it?” or are you busy making other plans while you paint. Many speak of being in the moment these days, but how many really are? Being in each moment of creation is nothing but the blazing clear light of timeless awareness. That’s all. I have nothing more to say on this.

LionHeart Unfolding

As I work on LionHeart I am always moved to look and relook at each virtual brushstroke. “No too thick, OK thats it, different hue of gold, too bright, tone it down, just so.” This dialog runs through my mind at a subliminal level. Where does it finish….I really don’t know. When is it done? Sometimes I know, sometimes I don’t. Just keep the flow. Stay focused.

T

Evolving through time

This piece still interests me and it will continue to evolve. Here is the most recent version with a brighter gold for the central lion and a deep grey-red for the closest one. I also gave more form to the hands clasping at the solar plexus, seat of inner heat and power. Also the hands are close to the warmth of the heart center.  These kind of mythic images are deep in our racial consciousness. Our ancient ancestors dreamed of assimilating the strength and  inner power of the great cats. This painting is modern, having been created digitally, and ancient, being related to a 3000 year old sculpture. I often listen to electronic music while painting, and that is the connection to the future for me. So past, present and future are brought to a single, simple archetypal image. Time is collapsed. LionHeart lives.