Sunday, May 31, 2009

THE SAGE HAS NO FIXED MIND

In ceramics class we had this assignment:
Choose a form and give it a texture that is foreign to it.
I thought this was silly until I got an idea: a flounder with runes instead of scales (I shall post it in a few days when the finals are over).

Now, what I’m doing in my drawings is really the same idea: the form being chapters from ‘The Book of the Way and Virtue’ and the texture being runes.
It is still kind of silly because I’m the only one who can read it (until somebody else get bitten by a mad rune)! But, really, it is not that difficult to read – give it a try!

RUNIC ALPHABET

My runic alphabet is taken from Codex Runicus, a Skanian law book from about 1300AD and one of the few examples of runes written on paper.
The missing letters:
j and w are taken from the Older Futhark;
c, y and ng are from Anglo-Saxon Runes;
q is from the Runic Alphabet by Gabriele Campbell (lostfort.blogspot.com);
z from the common Germanic Runes.
V, x and å are created by me (x as a combination of k and s)

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Friday, May 15, 2009

What comes next:



The more I write the runes the more I like them. This one, in ink, is a chapter from the Dao De Jing.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

RUNES #4

This one says:
Holiness is everywhere and to accept all as holy is the key. Love is the result as well as the cause.
Pure mind is all pervading Bliss.
The sorrows are like clouds, vital to all creation. The rain of tears moistens the soil, and to accept all with equanimity is to follow the Great Spirit.

Saturday, May 02, 2009

SHED

Brian and I build this shed behind the wall we built a week ago. The door is the one I built sixteen years ago when I moved in at Wilkes Circle, and the step below it is an old railroad tie that appeared when we started digging. I'm going to paint the shed.
Can you see the passionflower growing up the wall? I was given it on my last birthday at Wilkes Circle. It is going to come back to life now, after a year in a pot.
It was lovely to get a soft rain yesterday after planting - and more to come tomorrow.

This was my vision for the backyard when we moved in and it's good to see it manifested.

Friday, May 01, 2009

QUOTE

I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
(Mohandas Gandhi)