happy 4th

. . . For the 237th time

graphic by art winstanley, © 2011

my hometown

I know I've said it before but, the time spent creating artwork, at least for me, is time spent in a sort of meditation.
(except you don't have to sit stone still).
The mind is free and clear to navigate the universe, (which is really the point) and discover new stuff about it and yourself to help make you a better person.

 "My Home Town", a digital illustration by Art Winstanley
(easily and affordably available if you care for a copy)
© 2012 Arthur A. Winstanley

Trust me when I tell you, while I drew this piece, "My Hometown", (for a T-shirt design - that is actually selling pretty well) it was a weeks long meditation.
My mind had the time-less-ness to explore the universe in places I would never have imagined. . .

I recently read Chris Matthews' latest book, "Jack Kennedy - Elusive Hero". It's a good and a quick read and
I recommend it.
It doesn't paint JFK as a hero (or a villain for that matter) just a frail human, like the rest of us. A charismatic and ruthless politician to be sure but just a man with foibles, a bad back problem and Addison's disease. (he was not a healthy man)
From Matthews' perspective, I liked Jack Kennedy.
(I was only 8 when he was elected and 11 when he was executed - so what the hell did I know then?) But as I thought about it later, I had a sense that he really did have the best in mind for all of us and, if he hadn't been shot, he likely wouldn't have lived out his second term (which he surely would have won).
All the same, I thought  (counting backwards on my fingers)
if JFK were alive today, he'd be 95 years old.

That thought got me on a roll. . .

If they were alive today, Bobby Kennedy (one of the two men who's lives I admire most in this life) would be 87.
Marilyn Monroe would be 86.
Jimmi Hendrix would be 70.
Janis Joplin would be 69.
And Ernest Hemingway (a local favorite - born, I'm pretty sure, in the same year as my own grandfather) would be 113 years old.
(Tempus Fugit, aye?)

As the weeks wore on, drawing an airplane, sailboat, palm trees and a pelican, then getting the damned turtle just right, my head went to more abstract thoughts. (that I won't get into right now)
But, and again I can only speak for myself, that's the beauty of the creative process.

You don't worry about the rent or the Keys Energy bill or the girlfriend you accidentally pissed off over dinner the night before last. Your mind is totally is free!

It's emotionally liberating and comforting, sometimes lucrative and, it's fun.
And that's why I keep doin' it.

obsession

"When you fall in love with sailing, you seldom fall easy.
It's obsession at first sight."

Obsession, by Art Winstanley

Digital illustration; 6" x 9"
My impression of a peaceful night sail
beneath a Crescent Moon and the Southern Cross.

Dynamic Display

This limited edition, gallery quality, archival semi gloss print is available for purchase in 2 distinct display styles.

Standard Display - $75.
6" x 9" archival semi gloss print in a 11" x 14" acid free mat

Dynamic Display - $ 100.
6" x 9" archival semi gloss print in a 16" x 20" acid free mat

Shipping: $20.

For details and to order,
call: 305.293.9552
or e-mail: keywesttheblog@gmail.com

Standard Display

. . .a word from our sponsor - VIDEO

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sukhavati

I know I know, I'm cheating again. This is not a photograph but a digital illustration I drew earlier this year (in PhotoShop without using filters). It represents a spiritual state of mind that, hopefully, I am getting closer to.

Sukhavati is a story about Amitabha, the Buddha of immeasurable radiance, whose primary quality is compassion.

When he was on the threshold of illumination, Amitabha vowed that he would not accept illumination for himself unless, through his illumination, he could release all beings from the endless cycle of re-incarnation.

The Gods agreed and, when he did achieve his illumination, there appeared before him a great lotus pond where the jewel of illumination resided in the lotuses. Anyone devoted to Amitabha in their lifetime would no longer be committed to another re-incarnation but would instead be reborn in a closed lotus floating on Amitabha’s lotus pond called Sukavhati, the place of bliss.

Meditating in their lotuses the devotees would hear, on the rippling waters and in the air, only the mantra, "all is impermanent, all is without a self" until finally, they would realize that enlightened truth.

When they did, their lotuses would open and they would be sitting, themselves, as an enlightened Buddhas in meditation; only then to dissolve like a dew drop into the ocean of rapture and transcendence.

Framed & matted, Sukhavati, the finished work, measures 16" x 20". Museum quality prints are available.