Quotations and art - Circles

For many years my focus in art was mandalas, and - consequently - circles. I love that they are a symbol for so many things I hold important: unity, eternity, safety, wholeness, oneness. At that time I collected a lot of quotations about the circle and its symbolism.

I still create mandalas, and sometimes they show up unannounced. 

"Until we extend the circle of our compassion

to all living things, we will not, ourselves, find peace."

Albert Schweitzer

"Les Quartiers de la Ville"
Commission for individual
2007, 24" square, acrylic; ©2017 Margaret Bremner

"Everything the Power of the World does, is done in a circle. 

The sky is round and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same, and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves. Our teepees were round like the nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation's hoop, a nest of many nests where the Great Spirit meant for us 

to hatch our children."

Black Elk, medicine man and visionary of the Oglala Sioux

"Expecting Triplets"
7"x8" mixed media, ©2017, Margaret Bremner, available

"Let your vision be world-embracing,

rather than confined to your own self."

Baha'u'llah

"Playful Planet"
10.5"x10.5" mixed media, ©2016, Margaret Bremner, sold

"A wheel was shown to me, wonderful to behold...Divinity...is like a wheel, a circle, a whole, that can neither be understood, nor divided, nor begun nor ended...no one has the power to divide this circle, to surpass it, or to limit it.” 

Hildegard of Bingen

"Wheelies"
3.5" square, mixed media, ©2016, Margaret Bremner, sold

Want more? See A few favorite quotations... (and art) here.
And Quotations and art - Ways of seeing here.

Quotations and art - Ways of seeing

Today, here are a few more favorite quotations, paired with art.

"There is, at the surface, infinite variety of things; 
at the center there is simplicity and unity of cause."

Ralph Waldo Emerson said this, and these are my three favorite, very simple tiles. Less can be more. I particularly appreciated this quotation when I was focusing on mandala imagery, considering the center and the perimeter.

"The ability to create beauty is God's greatest gift to man. 

And the appreciation of beauty - whether man-made 
or natural - is not only a joy but an active call 
to something much greater than oneself."

The quotation is from Painton Cowen in the book Rose Windows which I greatly enjoyed years ago, again, when I was researching and creating mandalas. This ATC I made has found a new home. The hummingbird is a transfer print; the rest is pen and ink on eco-dyed paper.

"See the extraordinary in the ordinary."

I'm sure I heard this somewhere, but I'll take credit for it. 😉 I'd brought this pine cone home because something about it appealed to me. Later I was looking at it and it struck me that there was a pattern of triangles at the ends so I did this drawing focusing on those triangles. 

"It is time for parents to teach young people early on that 

in diversity there is beauty and there is strength."

Thank you, Maya Angelou. It's time to stop seeing black and white, men and women, old and young, as opposites and in conflict, and instead know that they are complementary. Let's grow up.

These two pieces were created by cutting tiles in half - in an irregular line - and sticking the opposite halves together. There is another black-and-white and another black-and-tan tile somewhere.

"If thou wishest a discerning eye and seekest for a hearing ear,

 set thou aside that which thou hast heard 

from fathers and ancestors, for such things are imitation."

We mustn't believe everything we hear. We have a rational brain; let's think for ourselves.
These "pages" are drawn on eco-dyed paper. Looking for hints of subject matter in the dye markings, I just couldn't stop seeing eyes at the top right of the one page, so even though I almost never depict people I went with the flow and discovered this man. The quotation seemed to go well with it.

From The Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Baha

Want more? See A few favorite quotations... (and art) here.

A few favorite quotations... (and art)

...interspersed with a few favorite and appropriate Zentangle tiles.

Anaïs Nin is a French author whom I suspect I would not have liked much had I ever met her. But she's the origin of one of my favorite quotations. 

"Life expands or contracts in proportion to one's courage." 

Tangles: Paradox, Pearlz, Rain, Seljuk

The drawing above is on gray paper. Whatever I'd done in the upper left corner, I hated it so much that I cut it off. I loved the interestingly shaped tile! Then a black tile slipped behind it and I preferred that, so I cut a bit of black paper and glued it behind the gray one.

Artist Robert Genn maintained a website called "The Painters' Keys" that was continued by his daughter (also an artist) after his death. On the subject of thinking and creativity he offers the thought that 

"Thinking is good, but your brain
is perpetually thundering down the tracks 

with intent to derail your creativity." 

The tile above was created during InkTober 2019 following the prompt Tread. 
I think of it as Rainbow Demolition Derby.

Life is lighter without grudges. Forgive someone not for their sake but for your own. Be good to yourself. I consider myself fortunate that I've never had to draw on this quotation. I expect it's much easier said than done, but I appreciate the idea that

"Living well is the best revenge." 

You may be familiar with the book "The Little Prince". If not, try to borrow a copy. It's short and it's fun. And the author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry said, 

"Love is not gazing at each other.
Love is looking together in the same direction."

"A Soft Place to Rest My Heart"
(c) 2019; 9 cm. (3.5") sq. on paper; Sold
Pen and ink, acrylic wash, colored pencil

"Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world." 

An actual quotation from Albert Einstein, as far as I can determine, unlike the popular "Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere." credited to him (which I kind of prefer, but oh well).

I refer to this as "my brain on Bosch".
Bosch is a delightful tangle, usually done as a border.

"Anything is possible, one stroke at a time."

The tangle Crusade, from CZT Wayne Harlow, flummoxed me for quite some time. Others have had this challenge with tangles such as Skye and Amazing Spider. But I liked it enough that I kept at it, eventually understanding it well enough that I can now do it on curved lines and in wonky strings. Yay me!

Tangles: Crusade, Pearlz, Tipple

"The well-being of the world, its peace and security, 

are unattainable unless and until its
unity is firmly established."

You may have noticed this one in my e-mail signature. It's from Baha'u'llah, Founder of the Baha'i Faith. I've been a Baha'i since I was 19. I love going barefoot when possible, on a sandy beach or grass at a park for example. I feel more connected to the earth.

"Mud Between My Toes"
(c) 2013; 11.5 cm. (4.5") sq. on a pre-strung, tan zendala tile; Sold

Pen and ink, acrylic, colored pencil

Joy and Delight

A home bursting through the roof with happiness, surrounded by gleeful vegetation, and a big sun in a gold sky. Oddly, the metal leaf sky is not quite so over-powering in real life!

"Joy and Delight"
8.5" x 5.5"
Pen and ink on eco-dyed paper, with colored pencil, tiny gems, and metal leaf.

The sky is all metal leaf, which is awkward for photos as it shines so much. I also used metallic inks and sparkle inks. The windows are clear glazed. (I just can't rein myself in sometimes!)
Here are some detail images.

The front door and the windchime/mobile:

The text:

The whole quotation is what's known to Baha'is as a "Pilgrim's note". 

It's attributed to one of the main people but cannot be authenticated
and is therefore not considered sacred text.

"My home is a home of peace.
My home is a home of joy and delight.
My home is a home of laughter and exultation.
Whoso enters through the portals of this home
must go out with gladsome heart."

The happiness explosion:

You can see a few of the small gems I included.

The sun:

'My home' "old" illustrated manuscript

I continue to be inspired by the marks left on paper by the process of eco-dyeing. This page offered a sharp 'V' in the center, and it kept looking like hills, but I didn't know where to go from there. Then I pictured a house tucked into the side, and off we went.

Many years ago I did a calligraphy commission for a friend with a quotation that began "My home is the home of peace..." I thought it might be just the thing to pair with this image so I hunted it down (thank you internet!). I only used the first few lines due to space considerations, but here is the full quotation I found:

"My home is the home of peace. My home is the home of joy and delight. My home is the home of laughter and exultation. Whosoever enters through the portals of this home, must go out with gladsome heart. This is the home of light; whosoever enters here must become illumined. This is the home of knowledge: the one who enters it must receive knowledge. This is the home of love: those who come in must learn the lessons of love; thus may they know how to love each other."  (Abdu'l-Baha)

I had a page with a slant at the top and decided to use it, do the writing on a slant, and hide part of the initial decorated capital.

Finally, the pair of pages. Each one is about 8"x5.5".

Bodhi tree "old" manuscript

One of my recent eco-dyed papers was a single leaf, and - although is isn't - it reminded me of the Bodhi tree leaves of India. In fact, the leaf itself looked much like a tree.

Tangles: Arukas, Coaster, Crescent Moon, Finery, Flux,
Hurly Burly, Marasu, Opus, Pearlz, Perfs, Printemps,
Shattuck, Unyun, Wud

I liked it, and thought it would pair well with a quotation, like an old book, similar to a recent piece "Discerning Eyes".

I wanted a quotation that referred to the bodhi tree, or enlightenment, or even both. I found one from the Buddhist scriptures, but it was awkwardly worded: "After six years' right sitting under the Bodhi tree of the wisdom throne, I could accomplish Perfect Enlightenment." I altered the wording slightly so it would flow better.

The Buddhist Noble Eightfold Path consists of right view, right aspiration, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. I was rather charmed by the idea that there may also be a right way to sit!

Here is the pair of pages:

More "old" manuscripts to come I'm sure!

A new, 'old' manuscript

I almost never, never use people as subject matter. However, I kept seeing a face in the upper corner of this eco-dyed paper and decided I'd best let it happen. Maybe it's a whisper of inspiration.

Tangles (or at least most of them!):
Auras, Beadlines, Betweed, Black Pearlz, Crescent Moon,
Featherfall, Finery, Huggins, Knightsbridge, Pearlz,
Perfs, Prestwood, Printemps, Tipple

The eyes took three attempts before I was happy with them. At one point I very carefully cut the paper with an x-acto knife and peeled off the top layer so I could start fresh in some places.

I liked it, but it didn't quite seem like stand-alone artwork. A lot of my work has an illustrative quality to it, as if there's a story behind it somewhere, but this one particularly felt that way.

There was another whisper of inspiration... it could BE an illustration, one of two pages, the other of which is text. I could use one of the eco-dyed papers that had no appealing leaf prints or patterns. They have an 'old page' look to them. Yes!

The hunt was on for the 'text' part of this project. It had to be short enough, pithy, and somehow spiritual. I found something in a book called "Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Baha". It mentions eyes, about seeing with your own eyes and not accepting everything you're told as all there is to know. Once I was finished I realized that it begins with the letter 'I'. Coincidence?

Here is the two-page spread of my new, 'old' manuscript. There's metal leaf on both the initial letter 'I' and one onion dome. There's gold ink elsewhere, and a small red gem at the top of one onion dome. Some of the white dots are pearl-effect 3D ink, but not the ones on the onion dome.