Lithuanian Midsummer Night's Dream

Still Life

Nature Morte

Sun-Face Budha, Moon-Face Buddha...work in progress

The Great Zen Master was very sick lately. The young monk asked him,"Master, how your venerable health been lately?'
The great Zen Master said,"Sun-face Buddha, moon-face Buddha."
...this is a work in progress and visual commentary on this well known, and one of my favorite, zen kong-ans. Finished version soon...

As Above, So Below

When you meet a master swordsman,
show him your sword.
When you meet a man who is not a poet,
do not show him your poem. -- Zen Saying

Law of Unpredictability

"I always dreamed of being older and now I am"

Mausoleum of Fallen Butterflies

The butterflies are beautiful, fragile and free. Like intoxicating memories of days long gone, yet captured forever with the mind's desire.... Thus to preserve the sembiance of their beauty and elegance we shall purposely kill them and embalm them, and make them durable, strong and everlasting. The sacredness of purpose to kill in order to love is frightfully unsurpassed! Yet again we may realize the wishless liberation and, despite the desire to have, we let the butterflies free, and let us fly away with butterflies and thus experience the ease of contentment of letting go...
The excerpt from "The Revelation of the St. Butterfly: The path to Initiation. Book of Liberation. Chapter XXVI."

Love Requires a Human Heart Sacrifice

oil on wood, 8"x12"
I worked on another little painting today. I am not perfectly happy with it yet, so I uploaded the older version instead. The new painting is a continuum of the same idea.
I shall very much agree with those who argue that purpose of art shall not be found in its "conceptual meaning", like declaration of social injustice, gender issues, or yet another cutting edge concept. It is rather like a smell of earth, or listening to the Chopin, or a dawn... a memory...dusk...kiss...sound of a snow...wind...heartbeat...earth and blood... the life.

Teddy Bears on demand

The Wedding. Oil on canvas 20"x20"

This is an older painting of mine. I am posting it per request of my art patron and friend Mr.R. Thibodeaux. He is a well known and established art collector/dealer, and currently "The Wedding" is housed at his private art collection. This particular painting is one of the earliest from the series named "Teddies, Sleeping Butterflies, Swamp Creatures and Other Mysterious Life Stories". The series is on-going and ever evolving. I will post more soon. There are many strange Teddies, the holders of ancient wisdom, that come from various Swamps, from the lands far and near, and they all have unique stories to tell: some happy, some sad, some educational, some meaningless, some insightful, some honest, some fabricated, some wise, some funny, some simple to the point of being mystical...

Still Life in acrylics

Angel Cheeks. Acrylic on paper, 16"x20"

The Rider. Acrylic on paper, 16"x20"

I usually paint in oils, but felt like trying something different, and had a few paintings done in acrylics. Needless to say they handle so very differently from what I am used to. It dries instantaneously, and you have to work fast, also colors look darker after they dry. However, if one gets use to it and knows what to expect, not a problem. Different mediums, different colors, etc., have their own way of behaving afterall. Gouache pales, and I never liked the way it handles, but I like acrylics. Anyway it was much fun to be able to work fast. I mean FAST! I am definatelly on to acrylics. I know, they have been around for a while here in US, but in my olden art school days we didn't have them. Finally I gave it a try. Acrylics on canvas next. This medium has it's own special aura.