meditative mixed media mandala

really enjoying what is happening before my eyes.

So, sometimes when we allow things to happen, allow the process of the universe to intervene and do its thing,  we get a pleasant surprise. What should I call thins new surprise?

Vibration of Process, Allowing, and Acceptance

We humans are infinitely complex beings, as you know because you are one. This piece is about, you guessed it, process, allowing and acceptance. Our complex minds want to control, and so, playing the devils advocate, I will attempt to do the opposite. I am creating a piece of work here, in which the outcome will be as much a surprise to me as it is to you. I certainly have ideas as far as what elements I'd like to see somehow incorporated, but how it turns out, well, we shall see. This project will have layers, just as we do. Though we have many more, I will choose three distinct layers here and express them through  symbolism and technique in this painting. They are as follows:
1) Layer one- Extreme, chaos, uncertainty, trust....abstract background, free paint and mindless color choice
2) layer 2 - inspiration, creation, divine intervention, merging.....almost whole, excitement of inspiration, sound wave
3) layer 3 - Brahman/sustainer, balance...A finished portion of nature and an antique music player. balance & completion

So far we have layer one and the beginning of layer two. See below

Transmutationism Art Show

I am looking forward to sharing these new creations with you! 
I've been on a creative journey studying sacred geometry, various symbolism of regeneration, and playing with various layering techniques. The photos do not fully represent the intricacies of the art. Their are plenty more paintings to see. Below I've posted some newbies for you to sample. Hope you can make a trip in the next month to visit beautiful Santa Barbara and check out TRANSMUTATIONISM.

This new body of work entitled TRANSMUTATIONISM will be going up at SoHo, Restaurant and Music Club on September 12th and will be up until Halloween.

LOCATION/DIRECTIONS:   http://www.sohosb.com/location/

HOURS OF OPERATION: Doors open at 4pm each day and music usually begins around 6 or 7 pm

MUSIC CALENDAR: http://www.sohosb.com/calendar/   In case you'd like to schedule your visit to include some live music AND Art!

Some photos of new pieces:

 the Phoenix insists on posting sideways (please tilt head to the right)

Gearing up for Art Show At SOHO in Santa Barbara!

June 27th I will be delivering and hanging the newest body of work to turn out of the creative factory that is my home. :)
still on this journey of  researching and being fascinated time and again by sacred geometry.  I just can not get enough! Their is so much meaning being communicated by these images."Playing" with them to see what happens is my favorite game these days.

 

Athena is Finished!

All she needs is a frame.

 

Womb of Symbolic Creation

The Cosmos was formed according to and upon the basis of laws which are expressed as music, arithmetic and geometry, they bring about harmony, order and balance.”   -Edgar Cayce

 (above Maha "great" Sri Yantra by Tobie, owned by his holiness Maharana Swarupananda Shividas Giri)

The Yantra-

A tool for meditation, the Yantra is a potent and dynamic scared symbol representing the different aspects of divinity.  The Yantras interlocking triangles represent evolution and involution of the cosmos, a womb of symbolic creation.

Athena and Four Bodies

The owl

-Symbol of acute awareness, the bird of crafty skill that accompanies Athena (greek goddess of civilization) and of the stunning power of death…the powers of death are also the powers of transformation.

- Early connections of the owl to feminine fertility and regeneration.

-The depth of the owl’s wisdom includes not only the ability to bring what is dark into the light, but also the ability to live in the dark itself

The four bodies

Filters through which we experience all things…each have a different purpose, quality and each is a perfect map to the treasure of our god-self

1)      Physical – carnal body  (carriage body)

2)      Emotional-natural body (horse body)

3)      Mental-spiritual body (driver body)

4)      Spiritual-divine body (Master, I, Consciousness, will)

each purple outline around the owl represents the four bodies...

finished painting to come...

Investigation of the Sefirot

I've missed you! Thank you for checking in to see what's been brewing in the creative zone de T.O.B.

 

Investigation of the Sefirot

Note: I will use the word”God” in this post/exploration. Please don’t get hung up on it. Apply what works for you/your beliefs in place of that word, “Creator”, “infinite”, “Oneness”, “Lord”, “Jesus”, “Buddha”, “Kali”, “Shiva”, “Almighty”, “Dog”, whatever resonates….

“…when we generate good words, kind thoughts and daring deeds in defense of truth and justice, we vitalize the world of the Sefirot and fasten our soul to the tree of life.”

The Sefirot in short can be described as:

-10 Emanations through which God reveals itself and continuously creates both the physical realm and the chain of higher metaphysical realms. A dynamic chain that channels the divine energy downward to our worlds…this energy source sustains and nurtures us.

-the 10 manifestations of the infinite, 10 aspects of the divine personality, the mystery of faith known as the tree of life – a blueprint for the inner workings of god, the universe, and the soul

-Ezekiel, a mystic among mystics, a visionary and prophet to his people, brought knowledge of the Sefirot from the divine to his people (that would be us)

I have illustrated a diagram which gives brief description of each Sefirah.

 

The Serpent

-You’ll notice in the images below that I have chosen a serpent to represent the lightning that illuminates the Sefirot.

- The serpent…it hears through its skin and is particularly sensitive to low frequency vibrations and trembling of the earth, linking it with secret, subterranean, oracular mysteries of knowledge… the snake withdraws to shed its skin, signifying renewal, rebirth and immortality.

Lightning

-Signifies transformation, enlightenment, and the raw powers of nature.

-the ten ineffable sefirot have the appearance of the lightning flash…to mean the sefirot are luminescent or that they can only be seen for an instant, like a flash of lightning…the emanation of the sefirot as well as the continual descent of divine forces through the tree of life in zigzag pattern like lightning..

from the investigation came the following bodies of work (some in process still...)

work station

resources cited:

-a book of symbols, by Taschen publications

-Kabbalah, key to your inner power by E.C Prophet

An Emotional Landscape for Fellow Fiend

A fellow friend, a person led to cohabit a special space of my life and in my heart, has expressed, for quite some time, a desire to commission a piece of art, made at the hands of the tee-O-bee.

Tobie put this friend to the task of a phone interview inquiring as to Fellow Friend's recent attraction to a certain palate of color, and a rant of questions designed to guide me towards an inspiration of perfect proportions...an Emotional Landscape!

Though this dear fellow friend expressed an interest in bright colors,  yellows, oranges, warmth, this is not what came into manifestation. Something else emerged...

Fellow friend is Ryan the Physical Therapist. Her life previous to this new position was quite a journey to which I have been privy for only some short years.  Various careers, copious amounts of study and self discipline, great sacrifices, and a desire to give to the greater good of humanity. This is Ryan. she is deep, sensitive, loving, graceful, feminine, beautiful, intelligent, at times conflicted and frustrated, other times victorious and blisfully full of fun. This is Ryan.

I will never forget visiting her at PT school and her being excited to take me to the cadaver laboratory where she was studying the human form with scalpel and latex gloves. Timid to follow her into the laboratory, I was surprised at how fascinating it really was. I imagined DaVinci and his tediously morbid study of human anatomy and very detailed drawings of his accounts...

This painting is for you Ry. It is a story of you, of all women and human beings. It is ethereal, embodied, Venus in the half shell. The surrounding environment is very aquatic, embryonic and fluid - Feminine. the figure itself, emerged in the waters, appears with warmer tones, naked, exposed and pure.This composed with various symbols of the tree which represents countless things, but in this case more along the lines of representing our connectedness to family, nature and life and the planet  and also representing the veins and arteries within our physical bodies in which the life force of blood travels through us. Birds representing our fleeting thoughts, troubles, hopes, desires, dreams,etc. Crows and Ravens in particular are like dark angels come to set the balance of the natural order. They are known by the Pacific Northwest Indians to be ministers of veiled mysteries.

So this painting is a small piece, a small reflection and expression of my fellow friend. I wish you all the best on your journey Ry, and look forward to witnessing the miricle of your life, as your buddy for a long time!

XXX

Tobie