Change of Perspective

Turn the world on its side 

and you may see the world looking back at you.

Reflections in a mountain lake

tipped that way

reveals a totem pole of sorts.

I count six or more strange faces.

what do you see?

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

Bend

Bend

Bend down to touch

To make a closer observation

To make connection

To grow in relationship

With everything

Bend

Change your approach

To make things work

Let go of your need

To maintain control

of everything

Bend

It is a chance you take

True you might break

Hold on to love

Give yourself away

In everything

-------------------

Somehow I lost half of a

year of posting.

Oh well!

Starting again to try.

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

Pictures in Trees

 I believe that the natural world has a consciousness.

Sometimes it says hello!

And then sometimes I take it farther.

This is an image created on my phone.

Looking out the

window I snapped

this picture.

Thought I saw

a face,

so I drew a face below.

My camera has all

these filters,

so I added some to my

picture. The image at

the top is what I got.

I think my phone 

has a

consciousness.

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

If We Don't Stop

 

Sticks and Stones - Art of Play

If We Don't Stop

If we don't stop

From time to time

Pick up stones

And put them in a line

Then a circle

Or a pile

Or move'm around

For just a little while

If we don't stop

We're gonna break down

Take some time

Move some stones around

If we don't stop

And go down to the water

Take our sisters and brothers

Sons and daughters

And splash about

Or also swim

Just dip our toes

Or go all the way in

If we don't stop

We're going to get hurt

Lay yourself down

ride out in the surf

If we don't stop

And walk into the woods

And remember it's here

That it's also good

Hold a leaf

Watch a little bug

Find a big old tree

A give'r a big old hug

If we don't stop

We will end up alone

Because we can't know where we are

Until we find our way home

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

Moment #24

 California

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

The Skins We Wear

The Individual Next to Me

On this plane of existence

we are each a very colorful entity

all living in the same universe

no matter how far we are from one another

We impact each other 

The variety of skins we wear

disguise our true nature

The true nature cannot be described

It is felt none the less

It is a feeling of oneness

that both excites us and terrifies us at the same time

It is this emotional polarity 

that causes us to in one moment wage war

and in another risk our own life to save another

I will continue this thought later on.

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

 

Thought from a dead friend:

I do not think about you now

in the way you think of me

memories are not held here

they are broken open and set free

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

 

You Were

There are moments

where you are not who you are,

and you can accept that it may just be the moment;

but there is the possibility that you never were who you thought you were.
 

Nature Talks

 Nature is filled with form and texture that I see stories or image in. I see it from afar but mostly I like to get very close so you can touch it.

Dead trees speak of times past and always seem to be trying to direct me to something unseen. A tangle of old dry roots ripped from the ground and dried in the sun and wind reflect the       struggle they once took on to hold a truck up high into the sky 

 Old stumps take on the look of old magical creatures, frozen in time, or at least held in place until they are weathered away.

Water leaves its story in the rock. slowly carving away taking hundreds of years to get it all down. Then in another hundred or so totally rewriting or painting or carving it away into another chapter. 

All these lines and textures are from my summer vacation to Colorado and Utah, August 2016


Jeff Taking it in.

Whisper

Flowing between every water molecule

Moving down the mountain to the sea,

Lying deep within the folds of every new bloom

Pushing up through the blanket of leaves on the forests floor,

And held fast within the layers of time and energy

From the core to the bark as each tree rises

There are fragments of stars

That whisper to all life

We are here because of a Love

That has no limitation

From a creator who expects from us

Only to pass on the star fragment's secret whisper

“You are loved”

                                                                                                   

 
 
I do not know this to be true

It is only felt to be voiced

For I am not here to know,

But to feel.






Jeff listening
 

the place

I have seen the place

where I am everything.

Where I have no need of a name

to define my being.

For here

I have shed the self

and I am content

to be part of all the moving.

With in a fragment of time

I am but a particle

moved by wind and rain.

In my moment

I will dance and then fall.

The self I worked to be

released.

Somehow here

I am good with this.

----------------------------------------

Took these photos last summer on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. I did not even see the color spectrum until I was home and gazing at the photo. Notice how from the distance forward (in the above Photo) it goes from blue to purple to reds and then the yellow foreground.

I also find humor in writing about surendering individulizm in a blog that defines me as an individual.

Jeff diggin' it all

notion #12

These were once hidden

The roots of a tree up ended

Now exposed

Washed clean of the ground

That held it in place

And gave it life

Formed in the darkness of the earth

A shape created by the movement of growth

And resistance of the soil

It tells a story

Of the struggle to hold on

The need to keep changing direction

Find the path

Through the dark

Of least resistance

Entangled around one another

Holding on still

Exposed to the wind, rain, sun

And all kind of vermin

But still telling the story

Of the sculpting

Of the struggle

And the glory

Of living

-------------------------

Jeff Looking

notion #10

I imagine myself quite the being

but can I draw out of my body
Materials
to build a structure
that will not only support me physically
but will also provide me with sustenance?

no

I kneel before thee

sister, brother.

You are the teacher,
my guide.

I will watch the ways of the morning meadow,
marvel at the dew suspended
and know
that I am but a single drop
waiting to fall.
Waiting for my moment
to give myself
to the earth

for its good.

------------------------------------------------------------

These photos and thought were captured on an early morning walk at the Kirkwood Preserve in Willistown township, PA. Here is a link all about this place and how to find it if you are local.

http://www.wctrust.org/stewardship/PreserveManagement.htm

Jeff walking around thinking

Back from Vacation

This summer I traveled to the west, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, and Arizona. I got lots of ideas from the things I saw. I'll try and share them in the coming weeks. One of the things I saw was the hydrothermal features of Yellowstone's Caldera. These range from steam vents to geysers and thermal pools and hot springs.  All these features expel minerals an grow bacteria that create run off of amazing color. I took close up photos of these amazing landscapes. Upon returning home and dumping my photos into the computer I did some of my usual manipulation of the images, drawing into the photos using the smear effects. The amazing color and texture are the way the original creator made them I just took the pictures, close up. Here are a few of my touched photos.

 

crying out

Waters streaming out from the steam vents

Out of Fear

Created from a photo of pond scum.

run from the tree

Monmouth Hot springs photo (the only touched part is the tree and figure)

Okay, these are all a bit dark, It's what comes out. I just look into the photos and start moving the color, pulling and smearing.

Here's a link to facts about Yellowstone National Park. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/yellowstone-national-park-facts.html

Jeff vacationed out

Branching Out

Whenever I need something to reconnect me to the cosmos, a creator, a higher power, a god (whatever word you use) I look to the tree. The tree for me is the ultimate symbol that the creator moves with me, through me and beyond me. The tree reaches into the earth and draws its energy and at the same time reaches into the sky receiving and drawing what it needs from the sun and atmosphere. At the same time it provides a place for life of all kinds to dwell and flourish among its branches, its roots as well as with in its own body at times. The tree does all this care giving while filtering our air and contributing to keeping the earth cool.


I have been incorporating tree images into my art work for many years. I must admit I live with a certain amount of guilt for cutting down trees to make images of trees, but I chose the mediums and then the images came.


For me the strongest aspect of the tree symbolism is that of "reaching out to connect". From the ends of the roots deep in the ground up through the trunk, out the branches to the tips of the leaves the tree is a complete story of connection. As we stand back looking at the tree we feel the sun beating down and see the branches reaching out to connect with the energy coming from millions of miles away. For me the tree holds the whole story, I am here to connect, and I am just beginning to understand that, as is the world. It is a little overwhelming and leads to more questions. So this becomes another topic for future thoughts (blogs). For now pay attention to trees. They will speak to you, but you're going to need to be connected to hear.

The tree wall
was an attempt to give an
office space an organic feel.







Wood Cut Titled "Reach"
This couple from my swathe collection are wrapped in a spiritual energy that I feel (I see) moving between all creatures.


Questions on "Reaching out to connect":

• Is the Internet real connection?
• How do I connect with out the Internet?
• How do I connect and not loose my sense of self?
• Do we all have to be talking to each other to be connected?
• Must we all be on the same page to be connected?
• Does true connection always need a spiritual presence?
• Which comes first connection or love? Do we need to love before we can connect or will connections lead us to love?
• I got more! But I'll stop for now.
  

Jeff can you hear me now?

Links to articals on the spirituality of trees

Trees are earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven - Rabindranath Tagore
http://academic.evergreen.edu/n/nadkarnn/cv/pdfs_new/Nadkarni;%20Dharma%20News%202002.pdf

Trees at my window, window tree

My sash is lowered when night comes on;

But let there never be a curtian drawn

Between you and me. - Robert Frost

http://www.uufhc.net/s001105.html

To see more of my tree images visit the link to my sculpture page. http://www.jkcwood.com/Sculpture.html

First look at the edge

I crept to the edge

and looked over

and in that moment knew

the creator had dreamed me,

to fly.

I photographed this amazing creature last fall in northern New Jersey. The first thought that came to me when I looked at the photo is what I wrote above. It got me thinking about edges again. Yes I've thought about edges before. In fact we all do. It's not always conscious. The edge is that place or point in time where we have to make a choice.

I find in my woodworking I am dealing with edges on many levels. Sometimes I am knocking down edges to make a item more comfortable to touch. Other times I am multiplying edges to create more interesting detail. Often in my more abstract work I will draw a line (an edge) on the wood to cut with a saw. The grain of the wood will often try to walk the blade in a different direction than down my line. I have to then decide how much do I fight for control or do I let the blade come and go from the line. Sometimes I have let in flow and found I really like what came out. Other times I have fought for the edge I defined. The problem with fighting is that it creates more friction and that means a hotter blade and burns in the wood that then require time for sanding to heal the wounds. See any parallels to life here? The edge can be a place of conflict or joy. Although it is not always an either or situation.

As I see the world, there are those of us drawn to edges and those of us who would like to avoid them altogether. I may reach an edge before you do and leave you wondering why I am holding back. These edges are physical, emotional, intellectual as well as social and I feel the place where they all come together might be spiritual.

I think at this point I am going to make "edges" one of those returning focus point in my blog. From time to time I will try and share more of my thinking on this topic. For now I leave you with the link below to one of my favorite stories "Jumping Mouse" By Hyemeyohsts Storm. See if this story speaks to you of edges.

http://www.hyemeyohstsstorm.com/sevenarrows/emouse2.htm

Please let me know if the link does not work.

Jeff on edge

Feeling on an Image

I had to lay on my back to get this shot of an aging flower out in a field in Wisconsin last summer. Below is one of the stories (thought or moment) I draw from the image.

Now’s To Come

In the time that is now
I move closer to the earth
In the time that was once called now
I stood so tall
Face held open to the sun
I had dreams then
The butterflies brought them to me

They were whispers
Dreams are whispers
Whispers of the goings on in other places
Places I could not see
But could only imagine
The butterflies said
It is all playing out
Going the way it goes
It is well, nearer to wonderful
And you are a part of it
It cannot be without you

My dream that is left
Is that in the time to come
That will be called now
When it comes and I reach the dirt
All the whispers of the butterflies
Will be clear
In that now

Jeff in the meadow

Early Morning Walk in the Snow

I got up early one morning over the holiday break and took a walk with my camera. This is what I saw. To the purists I am sorry. I have messed with the color on some of these. I cannot keep myself from altering creation. Not sure if that's a human trait or some kind of god complex. I cannot be stopped. Once you embrace the power given to you by the computer there is no turning back, I have turned apples orange and oranges purple. Enjoy!

Okay these are not that harsh. Which do you like, original or blue?

"The Tree of Us" Hold on!

Left out to brave the elements. Dreaming of summer picnic

High atop a church was a place that seemed to see.

I like to look close at objects. There are so many little worlds

we do not see everyday. Places where others dwell. I like to think about and observe the moments in these places. In the winter they are very still.

No great insight just having fun with the macro.

I call this "Makes My Feet Cold". At this point in my

walk it was time to head home for the sake of my feet.

Jeff walking by