I Cherish The Day

I cherish the day when beauty and goodness is seen just as that. As opposed to naive, childish and stupid.

naive

/nʌɪˈiːv,nɑːˈiːv/

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adjective

1. (of a person or action) showing a lack of experience, wisdom, or judgement.

   "the rather naive young man had been totally misled"

   • (of a person) natural and unaffected; innocent.

     "Andy had a sweet, naive look when he smiled"

     Similar:

     innocent

     unsophisticated

     artless

     ingenuous

     inexperienced

     guileless

     unworldly

     childlike

     trusting

     trustful

     dewy-eyed

     starry-eyed

     wide-eyed

     fond

     simple

     natural

     unaffected

     unpretentious

     gullible

     credulous

     easily taken in

     easily deceived

     unsuspecting

     over-trusting

     over-trustful

     born yesterday

     unsuspicious

     deceivable

     dupable

     immature

     callow

     raw

     green

     as green as grass

     ignorant

     wet behind the ears

     Opposite:

     sophisticated

     disingenuous

     experienced

     worldly
   • of or denoting art produced in a style which deliberately rejects sophisticated artistic techniques and has a bold directness resembling a child's work, typically in bright colours with little or no perspective.

June 2021. Wageningen BBTHK show.

In search of Imperfect Beauty, 

June 2021, Wageningen BBTHK show

As an artist I am especially exposed and sensitive to that. I often see how being stern, cold, purely empirical, and ruled by reason is seen as better and more practical. And although, everyone admires creative and goodhearted dreamer, when it comes to support and encouragement most people turn off and pretend to blind, deaf and mute. Ask yourself, if your child choses to go to an art school as opposed to international business school or take accounting degree, do you react with celebration? Or is it worry that takes over your heart? We become uneasy about the fact that our child might have no experience in anything, lack wisdom, mental ability to push through life with success!

What I want to tell you today is that I see this very often. Good, soft spoken people are muted by others. Although, "Silence is gold and talk is silver", loud screamer always win over gentle and shy, polite people! The noise-makers are even seem as more attractive and nice! It hurts me that as much as we write books about goodness and how admirable it is to be giving and good, we teach our children how to treat others with respect and repay good deeds with good deeds, when we actually meet a giving and gentle person who only wants peace and create happiness, we take advantage and we overtake the floor. We mute this person's gentle spirit. We think that person to be naive, even stupid and helpless. We take advantage or want to take care of them, reform them to be different. Forgetting that person sees and knows everything that is happening. He/she is just too polite to rudely slap us into awareness. 

Ok I am going to stop now. But please remember! Practice what you preach! I get it, this world is not a romantic place. It is a cruel jungle where the strongest wins. The fittest survives. But lets remember to find some space in our hearts for something extraordinary! And cherish the day when beauty and goodness is seen just as that!

Communication

 I am sitting outside in my garden. I don't move nor speak nor sing. I listen. There is a tree and a rooftop that is particularly popular with birds. They sit there in the mornings and evenings, and sing. Every
time a bird sings, you can be sure that no matter how far the mate is, it will always reply. I sit motionlessly and carefully listen not to miss a reply. The bird that is close to me sings beautifully and after a second or two there is a faint reply from a distant far. This routine can continue for a long time and very often their songs grow more and more elaborate.

Face To Face, Wageningen, 2020

My morning meditation, living in that moment when a bird sings brought me to a conclusion. I know, you will say, "Ewa! You are not supposed to think when you meditate!" And yet! My most productive thinking is done while trying to meditate. The nothingness turns into philosophy. I think that is MY purpose of meditation. But going back to my thoughts about birds. They never leave things unspoken. They never ignore their mates call or question or warning. Why do we, humans do that? We ignore, we don't answer or hide what needs to be said? We as humans, the thinking kind, do it because we can. Heartlessly, we dismiss answering questions, calls, warnings, pleas of another human being because we like to exercise that power! Communication is power. And not communicating is even a greater power that we use to gag, imprison and destroy our mates. We can use communication, share it or withhold it.

Of all the animals on the planet we have a variety of ways of communication. We have eye contact, body language, writing, speaking, etc. etc., You know the rest. We, the humans, use it the least honestly. This is just little something to think about.

Stand face to face! Open your lines! Communicate! Especially now, that we have been confined to our homes, rooms, beds because of the restrictions! Use communication to start something good! To end what's poisonous! To create miracles! To Fix what has been broken! To entertain family and friends! To communicate! To COMMUNICATE! Or to do all these things at once!

Thank You For 2020. Welcome to 2021!

 As the New Year appears by our doorsteps i would like to thank everyone who helped and participated in my November 2020 exhibition. It was cut short due to the pandemic but It did happen. And that's the most important thing of all. Thank you all who commissioned my portraits as well as all of you who agreed to be my models and subjects. There would be no portraits without you. I hope that 2021 will bring more inspiration and more occasions to create and express my love for life and love for people! 

To see the portraits please click on the link below.

Portraits of 2020

And also here, https://photos.app.goo.gl/5LAS7e59smRWjwoAA

And as to my endless search for beauty, the search continues. I am awed every time I open my eyes! All these and more are for sale and hopefully will be available for views at the upcoming exhibition in February! Fingers crossed!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/YYjFWVrycp4HzDaC8

Imperfection

 Imperfection stands out almost immediately. Screams out, "I am here!" 

But embraced and adopted, tickles the soul. Because it is at the core of reality. 

Bound to happen. Born to be. The essence of love and life or maybe love for life. 

Irreplaceably one of a kind.

From the last circle to the last there is the same amount of love and attention invested. 

Embrace the imperfect, the mis-fire, mis-take. It was supposed to happen. 

Happened for a reason. 

Celebrate originality. Absorb being different. True. Real. Simple.

Rowan Berries at Wageningen Hoog, August 2020

The last circle is put on paper with a bit of sour note because the trip has reached the end. 

But then, the thrill is back as an idea for a new picture sparks in my head and heart.