MORE COMING SOON

 

I never met Mai Vo-Dinh in this lifetime, yet I know him well. In One With The Brush*, Matt Lee points out that legacy is a living thing and that is a statement of utmost honesty.

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I often picture the lineage as a tree, with Mai at the roots, Ed in the trunk and myself on the top, beaming forth the energetic aura; while everyone influenced big or small by the story, becomes a branch, twig or bud on the many offshoots that have grown on the journey. reaching deep in the Earth and stretching forth into the sky. It doesn't matter the role we play here; each individual makes up a part of the greater whole, together weaving a glorious tapestry, a part of something much greater.

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I am quoted in One with The Brush as saying "Painting is like crawling inside yourself and dragging something out." I wish to expand on this. While this quote is important and I don't wish to change what was said in the moment, painting and creating art is so much more. I stand, feet on the ground, head to the sky...a representative of the lineage tree and act as a conduit of energy to capture a moment in time.

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Creating for me is never a violent or brutal act, but soft and sensual, a dance with the cosmos that always reflects back exactly who I am in the moment of its birth and brings forth the energy of being radically alive.

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Lineage and legacy grow and changes with each carrier. The original teachings of Mai Vo-Dinh live on through Ed and me, yet each of us has brought our unique flavor to the mix with the core root being grounded and centered in mindfulness.

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Ed has led students to discover their own voices in painting while I have brought expanded ritualism and healing to my work. At the moment, I am painting, writing and creating workshops, etc. to help others on their path to wholeness and expanded living. Ed and I will be exploring what comes next, how we independently carry the lineage forward and how we come together and shine as a pair.

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THE TAO OF THE MOUNTAIN PATH

By: Jennifer Shoemaker

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The painting that can be fully explained is not the painting

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The painting that can be named is not the true work

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The true art is titled, yet not titled, ever evolving, ever flowing, changing with each viewer​

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In the desire to name and explain, you lose the true meaning,

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The mystery is the doorway to understanding

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To become attached to the work is its undoing

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To remain unattached, free and open allows the breath to enter the being that is the soul of the art 

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The vessel that allows the art to come alive must sacrifice what is for what may be.

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*copies of the chapbook One With The Brush are available, email jen@themntnpath for details

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