slow down and engage.

From umma.umaine.edu

the artist, abe ajay engaged with life, and created this piece, "construction #689" in 1989. today i got the opportunity to sit with it for thirty minutes. i was in a gallery at the university of maine museum of art, there were many other pieces i could have spent my half hour with, such as 

"triumph of the weed" gabor peterdi

dominic chavez

"afternoon swimming" by david hockney



carlo pittore



"eight bells" by winslow homer








but the one that caught my eye and my heart was abe's. again:

i wasn't exactly sure what it was that was calling me at first. there was something familiar about the piece that reminded me of louise nevelson's work... 



but there was also much more that was pulling me towards it. making me want to touch it. after sitting with it for awhile, we were asked to do a couple of activities to deepen our experience with the piece. first, a diamante style poem:

door

copper, wood

opening, entering, passing

going through is simple

attending, shading, collecting

warm, varied

keyhole

then, haiku:

a portal, a gate                                                             falling to winter

enter simplicity now                                                   the keyhole mixed media

follow the lines there.                                                 the wood unfinished.

i'm just wondering... how long has it been since you slowed down, and engaged? i felt a slow sigh of relief as i did this. as i spent my day talking with a friend. as i ate lunch in no rush. as i was encouraged to fall into the moment, and the art, and find myself there. and i was there. the keynote speaker told us of an activity where she has adults sit in front of  ONE painting in a gallery for TWO HOURS. what would you come up with if you sat for even HALF an hour? even for TEN MINUTES? i'm going to give this a try. i'll let you know what i find out... will you share your experience with us?