HOW'S YOUR MONKEY?

Wow. I have so much going on which is great as long as I keep organized, centered and CLEAR. Before I post about two free and open to the public presentations that I have scheduled this month I want to write about something that whacked me (again) right in the head/mind yesterday.

MONKEY MIND

The monkey mind (kapicitta) is a term sometimes used by the Buddha to describe the agitated, easily distracted and incessantly moving behaviour of ordinary human consciousness (Ja.III,148; V,445). Once he observed: ‘Just as a monkey swinging through the trees grabs one branch and lets it go only to seize another, so too, that which is called thought, mind or consciousness arises and disappears continually both day and night.’ (S.II,95). 

I don't know how many times I have told people about the therapeutic aspects of making art in nature, specifically mandalas. For me and for just about every person that I have brought out into nature to create, the process frees the mind of useless chatter. Gathering objects, clearing space and constructing art focuses and clears the mind. You are placed IN the environment, IN the creative flow and IN the NOW. There is no time, there is simply space.

Yesterday I made an afternoon visit to Massasoit State Park with my four legged foraging buddy Sr. Benjito. I have been there before but am not very familiar with the trails. I printed a map before leaving the house but we stuck to the main road and nearby side paths. I wanted to check out the landing area at the far pond and if I had the time, make some EnviroArt.

I am a person that notices things, especially thoughts. (The first step is to NOTICE THEM.) Sometimes I am in better control of my thinking but lately I have been doing way too much multi-tasking and bouncing from topic to task to thought to "to do" list to ARGH! It has been as if my mind has been "Running on Dunkin's" caffeine. (An appropriate reference as today is National Donut Day.)

(How do people live like this? I really don't know how they add radio and tv and YAHOO news and FB trending to their already over stimmed minds. No wonder people are so stressed out and on meds.) Anyway...

Lately I haven't given myself enough nature time and my Monkey Mind has been gaining control. As we walked to the landing I recognized that my thoughts were not on where I was at all. I had driven over 20 minutes to this beautiful park but my mind was  NOT THERE. We walked over 30 minutes to the landing and I was thinking all the way. Oh such a busy mind.

When we got to the pond I said out loud, "I am so out of practice." I stopped, sat myself down on a bench and looked out over the water. "Relax, take the time, BE here."

I listened to the birds and the leaves rustling in the trees. "How did I stay away so long?"

WRONG QUESTION. The response to that question would have had my mind busy for hours. Don't ask, Don't tell. Just BE quiet.

I secured the dog and kicked around in the the pine needles noticing and observing the things that were lying on the forest floor. I picked up a pine branch, snapped it and held it to my nose. The scent of the sappy wood was intoxicating and nothing like any commercial product ever invented. It was and is REAL PINE. I floated into childhood memories. I noticed the shapes of the different varieties of cones on the ground and broken sticks and branches and.... I bent down to pick up the ones that spoke to me.  Before I knew it I had cleared a space and began to construct an earth mandala. It took quite awhile before I even noticed that my monkey had simply and easily disappeared. POOF! Like magic he had VANISHED. My mind did not wander to any thought other than the ART at hand; the colors, shapes, aromas and textures of the materials and where to place them. I was in blissful peace.

The sun was lowering in the sky evidenced by the shadows on the mandala so I knew we needed to start hiking to the parking lot. I shot a few final photos, unhooked the dog and began the walk back and... HELLO MONKEY - HE'S BACK! Ah but I was in far better control this time. I could consciously brush him aside and return to the sensations of the breeze and sun on my skin and sounds around me. I needed to this this over and over and over again. When you condition yourself out of the NOW it takes practice to get back in. The first step is... to notice.

What about you? How's your Monkey? Do you think he needs a vacation from your mind? YES! Do you need some help centering and focusing? I invite you to go to my website GETIN2NATURE.COM and to the MEETUP GROUP group and join for free (if you just want to be on a mailing list send me a mail) and take an EnviroArt workshop. It will do you good. Then go out on your own and leave your Monkey at home.

PATRICIA’S UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS

Free and Open to the Public

---

June 9th – 6:30 pm – Quest House – Easton, MA

“Making Mandalas in the Wild”

Moss is not just moss and pine cones are not just pine cones. To an EcoArtist they are paints and textures to be skillfully combined in an organic piece of earth art. Join Patt Gilmore for a photographic tour and presentation of nature mandalas. From North to South America these images are sure to inspire you to get outside and have fun creating.

Patricia is an environmental artist and therapist that works internationally. Her photographs have appeared in national art exhibitions. In 2014 she created the first Ames Mansion mandala in Easton. Her site specific land art is scattered throughout the USA and beyond.

---

June 27 – 3 pm – Borderland State Park – Easton, MA

“Sticks & Cones on Paving Stones

Learn about the fun and inventive process behind the making of the very first Ames Mansion Mandala in the fall of 2014. The 6 foot nature art installation was created for the 12th annual Blanche Ames National Art Exhibition and almost all of the elements of design were found right at Borderland State Park.

The woods and trails hold so many colors and textures. After the presentation you are invited to join Patricia on a short trail walk where she will point out many of nature’s paints that work really well in creating earth art.

Patricia Gilmore is a local environmental artist that works internationally. Her site specific land art is scattered throughout New England and beyond. Recently she returned from making and photographing nature mandalas in South America. Several images of her earth art creations can be found in her ISSUU book “Nature Mandalas within an Urban Landscape.”

LEAD YOUR CHILDREN

As you know I am passionate about connecting people back into nature. I am especially concerned about adults. That right, ADULTS. Adults are the leaders of the community and the teachers in our schools, the parents and caregivers of our children, the heads of the family. You can enroll kids in programs which is wonderful (if they exist in your community) but becoming the personal leader and role model for your own children or grandchildren is even better. First you need to reconnect. The rest will follow naturally (no pun intended). When was the last time you played and made art in the woods? Let me guide you.

When you get back out foraging and creating in the woods or beachcombing on the shores you will become revitalized and more alive. Creating art in nature is energizing, therapeutic and gives you a huge healthy dose of VITAMIN "N".

AN ENCHANTING PATH @ BORDERLAND

Here is a wonderful interview with Richard Louv, author of The Nature Principle, Last Child in the Woods, The Web of Life and other books. Louv shares a hopeful message for every area of life from more productive workplaces, to better classroom learning and healing of our nature-starved spirits..

Subscribe to this blog to keep abreast of UPCOMING WORKSHOPS, PRESENTATIONS, DEMONSTRATIONS and ADULT ECO THERAPY DAYS.

Also visit and LIKE, SHARE and INVITE YOUR FRIENDS to the FACEBOOK PAGE,

Check back often and LET'S GET GOING >>> OUTSIDE.

Don't delay. New England schedules are being created NOW.

DID THE PATRIOTS MAKE ME HOMESICK?

CONGRATULATIONS PATS - WELL DONE :) The New England Patriots won another Super Bowl last night. I caught the game at a local watering hole here in San Telmo. I am still searching for my physical voice this morning.

I have been busy making mandalas and playing in the few natural spaces here in the area. In just two days I head off to Uruguay for a week. I am hoping for great weather as the last few times I have visited things were pretty rained out, such as roads! There is a town on the coast named Piriapolis with a big hill called the Cerro San Antonio. I hope to climb up it. I will tell you of the legend in a future post. Wish me some dry days to get to the top. In the meantime, here are some pretty little mandalas made on the costanera sur here in Buenos Aires. I have also entered them in the NATURE GALLERY page (link in the right side bar).

EUCALYPTUS LEAVES & SYCAMORE SEED PODS

Below one of the elements I happily found were leaves from the Tulip Tree. The first time I knowingly encountered a tulip tree was at Borderland State Park in Easton, MA where I created the seven foot mandala art installation last fall. There's one tree on the main trail by the farm house and another by the Ames Mansion. Check them out if you live nearby. Bring snowshoes or cross country skis. Actually you better wait. It is s deciduous tree. You would have a hard time finding the trees without their distinctive leaves or tulip like flowers. 

 

I admit that I have been - hmmm - not sure if this is the correct word or not - HOMESICK for my native New England woods but in all practicality they are under snow and more is on the way. Please hold up the fort for me and watch your back. Warm up those muscles before and after you shovel!

I will be back soon, after the melt!

Need some help with that back? Check out my other blog for my private practice and workshops. This is a post to help you with that back spasm. Click HERE.

Thanks for stopping by! Hasta Pronto - Until Soon.

FINAL CHANCES

Last Saturday night was the opening reception of the 12th Annual Blanch Ames National Art Exhibition at the Ames Mansion on the property of Borderland State Park in Easton MA.  Oh what a splendid evening.  The artwork displayed was simply awe inspiring.  The paintings, sculpture, photography, monoprints and more demonstrated a very high caliber of talent and professionalism. The curators did an astounding job pulling it all together and I was truly impressed by how the show was hung in the library.  The music, noshes and champagne flowed and I was blessed to have some lovely friends attend.  I really do consider myself quite honored to have one of my photographs chosen to be among the 53 juried-in pieces from 432 entries spanning the nation.  My only regret is that I do not have many clear photos of the evening to share.  I was happily busy that night.

THE AMES MANSION MANDALA

SPRUCED UP WITH TEA LIGHTS AND GOLDENROD

The show ends this coming Saturday, October 4th.  The artwork will be picked up, temporary walls taken down and the Ames Mansion Mandala will be disassembled and its elements put back into nature.

I want to thank everyone for helping me gather and forage and for contributing every which way to the positive energy in Letting Nature and Art Re-Create You.

If you have not seen the show yet you have limited time (FINAL CHANCES) so don't delay.  You only have today from 11-3pm and from Tuesday to Saturday to view it (closed Monday).  Much of the artwork is for sale.  Inquire within.

 

I am very blessed indeed.  What's next?  I am packing for Buenos Aires, Argentina.  The city awaits.  But don't worry.  My mandala creation will not cease.  I am on it!

READY TO CELEBRATE - ALMOST

Monday and Tuesday I placed item after item, circle by circle together to create the very first Ames Mansion Mandala.  It is a round 7' nature mandala.  With the exception of some battery operated tea lights and flowers that will be added for the evening Opening Reception this Saturday night it is complete.

Here it is - a grand collage of moss, Queen Anne's lace, hemlock leaves/ferns and pine cones, hickory nut husks, pokeweed, feathers, pine needles and various barks and sticks.  I am happy.

TUESDAY - FINISHED

MONDAY -  IN PROCESS

Come join us for the Opening Reception of the 12th Annual Blanche Ames National Art Exhibition.  Fiftyone artists are being represented inside this historic mansion's famous library.  Come toast all of them and the organizers.  Saluti!

Saturday Sept 20th

7pm - 10 pm

Ames Mansion

Borderland State Park

257 Massapoag Ave.

North Easton, MA

NOT QUITE DUST

Tomorrow is INSTALLATION DAY.  I will be at Borderland State Park in Easton, MA creating a large nature mandala at the mansion entrance.  Stop by and say hello.

On another note, last week while hiking the Granite Hills Trail Loop Lower with Sr. Benjito I stopped to see what was left of OAK FLAME created on July 2nd.  As the grove is quite sheltered there still were pieces in tact.

ASHES TO ASHES...

DUST TO DUST.  Well not quite yet.

As the big mandala at the Ames Mansion needs to last 3 weeks (the duration of the art exhibit inside) I will need to wire some things down.  Wish me luck.

Adelante >>>>>

AN ENCHANTING CHALLENGE

In my last post I alluded to some exciting news and this is it.  A couple of months ago I submitted three of my photos of my earth art mandalas to a national juried art show.  Artists were invited from across the USA to submit their work.  In the final selection 51 artists from 14 states were chosen and I have the honor of being one of them.

My art indeed is different.  It is transient. The wind or waves take it away.  I capture the compositions with digital images.  My art is made in two mediums; 3D earth art and photography. On the left is the 8 x 10 photograph selected for the show.

If being chosen to display wasn't honor enough I was also asked to create an installation outside the mansion entrance.  The mansion is located within one of my favorite state parks here in Massachusetts.  It is a park that I frequent several times a week during spring and summer.

I have been busy foraging.  There is an opportunity here to go big and I am taking it.  I have designed a 7' mandala to be constructed using foraged materials from all around the park.  I have made a template so as to get a better grip on types of materials and quantities needed.  Friends have helped me forage and I am out with Sr. Benjito several times a week gathering things during our trail walks. He loves it and of course I do.  This truly is a project made of love.

There are some challenges on this one though.  I have been asked to create a piece that will stay in tact for the duration of the show (three weeks).  Mother Nature can you really hold off the rain and wind for three weeks?  It has been so dry here that as an artist I would make that request but as a nature lover I simply can't.  We need the rain. So yes, I have been challenged in this design.  No stones can be used near the mansion and nothing edible.  The deer, squirrels, raccoons and birds could do a lot of damage to a 7' nature mandala.  Things will need to be wired and weighted down and any template used will need drainage holes.  Construction will be done atop the cobblestone entrance and not on the forest floor.  And at the end of the show on October 4th all trace of the installation will be removed with the foraged items returned to the woods.

I am challenged but it is an enchanting challenge.  All will work out divinely.  Do I know what the piece will look like in the end?  Absolutely not.  I have a good plan but...  I will spread out my foraged paint box of colors and textures and let the nature muse use my hands and whisper directions in my ears - again.

Materials Photos:  Queen Anne's Lace, Goldenrod, Birch Bark

SMALL TREASURES

Life has been a bit busy while developing online courses this summer but I always get myself out into the woods several times a week to refresh and recharge.  (See one of my favorite comics below).  Yesterday I took my faithful four legged friend with me to Borderland State Park in Easton, MA for a lovely romp down the trails.   Along the way I spotted some moss that had been uprooted and remembered a great large flat boulder further along the trail.  I tethered my companion and foraged for finishing touches. He's quite used to my nature art stops and patiently waits for me to finish.

BORDERLAND STATE PARK, NORTH EASTON, MA - WEST END TRAIL

I had only three feathers.  A beetle, since passed volunteered his spirit to be included.  The mandala is little and beautiful, a small treasure of treasures.

Many acorns are on the ground.  I am keeping an eye out for hickory and beechnuts.  The red and black wild raspberries are a plenty.  ENJOY!

I will be writing about a bit of exciting news a little later in the month.  A large mandala installation is in the works.  Plan on visiting it if you are in the Easton area.  In fact maybe you want to help me forage. :)


For now I leave you with this picture.  I will translate it for you.

What are you doing?

I am using my tablet.

What model is it?

It is called the sky.

Does it have good applications?

Oh yes!  It has the sun, the moon, clouds and stars...

How long does the battery last?

 A long time.  I never have to recharge it.  It recharges me.

.

RING OF OAK FIRE

Saturday held 83F weather, sunny skies and a for me a four hour hike (art time included).  Yes, summer is here and the foraging is getting better and better.  Many more elements for nature mandalas are along the paths.

LOCATION:  GRANITE HILLS LOWER LOOP - BORDERLAND STATE PARK - EASTON, MA

This is a piece I did at Borderland State Park in Easton, MA off of Granite Hills Trail Lower Loop.  I cleared an area in an oak grove and let my little fluffy companion relax.  I sat on the ground, emptied my foraged materials bag out on the forest floor and let Spirit guide my hands.  This mandala took a little while to show itself.  I wasn't too sure about it but then as I was cleaning up I saw an oak branch that I had collected earlier.  There beckoning was the finishing touch - a ring of oak fire.  The energy was complete.

Would you like to attend a *MANDALA*EARTH*ART* workshop?  Come and play this summer.  Email me at gilmore444 @ gmail.com.

ENJOY!  Patt

SUMMER IS HERE!

We have been blessed with beautiful weather here in New England.  In the last week I have visited six state parks and two wildlife management areas.  Often I bring my trusty four legged friend along for company.  Meet Benjie.  I call him various names but that is the "official" one.  He is very good at patiently waiting while Mother Nature guides me in the creation of yet another mandala.

LOCATION:  QUIET WOODS TRAIL - BORDERLAND STATE PARK - EASTON, MA

This mandala was created on Quiet Woods trail in Borderland State Park in Easton, MA.  The lichen was especially vibrant in color.

LOCATION:  BY THE DAM - AMES NORWELL STATE PARK - ABINGTON, MA

This mandala was created on top of a beautiful soft nature carpet of moss.  The breeze made designing a bit tricky so I needed to weight the holly leaves down with stones.  It is located near the dam in Ames Norwell State Park in Abington, MA

Here is an easy way to create a circle if you forget your string.

Happy Solstice. Get outside and play and watch out for the poison ivy.

SCOUTING SPACES

This last week we had two glorious days of sunshine and spirit.  I have been out scouting local nature spaces for future *MANDALA*EARTH*ART* workshops.  Top wooded choices for this season are in Norton and in Easton, MA.  Each week the terrain changes as new foliage emerges.  I have passed this area several times in the last three weeks not really noticing with my mandada eye but this week it POPPED right out at me.  I decided to move the leaves around and envision a 10 foot group mandala.  Will you be joining us to fill it in?  (See the space's photo at the end of this post.)

My mind has been very busy this week with several professional and personal projects in the mix.  What a relief it was to go scouting and take time to create.  Making mandalas is a wonderful form of meditation.  I recognized very clearly while creating this 3.5 foot spontaneous creation that all my personal concerns and busi-ness faded.  Nature focused me in the moment.

      LOCATION:  POND WALK TRAIL - BORDERLAND STATE PARK - EASTON, MA

It was a blessing find some white birch nearby.  This particular state park has very few white birch trees.  This beautiful mandala just grew and grew including the finishing touches of the lichen laden branches.

Earlier in the week at another location I found old corn stalks.  They are now gone as the fields have been freshly ploughed for this year's planting.  Each week brings new foraging materials to the surface.

LOCATION: EDWIN S. WILDER WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA - NORTON, MA

One thing that makes these nature mandalas so creative is the pallette.  Nature gives you her paints.  You can plan and scheme in your mind what you want to form but that rarely works.  You simply don't know what you will find on the spot.  Sometimes you are so surprised it delights you.  Mother Nature guides you with the spirit of fun and play.

This is the site in Norton.  Beautiful.

This is the site in Easton.  Help fill in it in.

Details of the next Nature Mandala workshop are coming soon. In the meantime, get out of the house, away from your electronics and feel the energy that comes from this beautiful natural world.  Until next time - PEACE.

Patt

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

What wonderful weather we are finally having in New England.   I have returned from Argentina and have been out romping in the woods whenever possible.  The Mother Earth connection is very strong right now.  She is asking for our help.  In reverence I have been creating springtime mandalas to honor her.  The energy within the mandala is absolutely amazing.  People stop and comment on their beauty and experience real physical sensations connecting to the energy of Mother Earth.  It is intensely powerful.  You too can experience the connection and energy.  You too can create a magical piece of Sacred Geometry.  Look for full and half day *Mandala*Earth*Art*  Workshops beginning next month.

Let Nature and Art Recreate You.

LOCATION:  MASSASOIT TRAIL - FREETOWN STATE PARK - FALL RIVER, MA

LOCATION:  POND WALK TRAIL - BORDERLAND STATE PARK - EASTON, MA

LOCATION:  LEACH POND - BORDERLAND STATE PARK - EASTON, MA