11 books that have been game changers on a spiritual journey

Leonardo da Vinci once said: Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, and even after 500 this rule is still widely used in design and advertising. It may sound a bit contradictory, but simple things often require much more brain power to create than the most complicated stuff.

A  Year of Watercolours

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zmno8L7FGVY

Contact information has gone digital but that doesn’t mean the traditional business card no longer serves a purpose. Business cards these days are used to make an impression. They can be great marketing tools for your services and a memorable ‘card’ can lead to new opportunities!

Studying fine art and interior design in her home city of New York, Lulu relocated to Paris to study tromp l’oeil which later she transferred to fabrics. Lulu says “Whether I am traveling or at home in my backyard, my eyes are constantly seeking the colour, uniqueness, and originality of my surroundings. I paint to capture moments where life has jumped out at me, bringing inspiration to my sight and soul.

These beautiful photographic patterns are constructed from daily snapshots that Lisa A Frank takes while walking in the woods, then the images are “sewn” together through extreme image layering and masking.

Mukovnin Eugeny [Муковнин Евгений Владимирович] Russian painter, was born in the city of Voronezh, Russia in 1976. 
His works can be found in the collections of "Stroitransgas and Rosenergoatom" companies, as well as in private collections in the USA, Japan and France.

  The Google Art Project is a collaboration with museums large and small, classic and modern, world-renowned and community-based from over 40 countries. Together they have contributed more than 40,000 high-resolution images of works ranging from oil on canvas to sculpture and furniture.

A visit to a museum is most often characterized by a significant amount of visual observation, a good dose of walking at a leisurely pace down white-washed walls and an extended time period filled with silence or something close to it. 

A peek inside the sketchbooks of Michigan based artist and illustrator Pat Perry reveals a fascinating world where the natural world seems on a direct collision course with the urban. Silhouettes of people and wildlife are filled with rich, textured stories that seem to be representative of dreamlike memories. 

Technology is just like anything else. Cooking, Oil Painting, Fixing a Car Engine, and Building IKEA Furniture.  Some things come natural to us and some don’t.   So if we are really going to help others learn something, it won’t start with a set of instructions or a training session. It will start with a conversation, empathy, and the time to figure out how to best deliver the help.  Relationships. This might only take a few minutes, but it will be worth more than any of the other time spent.

Of the 9,000+ photos submitted, these were our judges' favourites.

What an invisible dog knows about the tenacity of the human spirit and the healing power of art. Many great artists have in common the ability to transform trauma into creative power. Among them is the great French Post-Impressionist painter Paul Gauguin (June 7, 1848–May 8, 1903), whose work influenced such legendary artists as Picasso and Matisse.

Science and nature can be such a wealth of pattern inspiration. These vivid psychedelic paintings by Chicago based artist Bruce Riley caught our eye recently. His experimental technique of poured paint and dripped resin create surreal abstract formations and pattern structures. Riley explains ‘I’ve made up my own technique for creating the paintings. Accident and mistake are probably my most important tools.’ 

Artist Statement

“Painting for me is an undertaking of appreciation and inquiry. It is a means by which to engage the beauty and mystery of visual experience in an ongoing dialogue. 

" The Botanist's Daughter " 

Christian Schloe is a talented Austrian artist whose work includes digital art, painting, illustration, and photography.
As he says: "Anything can happen in a world that holds such Beauty."

Jim Hoffman is based in Spain and has been specializing in macro photography for the past couple of years, mostly taking images of insects. 

The work of stylist/designer Lula Aldunate, aka Lulaland. Her series of mandalas, created with vintage fabrics and china, absolutely blows the mind.

“Sometimes I just need to do something beautiful, so I take what I have around and make things like this…”

Radial symmetry is symmetrical designs in three, four, five, six or more rays. The best known examples come to us from nature : what are the snowflakes if not astonishing constructions radial symmetry!

"Vincent van Gogh in My Life & Love Are One (public library) — a lovely slim 1976 book that traces “the magic and melancholy of Vincent van Gogh” by culling his thoughts on love, art, and turmoil from his letters to his brother Theo.

"Love is my reference and thats the point of this art. I have to express this love to you! These are 'roses from my soul' and if you see beauty and wonderment in my paintings, that is because you can see part of yourself, like in a mirror you see something you know...something totally cosmic is reflected back at you."

Stephen Meakin - artist - teacher - antiquarian - independent researcher