Sometimes I think that drawing is enough. I haven't cut any new square mandalas since spring of 2022. I've just been drawing. The pencil drawings above, all 7 x 7 inches, on graph paper, were drawn between August and December of 2022. I may yet expand on them, cut them out, paint them. Perhaps. Perhaps the drawings are enough.
https://www.dougwestendorp.com/pencil-2020-22.html
https://www.dougwestendorp.com/pencil-2020-22.html
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Contemplative Art in Disquieting Times
Anything, visible or invisible, may be contemplated. However, some things tend to draw the contemplative eye more closely than others. My artwork, and this website, are created with this in mind, out of a meditative intention for all viewers. You will find here both visual work and poetry. It is not a commercial site, but a portfolio site, as well as a forum for community discussion.
Teninch four. 10 x 10 inch cut paper mounted on pinewood panel. 2021
The drawings above are all from Notebook C.
Ballpoint ink on 8 1/2 x 11 inch sketchbook paper. 2022 https://www.dougwestendorp.com/biomorphic-c-2022.html These "biomorphs," as I've called them, are little more than doodles, really. I've thought of painting them, or in some way adding color... but sometimes I think they might be enough.
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 Square Mandala, cut paper on board, 7 x 7 inches, 2021
Square Mandala series: https://www.dougwestendorp.com/square-mandalas.htm
"Keep your eyes clean and your ears quiet and your mind serene. Breathe God's air. Work, if you can, under his sky." Thomas Merton New Seeds of Contemplation These drawings are from Notebook B, 2022. Ballpoint Ink on 8 1/2 11 paper. https://www.dougwestendorp.com/biomorphic-b-2022.html "Poetry, music and art have something in common with the contemplative experience. But contemplation is beyond aesthetic intuition, beyond art, beyond poetry." - Thomas Merton |
