Meditation Boxes

In the late 1990s I began a series I called Meditation Boxes. 
I've begun thinking of these boxes now as reliquaries, placeholders for relics of our soon to be distant treasures of our fast disappearing world.
I am beginning to revisit this series now in 2026 with new relics, new reliquaries.
Picture
The 2025 El Camino de Dios series is now complete.                                                                                             

​I have collected the entire series in a portfolio book now available from Blurb:

https://www.blurb.com/b/12691984-el-camino-de-dios

Highlights can also be viewed at this page on this site:

https://www.dougwestendorp.com/el-camino-de-dios.html
Picture
6 x 8
Picture
328 - 6 x 8
The square mandala drawings. 2022
Mandala drawings on graph paper. All 7 x 7 inches.
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. 
Picture
Teninch four. 10 x 10 inch cut paper mounted on pinewood panel. 2021
https://www.dougwestendorp.com/ten-inch-squares.htm
 PictureSquare Mandala, cut paper on board, 7 x 7 inches, 2021
Square Mandala series: https://www.dougwestendorp.com/square-mandalas.htm
“Sight is the most piercing of the bodily senses.” – Plato

​"Poetry, music and art have something in common with the contemplative experience." - Thomas Merton
Three small examples of the biomorphic series.
Picture
5 x 7 ballpoint pen
Picture
5 x 7 ballpoint pen
Picture
5 x 7 ballpoint pen