Reading “woman of power and grace”, nine astonishing, inspiring luminaries of our time, by Timothy Conway. All of them from different religions. The first one was an Italian nun who at the age of seven has a near-death experience as she nearly drowns and mysteriously was thrown back out of the water. After that, she […]
worship Originally uploaded by claudia dose. The retreat was great. We watched videos of the Bhagavad Gita, my favorite text and also listened to Shivastotravali, which is beautifully devotional. The discussions that followed were very practical and interesting. I had a great time doing the dishes and keeping everything tidy. The food we prepared was […]
This is a large, full-body portrait of Swami Lakshmanjoo and it’s his 100th centenary Birthday coming up on the 9th of May 2007. He is also my spiritual teacher, and although he left this world before I could meet him, I feel very much guided by him and his teachings. I am very fortunate to […]
Couldn’t get to my painting so I spend the time uploading some of my art to art.com and etsy.comCheck it out and let me know what you think.
I am a little nervous today as I am welcoming internationally known author, speaker and creativity coach Eric Maisel, Ph.D. to my humble blog, he will be answering my questions about his new book, Ten Zen Seconds. So I have been preparing a big pot of Kashmiri tea for us and here we go… But […]
It’s going, I am not sure where, and its slow, painfully slow. Abhinavagupta sure doesn’t make it easy on me. Neither do all the other people in the picture, I don’t even know them but they seem to know me. As soon as I am working on one the other is screaming, “and what about […]
I am exited to be having a famous guest on my humble blog, next week, on Monday the 23rd of April. Eric Maisel is introducing his new book, Ten Zen Seconds, in form of a blog tour. It seems it is the first of this kind and I think it is a brilliant idea. The […]
Acrylic painting on wood board box, Size: H 48 x W 24 inch (121.92 x 60.96 cm). Painting from a photo of Swami Lakshmanjoo in his garden in front of the old lecture hall. This was a gift to John and Denise Hughes, who lived and raised their family in Kashmir for 15 years to […]
It is quite amazing what happens when creativity does not get bogged down by circumstance. Olivier Messiaen wrote this music when he was in a prisoner of war camp in the second world war. He instead made it the most beautiful thing that could ever come out of that war I guess, quite moving, especially […]
Gurunatha Originally uploaded by claudia dose. It is scaring me to death to paint Abhinavagupta. What if he doesn’t like himself the way I painted him? So I keep fussing around with the squares and ovals and lining everything up to square. You can see the process/progress on my flickr site when you look at […]
a Saint is born I was having fun playing around with Photoshop paintbrushes. Greatest thing is that you can always preserve previous painting stages by putting another layer, which is not possible in real life painting. Once I got a hang of customizing different brushes so that I could pick up a previously used brush […]
could you walk it quicker Originally uploaded by claudia dose. … it says on the bus. Well, I tried and when it was just in front of the pink building I “clicked” the camera.
culture mix Originally uploaded by claudia dose. Chinese New Year meets apple at St. Martins’s place just around from Trafalgar square in London.I had a great time just walking around. I ended up going to the Portrait Gallery and was overwhelmed by all the royalty on the walls. But what I really liked was the […]
It is cold even in Delhi. On the fields just behind where we are staying the woman and girls of the village are spreading the daily collected cow dung cakes out to dry. In the nights they are burning those together with the trash of the day, which makes for a very unhealthy cocophony of […]
CIMG0829.JPG Originally uploaded by claudia dose. Staying in India is even better when you can cook your own food. Not that I don’t like the Indian cuisine. I love it. I am cooking Kashmiri style myself but I don’t like as much salt as they are using and have it probably a little less on […]
CIMG0775.JPG Originally uploaded by claudia dose. Sketching away whatever catches my eye. This time it is one of the very typical Indien power outlets/inlets? Since the electrycity can go out at any unpredictible time it is good to have at lease a battery loaded full for running the fan or the light. Little luxeries in […]
CIMG0755.JPG Originally uploaded by claudia dose. Where is my place? Where am I? Am I hiding from the chaos of my existence in the orderliness of my watercolor box? Even that isn’t that orderly really. So what!
CIMG0780.JPG Originally uploaded by claudia dose. Went to India to attend a conference on Kashmir Shaivism which I was invited to as part of the centenary celebrations of my spiritual teacher. I used the oportunity and stayed on to do three weeks of Panchakarma. There is nothing much to do when you are in a […]
I am fascinated with reflections in windows. Its a toy world isn’t it? I took some more but this was so cool. Since having this digital camera it is so easy to just click away.
It is raining in North Carolina, just like in Germany. And I am already missing the Californian sun. We got the tail end of “Ernesto” I think he was called. We were lucky he did not hit Florida as our Friend would not have been able to pick us up again. We would have to […]
taken in Hopeful.GA Originally uploaded by claudia dose. So, finally we arrived in Linville, NC. After a 11 hour drive from Florida. It is so much more lush and green here coming from LA. We are staying in a little “colony” of “holiday places” that are fitted on small lots in the wood. They […]
I am fascinated with magnolias. Their smell is intoxicating. Just one in the room. They change quite fast from snow white to a lovely brown and everything in between, the range of colors is amazing. It’s a full life cycle in a day or so, flowering-dying. Transitioning from pure white to soft brown, showcasing a […]
streets in LA Originally uploaded by claudia dose. Finally, got to see David Hockney Portraits. And was very impressed, he was just working, working, working. So many sketchbooks, wow! And the paintings, it kind of looks so easy and unintended but seeing the amount of work he has done, he knew very well were to […]
Haven’t been to a painting class in a long time. But now the timing was right and the theme inspiring, “Painting like Matisse”. I always liked Matisse and don’t paint anything like him. So it would be a nice challenge to try something new. And so it was. First of all to finish all the […]
magnolia.JPG Originally uploaded by claudia dose. We are house sitting, with dog and garden. It is quite something getting used to always having a dog on your side. I understand that he must miss his owners, but he has the habit of sticking his nose at you or brush against you when he walks past, […]
sketchbook big Originally uploaded by claudia dose. I figured that I could take pictures instead of scanning them and voila! Here they are. Just click on the picture to see them all.
It is a little strange to be always living in transit but then again isn’t that what life is all about? There is not much permanence here really. This way of living should make for little baggage but even that seems still too much. from my sketchbook Originally uploaded by claudia dose. […]
Back from India (Delhi, Jammu, Kashmir). Over with the jetlag and had a great retreat here in LA, although it was shortened by Mothers day. Now a little time to sort through all those digital pictures, get the films back hopefully this week, and import the movies and cassette recordings of the fire ceremony. At […]
This collage represents the 36 elements according to the teachings of Kashmir Shaivism, which I have been studying for some time. I find it fascinating how the world is made of those elements from the lowest (earth element) to the highest, which is I-ness (Being). You can read more about it in Swami Lakshmanjoo’s book […]
