Jewels from the words of 'Abdu'l-Baha

The Baha'i Distribution Service has so many wonderful and amazing books about the Baha'i faith with such a range from sacred texts to self-help and parenting books. I have spent a great deal of money on books from them and every single one of them is an absolute fountain of spiritual fulfillment.

There are six books they sell in a series. Each book has a theme such as love or unity and they are entitled "Jewels from the words of 'Abdu'l-Baha"

There are four kinds of love. The first is the love that flows from God to man; it consists of the inexhaustible graces, the Divine effulgence and heavenly illumination. Through this love the world of being receives life. Through this love man is endowed with physical existence, untill, through the breath of the Holy Spirit - this same love - he receives eternal life and becomes the image of the Living God. This love is the origin of all the love in the world of creation

The second is the love that flows from man to God. This is faith, attraction to the Divine, enkindlement, progress, entrance into the Kingdom of God, receiving the Bounties of God, illumination with the lights of the Kingdom. This love is the origin of all philanthropy; this love causes the hearts of men to reflect the rays of the Sun of Reality.

The third is the love of God towards the Self or Identity of God. This is the transfiguration of His Beauty, the reflection of himself in the mirror of His Creation. This is the reality of love, the Ancient Love, the Eternal Love. Through one ray of this Love all other love exists.

The fourth is the love of man for man. The love which exists between the hearts of believers is prompted by the ideal of the unity of spirits. This love is attained through the knowledge of God, so that men see the Divine Love reflected in the heart. Each sees in the other the Beauty of God reflected in the soul, and finding this point of similarity, thy are attracted to one another in love. This love will make all men the waves of one sea, this love will make them all the stars of one heaven and the fruits of one tree. This love will bring the realization of true accord, the foundation of real unity.

Baha'i Series tests

The type held up surprisingly well against the elmer's glue and water mixture I used to a-fix the tracing paper to the canvas paper. The canvas paper did not at all like the copious amounts of water. It warped a lot and that warping did not go away. I'm probably going to end up using the canvas boards instead to avoid the warping issue. I still need to experiment more with the glue issue because I'm not sure how well the glue will stick to an oil based paint. I also want to see if it will be possible to glaze over the tracing paper afterwards. I'm also not sure about whether or not that will work out. I also need to research glazing techniques because I don't know anything about it.



I was really inspired by the work of Agnes Martin. I saw her work featured in a documentary and her paintings were incredibly simplistic. I was really moved by the fact that she said she was trying to paint tranquility and peacefulness. I was really inspired by her delicate hues. She uses very faintly tinted whites for a lot of her paintings and those colors are incredibly difficult to reproduce without taking it too far. I may need to paint larger swatches. I'm looking for luminosity and colors that are glowing a little. So far my favorite is the cadmium red light tint. It has this great warm glow to it.

Baha'i Series

I have laid aside my library project. I'm finding it far too frustrating right now. I have also laid aside my father's painting because I am also finding it incredibly frustrating right now.

I have started a series of works that will be based on Baha'i sacred texts. These specifically will be focused on the writings of Abdu'l-Baha. I am going to create a series of geometric abstract paintings to serve as backgrounds for some quotes from Abdu'l-Baha's writings. I'm unsure as of yet whether or not I will be putting many quotes involving a single theme on one canvas or if I will put a single quote onto a canvas and do a bunch of one theme. I also haven't decided if I'm going to use canvas paper or if I'm going to use canvas boards. I'm also experimenting with tracing paper overlays. The tracing paper will lay over the painting.

If I do many quotes on a single canvas I'm not sure if they will all be on a single overlay or if I will separate them. Also I have yet to decide how I am going to fix the overlays onto the canvas. I may try to experiment with some sort of decoupage method but that may also depend on whether or not the way I print the quotes onto the tracing paper will hold up to something like that or not. Right now I've tried three methods. The first was using an old fashioned typewriter that my uncle had refurbished and repaired and given to me as a gift. I doubt the ink from the typewriter will hold up to some sort of decoupage method but it may if I'm careful about it or if I use some sort of fixative over the text. The other method which I'm fairly positive will hold up to decoupage is a sharpie marker. I hand wrote the quote onto the tracing paper with a sharpie. I only had a broad tip I may try again with a fine tip. I also bought some calligraphy pens from the art supply store today. Even using the finest tip I will have to write incredibly big for it to look right. I doubt I'll use it. I have completely omitted the idea of printing the quotes onto paper. I want the look to be very hand done.

Right now I'm waiting for the canvas boards to dry. It will probably take a few days.

I've been watching a lot of art shows on TV. They feature prominent modern artists. A lot of them seem to have a common thread in their work. They find things in life and the world that they find beautiful and that speak to them personally and then find ways to express that in their work in unique and different ways. I think I need to do that to give cohesion to my artwork and my vision for my artwork. I think figuring that out will help my creative process.

Prayer

So I've made it a new goal (yes I know I seem to have a great many goals lately) of memorizing a bunch of Baha'i prayers. The first of which is going to be the Long Obligatory Prayer. Yes, this will be a very big undertaking. I have the standard few Catholic prayers contributed to my memory that have been engrained there due to years of repetition. I have yet to encounter a Catholic prayer that is as long as the Long Obligatory Prayer. I've chosen this one since it seems to be the daily obligatory prayer that I seem to recite the most.

I did a little poking around on the web and found several websites about memory tips and techniques for actors very useful. Most of the other memory technique pages were, well, for students attempting to memorize facts and terms and other things. And while I did find those techniques valuable in school, it's not really applicable to something like memorizing an entire passage. I'm hoping that I will one day be able to do a Fahrenheit 451 and memorize something in its entirety like a book or something since it's on my bucket list. Yes, I know... most people want to go sky diving or see the pyramids or something like that. Yes, I want to memorize an entire book or long ass poem. I'm weird I know. There are also some Shakespearean monologues that I want to be able to recite from memory as well.

I found some great ideas... typing out the sentences... reading the sentence and then attempting to repeat the sentence from memory and doing this one sentence at a time... I'm sure I'll give them all a go.