Seeing Grass

While drawing grasses I learn nothing "about" grass, but wake up to the wonder that there is grass at all.

~Frederick Franck

Frederick Franck was a former dental surgeon, before he became a painter, sculptor, and author of more thab 30 books on Buddism and spirituality.  His book, Zen Seeing, Zen Drawing:  Meditation in Action, was one of the first art books I fell in love with. His quick, delicate sketchs made me fall in love with the wonder of a green onion,  an old woman sitting on a bench, a pussywillow.  It was here that I began to cultivate my understanding of the arts as sacred action.. a method not just of celebrating the beauty of the world around me but a way of communing with it in a very deep but simple way.

I've slowly stepped away from my roots in drawing.. but hope to get back to it.  It's a way of keeping that connection real and honest.  Paint flows so easily from the brush.  It's easy to be intoxicated by its playful qualities.  Pen to paper.. there is no more direct way to meet the life around us.

Thank you to Sunday Sketches for encouraging artists to take up the pen again!