The Art of Wabi Sabi, Cosmic Ceremony by Connie Livingston-Dunn

‘Wabi-sabi is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.

It is a beauty of things modest and humble.

It is a beauty of things unconventional.’

Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers, Leonard Koren

Wabi-sabi is all around us, in old abandoned houses and barns, old walls with layers of paint peeling away, rusty objects aging with nature, decaying tree trunks with fungus growing on them, junk shops with treasures covered with the patina of their past, and our elders with their textured wrinkles of life etched into their whole being.

The previous photos are details of the painting called Cosmic Ceremony, and the last photo is of the whole painting. I like the details of the texture that the paint and wax form within the overall painting. It’s challenging to know when it’s finished and I wonder if they are ever really complete. And yet, there comes a time when we are done working on it, the painting and I have nothing more to say to each other. Sometimes we will adjust it after we have had some distance from our first dance with the paint on the canvas. However, we must always be mindful that too much adjusting can result in that overworked look, and we lose that spontaneity of the dance and dialogue of story between the artist and the artwork, the earthiness of wabi-sabi.

‘Cosmic Ceremony’, Oil paint and cold wax with a piece of antique border embroidery, on a 10 x 8" board with a base coat of gesso.

I would also like to acknowledge the influence of Serena Barton’s book Wabi-Sabi Art Workshop and dedicate the story to Barbara Jo, who recently published a story on Wabi Sabi.

Originally published at cowbird.com.