Bird and Lotus

bird and lotus
Bird and Lotus

I used to be an art teacher and became a Buddhist in 1985 at Throssel Hole Monastery. I’ve been a keen birdwatcher also from the 1980’s. Now retired, I recently started painting again and chose birds as a theme. I’m not interested (or skilled enough) in wildlife illustration, so although I start out with a reasonably faithful depiction of a species I will change colours and shapes to fit the composition. This one is different; the bird is entirely imaginary.

As you know, the lotus is a common and potent symbol in Buddhism so I featured a large one here. Instead of a Buddha sitting on the lotus I painted the imaginary bird to suggest that everything is Buddha. The rest of the landscape is semi-abstract and developed without any pre-meditated composition. I hope it suggests the life-force with the tree-shapes and vegetation. I chose the colours as I painted, again to suggest life-force and fecundity.

The painting is acrylic on board and is 30cm x 29cm. There are two more in the series.

Gassho

Eric

7 Replies to “Bird and Lotus”

  1. I really love this, Eric. Your colours are exotic and vibrant. The Buddha Bird idea has real meaning, especially at this time when we can hear more bird song than traffic around our gardens. Thank you for posting _/\_
    1. Not yet, Eric – coal tits, blue tits and great tits. Also robins, blackbirds and thrush – oh, and of course pigeons!
  2. A comment goes through moderation Eric, that is why it doesn’t appear right away, we could be more timely with moderation though..

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