Friday 21 December 2012

Illustration Friday 'Snow'

Illustration Friday 'Snow'

'Snow',   Xanga Connelley 2012





It is so quiet and peaceful when it snows and even the birds enjoy it, especially if you can share it with someone else.  This picture is drawn with coloured pencils.




Images copyright of the artist

Thursday 13 December 2012

Illustration Friday 'explore'.

Illustration Friday 'Explore'.

Explore,  Xanga Connelley

It feels like one is exploring another world whilst gliding along under neath the water.  The peace and quiet is like no where else.  I painted this picture in acrylic, which gives it depth.

Wednesday 5 December 2012

Illustration Friday 'Stretch'.

Illustration Friday - 'Stretch'.

Puffins and a Pear in a Tree, Xanga Connelley

It's only three weeks until Christmas and the Christmas rhyme 'Partridge in a Pear Tree' came to mind with this drawing.  One of these comical Puffins is stretching to reach the 'Pear in a Tree'!

Wednesday 28 November 2012

Illustration Friday - 'Whiskers'

Illustration Friday - 'Whiskers'

'Tai', Xanga Connelley
'Tai' is a loved family pet and I painted her in watercolours, to give the sense her soft personality.

Tuesday 27 November 2012

Illustration Friday - 'Whiskers'

Illustration Friday - 'Whiskers

Tiger, Xanga Connelley
The Tiger is painted in watercolour, it is such a beautiful animal and looks innocent here.



Sunday 25 November 2012

Illustration Friday 'zoom'.

Illustration Friday's weekly challenge 'zoom'.

'zoom', by Xanga Connelley

This is painted in water colour and is decorative and gives the impression of 'zoom'.  I couldn't decide which one to submit, 

'zoom II',  Xanga Connelley
This water colour picture is comical with the bee's zooming to the flower!


All images copyright to xtc.


Illustration Friday 'Shy'

Illustration Friday weekly challenge 'Shy'


'Shy', Xanga Connelley

Either coy or shy suits this picture.  It was painted in acrylics.

'Haunt', Illustration Friday




Illustration Friday weekly challange 'Haunt'

'Haunted' by Xanga Connelley

No one can see what I see, the people surrounding me are real to me, but not to anyone else.
This is painted in acrylic.





Thursday 1 November 2012

"The Dreamer"by Gary Gorrow

The Dreamer, by Garry Gorrow.

Dream, by Xanga Connelley
I've never been one to subscribe to the Freudian notion that all dreams, irrespective of how obscure they may be, contain a hidden message about oneself, life or reality.  Being a man of science I understand that neurophysiologically dreams are primarily a byproduct of the body releasing stresses and other irrelevant memories from the physical architecture of the body.  The mind simply gets entangled in the process and then finds itself inventing a story to accompany the release of energy.
I do believe that within every human being lies innate wisdom that should be easily accessible in the waking state of consciousness rather than in the depths of sleep.  If the mind is awake then access to this reservoir of knowing comes naturally in the form of spontaneous cognition.  I'm sure you've had those moments yourself when from out of nowhere a wonderful revelation springs into your awareness or you know something that is beyond the typical range of knowing.  This is direct cognition.
Through learning to meditate I find my mind now constantly in a coherent state where I enjoy frequent cognition of the most evolutionary kind.  Such cognition has made navigating the matrix of human life much easier.  The stress, strain and shoddy guesswork that is so common to our world has been removed simply because the karmically correct path has become obvious.  Without meaning to I always seem to end up in the right place at the right time, I spontaneously find myself knowing what to say and do.  In a natural way I seem to attract great people and opportunities into my life.  This knowingness comes from a deeper domain inside and I've learnt to trust this feeling and simply live my life according to its impulses.
I have certainly spent a great deal of my life in ignorance.  In my unenlightened past dreams were the last resort for wisdom.  If we are asleep at the wheel, or so entangled in the stressful web of modernity, then there is subsequently little headspace for the light of wisdom to prevail and as such the insights push their way into the sleep state.
There was one specific occasion when I was taught a very sweet lesson in dream.  It was an experience that revolutionised my perception of the world and this precious experience we call life so I thought it worth sharing with you.
The dream began in darkness.  I was floating in space watching silently as the Earth revolved delicately around our beautiful golden sun.  The unlimited nature of dreaming meant I was able to witness the whole glorious spectacle from the serene edges of the stratosphere. As the cosmos continued its awe inspiring dance the silence was suddenly overwhelmed by a deep manic rumble not dissimilar to the cacophony you hear with the coming of a freight train.  I turned to see in the distance an enormous comet, unlike anything cosmologists had encountered before, surging at an alarming speed towards our planet.
Few people appreciate the exquisite design of creation and the fact that our beautiful blue planet is positioned so perfectly within the cosmos that if the Earth was just a fraction closer to the Sun the radiation would be so intense that the heat would turn the oceans to steam and life as we know it would cease to be.  Conversely if we were farther from the sun than we are at present then our planet would be frozen solid.
The size and intense speed at which this comet was travelling meant that disaster was imminent.  I watched helplessly as the surging mass slammed into the Earth's crust with monumental force destroying entire continents in seconds.  The impact was so severe that it pushed the Earth out of its common path of orbit.  I watched helplessly as our entire planet and every living thing was sent into the cold abyss.  a few moments later all life had ended, our home was lost.
I awoke that morning filled with a joy swelling up in my heart.  What a simple and sweet lesson I had been taught.  Life is sacred, we must enjoy every minute.  We must live in gratitude and remember the ultimate spiritual truth that life itself is a dream within a dram, a play within your own consciousness, don't take it all too seriously.  We are all part of the one infinite spirit that manifests as the diversity of the world.  Realise that and you will know the peace that passes all understanding.  That is why we are here.