Catching up
Sorry I haven't posted in so long. Life has been... insane. Rather than blog about work or stress or the absolutely frightening amount of art I've been contracted to do but have been too busy with work to touch, I'll talk about something that happened to me a few weeks ago.
Moredena, her sister, and I went to the Japanese Gardens here in Portland. As a note of civic pride, I'll take a moment to point out that Portland has the best Japanese garden outside of japan.
Trying to put the experience in words is difficult. The way the garden was designed integrates visitors completely. Meandering slowly down the various pathways, you're constantly exposed to new vistas and sensations. Design motifs and proportion are used in the most subtle and sublime ways, but it's done so flawlessly and elegantly that you feel connected deeply with the surroundings.
I'll admit that I've never understood japanese rock gardens. They never made any sense to me. However, after being in the gardens and being completely enveloped in a certain set of 'rules' for one's surroundings... Being integrated so skillfully into the landscape was something very moving for me. At the end, you come into a small rock garden. It was everything I had just been in the middle of distilled down to its cleanest and simplest form and it was like having everything I had just seen double back and hit me twice as hard. I wept at the profound beauty of the place at that moment.
If you live in Portland or you are visiting portland for any reason what so ever -- you will go here. Please. You won't be disappointed.
Moredena, her sister, and I went to the Japanese Gardens here in Portland. As a note of civic pride, I'll take a moment to point out that Portland has the best Japanese garden outside of japan.
Trying to put the experience in words is difficult. The way the garden was designed integrates visitors completely. Meandering slowly down the various pathways, you're constantly exposed to new vistas and sensations. Design motifs and proportion are used in the most subtle and sublime ways, but it's done so flawlessly and elegantly that you feel connected deeply with the surroundings.
I'll admit that I've never understood japanese rock gardens. They never made any sense to me. However, after being in the gardens and being completely enveloped in a certain set of 'rules' for one's surroundings... Being integrated so skillfully into the landscape was something very moving for me. At the end, you come into a small rock garden. It was everything I had just been in the middle of distilled down to its cleanest and simplest form and it was like having everything I had just seen double back and hit me twice as hard. I wept at the profound beauty of the place at that moment.
If you live in Portland or you are visiting portland for any reason what so ever -- you will go here. Please. You won't be disappointed.