The Zen teaching of Wabi to Sabi is encouraging for all artists. Rough translations have been told to me are “rusty beauty”, or the aesthetic that finds beauty in imperfection and impermanence. Wabi loosely translates to “less is more” and Sabi to “attentive melancholy”.

A challenge for new painters is the urge to put in everything, but I’ve learned that it is what you leave out that may enhance the wow factor in paintings. We cannot improve on mother nature we can only see what we see as artists. Let mother nature do it all, that is not for us.

So, in my simplistic western soul, I embrace the notion that there is beauty to be found everywhere and perfection is an illusion for human beings.  This concept opens a multitude of possibilities for new paintings.

For instance, I was thinking of doing a series about images emerging from the fog, when one of my friends commented on how she felt like she had been in a fog during the isolation required of us during the pandemic. It made me think of that moment when a fog begins to clear. We begin to recognize an object, but we are not quite sure of it. We felt unclear and uncertain about reentering social settings.

How does one paint feelings? Imperfectly but we know we want to try. Will our viewer understand? Perhaps not but that can’t stop a painter from trying to express it.

I’ve always loved the mystery of fog. (IF I don’t have to drive in it). There is the gray nothingness and then slowly the fog rises and dissipates to reveal what has been hidden.  The eucalyptus trees on the north coast of California or a rustic barn emerging on a foggy morning represent for me the sense of anticipation all mingled in mystery.  An egret on the side of a pond represented the aloneness we all felt, especially those of us who lost loved ones to COVID.

Or this image, which is a tree showing off its calligraphy, will there be enough warmth to want to jump into the water or just sit and enjoy the pond. There was a little dock like this on friends’ property on Bethal Island in the Delta in Sacramento Valley. I added it to the photo I had of this tree. I think that dock is most likely gone now.

Not knowing the future is what makes living so exciting, just as not quite understanding what we are seeing when there is fog.  But as the fog lifts, we begin to see more clearly.  Sort of like life.

This painting seemed to fit the translation of Wabi Sabi, “rusty beauty, attentive melancholy” so I included it to illustrate Wabi Sabi.

I’m also including it in my upcoming Art show, “Rock, trees, and Water”. My artist friend Joy Willow and I will be hanging our interpretation of those subjects at the Sonora Chamber of Commerce office on Washington Street. As co-artists, Cherry-Willow we had to have trees as subject matter. Save the date for April 13 & watch for an announcement with more details.