Blogging will resume in 2022

This post was supposed to go out on Saturday, August 7th; however, other obligations kept me from being able to write it. 
Among those obligations were the preparations to launch my own line of women's clothing. Specifically, women's dresses and scarves.
​The fabric is imprinted with one of my paintings. All is made in Canada. 

Do you know who Dusty Springfield was?  A British singer and record producer (1939-1999). Her style and husky voice emulated the Motown sounds. 
I saw a photo of hers with a hairdo that looked like a gigantic mountain of hair and from there my imagination went to create what you see here. After I created the composition, I thought "ha! this is crazy! 
That lead to the title because Moyano is a famous neuropsychiatric hospital for women located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

The brick wall was essential for this composition because of the many expressions associated with loosing one's mind and hitting the head against the wall. 

About the painting.
Title: Moyano Heads
Size: 24x18" 
Medium: Acrylic paint 
Surface: Acid free paper.
Unframed. 
​$550 Free shipping in the USA.

The third chapter of the Dhammapada talks about the mind and the harm that a restless and untrained mind can cause to oneself and others. This chapter can be paired with the eightfold path right concentration which is all about meditation. It is in meditation when we tamed our minds. 

I selected these two verses to ponder about the mind:

"The restless, agitated mind,
hard to protect, hard to control, 
The sage makes straight, 
As a fletcher the shaft of an arrow.
[...]
Whatever an enemy may do to an enemy, 
Or haters, one to another,
Far worse is the harm
From one' own wrongly directed mind."

in meditation, we practice that when a thought enters the mind, we acknowledge it and move on by focusing the attention again on the breathing rhythm. This same concept of acknowledging and moving on must be applied to situation when someone says something that bother us. 
You can acknowledge the discomfort and in a soft tone let the other person know that whatever the person said or did has caused you discomfort. Once said, you must move on rather than letting the mind ruminate on how you are going to get even, etc. 

I do not paint about politics; however, I have some paintings that reflect historical events. In the Solidarity Series portrayed below, I use the colors of the American flag to invoke the call for solidarity. 

I see so much division over mundane topics, and division over larger topics. I would like to see more understanding where the individuals involved in the disagreement agree to disagree, and the fundamental of respect, friendship and solidarity do not get damage because one does not agree with the opinion of the other. 

From upper left clockwise to lower left, these paintings are:
1) Solidarity I 
Medium: Oil pastel
Surface: Acid free paper
Size: 17x14 inches
$400

2) Solidarity II
Medium: Oil pastel
Surface: Acid free paper
Size: 17x14 inches
$400

3 Solidarity III
Medium: Oil pastel and acrylic paint
Surface: Canvas
Size: 20x16 inches

4) Solidarity IV 
Medium: Oil pastel and acrylic paint
Surface: Acid free paper
Size: 17x14
​$400

The second chapter of the Dhammapada talks about vigilance as being the path of long life versus negligence which is a direct path to premature death. The fourth verse of this chapter can be paired with the Eightfold path titled "Right Mindfulness."

The verse goes like this:

"Glory grows for a person who is
Energetic and mindful, 
Pure and considerate in action,
Restrained and vigilant, 
And who lives the Dharma."

In the West, the concept of mindfulness have been overused and misused to the point that it became a money making industry. 

The Buddha's intention of the concept of mindfulness is as simple as "consideration in action." Being mindful means to be fully aware of how our actions carry consequences like the ripples on a lake.  We want to conduct ourselves in such a way that those ripples we produce with our actions are not harmful to ourselves, to others and to the environment. 

Practical examples are: 1) You are on the waiting room of a heavy traffic place, such as an airport or a hospital or even at a park bench where there are runners and walkers passing in front of you. A mindful person sits down without extended the legs out because those legs could cause someone to trip and fall. Be present in the moment, consider the action and how it could affect others; 2) You want to be able to travel with your dog so you buy a service dog vest online, and voila! now you take your untrained dog everywhere. It is convenient to you but it is absolutely not mindful. A fake service dog puts the public at risk. This is a negligent action and not a mindful behavior. 

I invite you to practice this during this week. Be 100% aware of everything you do (being mindful and present in the moment), and think about what kind of ripples those actions will create. If they are harmful to you, other or the environment, then, avoid it. 
​

In this abstraction, I explore textures using toothpicks to represent the eyes and nose of the upside down face. 
On a purple background, I am using short strokes of orange and gray payne, and in white I create the shape of the face. 
This is a serendipity painting because I realized I have done an upside down face after I signed it. LOL

Title: Upside Down Face
Medium: Acrylic paint and toothpicks
Surface: Acid Free Paper
Unframed
$300 - Free shipping in the USA

If you have been following these blog posts, then you know that I live as Zen Buddhist. I have also talked about how I like to paint dichotomies. 

When I was thinking about the topic for the philosophy section of this post, I thought of the first chapter of the Dhammapada which is titled Dichotomies! 
​
In the next 26 blogs, I will talk about a section of each chapter and how to bring that into our current lives.

The Dhammapada was first introduced to the non-Buddhist modern world during the second half of the XIX Century. After reading and living by the Dhammapada, one experiences self-reliance, self-mastery and liberation. 

By understanding the Buddha teachings, one can understand the path of liberation he teaches to attain spiritual freedom, and to attain happiness and welfare in this life.

The first verse of Dichotomies goes:
"All experience is preceded by mind, 
Led by mind,
Made by mind.
Speak or act with a corrupted mind, 
And suffering follows
As the wagon wheel follows the hoof of the ox."

The last sentence clearly states the inevitability of influencing your world with your thoughts. You cannot have the ox pushing the wagon in the same way that you cannot expect to have a peaceful environment around you if you do not control your mind first. 

This verse also refers to one of the eightfold path - Right Speech.  

How you can practice right speech - For example, if someone you are talking to is not behaving properly, do not insult the person. You can say "your behavior, whether intentional or not, resembles the behavior of an asshole/moron/etc." Believe it or not, there is a big difference between calling a person a moron and saying that the behavior the person is adopting at that particular resembles the behavior of a moron. 

Imagine a wall that you punch in anger, and then you patch it and paint it over. The truth is that the whole, even though now masked by the paint, will always be there. It is a permanent hole. 
When you insult a person, the hurt in that person's soul will always be there even though if you apologize a million times. 

Virtual Art Exhibition - Wednesday, June 30 2021 - 5 pm Pacific Time -
Free registration at https://www.ceciliaanastos.com/event-registration.html
This is an exhibition of contemporary abstract paintings by Cecilia Anastos. There will be an opportunity drawing of a painting. 

Liberty Station - August 7-8, 2021

Little Italy - October 2-3, 2021

La Jolla Art and Wine Festival - October 9-10, 2021

I do not drink alcohol for philosophical reasons. I am a Zen Buddhist and I do not agree with putting things in our bodies that alter the regular state of mind. 

Nevertheless, I have created a series of paintings of wine bottles. I will be exhibiting them at the La Jolla Art & Wine Festival on October 9-10, 2021. 

Why did I start painting this collection? In part, it is because I often find inspiration of my art in dichotomies of life. Even though I do not drink, once I had a job where I would offer tours of wineries. LOL I do not drink however I know a lot about wine and I was successful in introducing clients to the type of wines they really liked. 

Then, in 2016, I was organizing art events at a local restaurant called Pappalecco. The restaurant carries the Castellani wines and their bottles are gorgeous so I painted some of those. You can find my entire wine bottle collection here.

The painting of today is titled Limoncello (2021). The medium is acrylic paint and oil pastel on acid free paper. It is a figurative stile life of two bottles, a glass and lemons. The objects drawn with white oil pastel and painted with an orange palette are set on a purple background defined by triangles drawn with white oil pastel and painted with yellow oil pastel. 
Size is 18" high x 24" wide. It is sold unframed. I framed for the studio with a black frame and white mat and board. It will enhance the look of any kitchen and/or tasting room. 

Do you bring you work problems into your personal life? You arrive home from work after having a rough day and you treat everybody at home rudely and your excuse is that you had a bad day at work. 
Are you having problems at home? Then you arrive to work and everybody has to put up with your lack of consideration, bad manners, etc. and your excuse is that things are not going that well at home. 
If these two scenarios describe you, then it is time for you to learn about the cubes of life, and how to compartmentalize each one of them. 
The photo below shows some of the cubes we encounter in life.

I left two blanks intentionally so you can add any other environment you navigate in life, and that it is not already mentioned above. 

Each one of these cubes/squares have their own dynamic. At work, you are required to maintain certain behaviors and sometimes to swallow your thoughts instead of telling a boss or a co-worker to go foxtrot themselves because you know the consequences are termination and loss of income. 
Situations like this create stress. If you have not developed a healthy channel to release that stress, you often carry it onto the other cubes. 

This stress carried onto the relationships/children/pets/family members cue can lead to your snapping at them, hitting the pet, hitting the children, screaming, excessive drinking, etc. None of the members of these cubes have done anything wrong to you and there is no reason for you to take your anger accumulated at work onto them. 

The Health cube/square also gets affected because the saying goes that stress kills. 

How about driving an encountering a collection of knuckleheads that cut in front of you, etc? You arrive to your destination with all your muscles in a knot because the stress is consuming you. Then you lash out to whoever is the first one you encounter. 

How do you fix this?
You must deal with the problems you encounter in each one of these cubes/square within those boundaries. If there are problems at work, go to HR department if needed, or kindly ask a co-worker to stop doing whatever that person does that bothers you. When you leave work, leave the feelings that arose in the work place there. 

When you arrive home, whether it is a peaceful or also a stressful environment, be present in the moment of the feelings that belong to that place exclusively. Do not bring in the feelings created at work or when some knucklehead cut you off in the freeway. 

In other words, do not poison one well with the nasty waters of another well. If one well (cube/square) has nasty waters, you have options. You can either leave the place, or talk about it with the members of that particular cube/square.

In life, when an event occurs, we can control 90% of it.  The 10% that we cannot control, we must accept it. In Zen Buddhism we say "what it is, is" and we leave it at that.
For the 90% we can control, we apply the eightfold path principle to ensure that we speak with kindness, we understand the other sentient beings, we do the right action with the right intention, we are mindful and present in the moment, we choose right livelihood, we put right effort on all we do, and we practice concentration (paying attention to our breathing). 

​Virtual Art Exhibition - Wednesday, June 30 2021 - 5 pm Pacific Time -
Free registration at https://www.ceciliaanastos.com/event-registration.html
This is an exhibition of contemporary abstract paintings by Cecilia Anastos. There will be an opportunity drawing of a painting. 

Liberty Station - August 7-8, 2021

Little Italy - October 2-3, 2021

La Jolla Art and Wine Festival - October 9-10, 2021

Support Living Artists… The dead don’t need to make ends meet.I typed the phrase “support the living artists” on a search engine and I discovered many interesting posts, including advertising for t-shirts sold online with the “Support the living artists – the dead don’t need to eat.”

I understand that you might like art movements from the past. I do as well. My favorite periods are Impressionism and post-Impressionism. For the past, we have museums such as the Musée d’Orsai in Paris with an amazing collection of painters from these two movements. In San Diego, I enjoy going to Balboa Park and visit the many art museums we have there as well.

At home, I have many paintings from living Belgium painter Guy Moreaux, and living Australian painter Cindy Parsley, and of course some of my own. Although I have two reproductions from the French (dead) painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau, I did not buy them - someone gifted them to me. I would never buy a print or reproduction and spend a cent in framing it because I truly believe in supporting the living artist.

Of course you might think that this statement is a self-serving purpose. It would be if I have not bought paintings from other living artists but I did. I own eight Moreaux! 

These are some of the reasons why I want to help push this movement of supporting the living artists, besides the fact that the dead ones do not need the money, many did not leave descendants that would enjoy the profit of their posthumous sales, and auction houses are the ones that get the most from the sale of dead painters’ works.

I list the reasons below:

1. Art is an investment – If you buy from an artist that, like myself, participates in juried exhibitions and receives awards, then your painting will increase in value. A painter will either maintain its original value or increase. It will not decrease its value.
2. If you buy from a local artist, you are helping the local economy. Artists pay a lot of taxes each time we sell a painting, and those taxes go to support the local library, schools, road projects, etc.
3. When you hang the painting of a living artist on your wall, you can almost feel the story that inspired that painting. All of my paintings come with a Certificate of Authenticity that describes the inspiration or raison d’ tre for that particular painting.
4. There are many forgeries being sold in the art markets and even experts sometimes have a difficult time asserting the authenticity of a painting. When you buy from a living artist that provides a certificate of authenticity, you are receiving an indisputable proof for that painting.
5. When you buy a unique and original painting rather than a print or a reproduction, you are hanging something that nobody else has. This is the reason why my paintings are not available in print. I only sell the original so the owners of my paintings feel special because they have one of a kind.
6. When you buy the works from living artists, you are helping advance the future of the art world. I understand if you want to own a Picasso or a Pollock. If you can afford it, go for it (as long as you buy the original). At the same time, I would like to see in your home some paintings from a living artist as well. This way, you balance the scale. You also impact the career of the living artist.

I hope that you find any of these reasons compelling to go peruse my website or visit my art studio / gallery in Ramona, California, and hang one of my paintings on your walls. 
​
Thank you for reading.

​Virtual Art Exhibition - Wednesday, June 30 2021 - 5 pm Pacific Time - Link for exhibition https://meet.google.com/zyd-mjvc-pst
This is an exhibition of contemporary abstract paintings by Cecilia Anastos

Liberty Station - August 7-8, 2021

Little Italy - October 3-4, 2021

La Jolla Art and Wine Festival - October 9-10, 2021

This painting is my interpretation of Django’s near fatal accident. The gray and yellow background represent the smoke and fire that engulfed Django’s caravan. The guitar with the French flag because Django made France his home.

I absolutely love the way Django plays this song which was composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. This song was originally written for the musical Very Warm for May (1939).

Title: Django’s All the Things You Are      Year: 2020
Size: 48x24”     Medium: Acrylic paint     Surface: 3 mm wood panel  Price:$1200

Django Reinhardt was born in Liberchies, Pont-a-Celles, Belgium on January 23, 1910. He was of Manouche Romani descent. His official name was Jean. Django is his Romani name. He was the major first jazz player to emerge from Europe and to this days he remains as one of the best jazz guitar players in the world.

Django spent most of his youth in Romani encampments close to Paris where from early age began playing guitar, violin and banjo. From the time he was 12 years old, he was learning how to play guitar by watching Jean “Poulette” Castro and Auguste “Gusti” Malha play. At the age of 15, he was playing in cafés in Paris,

When he turned 17, he married Florine “Bella” Mayer (also Romani).
Django’s first recording took place in 1928, when he was 18 years old. He was playing banjo-guitar with the accordionists Maurice Alexander, Jean Vaissade and Victor Marceau, and the singer Maurice Chaumel. Then, on the night of November 2, 1928, he accidentally knocked over a candle that ignited the entire caravan. He suffered extensive burns over the left half of his body and spent 18 months in rehab.

​His pinky and annular fingers of the left hand were so badly burnt that he could not use them again. He taught himself how to play guitar again using the burnt fingers just for chord work and making the left index and left middle fingers do all the work.
Around 1920, he met Emile Savitry, an American jazz player whose record collection included Louis Armstrong, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang and Duke Ellington. Here is where Django decided that jazz was going to be his music. During that year, he met Stéphane Grappelli, a young violinist who had played with Joe Venuti. A partnership was born.

Between 1923 and 1939, Reinhardt (with his Selmer guitar) and Grappelli worked together as soloists of their quintet Quintette du Hot Club de France. When the WWII broke, Django returned to France and Grappelli remained in the UK where they were playing at the time.
After the war, he played in the United States in 1946 along with Grappelli. They debuted at the Cleveland Music Hal with Duke Ellington and His Orchestra.
​
He had a hard time adjusting to post war France. He retired in 1951 to Samois-sur-Seine and he died in 1956.

The answer is always NO. If anyone has to derail from the moral and ethical compass to execute a mean with the excuse of justification for the end result, then that individual has lost the sense of what it is to be a wholesome human being. 

I am sure you have seen the scenarios on the movies, and probably at work for those who work in law enforcement or the DOD, where they give you the example of the ticking thing, or where a kidnapper is hiding a victim, etc. There is no scenario that will ever justify means that are contrary to the Western civilization moral and ethical values.

Former FBI agent Ali H. Soufan, a man I admire for always upholding ethical values when confronted with the scenarios described above, has written many books worth reading where he shows the way to uphold the principle that the end never justifies the means. 

Let's take the movie John Q starring Denzel Washington. The film tells the story of John Quincy Archibald (Denzel Washington), a father and husband whose son is diagnosed with an enlarged heart and who finds out he is unable to receive a transplant because HMO insurance will not cover it, before he decides to hold up the hospital and force them to do it.

He holds up the hospital personnel at gun point. That is a crime. He is justifying the mean of committing a crime to achieve the end result. In this moment, he becomes at the same low level as the hospital personnel. I strongly believe that when life throws a fallen tree on our path, we must find a legal solution to the problem, and sometimes accept that whatever it is happening in that moment and there is no legal solution to it, it is nature who becomes in charge and we must accept the end.

Virtual Art Exhibition - Wednesday, June 30 2021 - 5 pm Pacific Time - Link for exhibition https://meet.google.com/zyd-mjvc-pst
This is an exhibition of contemporary abstract paintings by Cecilia Anastos

Have you heard of the The Wise Monkeys of Japan? The source that popularized this pictorial maxim is a 17th Century carving over the door of the famous Tosho-gu shrine in Nikko, Japan. I had the pleasure to visit the shrine in 2010. 

Hidari Jingoro did the carving following the philosophy of Tendai-Buddhist legend representing the three dogmas of the so-called middle school of the sect.

The three monkeys are names Mizaru (see no evil), Kikazaru (hear no evil) and Iwazaru (speak no evil)

I created three paintings honoring each one of these monkeys. The paintings are 24x18", acrylic and oil pastels on acid free paper. They are sold unframed. Each cost $550 including free shipping in the USA.  They are titled Say Nothing, Hear Nothing, and See Nothing.

I am very active in LinkedIn and in the last few weeks several of my connections brought up the subject of happiness. I was reading Harari's Homo Deus book where he addresses this same topic in the first few pages of the book. So... I thought it was about time I talk about happiness. 

Happiness cannot be bought, acquired by osmosis, and/or suddenly found when you meet someone new. Happiness does not come from external events and/or possessions. True happiness is present inside yourself. If you are walking through life saying that you will be happy the day that you [win the lotto, find the perfect partner, get the job x]; in other words, expecting that external factors will bring you happiness, you will probably live without satisfaction.

I am a practicing Zen Buddhist, and I believe that happiness comes from my inner self.  You might wonder how you find the seed of happiness inside you to make it grow and let it become the essence of your being. I recommend that you start looking for the most basic... focus on your breathing. Breathing, in particular during the pandemic we are going through, is a luxury that as of this writing 3 million individuals do not have the luxury to continue doing.  Take a deep breath and smile... that smile is watering the seed of happiness. 

Do external events affect me? Yes, of course. However, they do not erode my natural state of happiness. They act like icing on a cake. You could have the most amazing cake, and add some icing that gives an awkward flavor or one that enhances the flavor of the cake. Nevertheless, the amazing cake remains the same.  I have experienced loss, anxiety, fear, passion, and crazy love... all these were icing on my cake of happiness. 

In French, we have an expression that says état de bonheur permanent. This is how I live my life. 

Want to learn more about this philosophy? I recommend following Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh and his Plum Village Monastery in France.

​Thank you for reading and I see you in two weeks. 

Virtual Art Exhibition - April 23rd, 2021 - 10-11 a.m. Pacific Time at https://meet.google.com/wgu-nsiv-ehz - A display of paintings by Cecilia Anastos related to the concept of womanhood.
Open Studio / Gallery Art Exhibition in San Diego, CA.
Date:Saturday, April 25th, 2021
Time: 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. / 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. / 5 pm to 7 pm. Select a slot using the RSVP form below.
Event Title: Womanhood in Paintings - An exhibition of figurative paintings related to women (portraits, high heals, silhouettes, etc)
Location: Mira Mesa, San Diego, CA - This is an open air studio and well-fitted masks are required at all times. No more than 10 individuals at a time will be present during the exhibit. No walks ins. You will receive address upon registration.

Every week I send out to my email subscribers a private message where I present the painting of the week with a discount coupon, and I discuss a topic related to cyber defense. In these blog posts, I will talk more about art and philosophy of life. If you want to receive cyber defense tips, I suggest you subscribe to my weekly emails. 

Topics in this post are:

• Abstract painting - Tokyo Drift
• Philosophy of Life Section
• Upcoming Art Events

Today's painting is an abstract titled ​Tokyo Drift. Why the title? Well, because I was preparing this for the Tokyo virtual exhibition. Then, it was decided that it was going to be a physical exhibition only and because of the pandemic and I cannot travel there this time. :-)
​
The choice of palette has to do with the importance of colors in Japan. Red and white are prominent traditional colors in Japan. Both colors are used in decorations at events which represent happiness and joy. Yellow denotes sunshine and nature in Japan. Black is a popular color in Japan for electronics and clothing. It mainly denotes non-being, mystery, night and anger.

Size: 24x18"
Medium: Acrylic paint
Surface: acid free paper.
Year: 2021
​Unframed. $550 Free shipping in the USA.

For this technique I am using in this painting, the acrylic paint needs to be mixed with an extender because the key is to prevent its quick drying. I cannot paint with oil paints because I am very allergic to thinner. Therefore, I had to figure out how to make the acrylic behave like oil when I want to do something that requires a lot of merging and meeting of colors. 

I like how a light color frame dresses the painting without robbing its delicacy. Note that it goes best in a wall which space is also defined by other objects. Look at how it is mounted on the bathroom wall, and above the desk / drawer table. 

Have you heard of Non-fungible Token artwork? It is a digital image with a very unique signature that makes unquestionable the authenticity of the work. This particular painting is also available as NFT at 
https://rarible.com/token/0x60f80121c31a0d46b5279700f9df786054aa5ee5:516808?

I will donate 100% of the sale price of the NFT to the nonprofit organization True Blue Service Dogs, Inc. 

Under this section, you will read about books I have read, and thoughts and tribulations of a thinker. 
I have began reading the book titled Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari. I have already read his first book titled Sapiens and I have very much enjoyed it. Something new that I learned from that book is that all species were roaming Earth at the same time; rather than the previous concept taught at school that each one of them was on the verge of extinction before the new one was taking over. 

Homo Deus was written in 2015, and interestingly, it begins with the topic of pandemics that took placed from the beginning of the Homo Sapiens time until 2015. The author stated at the time of writing the book that we no longer needed to worry much about famines, pandemic and war. Interesting turn of events we are living, aren't we? 

He posed this question - "What are the projects that will replace famine, plague and war at the top of the human agenda in the twenty-first century? I think climate change is on top of the list.

He touches on the concept of happiness and I will explore that on my next post.

Happy Easter and Passover!

Virtual Art Exhibition - April 23rd, 2021 - 10-11 a.m. Pacific Time at https://meet.google.com/wgu-nsiv-ehz - A display of paintings by Cecilia Anastos related to the concept of womanhood.

Open Studio / Gallery Art Exhibition in San Diego, CA.
Date:Saturday, April 25th, 2021
Time: 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. / 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. / 5 pm to 7 pm. Select a slot using the RSVP form below.
Event Title: The Concept of Women Represented in Paintings - An exhibition of figurative paintings related to women (portraits, high heals, silhouettes, etc)
Location: Mira Mesa, San Diego, CA 92126 - This is an open air studio and well-fitted masks are required at all times. No more than 10 individuals at a time will be present during the exhibit. You will receive exact location upon registration. No walk-in allowed.