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