Monday, July 06, 2026

Themes and Memes

For many years I eked out a living painting in oils. Landscapes, city streets, portraits, I have done them all, and in every case I considered the voice of the moment my subject matter. I would layout the basic framework (like framing a house) mixing estimates of color with blends of the primaries: red, blue, and yellow. With these and some white and black I was able to block out a structure to paint into with subtle admonitions of color, and was generally able to achieve my purpose. Red, Blue, and Yellow: the 'primaries' from which all colors are woven. 

Just so human nature.

Homer's "Iliad", Mallory's "Mort de Arthur", Murasaki's "Genji Monogatari", have stood the test of time because they are raw examples of the primary colors of human experience: the the romance of sex and violence and matters of 'honor' is alive and well in every driver behind the wheel of every car on every freeway anywhere in the world. Humanity finds its Self framed out in broad strokes of archetype and personalized with finish-work of adaptive color.

The awakening of Pristine Awareness is as if the canvas awoke.