Art By Tali Landsman

Saying goodbye to the beautiful snowy mountains of Colorado. The next time I'll see them it will be springtime and the slopes will be covered with wildflowers and mushrooms. And.. the journey begins... Sweetwater - Denver -San Francisco- Auckland- Bay Of Islands- Kohukohu. The total transit time including waiting in airports and driving will take a day and 36 hours. Soon my bleary eyes will be looking onto the Tasman Sea.

Yesterday I saw a documentary about yoga. In it, a yogi was practicing protestation. He did not simply prostrated himself on the ground, got up and did it again- every time he laid flat on the ground, he took a stone from a pile he had by his feet and placed it in a new pile in front of his head. He did this thousands of times. His aim was to go beyond the questioning mind, beyond its self doubts and to experience total devotion. While watching him, I thought how wonderful it would be if I was able to cultivate half of his devotion and commitment skills. I constantly doubt myself and my actions. When I start a new art project, I am excited and energetic, then I look at the body of work that is starting to accumulate and start second guessing myself, the need to continue with it and my devotion to it. Many times I will continue with the project and carry it to completion, but I do feel weakened by my self doubts.

This is my new art project: The name for those under the age of thirty: “ shinjinrui” (the new race). This "new race" represents more than just wild clothing and colorful hair. They are challenging the age-old rules of public behavior, and rejecting the ideal of a lifelong job, working six days a week for “ the company” . More than just a youthful rebellion, what really sets this generation apart is their refusal to follow the paths of their parents or accept their society's vision of a happy future. Not all of this change takes a visual or public form. But in certain places, like the Shibuya neighborhood in Tokyo, you will often encounter public expressions of a generation trying to find its voice and identity. For people from Western countries who have never understood Japan's group-centric culture, this apparent surge of individualism may seem utterly natural. But for a society that relay heavily on the individual’s cooperative spirit and submission to a...

I spent the whole day in the studio working on a new piece. I am doing my primary drawings in chalk first. It feels easier and less scary to make mistakes because I can erase them with a wet sponge. Later I do erase the chalk and work on the remaining lines with permanent oil sticks. I am not sure if I have mentioned it before, but I am integrating into the blackboard series poems/ wisdom from the Tao Te Ching. In every painting I am adding a short pearl of wisdom from the writing of Lao Tse. It is a book that had been a good comforter and guide in my life and I enjoy sharing it now in my art. It also helps that Lao Tse lived in the 6th century, so all copyrights have expired by now a thousand times over.

A sunny ski day in Vail. They have groomed my favorite run on the Vail mountain which is named "Riva Ridge". It is the longest run in Vail running from the top of "Blue Sky Basin" to the bottom of Vail village, with varying terrains ranging from sheer drops to long sloppy hills. If you do this run without stopping for a break, you are guarantee to finish it with a short breath and shaky legs. Since so many skis look the same, I have painted on our skis so we can tell them apart in the busy crowd.