One of the advantages to indoor balancing is a much more controlled environment.. When it’s cold and/or windy, indoor is a nice solution.. here I can play with not only finer balances, but also precision lighting.. :)  I have an old wood desk that I normally do my work on… at night, I’ve begun clearing it off and setting up my small makeshift photo studio.. :)

Supplies?

- Large piece of black foam-board… (I like dark) for the background
- heavy, solid, wood desk… or solid base
- warm and/or cold lights… (soft white/daylight)
- Rocks

Advice? …step lightly. houses are not nearly as solid as the planet. ;)

I like doing this at night because of the easily accessible void-like darkness….  It is a nice change to photograph the rocks emerging from darkness, instead of the regular condition of working in daylight..

This balance with the three round rocks is a bit more multidimensional than doing a straight vertical arrangement..  Why? because it flows along a CURVED line of balance… slightly feminine in a way.. <3 Here the curves are the result of continuous counterbalance.. The weight of the top two rocks balances the third, while the top rock counterbalances the second… Simple yet challenging to realize, especially wokring with roundish rocks….. Not only are all the rocks on very fine counterbalance points, but friction is also at a threshold… the two lower round rocks are begging to slip and collapse..

“Many times I think I need the silence… And it’s not an escape, it’s a kind of complimentary activity. At times it’s so completely absorbing. But there are other times… when you’re cross country skiing, when you’re cycling, you can reflect, and often I find.. solutions, to designs. There are many dimensions to those pursuits..obviously they’re about pleasure.. but they’re so inextricably linked with what I do as a designer.”

- Norman Foster (English Architect)

Here are some more indoor creations from the past few days…Each one, especially the back and forth counterbalances incorporate a great deal of physical tension as they slink upward..  Evidenced by the large rocks on the tops of these, all that weight must be balanced for each rock below… meaning all the balanced weights are opposing one another for the most part…

“The first half of life is devoted to forming a healthy ego, the second half is going inward and letting go of it.”  ~ Carl Jung

It seems that letting go of things was a central lesson in 2012. It has also been a part of learning as we begin 2013. Something I enjoy about stone balance is that it has a weird way of breaking ego. just when I seem to get ahead of myself, stone balance will remind me to slow down.

This is my first balance of 2013. A freezing day up at woods quarry… but as always, the experience was quiet and relaxing.. A cool part of this photo is that I inadvertently captured downtown Denver in the distant background… It looks like such a peaceful place from way up here… another reminder that perspective can change things quite a bit.

Something I like to incorporate into my balances, from a design perspective, is making the form flow as a whole. Just as with fabric squares in watercolor quilting, I like to fit rocks together in such ways as to become extensions of one another…  so they collectively radiate a certain energy through design. Another important aspect I enjoy is the tension that comes out of pushing limits of my own skill… often a greater challenge will induce more focused meditative states where breathing really becomes center of attention.  Without paying close attention to breath, the small changes in lung inflation are enough to unbalance my efforts as I brace the premature balance. SLOW BREATHING required.

btw, I find Carl Jung to be an incredible genius. His work and perspectives are highly inspirational both artistically and personally. I have also heard from credible sources that Carl Jung was himself interested in the art of Stone Balance and has even written briefly about the practice.  Though, I do not know this for certain… anyone with more insight into this, let me know!

“To experience anything fully and see it clearly there must be a moment of presence where conceptual thinking is not interfering with your experience of that moment.”

~ Eckhart Tolle ~

The top rock here was far too heavy to lift with one arm and the rest too unstable to use both hands to place it. so I had to problem solve…. the method was narrowly successful. Focus. :)

“Nobody knows the insides and outs;
Nobody knows what’s behind the scenes.
Nobody knows about the hardships and sorrows;
Nobody knows about the dreams…”

Guru (of Gangstarr) from Jazzmatazz vol.2

Sometimes I lose faith in everything. Sometimes i wanna delete my facebook account. Sometimes i feel absolutely fucking insane. but then i find my happy place playing with rocks.. Plus i enjoy sharing my work with all of you… Peace.

I love seeing the difference between completely dry or wet rocks.  Sometimes colors appear in pure dryness that are rich in their muted charm. For example, in this balance, wet rocks appear in tones of brown, while the same rocks dry have a subtle purple tint to them. Absolutely beautiful. Then the Black and White really highlights the form of the balance, which in this case, is especially sleek and beautiful. Perfect in its imperfection. Wabi-Sabi. :)

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

- Marianne Williamson (A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles)

This post, or rather, this moment, begins a wide range of contemplation. Some new neighbors were over yesterday where we began summoning the “Medicine Cards”. “..The medicine referred to in this book is anything that improves one’s connection to the Great Mystery and to all life… Native American medicine is an all-encompassing ‘way of life,’ for it involves walking on the Earth Mother in perfect harmony with the Universe…” long story short, Each card in the deck has a certain ‘spirit animal’ pictured on it.  each animal corresponds to a section of the book. When chosen, a card can display right side up, or upside down (contrary).  I chose, not by choice, The contrary rabbit.  The message was to take a step back and re-evaluate. To center myself before moving forward.  It is hard to connect all these dots for you here due to complexity and space to write..ha. The balances, however,  have a way of re-centering me (as balancer) every time I attempt to balance. In order for the rocks to balance, I must be balanced AS WELL.  I drew this contrary rabbit at a moment when I had not been out balancing for almost a week. Stress levels were high from work. It made sense. Turns out, the balance session today after work proved to be something much needed. Time with the sounds of nature. fleeting sunlight. It was really a matter of seemingly unrelated everything happening exactly when it must as ONE, or what i like to call ‘divine alignment’.