Art Prices: The Zen Garden Series
“Wisdom alone is not enough. It has to be practical.”
Shri Yogendra
Zen Garden 01, 36H x 48W x 2D inches, created year 2000 with mixed media: acrylics, dried geranium leaf, modeling paste, texture medium on canvas, gallery-wrapped sides textured, 32H x 44W inch main canvas inset, 4″ wide box-frame, gold and red crackle trim-frame.
Prickly Pear Cactus, Alpine Meadows, The Evolution of Communication
The very first Zen Garden that inspired the ongoing series was created in 2000 as part of a four-painting commission for a 4-story office building. Three paintings represented main offices in Japan, Texas, and Europe. The fourth was a fun interpretation of the evolution of communication.
The ideas established in that set were a personal break-through that encouraged new routes and trying methods I hadn’t before. That set also utilized the “box frame” idea used on several other paintings since then, where a main central canvas is mounted on an extra 3 or 4-inch-wide wood platform, which is framed with narrow trim. Whereas some frames on paintings have the effect of abruptly ending a composition, the box-frame enables space for the subject to continue, softens the edges, and adds a unique overall impression. When related items are placed in that area, it adds dimension not just in the physical sense, but also in conveying any abstract or symbolic stories beyond the presentation of the main painting inside. First Snow is an example of this box-frame idea applied to a future piece (2007), where the painting continued from the main central frame.
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Prickly Pear Cactus, part of the commissioned set above, pins were nailed around the main central frame, then painted. The smaller canvas painting done in 2005, left, borrowed this technique. In Alpine Meadows, I used all the qualities that acrylic paints offer, like watering down the consistency for the distant mountains, then sculpting thicker paint textures of flowers and grasses with a palette knife on the lower portion. The theme of The Evolution of Communication displays computer keys decoupaged with ancient symbols. I’d like to try this idea again at some point.
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| Zen Garden 02, 18H x 36W x 1D inches mixed media on wrapped canvas. Frame unnecessary. | ||
| Sold but a similar one can be recreated. | ||
| Special Order, please allow up to 14 days to create before shipping. | ||
| $550.00 |  |
4 different orientations of “Zen Garden 02” are possible. A new replication would not be exact, but certainly in the same spirit as the original.
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| Zen Garden 03, 16H x 20W x 1D inch canvas and smaller incorporated canvas | ||
| $150.00 | |
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| Zen Garden 04, 12H x 12W x 1D inches with inner smaller canvas, mixed media on Masonite, with wood frame with crackle finish. | ||
| $150.00 | |
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| Zen Garden 05, 18H x 36W x 1D inches. Sold. | ||
Many paintings in this series are wired to hang vertically, horizontally, or can be flipped upside down for a choice of different orientation hanging options. Sold, but a new piece can be replicated; please allow up to 14 days to create by special order.
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| Zen Garden 06 - Pebbles Mosaics. | |||||
| Set of four 8 x 10 x 1 inches hand-made tiles on canvas. | |||||
| $550.00 | |
“Pebbles Mosaics” is painted with acrylics, several coats of varnish, sides painted to continue the mosaic look. Frames unnecessary – a variety of hanging arrangement options: turned sideways or upside down, in any order, vertically, horizontally, or in a square formation.
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| Zen Garden 07, 17H x 19W x 1D mixed media and handmade tiles on Masonite, crackle-finished wood frame. Sold. |
Part of the fun of this series is experimenting and changing the format. Zen Garden 08, 24 x 24 x 1 inches is created with woven canvas strips, acrylics on canvas, string of lights in the back, hung as square or diagonal. Sold.
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| Four Corners, 16 x 20 inches mixed media on canvas, frame unnecessary. | ||
| $250.00 | |
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The piece “Four Corners” integrates the iron-rich sandy soil from the Four Corners region of United States. The texture is built up in the four corners of the frame. I’ve collected quite a few samples of sands and soils while travelling and plan to use them in traditional style paintings as well.
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| Zen Garden 09, 48 x 21 x 3 inches mixed media on canvas, wrapped sides also textured. | ||
| $750.00 | |
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| Zen Garden 10, 40H x 60W x 3D inches mixed media on canvas, wrapped sides also textured | ||
| $950.00 | |
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| Zen Garden 11, 18H x 24W x 1D inches mixed media on canvas. Sold. |
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| Zen Garden 12, 18H x 24W x 1D inches mixed media on canvas | ||
| $250.00 | |
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| Zen Garden 13, 18H x 24W x ID inches mixed media on wrapped canvas | ||
| $250.00 | |
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| Zen Garden 14, 15H x 30W x 1 inches. Sold. |