I have a gift that I discovered in my twenties. I could read art and know how the people who made it felt when they made their art. This gift has developed a great deal since I started working with people to lessen their suffering, using art-making in the process. Today much more information comes to me through people’s art. And more still comes through my own art-work, done in people’s presence, or when I am aware of them.
I used to be a graphic designer and an illustrator. I wrote for children and a little bit for adults. I came to NYC in 1985, 40 years old, married with three children and started a new career as an illustrator only. A few years later I became involved with Chan Meditation Center and studied meditation and Buddhist knowledge with the late Master Sheng-yen from Taiwan. For twelve years I was in a process of deepening my meditation. I had many more experiences and insights and my life changed. After having illustrated more than 40 children’s books and writing two of them, I left this career too and went to NYU to study art therapy.
ByGiora Carmi
In my little garden of dreamsI swim I find the red hard to chewBut the green invites me The yellows warm me upThe grays advise to rest I see the screensThat tell of being open and enclosed I see the big linesBuilding lives and falling But nowIt’s up to me I can close my eyesTo…
ByGiora Carmi
It is clear that this painting has in it a problem in the left lower side. Generally there is joy bursting in it. But look at that corner. Yes, it is the corner of my pain in the legs. It is what prevents me from sleeping, it is what causes me to cry sometimes and…
ByGiora Carmi
MaybeThis time it is notAbout what is betterAnd what is worseBut:Do I want to playWith differencesOrShall I rest in truthFor whichBoth the righteousAnd the villainAre beloved sons? I used to be a graphic designer and an illustrator. I became involved with the Chan Meditation Center and studied meditation and Buddhist knowledge with…
ByGiora Carmi
At any moment of my lifeI carry all the levelsOf my view.If I let them all goThe only one that’s trueRemains. I used to be a graphic designer and an illustrator. I became involved with the Chan Meditation Center and studied meditation and Buddhist knowledge with the late Master Sheng-yen from Taiwan. For…
ByGiora Carmi
In the evenings we gatherNear the treeWe sit in a circleAnd listen to the storiesThat the tree tells Nobody talksAnd we all cryBecause we love the storiesSo much And we love the wayIt feels as ifEvery storyHas its rootsIn nothing. I used to be a graphic designer and an illustrator. I became involved…
ByGiora Carmi
There is fire in my feet But I am dancing And lifting my heavy heart A bird comes out from my head Another bird is kissing me I see my mom resting On a big pink cloud I am ready to sail on the river now To pass the pasture And come to my…
ByGiora Carmi
The bird wants to fly On her own She slowly disconnects From where she stands Wanting to fly Takes its energy From the sun And it is light Hesitation To leave the earth Is from the fear And it is heavy For many years It seemed that She has flown And stayed It took a…
ByGiora Carmi
I had to carefully compose again after it looked as if I had finished it already. There was a lot to add. It is so easy with this technique. And I fixed it. Now it appeals to me. I made it to appeal to me. When I think what is new about my late paintings,…
ByGiora Carmi
A garden grows At the top of the soil With a touch of sadness To it A lonely soul Is leaving Hoping to have it better In another place There is gold in the earth And next to it A hidden wound A flood of sadness And the body of a man He is resting…
ByGiora Carmi
I want to be a tree But I am not sure Which tree I want to be And I’m not sure What the conditions are In the place where I’ll stand Is it very windy there? Is there competition for the food? Will the goats eat my bark? Will the other trees be friendly And…
ByGiora Carmi
The parts of the head And shoulders Spread to all the wrong places As if they were kids In a school intermission Instead of being controlled By the rules They freely followed Their hearts As a result Harmony settled in In which Effortlessly All individual whims together Became the complete expression Of the one. …
ByGiora Carmi
The queen had a party The guests drank and talked Around the table But I wanted to sleep So she made a bed for me Nearby I sank in Among the big pillows The words of a book Appeared And I read them in my sleep Nerve pain woke me up Where in the book…
