Rocks (36×26 fresco on reinforced canvas)

Bernard Weston uses beauty as a mechanism to slow down and more sensitively perceive the ordinary. His work promotes appreciation of the present moment, and the sublime sensory transcendence of the natural world. Weston applies Venetian plaster to canvas on board using plaster and drywall tools, brushes, baking and cake decorating tools, auto body tools, and found objects. Often he rescues damaged doors from lumber yards to repair, or make a frame to support the canvas. The plaster cures and is then burnished and treated with a protective wax layer that bonds the plaster and gives a final luster. As a result of his study under a Master in a Sumi-e Buddhist Temple, his compositions and colors are inspired by ancient Chinese and Japanese brush work on paper. Sumi-e is a contemplative discipline in Japanese Buddhism and is practiced in the Zen and Shingon traditions. Weston starts his work day by emptying his mind of chatter or clutter, getting present to the process ahead. Meditation, Yoga and Chi Gong calm his fears, and he simply creates.