This is an index of all the posts on This Speaks My Mind in descending chronological order, top posts and recent thoughts. You can also use the search feature below to find specific topics.
The Sunset Hill House Exhibition Preview
A special preview of the Sunset Hill House Art Exhibition by Roger Vincent Jasaitis.
Sunset Hill House Show Preparation
Here are some frames ready for paint. These will be going on paintings featured in my upcoming exhibition at the Sunset Hill House. I will be sending out a preview of the show this week!
Ditch the Plastic
DITCH THE PLASTIC A resolution of mine this year is to try to diminish the amount of plastic that I use. I mean one time use plastic. For example, some towns in Vermont have banned the use of plastic shopping bags. It is being considered as a State wide ban. I have found that with…
Sisterly Love
This is a recently completed portrait of my sister Dale. I am blessed with a wealth of compassionate, empathetic, caregiving sisters. I cherish them all. Sister Dale, a painting in oil paint was a commission. If you are interested in capturing a likeness of your dear ones, let’s talk.
a hapless mother, a defenseless child
Just substitute “fugitive” for “immigrant”…. What a situation, now, for a patriotic senator, that had been all the week before spurring up the legislature of his native State to pass more stringent resolutions against escaping fugitives, their harbourers and abettors! Our good senator in his native State had not been exceeded by any of…
Time for Gratitude
When someone asks you the time do you glance at your wrist or reach for your pocket? For all of my adult life I have worn a watch. Mostly it has been the same watch, a 1982 Accutron Quartz. In the 1960’s Bulova began making Accutron watches. They contained a small tuning fork that created…
Truth
“Truth is not only violated by falsehood; it may be equally outraged by silence.” -Henri Frederic Amiel, philosopher and writer (27 Sep 1821-1881) I was asked to swear an oath at a public hearing last week. I declined and pointed out that Vermont law includes affirmation in legal proceedings where testimony is given. The chairperson…
Happy Birthday Dad
My Father would have been 91 years old today. He passed a few years back and my Mother gave me his ring. It is ironic, being that I am a Quaker, that this tiger eye ring features a Roman soldier. These rings were popular back in the 1940s. My Father was a soldier. He served…
Co-Creation
” Co-creation implies a still unfolding creation in which the Creator continues to work with and through us when we respond in faithfullness to the promptings of love and truth in our hearts” Patricia Loring, Listening Spiritually Vol. 2, Corporate Spiritual Practices among Friends I could not help but thinking of creativity and inspiration when…
What’s Wrong With This Picture?
It was 11:00pm, lightly snowing and I was driving home. On a long deserted stretch of route 30 in the West River valley I drove past a Vermont state trooper’s car parked off of the shoulder of the oncoming lane. My reaction to seeing the car was to immediately take my foot off of…
We were more than dancers
“Then our sleds had wings; We were more than dancers Held by the wind’s music And the spell of the world’s whiteness. We rode on trails of light From clouded pinnacles. We soared like birds Back to familiar valleys; And only in that final resting Did we touch the ground.” Excerpt from The Sliders,…
A Bee
A letter to the brothers at Weston Priory 1/17/17 Dear Brother Daniel, I am writing on behalf of our men’s Quaker group that spent some time recently at the Weston Priory. We had a Spiritually nourishing time of worship, sharing, insight, and even a little poetry. We appreciated having the time to work with you making honey…
My Inaugural Protest
This song was written during a battle for the United States, it was repurposed by Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock. We are still battling for the soul of this country.
Man’s Best Friend
AN INTRODUCTION TO DOGS The dog is man’s best friend. He has a tail on one end. Up in front he has teeth. And four legs underneath. Dogs like to bark. They like it best after dark. They not only frighten prowlers away But also hold the sandman at bay. A dog that is…
Why Santa is a bad role model
“He know when you are sleeping, he knows when you’re awake. He knows if you’ve been bad or good” These are familiar words from the song Santa Claus is Coming to Town. On Christmas day I was thinking about the legend of Santa Claus which is based on Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas was a real…
Ahimsa
The Quaker Meeting that I am a member of considers a query each month as part of our spiritual discipline. On the first Sunday of each month, we read queries during worship inviting those attending to reflect on an aspect of our lives. In December the queries address Peace and Reconciliation. One of these queries…
A Call to Prayer and Support for Standing Rock
November 3, 2016 A Call to Prayer and Support for Standing Rock In North Dakota, the Standing Rock Sioux and their allies are struggling for the future of their land and people. Where those without worldly power stand in the Truth in the face of empire, God is at work and our faith calls us…
Chromatic
This is my Father’s accordion…in Spain. How did that happen? The concept for this painting, that of posing with my Father’s chromatic accordion, began 10 years ago when my Father gave me his old accordion. A few years ago on a trip to Spain, I came upon an old accordionist in the ancient section of…
End of the Monarchy
I have seen exactly one monarch butterfly this summer. As recently as 3 or 4 years ago this was the dominant large butterfly species here in Vermont. I would see countless monarchs fluttering over the meadows and roadsides. Not any more. There have been many media reports over the last couple of years about…
New England Yearly Meeting Sessions Exhibition 2016
I have a painter friend that, when he goes out painting, says “I’m going to steal some landscape”. An ironic take on the idea of making the image your own. Have you ever heard that in some cultures there is the belief that representations or photos actually steal the soul from the subject? Sounds pretty far…
Let us then try what love can do…
Let Us Then Try What Love Can Do, quote William Penn, Image; Autumn Twilight, oil painting by Roger Vincent Jasaitis, Copyright RVJart.com, Collection of the artist.
Natures First Green is Gold
Nothing Gold Can Stay Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. ~Robert Frost To read about the genesis of this painting psalm…
Activating Action
A few days ago I woke up thinking about the word activist. What are they activating? Conscience, sympathy, compassion? Or how about outrage, anger, disgust? Activating action? The other names that we use for this activity to promote change (or not) are interesting as well. Protester came to my mind first. Somewhat of a clunker…
Fire & Ice
“Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice.” ― Robert Frost This…
Life is swept along…
“Life is swept along, next-to-nothing its span. For one swept to old age no shelters exist. Perceiving this danger in death, one should drop the world’s bait and look for peace.” ~The Buddha Image: psalm 194, Spring Ice, Weston, oil painting by Roger Vincent Jasaitis, click to read more about this painting.
A Monks Garden
“Shield me against my selfishness and my indifference to God and to my neighbor.” ~from the Novena to Saint Benedict Early spring at the Weston Priory, a Benedictine monastery in Vermont, the monks garden is spare. You will note the bricks in the foreground with the message to “pray”. How fitting you might think. In March, I…
Not all those who wander…
“Not all those who wander are lost” J. R. R. Tolkien Another in the “lost” series of paintings “Olas Rosado”. This makes a couplet with “Daybreak”.
Icon or Art?
Let me set the stage; The Buddha is 12 feet tall and 12 feet in diameter, sitting cross-legged with fingertips and thumbs touching in it’s lap. It was carved from 11 pieces of wood and joined together. The room was 16 feet by 20 feet, with a 14 foot ceiling height, dimly lit by back-lighting. Other…
Surfs Up!
I want to live in a country that does not condone hateful rhetoric and the encouragement of violence. I want to live in a country that does not permit torture and the bombing of civilians. I want to live in a country that encourages it’s citizens to live their dreams peacefully, even if a little…
Lost and Found
“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.” Henry David Thoreau This last week while rummaging through some old boxes I came across this painting “Daybreak”. I painted this in 2008 and promptly forgot about it. I don’t know why this happened. It is unusual for me to forget about a work.…
Cruelty and Compassion
Recently I was driving a shuttle bus for Landmark College students. Landmark College serves students who have a diagnosed learning disability (such as dyslexia), or other learning difficulties such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or autism spectrum disorder (ASD). I had dropped the students off to shop locally earlier and was now returning to pick them up to return to campus.…
Looking Deeply
Do you look deeply at art? In other words, do you see what you are looking at? This takes effort from the viewer. To place oneself mindfully (I love that term, using your full mind) in the present moment and critically viewing and feeling the emotions that rise. Noticing the details… To learn more…
The First Selfie
1982, I snapped this photo of Nancy and myself at her ballet dance studio. This was before auto-focus or auto anything…manual focus, aperture and exposure on her old Minolta. The first selfie of us, in a mirror, when our love was young and we were in our twenties. Today, Valentine’s Day, is our 30th wedding…
Political Landscape
This time of year there is always an abundance of wood ashes from the woodstove….
January Thaw
Every year here in Vermont we get a break in the cold weather for a few days during January. This year it has been a mild winter and nearly snowless so far, very unusual. Still, we are getting our January thaw this weekend. I started this painting last summer and other work got in…
Nazi Wisdom?
This quote isn’t so much wisdom as advice, and it is frightening. So, is the leader (or candidate) that you follow promoting fear? Listen to the words, yes, but listen closely to the intent behind the words as well before you cast your vote.
God’s DNA
A person experiences life as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. Our task must be to free ourselves from this self-imposed prison, and through compassion, to find the reality of Oneness. ~Albert Einstein This very Buddhist like quote reflects the thinking of many great thinkers, philosophers and…
Stillness
“In stillness the world is restored.” Buddhist Proverb This is the day of the winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere. The word solstice, literally sol (sun)- stice (stasis) means the sun appears to stand still in its heavenly march. Culturally this day has been celebrated since…
Family Ties
This lovely old photo is of my Grandmother on my Mother’s side. In Polish Grandmother is Babci. This was taken right after she emigrated from Poland to the United States early in the last century. I was born of immigrants, as most of us are in this country. She was escaping war and deprivation…
Monk for a Day
A few weeks ago I spent a long weekend in retreat with some Friends at a Benedictine monastery here in Vermont called the Weston Priory. The monks live under the Rule of Saint Benedict which was written circa the year 500. The motto of the Benedictines is Ora et labora meaning “pray and work”, which refers to two major components of a…
On Racism in America
Bernie Sanders on Islamophobia and racism Minute on Racism New England Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends affirms its commitment to becoming an open, affirming, anti-racist Religious Society. Our understanding of racism is that it is a system that accords advantage or disadvantage based on racial identity. Racism is fundamentally inconsistent with the…
Response – Ability
Sheila Garrett deconstructed the word responsiblity as part of her following note. I had never thought of this word in this way. It opens up possibilities for action in ways that you may not have thought of… both as individuals and as Faith groups. Sheila is walking from Vermont to Georgia. You can follow her…
Save Our Students
…that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The Declaration of Independence lists these undeniable Rights in this order. The first of these, the Right to Life, is being taken from our citizens, especially students, by gun violence. The time…
What’d I Say?
What can we do, what is to be done? was a recent post here that I compared Dorothy Day to Bernie Sanders. Here Bernie does it himself… along with the Pope: “If politics must truly be at the service of the human person, it follows that it cannot be a slave to the economy and finance.…
Beholding
My friend Richard Brady wrote the following note about learning to truly see. This speaks my mind about the act of appreciating art. If you look at the definition of the word appreciate, you grasp the layers of meaning when it comes to art: APPRECIATE transitive verb 1 a : to grasp the nature, worth,…
What can we do, what is to be done?
I was struck reading this passage by how much this echoes what Bernie Sanders is saying in his speeches at political rallies and by what he has said for the past 25 years. The surprise is that this was written in 1955 during the so-called “golden era” of the middle class in this country by…
A Moment of Summer, Maine
This lighthouse is the second oldest light in Maine. The conical tower on Burnt Island is built of granite likely quarried on the island and stands thirty feet tall. The four-foot thick walls at the tower’s base have given it such stability that it has never been rebuilt, and today it is the second-oldest original…
Tinker, Lamb of Dog
We are mourning the loss of our beloved dog Tinker this week. She was a part of our lives for over 15 years. With a big personality, strong willed, and independent, she leaves a big empty space in our hearts. Our pets waggle their way into our hearts and become family members intimate with our…
Computer as Religion
OZ’S VOICE Do you presume to criticize the Great Oz? You ungrateful creatures! Think yourselves lucky that I’m giving you audience tomorrow, instead of twenty years from now. Oh — oh oh! The Great Oz has spoken! Oh — Oh —…. LS — Shooting past the Four at left to the Wizard as he pulls back the curtain…
Free Your Mind
You are not your thoughts. This is something that is quite apparent to me while Worshiping or meditating. When you Worship silently or meditate the first thing you notice is that your mind is filled with distracting thoughts; things that you need to do, things that you have done, trains of thought running in every…
Be Who You Are…
“This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.” Hamlet Act 1, scene 3, William Shakespeare I spied this graffiti board on the Landmark College campus and this bit of wisdom jumped out at me; Be Who…
Transition
Transition Too long and quickly have I lived to vow The woe that stretches me shall never wane, Too often seen the end of endless pain To swear that peace no more shall cool my brow. I know, I know- again the shriveled bough Will burgeon sweetly in the gentle rain, And these hard lands…
Barbarous Ancestors
Which President said this?? Obama? Reagan? Lincoln? Guess again! “Some men look at constitutions with sanctimonious reverence and deem them like the arc of the covenant, too sacred to be touched. They ascribe to the men of the preceding age a wisdom more than human, and suppose what they did to be beyond amendment. I knew…
Silent Summer
What is wrong with this picture? I looked out at a field of blooming clover and was struck by what I did not see…bees. No honeybees, no bumblebees, no wild bees of any species. No buzzing…silence but for the songbirds in the nearby trees. What is wrong with this picture? This from an NBC article: Honeybees…
Meeklings
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Beatitudes I read in the Atlantic Monthly this week that someone thought that this was the worst prediction of all time. My first thought was; unless it is the end of history, how would you know if it’s true? Of course, if you look…
Moral and Political War
– – Let us wage a moral and political war against war itself, so that we can cut military spending and use that money for human needs. Bernie Sanders – – About the photo; I captured this rainbow after a thunderstorm blew by at sunset. Reproductions are available. Contact me and we’ll talk.
Spring Cleaning
I’m posting this batch of new late winter/early spring paintings with a video of the creation of one of them. You can read more about the creation and inspiration of these works by clicking the links below: Open Water, Late Winter psalm 189, Open Water Crane Mtn Road, Early Spring psalm 190, Misty Brook To…
The Ant and the Grasshopper
I woke this morning thinking about the fable of the ant and the grasshopper. I have two or three cords of wood sitting in my backyard waiting to be split for firewood. This is next winters warmth. It is also a lot of work that can’t be put off because it needs to season. This…
Spring
“Podrán cortar todas las flores, pero no podrándetener la primavera.” ― Pablo Neruda “You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot keep Spring from coming.” May day is here. This painting is Crane Mountain Road in early spring… here we call it mud season. This work will be available for purchase…when it dries.…
Culture of Militarism
I was speaking with college students recently about the culture of militarism in the United States. To quote Joseph Gainza of Marshfield, who led the American Friends Service Committee in Vermont for over 15 years and who founded Vermont Action for Peace, “(one way) of looking at other people, social problems, and even the planet itself,…
We are the Church
Have you ever wondered why we don’t call our Friends Meeting a Church? George Fox, one of the founders of The Society of Friends (Quakers), used to call the Churches in England steeple houses. His idea, radical at the time, was that the Church is the people. There is a Zen Buddhist proverb that says;…
First Day Reflections on “The Bread of Life”
I saw this message on a plaque recently; Grace isn’t a little prayer you say before a meal. It’s a way to live. Do you give thanks or say Grace before “breaking bread”? Where does this custom come from? This painting from Norman Rockwell speaks to the way that a lot of people feel about this…
Bread of Life
I have a tradition of baking Polish Easter bread (babka) for Easter Sunday that I share with family and neighbors. This custom is carried on throughout Ukraine, Poland and Belorussia to celebrate the rising of Christ. My grandparents came from Lithuania and Poland so this tradition has been passed down in my family. Wikipedia states…
3 Year Celebration Auction, “Peaceful Mooring”
Auction Starts Today! Click here to go to auction site. To celebrate the 3rd anniversary of RVJart.com and This Speaks My Mind I am auctioning 3 original framed oil paintings. You can bid on 3 different paintings as gifts for yourself or a loved one. The auctions will last 3 days each with a different painting every day.…
3 Year Celebration Auction, “Dark Brook”
Auction Starts Today! Click here to go to auction site. To celebrate the 3rd anniversary of RVJart.com and This Speaks My Mind I am auctioning 3 original framed oil paintings. You can bid on 3 different paintings as gifts for yourself or a loved one. The auctions will last 3 days each with a different painting every day.…
3 Year Celebration Auction “About to Rain”
Auction Starts Today! Click here to go to auction site. To celebrate the 3rd anniversary of RVJart.com and This Speaks My Mind I am auctioning 3 original framed oil paintings. You can bid on 3 different paintings as gifts for yourself or a loved one. The auctions will last 3 days each with a different painting every day.…
3 Years RVJart.com, 3 Paintings Auction!
To celebrate the 3rd anniversary of RVJart.com and This Speaks My Mind I am auctioning these 3 original framed oil paintings. You can bid on 3 different paintings as gifts for yourself or a loved one. The auctions will last 3 days each with a different painting every day. Low reserve bids! Become a collector or…
Winter Coda, A Meditation
I filmed this meditation on the last day of meteorological winter here in Vermont. This ends the coldest 90 days of this year’s winter. This winter featured the coldest February on record with the average temperature bracketing January to March for 43 days at 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Although it will still snow and still be…
Seeing is not believing…
The squares marked A and B are the same shade of gray. Credit: © 1995, Edward H. Adelson Is ‘the dress’ white and gold or blue and black? That was the question when I was shown a photo of a dress last weekend on a smart phone. Whoa wow wow is the Tumblir account that…
Now Is The Time
Now is the time, now is the only time, everything else, past and present, is a construct of your mind. Now is the time that I am releasing version 3.0 of RVJart.com. Check it out! I am combining my web sight and blog into one entity. Less clicks=more happiness….
Yikes!
Yikes! Yes, you are at the right place… This Speaks My Mind and RVJart.com even though it looks strange. My web sight is undergoing updates (to version 3.0) at this time by the internet wizards. Please excus e an y irre.g. u la r 0r ¡fun n y! TYP 0s o r …
Winter Twilight
A Winter Twilight A silence slipping around like death, Yet chased by a whisper, a sigh, a breath; One group of trees, lean, naked and cold, Inking their cress ‘gainst a sky green-gold; One path that knows where the corn flowers were; Lonely, apart, unyielding, one fir; And over it softly leaning down, One star…
Plainly Speaking
33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: 35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for…
Shoveling Snow
Shoveling Snow With Buddha In the usual iconography of the temple or the local Wok you would never see him doing such a thing, tossing the dry snow over a mountain of his bare, round shoulder, his hair tied in a knot, a model of concentration. Sitting is more his speed, if that is…
Thank You
To start off the new year, first I have to look back to 2014 at the 12 paintings of Christmas celebration and say thank you all. Folks have been asking me how it worked out, so here are the facts; 834 views, 158 bids and 11 out of 12 paintings won! The event…
Yuletide Greetings
Yuletide Greetings, Do you have a Christmas tree in your home? If so, then you are celebrating an ancient ritual called Yule or Jul, dating back to prehistoric Germanic and Celtic pagans. You are honoring the Spirit in the trees. Isn’t it fascinating how Christianity absorbs and incorporates earlier pagan rituals into its celebration of Jesus’…
The 12 Paintings of Christmas #12
The Twelve Days Paintings of Christmas Holiday Special! With this auction I am celebrating the twelve days of Christmas by auctioning 12 original oil paintings. This is painting #12 This original oil painting “Snowy Trail” is inspired by a Christmas Eve hike down a winter trail in a gentle snowfall. The late afternoon light fading and the only sound…
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