Lyndia Radice

Painting

As a struggling musician in the 1970s, I learned Vipassana meditation to help with performance anxiety and deepen my awareness of self. I also painted and read books about spirituality and religion. I met Frederick Franck, the artist, sculptor, Buddhist scholar and author of 18 books when he taught a course based on The Zen of Seeing: Seeing/Drawing as Meditation."

Dr. Franck often quoted Hui Neng: "The meaning of life is to see." He taught that drawing could be used as a contemplative art. In his many books, he describes the process of "seeing" rather than "looking at." In my less eloquent attempt at a paraphrase, the artist enters into a contemplative relationship with their subject. The act of drawing is a non-dual, direct impulse - what is truly seen by the artist's eye flows through their heart and their hand serves as a seismographic tool that marks the result on paper.

Seeing/drawing and my traditional Vipassana practice became the foundation of my art, music and, more importantly, my life. They also inspired me to change careers from music to social work/teaching.

For over 25 years, I worked as a bilingual child therapist, teacher and infant developmental evaluator in NYC, the Bronx and New Mexico. I also worked in the Ecuadorian Amazon for 3 months. Throughout those years, I drew, painted, took photographs and continued my contemplative practices. Remembering to see with my heart helped enormously when I worked with clients whose cultures and experiences differed radically from my own.

In 2006, I moved from NYC to New Mexico to work as behavioral health coordinator for the children on an isolated part of the Navajo Reservation. This extreme change from urban to very rural life was a shock to my system. I relied on my meditation practice to support me as I transitioned to my new life.

In 2017, I began to feel blocked creatively. I decided to create a daily drawing or painting as a contemplative exercise. Because I am asthmatic, I was unable to continue using pastels, so I taught myself digital art. I paint for an hour each morning after I return from a walk on the land near my home. I continue to practice Vipassana meditation daily because life is impermanent and meditation helps.

Lyndia Radice, MS (Sp.Ed.) LISW, was born and raised in NYC, NY. She performed as a classical musician in the US and Europe for ten years. At age 37, she earned an MSW and an MS in Special Education. For twenty years, she provided special education and child therapy services in NYC and the Bronx. In 2001, she worked for 3 months in the Amazon. In 2006, she moved to rural New Mexico and served as child/adolescent behavioral health coordinator for Alamo Navajo Reservation. She also provided mental health and developmental educational consultation services in Albuquerque, NM, until she retired in 2013. She was Music Director for First Presbyterian Church in Socorro, NM, for 10 years.

Her drawings and photographs are on permanent exhibition at Tularosa Basin Gallery in Carrizozo, NM. She has had solo exhibitions in CO, several cities in NM and has participated in group shows in NM, TX, NV, NY, PA, and WA. Some of her paintings have been published by Mother Ink Publishers in their calendars and cards.

More on Lyndia Radice’s work can be found on our Links page.