It's fun to switch hats from illustrator to graphic designer from time to time, and lately I've been able to do exactly that for a couple of nearby businesses.



I've been working lately for Synchronicity to give a much-needed face-lift to their advertising. This is the first of several ad designs to be printed in regional magazines and indie newspapers around the country starting next month. I'll post the others as they get sent out for printing. You can check out Synchronicity's website at www.synchronicity.org.







I also created a business card with updated logo for a local therapist, a job which came about after doing a flyer for a local Synchronicity meditation group.

I think there's a big difference between being energetically sensitive and being emotionally sensitive. Energetic sensitivity is more of a tactile function that increases as we grow spiritually, while emotional sensitivity is more at the level of mind and decreases with spiritual growth.

Most people are operating at the level of the mind and so the emotions that are experienced and expressed are tainted by the mind. Other people affect us when they have unresolved issues that resonate with our own. Our mind picks up on this and exploits it in order to trick us into feeding our own negativity.

When we become energetically sensitive, we are more identified with the soul than with the mind. Our soul becomes "stronger" in the sense that the soul is allowed to be a more prominent force in our lives, rather than blindly following the tyrannical dictates of the mind. As we move into this state, it becomes more difficult for the negativity of others to find a resonance within us. We become able to process our own negativity, and in time we can even begin to help process other people's negativity.

Those moments when I am so focused that there is no "me." It can happen while shaking, in meditation, painting, drawing or being in the creative flow. Also while in the company of enlightened or highly evolved people.

Here's an illustration I did for a good friend of mine. Michael does chakra readings and is an avid surfer, so it seemed to fit him pretty well. His readings are really quite amazing. If you're interested in getting one in person or over the phone, you can visit his website: http://www.lightinformation.com/

After nearly five years of being away and being busy going to art school, I finally got to visit my meditation teacher, Ratu Bagus, in Bali for the month of July. I took along my sketchbook with the idea of filling it up while I was there. Below are some of the sketches I did.





Any feedback is apprecieated! You can see more of my sketches and other artwork at www.scottdubar.com

Did this for a local meditation group that uses audio technology to synchronize the hemispheres of the brain, bringing it into various states of relaxation (Alpha, Beta, Theta or Delta). The group actually uses an iPod, so I thought I'd go ahead and jump on the bandwagon before it's too late and do my own take on the ubiquitous iPod ads.

I had a fun time with this, especially since its outside what I normally do. The patterns that look like snowflakes are actually traditional Indian designs called rangolis. They are typically made with colored sand or flower petals and are used for festivals.

Went to zazzle.com to see about getting some business cards printed up and was happily surprised to see that the cost of printing full color was the same as black and white. So I decided to go back and redesign my business card since I wasn't really happy with my initial b&w design anyway.

Here's what I came up with:




My logo is a stylized image of Lord Ganesh, (elephant-headed son of Shiva, and remover of obstacles)  with the trunk suggesting an S for "Scott."

Anyway, any feedback/suggestions are most welcome!

I've long been fascinated by "meditation technology" and it's potential to both facilitate deeper meditation as well as to reach out and inspire a wider range of people to give meditation a try. 

I just recently purchased one of those meditation CDs that induce a meditative state by using a combination of certain sound frequencies and pulsations to synchronize the hemispheres of the brain. The Sounds of the Source is part of a larger product line put out by Synchronicity, an organization seeking to promote "a modern, holistic, spiritual lifestyle method."

The first time I listened to one of these CDs was at a local downtown meditation group I found through meetup.com. I was half-expecting to be greeted by new-age bimbos, but found instead people who exuded a sense of authenticity in their experience and their practice. We meditated with the CD (encouraged to use whatever method we were already familiar with) for about a half an hour. In that time I found myself entering a deeply pleasant space that I had not been in for quite awhile. The music is soothing and accompanied by a variety of pleasent sounds depending on which CD you buy, from whale song and ocean waves to wooden flute and soft chanting of sacred mantras.

At $15, it wasn't much of an investment, and I've enjoyed a new and actually useful "spiritual toy" to play with. I think we all have a tendency to slip into a routine, almost robotic practice from time to time, and it's important to be able to find good ways to shake things up; to help us see our practice through a fresh eye again.

For more information, visit: www.synchronicity.org