#48 Neal Aronowitz

This month, Mary had the opportunity to meet with artist and scholar, Neal Aronowitz. They spoke in Neal’s studio in Portland, Oregon - a place where he works with concrete and wood, aluminum, marble, glass and electricity. Neal applies his artistic sensibilities to furniture design - specifically consoles, coffee tables and light fixtures. His style is profoundly affected by his kinship with the natural world.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Neal came to know wild nature in adventures his family would take into the woodlands and mountains of New York State. He studied art and architecture at City University of NY and Massachusetts College of Art exploring the disciplines of metalwork, glassmaking, woodworking, ceramics, photography, and multimedia sculpture. Then, to keep his young family cared for, he developed a construction business. All along, however, he remained powerfully interested and invested in the plant world - expressing his devotion through urban gardens of fruit and vegetables - and gardens of water.

Now he’s essentially finished with construction and spends his time pursuing his life’s love of artistic expression in design. In the short time he’s been giving the majority of his attention to this work, he’s received great acclaim, including being the subject of an award winning documentary, HOW TO BEND CONCRETE IN 108 EASY STEPS. He’s been featured in Interiors Magazine, Luxe, Spaces, Elle, and Kaza - a magazine in Sao Paulo. He won the 2017 Gray Award and was named Best of the Year in 2018 by Interior Design. He was also recognized by Artisan Design and was a finalist in the 2024 NYC by Design Awards.

In this episode Neal shares the story of his artistic pursuits and then weaves that tale directly into ways that we can all be part of climate repair.

You can learn more about Neal and see examples of his designs by visiting his website @nealaronowitz.com. And, in case you missed the link above, here's access to the documentary, HOW TO BEND CONCRETE IN 108 EASY STEPS. For those who are interested, we asked Neal for his recommendations on what to read to learn more about Vedanta and include those with other resources he mentioned during our conversation. We list those below.

Throughout our time Neal emphasized how nothing happens separate from the physical world - from nature, its atomic and subatomic activity and order. The whole world is here and in relationship with each and all. As Neal reminds us, we’re in good company.

Vedanta:

You can learn more here about Vedanta and Neal’s spiritual path and sangha for the last 28 years. www.SRV.org

Other resources:

Carl Jung. Man and His Symbols.

Nathan Cabot Hale. Abstraction in Art and Nature.

Frank Lloyd Wright. A Testament.

MUSIC ~

This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.

Smooth Jazz Saxophone Solo with a LoFi Vibe

Music by Nicholas Panek from Pixabay

Podcast Jazz Waltz Cozy Relaxing Vibes

Music by Denis Pavlov from Pixabay