"Chase in the Hemlocks" Oil 16 X 20"
Here is another painting for the gallery. Just waiting for it to dry and then apply a light coat of protective varnish. The Rufus hummingbirds are always scrapping over territory and feeder rights in my yard. The one on the right, he's so fast, he's just a blur!
Below is a teaser of what I am currently working on. It's a crop of the bigger painting. It will soon be finished. It is another "Alchemy" painting.
"Coming Home" Oil. SOLD
I was asked recently about my thoughts in creating "Coming Home", and then asked again by another person shortly afterwards which got me to thinking... that I should post my thought process behind these pieces more often, not only for interested parties, but for myself to gain clarity as I move forward.
"Coming Home" has the initial surface presentation of a snowy landscape with the migration of deer. But the symbology contains so much more.
One must remember that symbols point or hint toward something but can't explain directly, instead they can hint to that within... but I shall do my best to explain what I feel that some of what the symbols are hinting at.
All the elements chosen to be painted: migration, journey, rocks, snowscape, landscape, deer, moon are symbols that point to deeper material that flows from the collective unconsciousness.
It is about the Big Journey to Self. We are ALL going home, however we define it, we are ALL returning home, to ourselves, to that which is the sacred, the essential core of how we really are. And so the snowy sky represents the separating of the veils that present themselves between this reality and other realities. The deer have seen between and know who they are and they journey through the realities... and are finding their way home, to the purest, most holy part of themselves.
The moon represents the yin qualities of the feminine, the places in-between places, the holding places and the places of unknowing, because we do not know this journey home. We only go when we are called, like instinct, like a migration. The moon is full, representing the circle, the circle of completion.
Why deer? To represent what is the pure part of ourselves, that which we are returning to, that purest part that never changes. In the painting they have exaggerated antlers, elongated antennae, receiving guidance from the ether, from the other worlds. Again, we do not know the journey itself, (and it is not always easy, hence the rocks) so we must remember to incorporate ways to be receptive to guidance.
The deer at the bottom right, is looking back at those behind him. This one is the guide, for we all have a guide on this journey of ours, whether we have discovered this for ourselves yet or not. (In my other paintings of this theme, he is in the centre of the herd, for often the wise elders among us, guide from the centre, with the ability to look forward and back.)
Yep. There are many layers in this one painting, and I suspect that it is for this reason it spoke to many people.
For myself, I am always amazed, grateful and curious to see what emerges from the canvas.
This is the first time we have been to any of the Hawaiian Islands. We decided to go to Kauai, the "Garden Island" as it is less developed and still quite rural.
Waimea Canyon
I think our favourite spot was Waimea Canyon. We visited twice and did the hike out to the waterfall you can just see in the top left-hand corner. NOT from the viewpoint of the camera, no, that would have taken years, okay, days, okay, a day....actually who knows, but further than I can throw. No, we drove to the look-out point, and then you can do a hike down to the falls from there. About an 1 hr down and 1 1/2 back. The extra 1/2 hour is for all the huffing and puffing back up a straight, never-ending incline. (Which was odd, because that incline wasn't there on the way down... )
The Napali Coast
This isn't our photo, but it is the best pic to show our trip on a catamaran up the Napali Coast; 70 miles of exquisite landscape. We stopped for a snorkel, and yes, the water is that ultra-marine blue. The Napali Coast "holds" Waimea Canyon, so to speak.
The view from the catamaran.
We saw Spinner dolphins on our way up the coast, but they were sleeping. One woke up and did a spin in the air but that was it. On our way back though, they were awake and I think, waiting for the boats to come by to put on the show. They all chittered back and forth to each other, you could hear them quite clearly, and then they began their leaping spins out of the air.
And then, if that weren't fantastic enough...there was a BABY dolphin...fer crying out loud.... Can you see it?
Here they are, zooming off the bow of our sister ship who met up with us.
And there were rainbows...
and sea turtles napping...
and sunsets...including the Green Flash!
The North End of the Island is quite different from the south, far more dramatic and more rain, as the mountains catch and hold the clouds. Fortunately, we has the blessing of both the sun and rain.
This painting is at the gallery and I am getting good feed-back. Very different from my very bright colours to be sure, but I do always like a bit of the icy feel.
" Coming Home" Oil 36" X 40"
...is the title of this piece that sold last week. It had not long been painted, out the studio door and sold to a happy person. When I asked her if she had seen the fox, she said that she had not and was very pleased when I pointed it out to her. She said she was busy looking at the flowers in the meadow. Exactly the effect I was looking for. I wanted that feeling of standing in the meadow by the woods, seeing all the small things and suddenly, maybe catching the movement of something just in the shadows, just in the boundary where the sunny meadow merges into the forest edge.
In the Autumn Dawn Oil
fox detail
well... sort of white...
"Ruby- Crowned Kinglet" Oil on Birch 12" X 12"
We have a lot of kinglets around where I live. Usually they are high in the trees, squeaking their high-pitched rusty swing-set squeaks, but when they venture down to flit in and out of the shrub and branches, I catch a the flash of the ruby crown; such a bright streak in the undergrowth.
This fellow, painted in oil, is enjoying his penthouse view of the ocean.
I've been messing with the mulberry paper tree sketches. Playing with the possibilities of collage. Not exactly sure where it is going. A sun in gold iridescent ink is need of course.
The gold pigment settles out of the medium to the bottom. I always like how it looks. The effect on paper is actually more subtle.
I'm liking the layered look of the trees. It gives the feeling of spaces between things. The relationship of distances between and where we are in that. Air and space is not empty, but filled with an incredible amount of things whizzing in-between, we are just one of these forms, as are trees and rocks and birds and mountains...but all those in-between spaces... filled with potential and surprises.
I'm liking the stitching as well. Things being pulled back together. The thread is an iridescent blue. I wanted bronze or copper but alas, the sewing box is pretty empty of such things. So blue it is. We shall see how things progress with this piece. I am curious as to where next.
This little drawing was done on Mulberry paper, which is very soft and textured. I will try a light wash of watercolour and see the results. The paper is quite porous so it will have to be a very small amount of watercolour.
The paper held up quite well with light washes, very fabric-like in its absorbency. I think I quite like it.
...also found a new home and owner the night of the show. Such a smart-looking fox. Who could resist? Now I will never find out what they were chatting about.
"The Conversation of Fox and Crow" - paper collage