Today's painting is of a little duck in a different but equally iconic style of shoes, Mary Janes. A classic shoe, I've found that ducks look just as cute in them as they do in Chucks. This little one needed a balloon to balance things out.. a red balloon :) When thinking about what to title this painting, I was reminded of the song 99 red balloons by Nena. It was a popular song when I was a teenager and I remembered it begins with the line "Do you have some time for me?" And so the title was born.
Naturally I had to look the song up and then watch the video.. and and then read a bit about it too. It has an interesting history and is actually popular in 2 languages, English and German. If you'd like to read more, check out this link
Do You Have Some Time For Me?, Oil, 8"x8", Purchasing Details click here
I know this is a pretentious title, but it is what came to me. I would never deign to say that my paintings could come close to replacing Andy Warhol's iconic work.. but.. there's a cow in the teacup, man... I had to!
In addition to exploring my foray into painting Tea Cup Critters, I continue to consider the balloon motif. In my RhinOlive post the other day, I mentioned how much I love color and brush work.. and that is what keeps me coming back. Well, I also love that I can just take motifs and follow them wherever my brain wants to take them... I've now paired the balloon with birds, a fish, a cat, a rabbit.. some ducks, and now a cow.. and each iteration carries with it completely different connotations, feelings and if nothing else, visual interest. So, THAT... that keeps me coming back for more too.. :)
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| "Moove Over Andy", oil on panel, 9"x12" To purchase, please click here |
Sometimes you can pick apart the components of a painting to figure out how you got to the end result. This is one of those paintings... To me, putting things together that normally aren't seen together floats my creative boat.. so, starting there, that's partially where this painting came from. Last time I did a daily painting challenge (back in August) a red balloon showed up in a few of my paintings. :) I was intrigued by the results adding a red balloon to a design could make and promised to explore that theme a little more... Background texture and color are also important to me.. recently, I've been hankering for some abstraction and color in my backgrounds so, exploring a bit outside my usual box, I chose a funky palette and added a liberal use of a palette knife. Lastly, I often work on the small side - 8"x8" to 11"x14" is typical but I wanted to push that limit as well, so I went a lot bigger than normal and painted on a 24"x24" canvas.
Putting all of these things together into a harmonious composition was truly the fun part and what's even funner is that the final interpretation of the imagery is wide open. I like to think this rabbit had a dream and decided to follow his vision, open to any possibility, knowing that the sky is the limit :) That's my interpretation, but you may have a different one...
Check below the first pic for a detail of some of the juicy texture as well as how this painting could add some fun to contemporary decor... Thank you for following along with me as I paint a painting a day
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| "Sky's the Limit", oil on canvas, 24"x24", to purchase, click here |
There are many kids heading to school right now and things are quite different for them and their families. I know it is a stressful time for a lot of them, but I also know that a good sense of of humor, patience and empathy for everyone involved are all important ingredients for success. This little chick is ready to go and excited to learn and I bet most of the kids going back are ready to be learning again too.
I was inspired to paint this little painting for a few reasons... One, because I wanted to acknowledge all of the back to school vibes flying around right now, and two, because these little ducks are kind of a tradition for me. The past few 30 in 30's I've done have all featured a few ducks in Chucks or Ducks in Mary Jane's and I couldn't let this one go by without painting at least one. :) These little guys waddle into my consciousness and are just too cute to not paint!
So, back to school is hitting close to home right now. My son is going into 9th grade and his school will be totally cyber to start... but for him, it won't be much of a transition as he has been cyber and/or a blend of cyber and onsite for the past several years.. I feel lucky and thankful that we don't have any anxiety about his schooling this fall because his school is already set up to do cyber. I also feel for those school districts that are going completely cyber for the 1st time and for the kids who are navigating this new world along with them. It'll be hard for sure, but be patient... it'll all be ok. <3
Just a quick note about cyber school... as I mentioned, my son is in cyber school. He was in a traditional brick and mortar public school up until 6th grade and unfortunately, his needs were just not being met. In short, he was bored out of his mind. He is a bright kid and his style of learning was just not matching up with his district's methods. I was skeptical about cyber, but circumstances were such that there was no other option at the time. I gave in and decided to let him try cyber (which he had been asking to try for years..) And I'll never regret the decision. Cyber school has turned out to be a blessing and the answer to all of the problems he was encountering in traditional school. So, to all the parents and kids out there worrying about cyber.. I say, give it a shot. It may wind up not being for you, but be patient and open minded. You may find that there are many benefits to cyber you had never realized. Good luck and best wishes to everyone going back to school!
Once again, the Red Balloon has made an appearance in my painting.. I didn't intend to continue the exploration of this theme, but here it is. Another unexpected thing, I didn't expect the presence of a balloon in my paintings would create such tension. But again, there it is.
I titled this one "The Moment Before" after I sat and just stared at the painting for awhile, trying to figure out what is going on here.. Is the bird going to pop the balloon? Is this the same bird from the last red balloon painting? Is the cat going to jump for the bird? Are they friends? Why is the balloon tied to the cat's tail? Are they playing a game? Is the cat trying to trick the bird? I honestly don't have the answers. I just painted the image, but I don't know what is going to happen or how they got there. Your guess is as good as mine! So, this painting is about the moment right before we find out... it is an image frozen in time that is so full of questions, and tense with what will be.
Good Sunday morning. Day 22’s painting, titled "Chicka Chicka Red Balloon" is another take on the Red Balloon and an abstract background, with a twist... When this idea popped into my head it was one of those that I almost pushed away thinking it was dumb. A bird with a balloon tied around it’s middle... what? Here is how the conversation went in my head...
Ooohhh... a red balloon and a bird!
No good. most birds fly all on their own... Why and when would a bird ever need balloon assisted flight? This would never happen...
But... when has the impossible stopped me?
Yes, but what about all of the poor birds that literally get tied up in balloons that people release accidentally or on purpose..this is not good at all...don't paint this...
But then I thought, what if a bird purposely had the balloon around his waist? I don't know.. maybe it was at a party and some other bird dared him to do it? Or, maybe it was minding it's own business and found someone's red balloon and kindly was taking it back to them? Other scenarios vaguely passed through my head...still not entirely convinced, I then thought, I need to paint something, I should just do it... painting a painting a day requires flexibility and sometimes going out on a limb.
If you read my blog post about being open to the thoughts and images your brain produces and not censoring them, you will wonder, Why were you censoring yourself, Karen? Truth is, I slip up sometimes and let negative Nelly talk. If I'm lucky, my positive Patty poses convincing arguments and wins. I was lucky this time and, I painted it.. I'm quite glad I did. After finishing it, I found myself just staring at, lost in some kind of feeling that I can't describe (ever have one of those?) I still don't exactly know what to think of it, but the best way to describe it is it has a tension in the imagery.. a push and a simultaneous pull.. Is the bird flying, controlling the balloon? Or is the balloon pulling up, controlling the bird? And, for whatever reason, I'm particularly happy with how the balloon came out :)
Of course I love the tiger ...and the balloon, but this painting is equally about the background. I like to experiment balancing subject with background. I find myself sometimes with such a strong subject (remember the bunny on the soup can?) and then am stuck not being quite sure how to approach the background. Ah well. This is another attempt at something different. I wanted to stay neutral with just that pop of red and orange and play with the concept of abstraction meets realism.
Anyway..have you ever seen the inspirational poster of a kitten hanging onto a branch that says "hang in there"? That's what went through my mind when I was thinking of a title :)
Hang in there everyone. :)
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| The Little Con-ducktor, NFS |
