Day 18 - Balancing Act

 Good morning and happy Saturday :)

Today's painting, titled "Balancing Act" focuses on the tension between opposites. A chickadee (predator) and a ladybug (prey), the delicacy of the teacup and the juicy texture of the paint, the heavy pattern of the teacup against the simplicity of the background, the flight of the bird and the static nature of the cup... In other words, it is a balancing act where I tried to marry the concepts of push and pull, yin and yang into a balanced whole.

I enjoy exploring themes within themes and while my paintings may seem like simple acts of happy symbols and tropes, I am always thinking about the tension within the square, so to speak, as I am painting.

In addition, I thoroughly enjoyed painting the chickadee's wing (the colors.. the feathers.. the elegant lines...) while trying to capture that classic blue glaze and gold trimmed cup... and the shape of that handle... so many little things adding up to create this composition...

"Balancing Act", oil, 8"x8, click here for purchasing details

Day 12 - Tea for Two

I have painted so many birds in my career as an oil painter.. but it's so strange that I don't think of myself as a painter of birds.  It's just that they often seem like the right thing to add into a composition.  They are often colorful, which makes it easy and fun to choose the perfect accent.  In addition, they are perchable, flyable, poseable, come in all sizes and add life to what could otherwise be a 'dead' composition... And, birds are revered by cultures the world round.. they appear in stories both ancient and new, as symbols, talismans, spirit guides and companions helping to weave a story within my work ..So Versatile are birds that no wonder they end up in many of my paintings! 

Cardinals are brilliant and very common here in PA.  Whenever I see one, I think of the belief that, when you see a cardinal, you are seeing a messages from loved ones who have passed and they are letting us know they are here, checking in... true or not, it is always soothing the soul to think about.

This cardinal is joined by an even smaller brilliant friend, perhaps a message to the cardinal, or perhaps coming in for a sip..  And so it is a cup of Tea for Two..

"Tea for Two", oil on panel, 8"x8", click here for purchasing details

Day 6 - A Little Birdie Told Me

 Here is the secret that is not a secret... This little chickadee is whispering "someone loves you" to the wee bug.. and maybe it's something you need to hear today too... Someone loves YOU too.

 I hope you are feeling wonderful today.  But maybe you are feeling small or insignificant, or maybe life is overwhelming today.  Whatever the case, I hope you know that this too shall pass (wise words my mom taught me), and behind every beautiful thing, there is some kind of pain.  So, if today is just not a good day in your book, I am sorry.  But things will turn around soon. Somebody loves you, and you will make it through.

♥

"A Little Birdie Told Me", oil, 7"x7", click here for purchasing details

Day 9 of the 28 in 28 - Dreaming of Tea

 This here is another painting that is a bit outside of the box for me. It started out as an old painting that was just meh and had been sitting in my painting archives for a few years.  I recently did a purge of this archive - made some tactical decisions of what to keep, what to chuck and what to paint over - and thought this one would be a good one to paint over.  The bones were good (meaning the substrate) and the colors in the original painting could look cool poking through a new painting.  I designed the new image and dove in...

The image of an elephant dangling on the end of a red balloon spawns from the Red Balloon series I've been exploring.. I thought it would be interesting to suspend an elephant from a balloon to see what that would do visually.  I do really like tea and tea cups (ask my family.. I have a cup problem..) and also enjoy playing with scale. Suspend an elephant from a balloon over a cup of tea and add a lot of interesting palette knife texture to the background and it turns out you get... Enlightenment!

Well, maybe.  Enlightenment is trickier than that... However, I can say that I am pretty excited with the results.  I love the texture and as I said, the layers that poke through and the imagery is sufficiently compelling to keep me pondering and continues to pull my attention to observe. And, doing a bit of research into the symbolism of Tea, elephants and balloons, gelling it all together, it turns out that this painting could very well be about a powerful spiritual experience of wisdom, strength and a little bit of luck.  I'll take it. But you don't have to.  It may just be an elephant floating above a teacup.. Regardless, you will want to scroll down do check out all of the juicy, yummy texture and color..

Dreaming of Tea, Oil on panel, 16x20"
To purchase, click here

Day 6 of the 28 in 28 - Let Nothing Stand in Your Way

As I am sure many artists can say, I have been asked where I get my ideas..  It is a curiosity even to me, sometimes, when imagery pops unbidden into my mind.. this one is kind of like that. 

I am a Capricorn, and as such, I admire goats, so painting a goat is not a stretch.. Plus, the curly horned variety fascinate me.  I can't get over those horns! (see detail of the painting.. I LOVED painting the horns...)    I've also always had a fascination with Pysanka. In fact tried my had at making some years ago.  I found it to be extremely tedious and very time consuming, but love the end result.. Believe me, painting pictures of pysanka is much easier than creating pysanka designs on an egg.  

These two facts don't explain why I pictured putting a Goat and a pysanka together though... That and the elegant, starry teacup.  Sometimes it just feels right and I just go with it.  It turns out I am liking the strong design and focused results of stacking these three together. :) I love it when my hunch works out. Goats are known for their tenacity and ability to scale steep cliffs.  Balancing the delicate egg on her head seems to me to represent a great deal of focus.. And, as if the goat spoke... the title appeared...she said, Let Nothing Stand in Your Way... with tenacity and focus, you can achieve your intentions...

Let Nothing Stand in Your Way, Oil on panel, 10"x10"
To purchase click here