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Born to Tame Dragons

1/18/2021

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"Born to Tame Dragons" - acrylic on cradled wood panel, 8" x 8" x .75".  Ready to hang (sides are painted; no need to frame.  Hanging wire is attached). One of a gaggle of goodies available at the Jan 17-18 auction at Artistic Souls Gallery.
Girls like you
were born
to tame dragons,
​to fight in wars,
to lead armies.

Girls like you
were created
to swallow darkness,
to quell monsters,
​to destroy obscurity.
Girls like you
were given life,
to bring tempests
and hail gales,
​unto their enemies.

Don't let a king
or a prince
or a fairytale
tell you you are smaller than that
​or who you are meant to be.
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Born to Tame Dragons (reserve piece)
​Dragon's Breath, Nikita Gill - Wild Embers - poems of rebellion fire and beauty
I've been channeling some fiery females in the studio this month!  Taking the technique I began last year in creating trees and bark - fluorescent underpainting on unprimed wood, keeping the paint wet, carving into the wood through the paint - and applying it to flame-haired girls. What fun!  But there is no telling these feisty broads what to do - they rule the studio right now. :)

And so it was. no surprise when Nikita Gill's Wild Embers landed in my lap and began pummeling me with words of rebellion.  Which is, perhaps, appropriate for this woman in this world at this time.  Watch out monsters, you are about to be quelled. 
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Welcome Home Your Emptiness

1/14/2021

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Welcome Home Your Emptiness
"Welcome Home Your Emptiness" - acrylic on repurposed wood panel, 24" x 10.5" x 1" .  Ready to hang (sides are painted; no need to frame.  Hanging wire is attached). Part of the series "A View From the Gorge".  Available here and at Artfinder.

When the old ghosts come back
to feed on everywhere you felt sure,
do not strengthen their hunger
by choosing to fear;
rather, decide to call on your heart
that it may grow clear and free
to welcome home your emptiness
that it may cleanse you
like the clearest air
you could ever breathe.

from "For Loneliness" by John O'Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us


Now and again (and again, and again) the "old ghosts" return, shredding confidence and making me question all I thought I knew of the thing that is me.  They are sneaky, those ghosts, gliding in on the back of words spoken, looks cast, a song that brings back a time when....

I am learning.  Learning to recognize them, to call them what they are, to set them firmly outside and ask them to leave.  Sometimes I win.  Other times the ghosts win.  O'Donohue asks me to "welcome home my emptiness" - that very thing I am always trying to fill.  Sigh.  I am learning.  

About the art:  First, my apologies!  I have no process pics and no video.  This piece began between other paintings, as an intuitive attempt at the feeling I had while hiking in the gorge two days prior.  The sun!  The mist!  The imposing cliffs!  A surreal view that made me gasp and think "is this really my life?" and become teary at the wonder of it all.  The muse had her way with this one.  Acrylic paint directly on old, heavily textured board. The striations in the board informed the cliffs, which are vertical chunks of basalt in the gorge, evidence of their rugged birth and the pressure of being born.  Painted with palette knife, paper towels and a rubber wedge. Here are a few of the actual views from that hike:
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When Your Heart Wants to Break

1/11/2021

6 Comments

 
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When Your Heart Wants to Break
​"When Your Heart Wants to Break" - acrylic on cradled wood panel,  11" x 14" x .75".  Ready to hang (sides are painted; no need to frame.  Hanging wire is attached). Available here and at Artfinder.

When your heart wants to break, let it break. If tears want to come (or perhaps a flood of love or gratitude), allow that to happen. Grant your heart all the space it asks. To do so feels deliciously alive, because it locates you in what’s real in the moment.  - JAN FRAZIER, "Be Kind to Yourself"
Many thanks to artist Dotty Seiter, who introduced me to the wisdom of Jan Frazier in her blog post this week.  I've spent hours noodling this article and the concept of being kind to ourselves - which includes ​resting from wishing things were otherwise.​

It's been a wild week in the world.  It is temptingly easy to spend a lot of time wishing things were different.  Instead, I'm trying to let my heart break if it wants, to cry if I feel the tears, to give my heart the space it wants.   It is a feeling of overwhelming relief to think of this allowing as a self-kindness.
In the most recent Studio Visit with Brian Rutenberg,  Rutenberg says: Feel your own pain.  All art comes from sadness.   So, with my miner's headlamp firmly strapped on, I spent a day mining my own sadness in the first self-portrait of the year.  Again, thanks to Dotty Seiter for reminding me of the unbridled joy of blind contour drawing, which became the base start of this painting.

There was a kind of joy in the mining of sadness, tears in the allowing of heart breaking space, and relief in the self-kindness of not wishing for other than what is.  And as Frazier suggests in her article, it was ultimately restful.

I am only disappointed that the whole exercise did not include a big slice of pie. :)
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Beckoning Hand

1/7/2021

10 Comments

 
"Beckoning Hand"  - acrylic and charcoal on cradled wood panel, 14" x 11" x .75".  Ready to hang (sides are painted; no need to frame.  Hanging wire is attached). Part of the series "A View From the Gorge."   This painting will be part of an ART DROP courtesy of Get the Gallery.  Follow them on social media to find out when and where this painting will be "dropped" for one lucky collector to discover!

There is a faith in loving fiercely 
the one who is rightfully yours
especially if you have
waited years and especially
if part of you never believed
you could deserve this
loved and beckoning hand
held out to you this way.

from The True Love, by David Whyte.
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Beckoning Hand
The view inside my mind stays firmly in the Columbia River Gorge...vast skies, basalt spires, misty horizons and every shade of gray.  It is becoming so much a part of me that I feel it in my spirit deeply.  It makes me sing and laugh, smile and weep, catch my breath and sigh.  It is softening my heart.  I feel myself opening and becoming braver, even as my thighs scream at the final assent, even as my lungs beg for mercy at the millionth steep switchback.  With each step, each hike, each view - my edges are becoming polished and the light begins to come through.  


​About the art : this is the second piece done on a neutral underpainting of raw umber and titanium white.  Using mostly rubber wedge, paper towels, fingers, the back of my hand (thanks for that, Pauline Agnew!  Now it is my favorite tool!) and acrylic paint.  Unlike the last one, I was able to work quickly and instinctively here.  The key is the inspiration pic was well-composed and allowed me to veer away from it rather quickly without losing the gist of the idea.  Very satisfying session.

I made a couple of small adjustments to the painting after the camera was turned off and I could step away from it for a minute.
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Afraid of Everything But Not Afraid

1/4/2021

7 Comments

 
"Afraid of Everything But Not Afraid" - acrylic and charcoal on cradled birch panel, 14 x 11 x .75.  Ready to hang (sides are painted; no need to frame.  Hanging wire is attached). Part of the series "A View From the Gorge."  Available here and at Artfinder.

A dozen or more walking soundlessly east at night,
a half moon rising before them.
I like the long deft brush stroke
as each hoof swung into and out of the snow,
​and the little splash kicked out ahead
​as they stripped sweet bark from the darkness,
afraid of everything but not afraid.
from Winter Morning Walks: One Hundred Postcards to Jim Harrison​ by Ted Kooser.
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Afraid of Everything But Not Afraid
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Well here we are in January.  I am not a maker of resolutions, but was asked on New Year's Eve what I might choose if I were a resolution-maker.  I'd like to not be afraid.  

I mean, I am pretty fearless in a LOT of ways!  But when it comes to people - friendships, romance, relationships, love - there is a fear monster perched on my head.  With good reason, perhaps, and yet...I'd like to free myself of that monster and just live brilliantly fearless. So when I read this passage from Winter Morning Walks, I thought, huh, I can do that!  Afraid but not afraid.  I'm going to try that on for a bit and see if it fits.

About the art:  I'm working with a more neutral palette for the next three pieces.  Today's painting was a big OH NO during the videos, as I tried to recreate an image from the gorge.  It just wasn't working.  So I turned the camera off and fully vandalized it.  A more abstract expressionist landscape resulted.  When I let water sit on it long enough, I was able to push through to the underpainting (raw umber and titanium white) to expose some highlights in the verticals.  Yay!
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An Index of Bare Trees

12/31/2020

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"An Index of Bare Trees" - charcoal and acrylic on repurposed plywood, 14.5" x 13" x 1".  Ready to hang (sides are painted; no need to frame.  Hanging wire attached). Part of the series "A View From the Gorge."   Available here and at Artfinder.

A bibliography of falling leaves,
an index of bare trees,
​and finally, a crow flying like a signature
over the soft white endpapers of the year.

from Winter Morning Walks: One Hundred Postcards to Jim Harrison by Ted Kooser


Diving back into the gorge this week with inspiration from Falls Creek Falls, where a long, meandering exit trail took us through deep valleys with boneyards of massive trees straddling hilltops, rocks, bramble and each other.  The oddly architectural lines of the inspiration image grabbed me.  
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An Index of Bare Trees
You've followed me through every awkward phase of my painting and blogging journey, dear reader (well, I'm sure there will be more of those yet)  Now get ready for the awkwardness of my baby giraffe-like video legs.  Thanks in advance for your patience as I learn editing software, camera settings and all the things!

Here's a video in three parts.  With each one the stopping point was a 24-hour pause where I spent time pondering the painting and sneaking up on it during different lighting and from various angles.  In this piece, on a piece of plywood my niece previously painted and then donated to my pile of paint-overs, tools used include brushes, rubber wedge, squeegee, deli paper, paper towel and fingers.  Charcoal and acrylic paint, liberal use of water.  Underpainting in fluorescent orange.
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Inspiration image, Notanized
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The Courage You Go Digging For

12/28/2020

9 Comments

 
"The Courage You Go Digging For" - acrylic on repurposed plywood.  NFS.

The greatest magic you have is the
courage you go digging for,
when your world falls apart,
the light you still hold,
when everything has grown dark

from Wild Embers by Nikita Gill

This year, nearly done, holds for all of us, I think, the "greatest magic" in the courage we've excavated and found in response to all the things the world threw at us for twelve long months.  The "light we still hold" at the end of this - these tender and exquisite connections of courage and resilience - that light shines brightly.
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The Courage You Go Digging For (NFS)
As I ponder my own tumultuous year, I find myself stronger, more courageous, more open and also more prone to tears, softer and quieter - I catch my breath at the breadth and depth of this year's journey.  We are still. here, - you and I, dear reader.   Still wild, still wonder-filled, still digging for courage.  
As a holiday gift to her fans and followers, Irish  artist Pauline Agnew gave a free online class last weekend.  It brought together painters from around the world, playing in the paint​ and learning new techniques, posting our masterpieces and sharing words of encouragement.

And so I'll pay it forward - a little video of the painting in this post, created during the class with Pauline.   Two new techniques/tools to add to your repertoire (thanks, Pauline!):  dragging deli paper (or, in my case, a Tyvec envelope) through wet paint, and painting with the side of your hand - oh oh oh, that's BIG fun!

And here's a little taste of what's been percolating in the studio in preparation for the first auction of 2021 at Artistic Souls Gallery!    Click on the link to head over to their Facebook page and join in the fun!
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A Tree Becomes a Talking Tower

12/24/2020

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"A Tree Becomes a Talking Tower" - acrylic on repurposed plywood panel, 18 x 18.5 x .75.  Ready to hang (sides are painted; no need to frame.  Hanging wire is attached).  From the series "A View From the Gorge."   Available here and at Artfinder.

In the beginning and in the end the only decent
Definition is tautology: man is man,
Woman woman, and tree tree, and world world,
Slippery, self-contained; catch as catch can.
​

Which when caught between the beginning and end
Turn other than themselves, their entities unfurled,
Flapping and overlapping -a tree becomes
A talking tower, and a woman becomes world.

from I Am That I Am, by poet Louis MacNeice


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A Tree Becomes a Talking Tower
It's funny what you might stumble upon while hiking in the gorge. Including this tangled root web, which dazzled me and also tested my crampon-enhanced boots with slick bark and mud.  I joked, in the moment, that the advertisement for said crampons might read "Prevents slipping on snow, ice, mud and rock.  Will not prevent tripping. "  Ha! 

And then I stumbled upon this poet, Louis MacNeice, while tumbling down the rabbit hole of googling poetry.  And voila!  An Irish poet (and an outsider, no less) I hadn't heard of and now delight in.  And as the tree becomes a talking tower, perhaps this woman can become - not just woman - but world.

About the art: Beginning with an image from a recent hike and a piece of unprimed, repurposed plywood...drawing with charcoal coming in with layers of paint and moving it around with whatever tools my hands can grab.  Fighting the very heavily=grained plywood for several layers, then surrendering to the texture and allowing it to dominate the painting.  It is, after all, a painting of trees and roots and wood.  Which, in its abstracted form, very well could be a talking tower.
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inspiration image from Falls Creek Falls
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Thanks so much for the responses to our READER GIVEAWAY wish list request!  Wonder Mike, after much grumbling and stretching, left his cozy spot on the sofa to choose a winner - congratulations Lisa G!  An original painting is coming your way!
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This Morning the World is Made of Wind

12/21/2020

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"This Morning the World is Made of Wind" - acrylic on deep cradled birch panel, 9 x 12 x 1.5.  Ready to hang (sides are painted; no need to frame.  Hanging wire attached). Part of the series "A View From the Gorge".  Available here and at Artfinder.

This morning the world is made of wind,
nearly everything creaking or flying,
​even the shingles vainly lifting
as if the house, which at dawn has bobbed
white-belied to the wave-tossed surface,
were drawing wind into its gills.
​
from Winter Morning Walks: One Hundred Postcards to Jim Harrison by Ted Kooser.
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This Morning the World is Made of Wind
On the day of Winter Solstice,  we can breathe with a delicious sigh,  knowing the days will begin to lengthen and the world will warm.  Perhaps a silly thought, with January and February still firmly in our sights, yet it makes me smile.  We've come this far.  And now, the turning point.

In the meantime, the windy, dark and snowy gorge  beckons.  I am slowly mastering the art of the right layers, the best pace, the seeing eyes. My hiking companion points out how challenging it is to keep our attention on the surroundings when descending - the mind wants wander to everyday things when the downhill easy stride begins.  Even in this  place of exquisite beauty, there is monkey mind.  Oy.  

Help!

With 2021 approaching, I want to go FISHING!  That is, cast a wide net for feedback on what YOU, dear reader, want to see more of (or less of) in this blog in the New Year.  More how to?  Less philosophy?  Video?  More appearances by Wonder Mike? More abstracts?  More whimsy?  Less of everything except PIE?  All comments are welcome!  

​Now's your chance to get SUPER OPINIONATED and GET REWARDED!

Leave a comment below with YOUR wishlist for malarkey central!  Wonder Mike will pick a winner at random to receive piece of original art FREE!  And thank you SO much for your help. xo
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Before the Leaves

12/17/2020

10 Comments

 
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Before the Leaves
"Before the Leaves" - acrylic on cradled wood panel, 24" x 24" x 1.5".  Ready to hang (sides are painted; no need to frame.  Hanging wire attached)  Part of the collection "A View from the Gorge."  Available for a limited time exclusively at Get the Gallery.


Before the leaves can mount again
To fill the trees with another shade,
They must go down past things coming up.
They must go down into the dark decayed.

from  In Hardwood Groves, Robert Frost



​Late autumn in the gorge is stark and windy.  Leaves are gone for the year, trees stand bare.  The sound of the wind changes without the leaves.  Gone is the rustling.  Instead, the teams moan and creak as they reluctantly move and groan in the relentless wind.
I listen to the trees and think of the humans of the world.  We, too, groan in the winds of change - pandemic,  news, fear, loss, loneliness.  We are reluctant to embrace this thing, and who can blame us?  But we must, it seems, "go down past things coming up" for a little while longer.   I hold in my one hand the fact that I desire spring,  warmth and companionship without worry.  In my other hand, I hold the knowledge that it won't be today.  In a recent interview with Brene Brown, Barack Obama spoke of the ability to hold opposing truths  and to function in that place of discomfort as a sign of strength and resilience.  

As 2020 goes "down into the dark decayed", I wish for you (and for me, dear reader) the ability to hold opposing truths as comfortably as you can.  And perhaps a lovely, warm slice of pie.  Whatever flavor is your favorite. :)

About the art: using the same technique as "Blowing Like Shadows", this piece was created with a strong underpainting and then masking with painter's tape before the final layers of color.  I was so immersed in the process that I neglected to get pics along the way....so you will have to.use your "imaJENnation" !!!
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