Golden Double Eagles

After spending the weekend in Santa Barbara, California with our friends, we drove back to San Luis Obispo via of Los Olivos, Santa Ynez and the Foxen Canyon road.  On the drive I noticed 2 Golden Eagles and a hawk flying away.  With the sight of eagle, I am always inspired as Eagle is my totem.  To see 2 of them was true inspiration.  Double Eagles are very symbolic in ancient times mostly one eagle with 2 heads. 

There were quite a few deer sightings and even 2 wild turkeys that day.  The autumn in the Central Coast region is beautiful with that feeling of fall and the smells of change in the air.  Change is always good and inevitable.  I decided to paint this acrylic in my sketchbook to use as future reference material for paintings. 

The day before at the Santa Barbara zoo, we saw a young juvenile outside of the fence on a pole looking into the caged bald eagles that had been rescued and now part of the exhibit.  Also were condors, the first I've seen. 

Eagle is the sacred messenger, carrying our prayers to the Creator and returning with gifts and visions for the people.  Golden Eagle flies higher than any other bird and, in many traditions, is the spirit keeper of the East, from whence comes dawn and illumination of the darkness.  If Eagle has blessed you with its presence in some way, you are being given potent gifts of clarity and vision to use for the good of all people.  You can bring forth light out of the darkness.

Whispers of Spring

In "Whispers of Spring" there is a a symbol of the 2 ladies in one that reoccurs in my work. I am very fond of this image.  To me, it expresses much.  It is the woman that we all are with at least 2 faces.  She faces herself her true self and her imagined self.  We all have many faces we present to others and our self.  Spring is the season of renewal.  The weather changes as does our life.  Personally, this has been a season of much change in my own life.  But with Spring there is always the hope of change, the growth of leaves, flowers and birdsong.  All of which are in this painting. 

I have this painting hanging in my studio as I am reminded of the strength and weakness we all have within ourselves.  It is layered with papers and paint which glaze through to produce many colors in the work.  There are the 3 watercolors, the mirror image of the woman, the flower in full blossom and the bluebird singing in the sunshine.  We have the sound of the birds throughout the day with their brighter colors of spring with longer days and more sunshine. 

Are we whispering the songs on the wind?  Sometimes is that what we hear our own true voice?  

Angel of the Evening

There is an ancient town in the hills of Italy.  Below the town are the Greek ruins of a temple.  In the evening as the sun sets, the people feel they have been blessed by a special gift.  It seems that as the sun sets, they all feel a connection to each other.  They walk the main street, stop at sidewalk cafes for a visit and a drink together.  The children run and play together and the adults visit and sit at the outdoor cafes talking about the days events.  Teenagers get together, talk and walk in groups.  Everyone knows one another and they share stories of their day and  life together in the town.  They have been friends for many generations these families.  Sometimes they share a meal.  There is music and laughter in the air and the wonderful smell of food.  This is their social life.  Is it the Angel of the Evening that keeps watch over them?  They share happiness and sorrow. 

I wanted to paint a picture of an angel that appears to float across the landscape.  The warm colors of the beginning of dusk with the bright colors of the evening.  There is for me a love of the temples from ancient peoples.  It seems that they are always in a very spiritual spot and when you visit these sites, you get the feeling of a guardian, presence of spirit, the transcending of human understanding.  They are always beautiful places and I wanted to capture that in this painting.  I love the old with the ancient in the towns of Europe.  I imaging the torn sheet music to be steps to the ancient temple.  On the lower left hand corner is a ghost image of a woman and a man.  They appeared in the work as I painted. 



Chaos

Chaos, was the first picture I painted when I started this series of work for my show this March.  The interesting element in this painting is that the reaction of the viewer is either love or hate.  There are quite a few people that have viewed this painting that are very facinated by it.  The inspiration for the work was an article I read in Vanity Fair magazine about Peter Max, the pop artist.  His work is very colorful using many primary and secondary colors.  It was the first that I did in mixed media for this project.

I had this canvas at the cabin and started the painting with the sailboat image.  I painted in a backround and used tissue paper in the work.  It sat on my easel for about 4 months.  When I returned I looked at the work and it was really boring.  It had the holy card of "Our Lady of Guadalupe and was to be a vision looking out a window.  However, I started with the colors and couldn't stop myself.  I like abstract expression and the feel of the pure color in this work.  It has layers built up with paint and papers. 

During my show in the Gallery, I put the painting in a prominent spot.  Walking up the stairs, it was an image that attracted people to engage themselves in the work.  Watching people looking at this painting was really interesting.  With this work the emotion was either love or hate.

Now that my work is home, this one I am hanging in my hallway.  

Yesterday was life drawing open studio at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art.  I sometimes refer to it as a "class" but it isn't.  Life drawing is a group of artists that get together to draw a live nude model.  In this case, Jessica, one of my favorite models.  She is a beautiful woman and one that I have a connection with.  This painting was a 25 minute work.  Some of the other stuff in the session was great.  We work for 3 hours with a break.  There is great music and the studio manager, Dona, a treasure.  So, this is "hot off the press."

The Lady of the Flowers

This painting is in the Gallery at Marina Square as part of my ongoing exhibit.  Tomorrow I will be taking down my show.  It was really an interesting experience having this show.  I am very grateful to everyone that came to see my work. 

The Lady of the Flowers started with a different story.  But one day while working in the Gallery, a man was looking at the work and I struck up a conversation with him explaining the stories of some of the paintings.  I told him my story of this lady.  He told me his which is the one I now will relate to you as it is much better than mine.

Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in the United States,United Kingdon, Canada and Germany during World War I and World War II to reduce the pressure on the public food supply brought on by the war effort. In addition to indirectly aiding the war effort these gardens were also considered a civil "morale booster" — in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contribution of labor and rewarded by the produce grown. This made victory gardens become a part of daily life on the home front. 

This lady planted the veggie, fruit and herbs as people did during the war.  Her garden was wonderful and she worked in the garden every day she could.  Her garden was so sucessful that she was able to share her food with others that herself.  She considered herself lucky to have land to plant a garden.  She even planted her front yard rather than grow grass. 

After the war, she planted flowers and when they bloomed, she celebrated her own victory.

This painting was a vision of a woman that I wanted to show in her garden with her dress blossoming into flowers.  She is one of the models from my life drawing sessions.  I love her happy expression and this painting was done in a couple of days, the weather was sunny and nice when I painted it.  It is an 12x9" painting. 

Coyote Woman of the Praire

She looks out at the Prairie seeing a lone buffalo in the distance.  Stopping at an oasis, she takes a sip of water.  Her faithful companion is coyote.  This woman has led a hard life.  She is forever influenced by the elements.  The weather changes with each season and she must adapt.  She walks in the tall prairie grass.  The wind brings sweet breezes.  Forever she can see, she is part of the big sky.  The music of the prairie is the birdsong, the call of the animals and the breeze itself.  Her shelter, she builds where ever she decides to spend several days.  She is a nomadic woman.  There is a scar across her face, she considers it a part of her beauty.  She has a clear voice and loves to sing.  There are others like her but they are all solitary creatures. 

Coyote has been called the trickster and he is both the great one and the foolish one.  Coyote does not consciously  try to trick us, but because Coyote and two-legged are very much alike, he mirrors our own human capacity for displaying cleverness and stupidity, sometimes both at once.  Just like Coyote, we can work with others to get what we want in life or we can dive into the lake to catch a reflection.  We can send troubles away or invite them carelessly.  If Coyote has wandered into your life, you are being asked to look at something you have been avoiding.  Coyote is the mirror for the lessons we need to learn in order to walk a good, sacred road.  Coyote will hold up the mirror relentlessly until we finally get the picture.  Call on Coyote as an ally for negotiating a difficult situation.  Or thank him for coming and showing you a trap that you are caught in, or a way you are fooling yourself.  Coyote is an especially powerful teacher with regard to relationships, because it is when we are in a relationship that we can fool ourselves the most.  Coyote is not out there to get us but to teach us, whether we want to learn or not.

Well, considering events of today, it is interesting that I would choose this picture and story to post.

Gallery closed for Friday's Exhibition

So, this morning our daughter sent her Dad a text to tell her about the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan.  In Morro Bay, Embarcadero Street has been closed and evacuated due to high waves.  It seems there has been some damage and 6 foot waves.  So, what can I say?  My sister says it is an Act of God.  My husband wants to know what we are going to do with all the food.  The Featured Artist and Guest Artist provide food for the show.  Me, well, I have worked for over 6 months on this show with 25 paintings.  These paintings will be at the Gallery and may be seen by visiting the Gallery this month.  However, this will not stop me with my stories about the work...