Running Shoes

"Running Shoes"

8.75" x 12" oil

May 2016

Adapted from a photo by me

I took this photo because I'm attracted to human-powered bicycles, rickshaws, and carts.  I liked the abstract, blurry way the photo documented our pace past this street scene.  Perhaps I will add some glazing to give this painting a similar effect.  But I'm liking the way it is now.  

Biggest challenges:  

 -  making the dirt & pavement street look sundappled and hot around 12:30pm

-  depicting the "ghost bike" which was barely discernible in the photo (a skinny blur w/ shine)

Q:  Why is there a curly-tailed dog in this?

A:  Because most feral Indian dogs have a curly tail.  They are ubiquitous in South India.  This provides Indian culture with a sweet metaphor about the futility of straightening a dog's tail.

Can you see the black granite deity statue, partly obfuscated by incense smoke?  The potted shrub next to this is Tulsi (aka Holy Basil).  The blue roof that's lower than the gabled building's roof is the blue-painted, carved plaster typical of small temples.  The roof of the gabled building shows additional living quarters (the red drape closes).  It's interesting & surprising sometimes to see how resourceful some Indian living arrangements can be.  I fancy that the produce seller  - & his happy family -  in this painting live up on that roof.   Near the corner of that roof is a round shape.  It is the apotropaic device, a cartoonishly "scary" head, that's installed on the roofs of numerous South Indian homes to ward off evil.  

What's the story here?  I have my story in mind {hint: it has to do w/ the title}, but I'd be so interested to hear other people's stories about this.  In fact, I want to paint backwards (as if you could read it from the road, but not where you, the viewer, are), in Tamil, on the forward banner.  I would let the collector tell me which words to put on the banner; something that sums up what speaks to them about this piece.

MAY YOU FIND HAPPINESS INDEPENDENT OF CIRCUMSTANCE

Discussing the Visible Light Spectrum

"Discussing the Visible Light Spectrum"

8.5" x 10" ArtGraf water-soluble graphite

& watercolor

May 2016

Adapted from a photo by Joel Bowers

What is happening in the distant mountains behind the wall?  Are you pulled back into the garden?  Which way is the breeze blowing?  Besides wind, is there any other form of energy movement?

Relaxing with my dear friend in the yard, we marvel together at how some creatures  - such as birds, bees, and some humans -  are tetrachromatographic (they can see a broader spectrum of colors, such as ultraviolet colors, and they can distinguish among colors better than, the general populace).  To see as a bee!  That intrigued me, so that's why the bee and I are seeing eye-to-eye.  That's why the bee is emerging from a visible ambiance of UV energy.  Can YOU see it?  Does that mean you might be tetrachromatographic?

Flowers respond to UV light, and yellow flowers tend to look especially amazing bathed in UV color (as mimicked using technology so that we can see as bees and hummingbirds do).  Hence its relationship to the bee... and to us, as healing, balancing, auspicious energy flows down into our limbs.  

I had to express the Ajna Chakra.  I would have made them smaller, less conspicious, but I was not painting.  There was painting, but no painter.  So the Divine made them big.  Like a gaudy necklace that you would wear under your shirt because you love it but wouldn't want to actually show it off.  It is much the same as with the Third Eye ;)  Healing energy is pouring into my friend, circulating through her chest and giving her face a slight flush, filling her with radiant good health.

She likes the title of this piece.  She said, "That sounds very intellectual."  I like having a friend who thinks that's cool.

This was my first time using water-soluble graphite (a gift from a friend).  I love this new medium, especially w/ watercolors!  The graphite behaves a bit differently; there's something very mineral about it.  It places the entire painting into a shifted phase.

I put the most craftsmanship into the pineapple finial on the metal gate.  I had it perfectly shaded so it looked liked cast metal & was correct per the light source.  Then I put on a graphite wash (the only place I regretted using graphite because it dissolved too much detail), then spilled frisket on it....  Below is a photo of it in process, before the spill.  I had to share this cute detail because I put so much TLC into it!  It's significant to the painting because the pineapple was the symbol of welcome & hospitality in the "Classical" (ancient Greek & Roman) World.  That's why pineapple finials are a common shape for gates, fences, entryways, & so forth.  This is underscored by our Classical gestures!  I was inspired by a finial we had seen at the Charles M. Bair Family Museum in Martinsdale, MT.

I hope viewers notice the extreme cuteness of the bee & hummingbird.  Below is a less-detailed study of the hummingbird, this one w/ watercolor, my first time using Bristol paper.  In both this tiny piece & the painting above, there are teensy, tiny gold flecks in several of the neutral colors (looks lovely w/ light on it), and the graphite has a captivating mineral sheen.  The tiny card is a trading card to be traded at a Billings Arts Association meeting.  It shows a Calliope Hummingbird (I'm still fond of those from the "My Calliope" painting).  

MAY YOU KNOW the JOY of RELAXING IN A GARDEN FULL of LIFE & FRIENDSHIP