Work In Progress
Visions – Mixed Media/Collage – 10 x 12 inches
I spent most of the day working on the collage/painting above, and I will post my progress in the coming weeks.
The woman represents the visionary, the healer, the medicine woman, the shaman…
She is the one who interacts directly with helping spirits to address the spiritual aspects of illness, perform soul retrievals, help the spirits of the deceased cross over and performs a variety of ceremonies for her community.
Art & The Human Soul
Hieroglyph of the Human Soul : The art of Leigh J. McCloskey
“Leigh is a visionary painter and philosopher who has transformed his home into an evolving canvas. His environmental painting, Hieroglyph of the Human Soul, crawls up bookshelves, across the floor, ceiling, and furniture of his studio. Filled with archetypal symbolism and alchemical imagery, Leigh’s work is unlike anything the modern art world has to offer. It is an honor to know him, for In my opinion, he is simply one of the great painters of all time; I have no doubt that in years to come his work will be discussed in the same breath as any of the great masters.”
-David Wexler, founder Natural Media Research Laboratories
Saturday
The Last Elk
As each Elk dies so too does the instrument it is attached to till all is quiet.
Work In Progress
I am still working on the Lady of the Forest painting. Below is a photo of my progress so far. It’s been a slow go, but only because there has been so many other things needing my attention. “C’est la vie”
I am looking forward to this weekend because we don’t have anything important planned and we can spend some quality time together, and maybe do a bit of sketching around town or stay home and play with paint.
Lady of the Forest #3 Acrylic/ Watercolor/Mixed Medium – 16 x 20 inches -on Canvas
”The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.” -Picasso.
Stormy Day
“And here the sunflower of the spring
Burns bright in morning’s beam.”
– Ebenezer Elliott (“The Corn Law Rhymer”)
Sunflower – Mixed Media – 8 x 10 inches
It rained all day and very hard at times. At one point the rain came down so hard our dog started barking.
I managed to get some painting done in the afternoon and made some significant progress on a painting I have been working on for awhile. I will try to post it later.
Afterwards I cleaned up and I had some free time to relax and enjoy a good strong cup of hot tea.
“The best kind of rain, of course, is a cozy rain. This is the kind the anonymous medieval poet makes me remember, the rain that falls on a day when you’d just as soon stay in bed a little longer, write letters or read a good book by the fire, take early tea with hot scones and jam and look out the streaked window with complacency.” – Susan Allen Toth, England For All Seasons
Acrylic Warm Up Exercises
I started out this beautiful sunny morning with some warm up exercises using acrylic alcohol resist techniques and metallic watercolor paint.
The beauty of these is that they can be used as a start for a painting or you can tear them up into interesting shapes and use them as collage material for other paintings. You can also leave them as is and frame them.
Sorry, the photo is a little crooked (not the painting).
Acrylic/Watercolor – 11 x14 inches on Watercolor Paper
“A painting is never finished – it simply stops in interesting places.” – Paul Gardner
Drawing Realistic Eyes
Tips for drawing realistic eyes with Stephanie Valentin.
Tools:
Adobe Photoshop, Tablette graphique – Graphic tablet – Wacom Tablet
Jack Rabbit Moon
Last night I dreamed of a Jack Rabbit sitting in a freshly plowed field.
In the east, a full moon hung over the countryside, and I could see the dark silhouette of trees in the distance as coyotes howled at the moon. The dream was oddly comforting because it reminded me of my childhood in Texas.
I did a few preliminary drawings to attempt to capture the essence of the rabbit and I finally settled on the one below. Now, I definitely need to work some more on the rabbit and the background. I’ve got miles to go … But…it’s a start.
Jack Rabbit Moon – Mixed Media – 11 x 14 inches
“The dream is the small hidden door in the deepest and most intimate sanctum of the soul, which opens to that primeval cosmic night that was soul long before there was conscious ego and will be soul far beyond what a conscious ego could ever reach.”
– CARL JUNG, The Meaning of Psychology for Modern Man
Stones Tell Stories
There are many myths about stones and one of my favorites comes from the Seneca Indian Tribe. It’s about the origin of stories.
A few years ago, our neighbors created a dry stream bed that mimics a natural watercourse and I have often admired these stones on my daily walk.
I love the colors and texture of the stones and I thought I would try to capture this in a painting.
Stones Tell Stories
“I will lift the stone as Mary lifted it for her son, for substance, virtue, and strength; May this stone be in my hand till I reach my journey’s end.” – John Gregorson Campbell
“Have not all nations had their first unity from a mythology that marries them to rock and hill.” W. B Yeats
Quiet Moments
Today I had my yearly retinal scan, during which they dilated my eyes. They gave me a set of plastic glasses to wear while my eyes readjusted.
I then left the doctor’s office and everything was bright and blurry. My husband laughed when he saw me wearing those big plastic glasses.
I guess I looked pretty weird. hehe . . .
Quiet Moments – Digital Collage & Photography
I knew painting was out of the question so I decided to create a digital collage using a photo I took of a tea cup.
Afterwards I had a cup of chai tea and a quiet moment to myself.
“Traditionally we are taught, and instinctively we long, to give where it is needed – and immediately. Eternally; woman spills herself away in driblets to the thirsty, seldom being allowed the time, the quiet, the peace, to let the pitcher fill up to the brim”. – Anne Morrow Lindbergh