Current work in progress ....

I cut the board and worked in the background wash last week ...  today I began working in the figure ...

Acrylic on Plywood

53.5" x 43"

Earthly Potential

Finished piece ...

Acrylic on Paper Mounted on Linen

42" x 33"

Work in Progress ...

I returned to work today, finally ... slowly, slowly, she is taking shape ...

Acrylic on Paper Mounted on Linen

42" x 33"

Work in progress

Newest piece begun in January ... she has been sitting patiently awaiting my return to work. Soon, very soon ... (gestating)!

Acrylic on Paper Mounted on Linen
42" x 33"

Silver Medicine

First painting of 2012

Acrylic on Paper Mounted on Canvas

48" x 24"

While out walking with one of my daughters recently I spotted a beautiful shiny Raven. This sighting was the inspiration for my first painting of 2012. I have titled the piece Silver Medicine ... Silver being the color of the feminine, and feminine medicine being what I feel is most needed from humanity at this time.

 The Raven has much symbolic meaning. To quote from Ted Andrews in his book "Animal Speak" ... "In the Pacific Northwest, raven brought forth life and order. Raven stole the sunlight from one who would keep the world in darkness." ... and further ... "This creative life force can be used to work the magic of spiritual laws upon the physical plane. It can be used to go into the void and stir the energies to manifest that which you most need." 

Going into the void requires great responsibility. We have seen, we are currently seeing, the damage humanity is capable of when power is misused. What this time calls for is great responsiveness and relatedness, great awareness and responsibility. Might we each bring forth light into a world experiencing great darkness? 

Happy New Year . Happy 2012

Winter Parchment

Seeing the year out with one final drawing ....

Charcoal & Graphite on Acrylic Toned paper

24" x 19"

The Fabric of Life

Oh my, well this one came through with a passion! My last painting of 2011 ...

Acrylic on Paper Mounted on Linen

60" x 35.5"

The triangular symbolism in this piece is a direct representation of an image that came to me one day in meditation back in January of 2009. I understand this symbol to be representational of the Microcosm & Macrocosm. As above so below.

Where I have depicted the three dots in each corner of the internal triangles, there was in the original symbol a three legged triskelion spinning at unimaginable speed clockwise.

This symbol was shown to me as extremely alive and active. 

Given the size perimeters based on the placement within the overall painting, I was not able to depict the three legged triskelions, and therefore the symbol does not depict the motion and the aliveness of the symbol in my vision; and given its two dimensional depiction, it could not fly as it did in my inner sight even if the triskelions were present. 

Notwithstanding, I do believe the symbol is alive, and that it does carry Life into and through this work. Also, the number 9 is very significant, and as divided into thirds, I see this as representative of the Triple Goddess, the deep Sacred Feminine. 

I feel this symbol shows us a new energy awaiting our conscious attention. Our consciousness being the vehicle through which this energy will be birthed into life. 

The Fabric of Life. My final painting for 2011.

    

Radiance

On a roll, another one with which I am pleased as punch ...

Acrylic on Paper Mounted on Linen

30" x 40"

"The heart is primarily an instrument of sight - or insight, as the case may be. Its purpose is to navigate along the vertical axis and stay in alignment with "the Image of one's true nature." Itself a vibrant resonant field, it functions like a homing beacon between the realms; and when it is strong and clear, it creates a synchronous resonance between them."

~ Cynthia Bourgeault

What this piece represents symbolically for me is the vibrant resonance of which Cynthia Bourgeault speaks. Our hearts are powerful instruments, acting as transformers. A purified heart carries and radiates the potency of Love, and births it into conscious manifestation here on earth. Here, on Earth, where it is so desperately needed; needed by all of humanity, as well as the Earth itself.

  

In Her Element

Latest painting just completed ...

Acrylic on Paper Mounted on Canvas

60" x 48"

I am very pleased with this piece ... something clicked and I am now headed where I want to go stylistically speaking.


This past year has been all about getting back to my art, practicing with techniques, and honing my craft ... all the while allowing for some internal landscapes to begin to face the light of day, creatively enticed. I have often been mildly, and sometimes intensely frustrated; not achieving externally anything close to what I was seeing and feeling internally. 


With this piece (and to a lesser extent my last most recent painting "Gateway" ... and a couple of my recent drawings) a fluidity was present which allowed the painting to form itself very organically and full bodily in relation to my entire self. A receptivity, a flow. And finally, finally, a release! Yeah!


At this time I will allow the piece to speak for itself as to the offering of its message ...

Gateway

My latest painting ...

Oil on Panel

24" x 18"

This piece came directly from a vision I had, a little male child with a red dot at his throat. I interpret this dot as a "gateway" through which higher energies must be able to pass (through the throat chakra [which is oftentimes blocked] to the heart chakra and downward into physicality) in order for us as humans to manifest our Higher Selves here on earth. If this gateway is blocked, or closed off, we have little or no access to Source and remain rather stuck in our lower natures. 

I feel perhaps the image came to me as a male child to represent the importance at this time of releasing the blockages to a more whole and healthfully integrated male aspect into humanity, both individually and collectively. 

I have seen this child appear internally at different times ... calling to me, calling to us ... to be the space through which a new era might manifest. An era free from the distortions that so mar the world we inhabit today.

* In addition, the creation of this piece marked a particular 'gateway' for me. A whole new arena opened for me after this piece, leading me into a series of pieces that are representational of what I had been looking for, but had as yet hit upon. I have birthed, if you will, the mode of expression that best fulfills my deepest creative longing ...

Her Healing

My latest drawing ....

Graphite, Charcoal and Gold Acrylic on Watercolor Paper

18" x 24"

Red Winged Vigil

My latest painting, just finished ...

Oil on Panel

24" x 36"

The Innocence of Medusa

Oil on Panel

36" x 24"

There are many and varied tellings of the story of Medusa. This painting pulls from what is suggested by Ovid, and I have used this myth as a launch for a set of dynamics that many of us are all too familiar with. I have named the piece "The Innocence of Medusa" to draw attention to the distortions surrounding our perceptions of Medusa.

To quote one source (*): Ovid suggests that Medusa was once a beautiful woman, whose charms could rival those of Athena. When Poseidon sees Medusa praying in Athena's temple, he is smitten and he ravishes her there. For this atrocity to her temple, Athena punishes Medusa, a testament to her continuing support of the male hierarchy. It is Medusa's fault for attracting the lusty god of the sea, for as a female that is inherent in her nature.

Another vital point from the same source:  Medusa is a powerful creature, whether in myth or historical conjurings. She is generally portrayed as the embodiment of all things feminine, something which must be mastered by Greek civilization. The name Medusa is credited to mean many things. It could be a form of the Greek word metis, meaning feminine wile, an aspect which the male gods themselves strive to obtain and which was ingrained into human women during their creation. Medusa also means ruler or queen, and possibly guardian, terms which suggest powerful positions not commonly associated with proper Greek women. 

* http://medusa.plush.org/analysis.shtml

I will add, the meaning of the term mêtis has a depth far greater than what is often thought of when hearing the words "feminine wile."

To quote Peter Kingsley:

"Mêtis was the Greek term for cunning, skillfulness, practical intelligence; and especially for trickery. It was what could make humans, at the most basic and down-to-earth level, equal to the gods. Mêtis might sound like just another concept. But really it was the opposite of everything we understand by concepts. It meant a particular quality of intense awareness that always manages to stay focused on the whole: on the lookout for hints, however subtle, for guidance in whatever form it happens to take, for signs of the route to follow however quickly they might appear or disappear. 

"And in the world of mêtis there is no neutral ground, no second chance. The more you let yourself become a part of it the more you discover that absolutely everything, including the fabric of reality itself, is trickery and illusion. Either you learn to stay alert or you will be led astray. There is no pause for rest, or hesitating, in between."

For details of the source of this quote see Peter's book "Reality" .... I highly recommend: http://www.peterkingsley.org/Details.cfm?ProdID=64&category=2

In my interpretation of Medusa, I see self-contained beauty. Beauty that tempts, beauty that threatens. Beauty that far too often is, as in the case of Medusa, aggressively overtaken and ultimately distorted grotesquely to serve the patriarchal perspective.

The Innocence of Medusa (WIP stages)

Preparatory Drawing 

Underpainting

Day 1 with Color

Day 3 with Color/Finished Piece

Oil on Panel

36" x 24"

The Knitter

I haven't been working much this past week or so, but I just completed a little oil sketch on mylar. I'm about to get back into the Medusa painting, but I wanted to try painting on mylar to see what it is like ... pretty sweet! 


For me, this piece gives some small visual voice to the aspect of the receptive human ... humanity as participant in the weaving of the Golden Thread ...

Oil on Mylar

24" x 19"

A Wise Man

Since I had some time on my hands while I wait for the underpainting of Medusa to dry, I thought I would do a little drawing today ...

Charcoal & Gold/Silver Pencil on Paper 24" x 18"

The Innocence of Medusa

The Innocence of Medusa

Charcoal on Paper

36" x 24

each sheet 18" x 24"

Preparatory sketch for next painting

September Sketch

Back to a bit of drawing today ...

Charcoal on Paper

18" x 24"

From start to finish - "Planted"

From start ...

                                                to finish.

Planted

A few days to go till my 50th .... this piece is a sort of half century marking for myself. It is representational of an experience I had over a quarter century ago; an experience of that which I am, to this day, still learning to live into.


The finished piece ...

Oil on Canvas

20" x 60"