The man from 'Frisco was keen, very keen. I knew he wanted me to draw him, when we met, I could feeeel it, within him. And on our second meeting, a year later, he was equally keen. But, he's decided to wait, a bit longer, until he has the chance to bring someone else along. Someone special. His wife. So that they can both be drawn by me, in possibly a foreplay pose, he said, or a mutual masterbatory pose, maybe. Ok, I'll wait then. He's got the need in him. And its in his wife too. So, I know they'll be back. When they're ready.
..............................................
The goddesses went home today.
To their rightful place. But I shall miss them and their beautiful faces. When the male witch collected them, he was sooooo happy to see them again, to own them, to take them home, to look at them, and stare at their fantastic faces. His joy was palpable. Which delighted me and filled me with the deep pleasure of a job well done. But then, as I wrapped them up for him, he took me by surprise as he asked me WHY I called myself an Erotic Artist and how I'd got into it. I explained about always being an artist, then starting attending life drawing sessions some years ago and by "leaving out" bits within the drawings it made the body look far more interesting, and therefore deemed erotic because of it. And that I have always painted landscapes, fantasy, tigers, people, dogs, horses, in watercolours, oils and acrylics, and usually by the time I've explained to someone all that I do, they lose interest. But, when I say I'm an Erotic Artist, I ALWAYS get their attention, and they ALWAYS want to know more about me and what I do. So, that's how I describe myself, even though I suppose all my art is actually "sensual" - that is, of the senses, rather than purely erotic. The goddesses painting was painted in a sensual way, and he agreed when I said that. I said that I'd happily paint landscapes if that would bring me work in, but I seem to get more work by being an erotic artist. Funny, but that's the way it is!!!! LOL
And then he asked me the million dollar question. The one that's really got me thinking.....
"Ah, but what do YOU want to be known FOR, as an artist?"
And that's the thing. I know what I've DONE, I know what are my best pieces, the most creative, the most expensive, the most difficult, I know what I enjoy doing best. But what do I WANT to do, what will be THE thing that I shall be most pleased with? Is it the fantasy fannies? the erotic art? the erotic landscapes? the fantasy pieces? Or something else?
That's the question. A HUGE question.
And I think, this year, that I'm starting to form an idea of what it IS.
Its an amalgam of a lot of what I am, of what I've done, whats deep inside me, and what I want to do. Its putting ALL of that together, and creating a series of paintings based on it. A collectable series of paintings. That will appeal to everyone.
That's what I need to think about, to build on, to plan for. He nodded as I explained, and listened as I talked about the person I am, and what I need to do this year regarding it. He nodded, and then he said he was getting a message for me......................
based on what he read .............
within me..... is ...........
...........that I need to mature.
He said he didn't know what that meant, exactly. For me.
But, I said, I do.
I know exactly what he means.
And what is needed.
Showing posts with label goddesses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goddesses. Show all posts
Saturday, 27 March 2010
Friday, 12 March 2010
Divine and most beautiful Goddesses
Like wanting to hang on to the last stolen minutes with a lover, I don't want to say goodbye. I want to stay, in the comfort of their presence, staring into their eyes, gaining comfort from their connection.......... So it is with a form of sad regret that I have to say farewell, and walk away with a lingering glance, and to say to myself that I can do no more. That's it. It's finished.
But the sadness of that part is replaced with something else. A feeling of creation. Of a maternal pride in the beauty of birth.
The birth of a painting.
Its taken me two months in the creation. From the first formed ideas rising from the request for a painting of seven Goddesses - Astarte, Diana, Isis, Hecate, Demeter, Kali and Innana. But the guy who has requested it knew at the time that he was asking a big thing of me. He KNEW it was going to be difficult, a challenging painting, something that few artists could do. He knew that he wanted a woman to paint it for him since only a woman could put the feminine into it, and it is SUCH a feminine painting. He tells me its taken him years to find me.
I'm glad he did.
It took me almost three weeks of research to find out about them all.... their characters and personalities:
Kali is the Indian goddess associated with eternal energy, the bright fire of truth, her three eyes represent the sun moon and fire with which she can observe the three modes of time - past, present and future. She is a gentle mother and fierce warrior, a manifistation of the divine mother. She destroys only to recreate. She destroys sin, ignorance and decay. She is beyond time and space. She is the death of death. She is also associated with intense sexuality, she is the Hindu goddess of creation, protection and destruction.
Innana is the ancient Sumerian mother goddess who combines earth and sky. She is powerful, self sufficient, passionate. She is a representation of the many facets that go into being a woman and the myriad roles they play, as well as a guide to the dark places of psychological and spiritual death and disintegration. She is a goddess of sexual love, fertility and warfare. Associated with lions, she is courageous.
Demeter is the Greek goddess of grain and fertility, she is the pure nourisher of youth and the health giving cycle of life and death. She is the bringer of the seasons, the goddess of harvest. Nurturer of mankind, goddess of compassion, a kind goddess grieving for her lost daugher Persephone causes winter each year. Great joys and sorrows are her reminder.
Astarte is the ancient Phoenician great mother goddess, Queen of Heaven. The guiding star, she is the goddess of love and sexual desire. She is pride in feminine being, a celebration of the abundance that comes from the energy of a woman in touch with herself and her body. Associated with the moon, she is a beautiful and dangerous goddess. She is both life and death. She has inner strength, wisdom, independance and spirit that gives birth to our creativity and encourages us with our successes. She is both the maiden and mother goddess and personifies the passion of life, the beauty of mother earth and the sacredness of all being.
Isis is the ancient Egyptian goddess, ideal mother and wife. Patron of nature and magic, and giver and sustainer of all life, saviour of all people, goddess of medicine and wisdom. She is considered the goddess of rebirth and reincarnation, protector of the dead. She represents total feminity, she can overcome death itself but is not above grief as one of her tears shed while Osiris lay dying caused the Nile to flood. A wonderful image of the goddesses ability to give and restore life she underscores the depth of emotion that even a goddess must feel.
Hecate is a Greco-Roman goddess associated with magic, witches and ghosts. She is Queen of the Night, honoured and feared as the protectress of the oppressed and those who lived on the edge. Guardian of the household, she is protector of everything newly born. She has power over storms, lover of solitude, a virgin goddess, beautiful, shining and luminous. Walking the roads at night visiting cemetaries, a will o the wisp, she can see into the past present and future. Spirit of black magic with the power to conjure up dreams, prophecies and phantoms. She is goddess of trivia. Farsighted, a protector of women. Familiar with the process of death and dying as well as new life, she reminds us of the importance of change and helping to release the past.
Diana is goddess of the light, perpetual virgin of the hunt, an emblem of chastity. She has strength, athletic grace and beauty. She is associated with wild things and especially responsible for anything young and vulnerable. Goddess of solitude, comfortable with the wilderness, she represents the mystic primitive identity of the hunter and hunted. She is a moon goddess, she stands for the virgin, a self sufficient goddess who lives life on her own terms. She is related to all phases of female existence. She is part of our primitive, instictive nature, she is the midwife and protector of the divine child within.
So............ after finding about about each of them, I had to then create them as recognisable images, because the instructions from the client was for them all to be easily known from JUST their faces, since that was all he wanted me to depict. Mmm..... difficult.
But, after drawing out preliminary drawings, I could see that each one had their own personality. My decision to do the painting in oils was a good one, as it meant that I could make any subtle changes that were needed to show each goddess, and to pull them all together within the image, since it was about ALL of them, not one being any more prominent than another. And oils is easier to paint in to achieve that effect.
Doing the watercolour practice painting ensured that the background pulled them all together, and I used that as the basis of the idea for my oil painting. Since then, I've been working on it, building up each face, pulling the whole lot together. Parts have gone really well, other parts have had to be worked at. Isis's teardrop is the most clever thing I've ever painted. It LOOKS like its standing out from the painting, it is exquisite in its simple perfection.
I've also incorporated earth, air, fire and water within the painting. They are as much part of the painting as the goddesses are.
There are some artistic tricks within the painting - the yellow paint around Kali is "Indian yellow" which I thought very apt! Isis is connected with lapis lazuli - otherwise known as cobalt blue - and that is what her face is painted in. Innana is connected with lions and her face is painted in a suitable lion colour. Hecate is luminous, and favours offerings of garlic hence her face being the colours of garlic, and the number three is also associated with her so she has three white lines flowing away from her.
So now you know all that, you can tell who is who from the painting, can't you?
My job is done. I just hope the client likes it!
Oh, and its title? "Goddesses of the divine feminine"
Postscipt: I've just seen the client and he's just seen the painting, and he LOVVVES IT!!!!!! YAAAAYYY!!!!!
But the sadness of that part is replaced with something else. A feeling of creation. Of a maternal pride in the beauty of birth.
The birth of a painting.
Its taken me two months in the creation. From the first formed ideas rising from the request for a painting of seven Goddesses - Astarte, Diana, Isis, Hecate, Demeter, Kali and Innana. But the guy who has requested it knew at the time that he was asking a big thing of me. He KNEW it was going to be difficult, a challenging painting, something that few artists could do. He knew that he wanted a woman to paint it for him since only a woman could put the feminine into it, and it is SUCH a feminine painting. He tells me its taken him years to find me.
I'm glad he did.
It took me almost three weeks of research to find out about them all.... their characters and personalities:
Kali is the Indian goddess associated with eternal energy, the bright fire of truth, her three eyes represent the sun moon and fire with which she can observe the three modes of time - past, present and future. She is a gentle mother and fierce warrior, a manifistation of the divine mother. She destroys only to recreate. She destroys sin, ignorance and decay. She is beyond time and space. She is the death of death. She is also associated with intense sexuality, she is the Hindu goddess of creation, protection and destruction.
Innana is the ancient Sumerian mother goddess who combines earth and sky. She is powerful, self sufficient, passionate. She is a representation of the many facets that go into being a woman and the myriad roles they play, as well as a guide to the dark places of psychological and spiritual death and disintegration. She is a goddess of sexual love, fertility and warfare. Associated with lions, she is courageous.
Demeter is the Greek goddess of grain and fertility, she is the pure nourisher of youth and the health giving cycle of life and death. She is the bringer of the seasons, the goddess of harvest. Nurturer of mankind, goddess of compassion, a kind goddess grieving for her lost daugher Persephone causes winter each year. Great joys and sorrows are her reminder.
Astarte is the ancient Phoenician great mother goddess, Queen of Heaven. The guiding star, she is the goddess of love and sexual desire. She is pride in feminine being, a celebration of the abundance that comes from the energy of a woman in touch with herself and her body. Associated with the moon, she is a beautiful and dangerous goddess. She is both life and death. She has inner strength, wisdom, independance and spirit that gives birth to our creativity and encourages us with our successes. She is both the maiden and mother goddess and personifies the passion of life, the beauty of mother earth and the sacredness of all being.
Isis is the ancient Egyptian goddess, ideal mother and wife. Patron of nature and magic, and giver and sustainer of all life, saviour of all people, goddess of medicine and wisdom. She is considered the goddess of rebirth and reincarnation, protector of the dead. She represents total feminity, she can overcome death itself but is not above grief as one of her tears shed while Osiris lay dying caused the Nile to flood. A wonderful image of the goddesses ability to give and restore life she underscores the depth of emotion that even a goddess must feel.
Hecate is a Greco-Roman goddess associated with magic, witches and ghosts. She is Queen of the Night, honoured and feared as the protectress of the oppressed and those who lived on the edge. Guardian of the household, she is protector of everything newly born. She has power over storms, lover of solitude, a virgin goddess, beautiful, shining and luminous. Walking the roads at night visiting cemetaries, a will o the wisp, she can see into the past present and future. Spirit of black magic with the power to conjure up dreams, prophecies and phantoms. She is goddess of trivia. Farsighted, a protector of women. Familiar with the process of death and dying as well as new life, she reminds us of the importance of change and helping to release the past.
Diana is goddess of the light, perpetual virgin of the hunt, an emblem of chastity. She has strength, athletic grace and beauty. She is associated with wild things and especially responsible for anything young and vulnerable. Goddess of solitude, comfortable with the wilderness, she represents the mystic primitive identity of the hunter and hunted. She is a moon goddess, she stands for the virgin, a self sufficient goddess who lives life on her own terms. She is related to all phases of female existence. She is part of our primitive, instictive nature, she is the midwife and protector of the divine child within.
So............ after finding about about each of them, I had to then create them as recognisable images, because the instructions from the client was for them all to be easily known from JUST their faces, since that was all he wanted me to depict. Mmm..... difficult.
But, after drawing out preliminary drawings, I could see that each one had their own personality. My decision to do the painting in oils was a good one, as it meant that I could make any subtle changes that were needed to show each goddess, and to pull them all together within the image, since it was about ALL of them, not one being any more prominent than another. And oils is easier to paint in to achieve that effect.
Doing the watercolour practice painting ensured that the background pulled them all together, and I used that as the basis of the idea for my oil painting. Since then, I've been working on it, building up each face, pulling the whole lot together. Parts have gone really well, other parts have had to be worked at. Isis's teardrop is the most clever thing I've ever painted. It LOOKS like its standing out from the painting, it is exquisite in its simple perfection.
I've also incorporated earth, air, fire and water within the painting. They are as much part of the painting as the goddesses are.
There are some artistic tricks within the painting - the yellow paint around Kali is "Indian yellow" which I thought very apt! Isis is connected with lapis lazuli - otherwise known as cobalt blue - and that is what her face is painted in. Innana is connected with lions and her face is painted in a suitable lion colour. Hecate is luminous, and favours offerings of garlic hence her face being the colours of garlic, and the number three is also associated with her so she has three white lines flowing away from her.
So now you know all that, you can tell who is who from the painting, can't you?
My job is done. Oh, and its title? "Goddesses of the divine feminine"
Postscipt: I've just seen the client and he's just seen the painting, and he LOVVVES IT!!!!!! YAAAAYYY!!!!!
Saturday, 6 March 2010
Happy Birthday Blog - three years today!
Wow, three years blogging! I remember the first blog post I did and wondering what to say, never thinking that I'd still be doing it three years later! I had the chance at the time to do a newsletter and chose to write a blog instead. I may start a newsletter at some point, though. Its' all communication, isn't it?
I've made some special friends along the way and some of my friends in *real life* comment about things I've written about here, so even though I'm getting less comments than in the past, I perversely have more readers. Obviously they're very shy ones though,who don't think their comments are worth putting on my blog ...........
As for the goddesses painting, its Albert Dunn, I mean, all but done. Except for Kali whose causing me trouble - but then I suppose she would do, since she's the goddess of change and confusion, She's been trouble all the way through, but this time the trouble is that she has had too much work done on her and looks too sharp against the others. She needs softening about the edges (can you do that with Goddesses? Do they like it if you fiddle with them? Mmm.............). The others are softer and are flowing all together but Kali is just sitting there, alone, apart, quite sharp, too focused and too ......well ....powerful..... I think. Even though she IS a powerful Goddess. MMm....... I'll leave her over the weekend and look afresh at her on Monday to see what I can do to lessen her - not her power, just her fierce facial expression. The rest of the goddesses I am really really happy with and I think you'll love them when you see them too. I've certainly grown to love them, especially Diana, she's my favourite. I could look at her soft beauty all day long.............
And it looks lile my next commission is going to be a bit different to this current oil painting - a watercolour of a church for a special 70th birthday present. Its a surprise, and hopefully it'll be a happy one. I understand that this particular church is very special to the lady in question - but then this is what I paint - special pictures for people - the 70 year old is obviously a religious lady - as its a Church of England church. But then, the Goddesses painting is for a male witch whose religion is Pagan. They both have their strong spiritual beliefs - I'm just delighted to paint something very special for them both regarding that! Its what I do!!!
I've made some special friends along the way and some of my friends in *real life* comment about things I've written about here, so even though I'm getting less comments than in the past, I perversely have more readers. Obviously they're very shy ones though,who don't think their comments are worth putting on my blog ...........
As for the goddesses painting, its Albert Dunn, I mean, all but done. Except for Kali whose causing me trouble - but then I suppose she would do, since she's the goddess of change and confusion, She's been trouble all the way through, but this time the trouble is that she has had too much work done on her and looks too sharp against the others. She needs softening about the edges (can you do that with Goddesses? Do they like it if you fiddle with them? Mmm.............). The others are softer and are flowing all together but Kali is just sitting there, alone, apart, quite sharp, too focused and too ......well ....powerful..... I think. Even though she IS a powerful Goddess. MMm....... I'll leave her over the weekend and look afresh at her on Monday to see what I can do to lessen her - not her power, just her fierce facial expression. The rest of the goddesses I am really really happy with and I think you'll love them when you see them too. I've certainly grown to love them, especially Diana, she's my favourite. I could look at her soft beauty all day long.............
And it looks lile my next commission is going to be a bit different to this current oil painting - a watercolour of a church for a special 70th birthday present. Its a surprise, and hopefully it'll be a happy one. I understand that this particular church is very special to the lady in question - but then this is what I paint - special pictures for people - the 70 year old is obviously a religious lady - as its a Church of England church. But then, the Goddesses painting is for a male witch whose religion is Pagan. They both have their strong spiritual beliefs - I'm just delighted to paint something very special for them both regarding that! Its what I do!!!
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Almost there with the goddesses painting
I'm almost there, and yet..........
I'm hesitating.................
Why am I hesitating?
Because I don't want to spoil it.
I want it to be ......right
I want it to be special.
I keep looking at it
to double check it's alright
and it is,
in places
But I need to look again
to see what else needs to be done
The thinking is part of the process
And I can see that parts of it are SOOO right
It's just that I need to look at the bits
that aren't
yet,
And change them!
Or at least,
enhance them
improve on them
and get them to match the rest
Easy!
So, I'd better get on with it then!!!! :)
I'm hesitating.................
Why am I hesitating?
Because I don't want to spoil it.
I want it to be ......right
I want it to be special.
I keep looking at it
to double check it's alright
and it is,
in places
But I need to look again
to see what else needs to be done
The thinking is part of the process
And I can see that parts of it are SOOO right
It's just that I need to look at the bits
that aren't
yet,
And change them!
Or at least,
enhance them
improve on them
and get them to match the rest
Easy!
So, I'd better get on with it then!!!! :)
Friday, 26 February 2010
Creating magic and mystery
It's good to know when you're on the same wavelength as someone else. Particularly if they've commissioned a painting from you. Particularly when the subject matter is something as specific as Goddesses. Because just because I see them in a certain way, doesn't mean the client does! So, I was happy to arrange a "work in progress" meeting, just to check that we are in tune. He had come, ostentatiously, to view the first watercolour painting, to see how the pour-on technique had created the back-ground. And when I explained how it had worked, and pointed out the special effects it makes, he was impressed and intrigued with the outcome. Then I asked him the "Big question".................... "Would you like to see the oil painting? It's not finished yet, but it is going well"...........
"Yes" he nodded, he certainly DID!!!
I had hidden it from his view when he arrived, but now I turned it around for him to see. And got the reaction I expected and had hoped for - he leant forward to it and went "Woooooooowwwwwww!"
"Yep, its loads better than the watercolour, isn't it!"
He nodded in mute agreement, and quietly said "I KNEW I was right to ask YOU to do it".
We stood and looked at it, as I pointed out each Goddess and my interpretaion of her and the reasons behind it. He nodded again, then said "And you've got the cardinal elements in it too". "The what?" I asked in puzzlement as I looked at the painting and wondered what it was I'd painted without even knowing it. "Earth, air, fire and water" he explained. "Ah" I said, and looked at the painting again, and realised he was right! I had, and I hadn't even known I'd done it! That's what I love about these sort of pictures, when the magic happens, and evolves within the painting, and others see things that I haven't planned, but it adds so much MORE to the painting this serendipity.
I explained about the idea of putting the diamonds within the painting, but said that I wasn't sure they were needed now, as in a way it might be "gilding the lily" - but I would be guided by his thoughts on it. His first reaction was that he wasn't sure that they were needed, and then he grew more sure and said not to put them in. I nodded quietly, and agreed with him that each goddess is beautiful already, she doesn't need anything else to add to it. He was sure about one thing though, straight away he said "Don't change Diana!!!" and I was in total agreement with him - I keep looking at her and she mesmerises me. She is virginal beauty, in natural state, and perfect as she is. He said she was "right" where she is, in the bottom right hand corner, and I agreed with him. I put her back there after fighting my original urge to move her away from there. So she stays.
The painting is starting to pull together, the colours of the background flowing around each goddess, creating power in the flow of light around them.
It's not finished yet, but its getting there. The client is happy, and I am happy. The magic is forming....
"Yes" he nodded, he certainly DID!!!
I had hidden it from his view when he arrived, but now I turned it around for him to see. And got the reaction I expected and had hoped for - he leant forward to it and went "Woooooooowwwwwww!"
"Yep, its loads better than the watercolour, isn't it!"
He nodded in mute agreement, and quietly said "I KNEW I was right to ask YOU to do it".
We stood and looked at it, as I pointed out each Goddess and my interpretaion of her and the reasons behind it. He nodded again, then said "And you've got the cardinal elements in it too". "The what?" I asked in puzzlement as I looked at the painting and wondered what it was I'd painted without even knowing it. "Earth, air, fire and water" he explained. "Ah" I said, and looked at the painting again, and realised he was right! I had, and I hadn't even known I'd done it! That's what I love about these sort of pictures, when the magic happens, and evolves within the painting, and others see things that I haven't planned, but it adds so much MORE to the painting this serendipity.
I explained about the idea of putting the diamonds within the painting, but said that I wasn't sure they were needed now, as in a way it might be "gilding the lily" - but I would be guided by his thoughts on it. His first reaction was that he wasn't sure that they were needed, and then he grew more sure and said not to put them in. I nodded quietly, and agreed with him that each goddess is beautiful already, she doesn't need anything else to add to it. He was sure about one thing though, straight away he said "Don't change Diana!!!" and I was in total agreement with him - I keep looking at her and she mesmerises me. She is virginal beauty, in natural state, and perfect as she is. He said she was "right" where she is, in the bottom right hand corner, and I agreed with him. I put her back there after fighting my original urge to move her away from there. So she stays.
The painting is starting to pull together, the colours of the background flowing around each goddess, creating power in the flow of light around them.
It's not finished yet, but its getting there. The client is happy, and I am happy. The magic is forming....
Friday, 19 February 2010
The feminine touch
I'm delighted with the faces I've chosen as my goddesses - there's Kali with her three eyes, Isis crying for her dead husband Osiris, Innana passionate and courageous, Demeter greiving for her lost daughter Persephone, Diana the virgin of the hunt, Astarte - Queen of the Heavens, Hecate shining and luminous - the Queen of the night. They are starting to evolve from the paper and come to life. This half finished painting is only the start, the oil painting is even better...........
Friday, 12 February 2010
On Creativity
I was chatting with an artist friend and her boyfriend the other day about life, art, and creativity (as you do!). And it always surprises me to hear that other people struggle to be creative a lot of the time. It's strange to hear because I know I am creative ALL of the time. The only thing stopping me creating artwork all day every day is "life" - the usual things that we do that constitute life and what we do with it.
Her boyfriend is a little musical (as in being musical, not that he IS a musical in itself, that would be weird!! Funny idea though...........He'd keep bursting into song at odd moments of making a cup of tea or going to the bathroom!) and he said that even if he was left to compose music all day for as long as he wanted to, he'd still get fed up of it after a couple of days, as his creativity would have run out by then. This comment interested me, because I think I could paint each day for the next fifty years and not get tired of it. And I'd never run out of subject matter, because even the most mundane subjects can be made to look interesting. I looked around the bar room and realised I could paint loads of things there, even if it's only a coat hanging on a hat stand, the way the light catches a drink in a glass, the gleam of brass, the spirit bottles against the bar mirror, and that's before I even got to surreal or abstract ideas that the room could give me. EVERYTHING can be painted and be made to look interesting. And as an artist I will never feel that I have learnt all there is to know about art, and I know an awful lot already. It's such a vast subject, and we're always learning from it. I could paint the sky every day and do a different painting each time - well I certainly could in this country with its ever changing scudding clouds!
So today I went in search of something creative to add to the Goddess oil painting that I'm currently working on. Some "magic" to add to it. I had the basic idea of what I wanted and went to the appropriate shop to look for .........stars. Heavenly stars. Shining brightly in the universe amongst the Goddesses. Glinting in the depths of the midnight dark velvety sky catching the light and flashing it back. Stars. Mmm....... in a .........crystal shop. But, do you know what? They weren't called "stars" in the shop. Nor were they called "crystals". No. they were called something even more magical................
They were called............................"diamonds"..........
Now, how magical is that? How wonderful! They'll shine like stars and are SO appropriate for the painting. And since they are for a spiritual painting, I've bought eleven. That being the special number depicting a gateway to magical places................
Her boyfriend is a little musical (as in being musical, not that he IS a musical in itself, that would be weird!! Funny idea though...........He'd keep bursting into song at odd moments of making a cup of tea or going to the bathroom!) and he said that even if he was left to compose music all day for as long as he wanted to, he'd still get fed up of it after a couple of days, as his creativity would have run out by then. This comment interested me, because I think I could paint each day for the next fifty years and not get tired of it. And I'd never run out of subject matter, because even the most mundane subjects can be made to look interesting. I looked around the bar room and realised I could paint loads of things there, even if it's only a coat hanging on a hat stand, the way the light catches a drink in a glass, the gleam of brass, the spirit bottles against the bar mirror, and that's before I even got to surreal or abstract ideas that the room could give me. EVERYTHING can be painted and be made to look interesting. And as an artist I will never feel that I have learnt all there is to know about art, and I know an awful lot already. It's such a vast subject, and we're always learning from it. I could paint the sky every day and do a different painting each time - well I certainly could in this country with its ever changing scudding clouds!
So today I went in search of something creative to add to the Goddess oil painting that I'm currently working on. Some "magic" to add to it. I had the basic idea of what I wanted and went to the appropriate shop to look for .........stars. Heavenly stars. Shining brightly in the universe amongst the Goddesses. Glinting in the depths of the midnight dark velvety sky catching the light and flashing it back. Stars. Mmm....... in a .........crystal shop. But, do you know what? They weren't called "stars" in the shop. Nor were they called "crystals". No. they were called something even more magical................
They were called............................"diamonds"..........
Now, how magical is that? How wonderful! They'll shine like stars and are SO appropriate for the painting. And since they are for a spiritual painting, I've bought eleven. That being the special number depicting a gateway to magical places................
Monday, 8 February 2010
Like an old familiar lover
I fall into its arms like an old familiar lover
I've missed it so.
A few days away from it and my heart aches to touch it,
to feel it again under my finger tips.
It waits, in silence, slumbering but not asleep.
Waiting, and longing, to be touched again.
And I return, knowing it is calling me.
And I have to heed its call.
To reach out to its heart,
and join mine to it.
I stare at its beauty
and know I am bewitched.
But there is more.
More to add.
More to flow between us.
The magic is still there.
Pulling.
.............. I've worked late into the night on it, this watercolour of the goddess painting. And I'm pleased with the way its flowing. There will be more to add when I next work on it, but sometimes I have to be away from it to get my next piece of inspiration. And that certainly seems to have worked this time - as its created poetry in me too!!!! For the first time ever!
Powerful stuff.
I've missed it so.
A few days away from it and my heart aches to touch it,
to feel it again under my finger tips.
It waits, in silence, slumbering but not asleep.
Waiting, and longing, to be touched again.
And I return, knowing it is calling me.
And I have to heed its call.
To reach out to its heart,
and join mine to it.
I stare at its beauty
and know I am bewitched.
But there is more.
More to add.
More to flow between us.
The magic is still there.
Pulling.
.............. I've worked late into the night on it, this watercolour of the goddess painting. And I'm pleased with the way its flowing. There will be more to add when I next work on it, but sometimes I have to be away from it to get my next piece of inspiration. And that certainly seems to have worked this time - as its created poetry in me too!!!! For the first time ever!
Powerful stuff.
Friday, 29 January 2010
On the right path
After sorting out whatever the problem was with the headless chicken, he came to see me for us to discuss the work I've done so far for the goddesses painting. He knew he'd asked for a complex painting, when he asked me to do the commission, but I hadn't realised how complex it was until I started doing the research - three weeks of reading up in books and on the internet about each goddess and comparing notes to make sure that they were all telling me the same thing. So then after that, I was ready to find the basic image for each goddess having found out about her persona and having the beginng of an idea of how I interpreted how she looked. Of course this is all MY version of how they look, and not necessarily what anyone else would think. But then the whole point of this painting is that it is ME who is doing it. He wanted me to do it because he knows I'll do a good job, because he knows I'm greatly interested in the subject matter and the style of painting, because he wants a woman artist to put the feminine into it, because he's seen my "Enigma" painting on my website and wants the Goddesses painting done in a similar way. I've shown it here so you can see what I'm talking about. But most of all he wants me to do it because he's wanted this painting done for years but hadn't found the right artist to do it for him. A woman artist who can paint mystical paintings. He told me when he first contacted me that he had asked the universe to send him an artist to do the goddesses painting, and the universe had sent him me. Ok, I won't argue with THAT then !!!!
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But I wanted to go through my thought processes with him to make sure we're on the same wave length - and it seems that we are! I showed him my sketches for each goddess, and the layout I proposed for the painting, and he nodded happily at my decisions and explanations for each one. I told him about my gut reactions to some of the goddesses and the way that had led me to make various decsions regarding the images and how they would all pull together. He nodded again, smiling. And asked me which one of them was leading me most - which one did I have most empathy with, and I smiled and instantly replied "Diana". He was surprised but pleased at my confident reply. I also told him that I felt very strongly that she had demanded to be in a certain place within the picture, and yet I had overrridden that and put her in the central position. He said that the left side of my brain was taking control, and I agreed it was, and that made me instantly think that I'd be better to return her to the original place that I had felt that she was to be in. This picture more than any other I've ever done is based on the feel of it.
I smiled in recognition of that and made the decision to put her back where she wanted to be.
All of these goddesses are strong personalites and they will make their feelings known to me, I'm sure, as I start to paint.
Then he asked me which medium I was going to work in. The "Enigma" painting is done in oils, and I felt that the end result of this painting would look best in oils, the subtlety of each face as it merges into the background is best done in oils, I can capture their beauty better that way and make any small adjustments as I go along.
BUT.............
He knew there was a "but" and pushed me for my thoughts on it. What was my gut reaction to the way of painting this picture - what did I REALLY want to paint it in?
I hesitated to answer him, and he pushed again for me to explain.....
My thoughts were this - that the oils would certainly capture the images well, that the goddesses would look beautiful and I could do them full justice in the oils, but the background would lack the magic that it needed to pull this picture together. Because this is what this picture holds more than anything else - M A G I C - the feel of it, the sign of it, the ambience of it has to be in the picture. That is what this is about. And oils, wonderful as they are, don't pick up on that to the extent I need it. And boy, do I WANT it in this picture. He nodded, as I explained that, and agreed, that that is what I'm going to have to do. I smiled as I met his eyes, and he could see I was all fired up with the idea, it fed my creativity, and the picture wouldn't flow if I didn't do it.
But here was my problem again - if I do the painting in watercolour, with the pour-on technique that I love so much, the magic would be in there, but the faces wouldn't have the depth of personality and character that I wanted, plus watercolours are notoriously difficult to get right for faces, and doing SEVEN of them would be more so. Mmm..... lateral thinking was needed!
Ha! Got it!
I would do TWO paintings. The first would be done in watercolours, with each goddess's face put where she is going to be in the picture and the basic outline drawn out, then I will carefully paint masking fluid over each face and let it dry. Then I'll choose my colours for the background - a deep blue, maybe two different blues, possibly a deep purple, and probably another colour I haven't finalised yet - a deep green or even dark red, maybe even gold. Each colour will be mixed in its pure form in a small pot. I'll wet the whole of the paper, and then pour on each colour, here, there, a bit more, working over the whole painting, and seeing how the colours swirl together on the paper, finding their shapes within the water and causing lovely fluid lines, but as they reach the masking fluid the colours will swirl past them and on to the next free area. The hardest part will be for me to not get the inclination to *play* with it, to walk away and leave it to dry overnight. And then the next day, to go and have a look at it like a child on Christmas morning, full of bright eyed wonder, to see what magic has appeared on the paper - there will be light areas and darks, pure colours and mixed colours in bright hues, and to build on those colours as my background, for the magical background of this most magical of paintings.......
And then, and only then, will I be able to actually start the painting itself. To paint in oils the effect of the watercolours, to capture that beautful loose effect with a brush. Its the only way I can get around the problem. With some lateral thinking! Hard work? Certainly! But I shall love every minute of it!!
Saturday, 16 January 2010
Eternal beauty
Now I've done as much background research as I think is possible for each of the seven Goddesses, I feel that I'm ready to picture what they look like for my painting. For me, they are all beautiful, in the traditional sense of the word. But, how does EACH one look? I have hazy shapes and faces floating around within my consciousness, they will grow more distinct as I get into her psyche, and she gets into mine. Eyes will search out mine, a sensual mouth, the line of a jaw, the hairline, will all fall into place, bit by bit, for each Goddess, of that I am sure.................
But, to help me focus more on the specifics, I've returned to a favourite way of mine of crystalising a fantasy face. I've gone back into my old archives of images, most cut from magazines over many years, some going back decades. A face that's caught my eye, an expression, a look, a concept- they've all been collected and saved. They are all there because at the time of my finding them, it set an idea in my head, of something that might be of use at some time in the future. Well, it looks like the future may be now. I rifle through the collection, discarding many, but finding a few of use for my purposes. Some of the worlds most beautiful women, some a nameless model then and still, others now more famous than they were then, some less famous then than they are now, some still living, some dead. But, they are all beautiful. Very beautiful. and they will inspire me. I may not use all of the face as in the picture, I may widen the mouth, or change the hair, use the eyes from one, and the nose from another. But, they will become my beautiful Goddesses.............bit by bit.........
But, to help me focus more on the specifics, I've returned to a favourite way of mine of crystalising a fantasy face. I've gone back into my old archives of images, most cut from magazines over many years, some going back decades. A face that's caught my eye, an expression, a look, a concept- they've all been collected and saved. They are all there because at the time of my finding them, it set an idea in my head, of something that might be of use at some time in the future. Well, it looks like the future may be now. I rifle through the collection, discarding many, but finding a few of use for my purposes. Some of the worlds most beautiful women, some a nameless model then and still, others now more famous than they were then, some less famous then than they are now, some still living, some dead. But, they are all beautiful. Very beautiful. and they will inspire me. I may not use all of the face as in the picture, I may widen the mouth, or change the hair, use the eyes from one, and the nose from another. But, they will become my beautiful Goddesses.............bit by bit.........
Sunday, 10 January 2010
In search of the Goddess within
Before I paint someone it helps to know a bit about them. Just so that I have a better understanding of the essence of that person, to be able to incorporate it into the portrait. I don't need to know all the tiny details of the persona, just the bare facts will help. For anyone really. Male, female, young, old, mortal or immortal....
Immortal? You ask. Certainly! A beautiful Goddess, no, more than that - seven of them!
So when I'm asked to paint a Goddess, I need to know abit about her.
When I'm asked to paint seven Goddesses, for one painting, I need to know about each one. In some detail.
I always say that nine tenths of painting a picture, no matter how complex it is, is the thinking that goes into it. The subject, the composition, the techniques to use, the medium, the size, the story behind the image, the whole ambience I'm trying to capture within my painting. So, seven Goddesses needs a lot of research, because I don't know much about any of them, infact I'd only heard of three of them when I was asked to do the painting......
MMm.....some background details are needed, I realised. Start to find some more about them, to be able to capture the essence of each one... but that has made me realise that I need to read up even more on each of them, as being a Goddess is obviously a very complex thing. You've got a lot to be Goddess of, I've found, and some of them have varied and diverse connections.......
Take, for example, Hecate, the goddess associated with witches, ghosts, magic and crossroads (why crossroads I wondered, why not just roads?), torches (why torches specifically? why not just "fire"?), dogs (what's dogs got to do with anything to do with magic, witches and ghosts?), doorways, yew, garlic, aconites, raisin cakes (what the ?!!) masks, candles, owls, bats, trivia, sheep - particularly black female lambs apparently, snakes, boars, willows, sapphire, silver, dark moons, and specifically the number three (what a weird mix THEY all are!).
I haven't found out much about Demeter yet, she is the Goddess of grain and fertility, ploughing and harvest, the bringer of seasons - and all of that sounds very nice and gently rural and buccolic - especially when I consider Kali!
There's Isis - a moon goddess of medicine, wisdom, motherhood, fertility, children, reincarnation.
And Astarte - goddess of war AND fertility, love, sexual energy and desire (how on earth are THEY connected?).
And Innana - source of the earths wells, springs and rivers, she is the goddess of sexual love, fertility and warfare (ah, there's starting to be a pattern here!) associated with lions, mating and fertility of humans and animals, and with rain and storms.
Then, there's Kali - who seems to a bit disconcerting to me -she's associated with eternal energy, time and change, war, death and destruction. But when I mentioned to my spiritual healer friend that I found Kali to be very dark, she told me that Kali "is actually a really nice goddess even if she DOES have the ability to be a bit stroppy". Mm...... "stroppy" eh? She seems more than "a bit stroppy" to me!
But my favourite is Diana - the ancient lady of the beasts. Mistress of wild things, especailly anything young and vulnerable, goddess of solitude, the wilderness and the great silences of nature, she is a moon goddess, a self sufficient goddess who lives life on her own terms. She is especially a goddess of women, and all the phases of womanhood, she stands for the part of us that is at home in the wilderness, in our primitive, instinctual nature. Goddess of the hunt, associated with wild animals and woodland, swelling on high mountains and sacred woods, especially oak groves.
Mmm..... I can really relate to the goddess Diana already- I can feel what she is. I can feel her force. I'll start with her, and see what I can see of her face, and then I've got to draw her and capture that essence in paint. Easy, eh?! :) And that's before I start on the others - particularly Kali!!!!
Immortal? You ask. Certainly! A beautiful Goddess, no, more than that - seven of them!
So when I'm asked to paint a Goddess, I need to know abit about her.
When I'm asked to paint seven Goddesses, for one painting, I need to know about each one. In some detail.
I always say that nine tenths of painting a picture, no matter how complex it is, is the thinking that goes into it. The subject, the composition, the techniques to use, the medium, the size, the story behind the image, the whole ambience I'm trying to capture within my painting. So, seven Goddesses needs a lot of research, because I don't know much about any of them, infact I'd only heard of three of them when I was asked to do the painting......
MMm.....some background details are needed, I realised. Start to find some more about them, to be able to capture the essence of each one... but that has made me realise that I need to read up even more on each of them, as being a Goddess is obviously a very complex thing. You've got a lot to be Goddess of, I've found, and some of them have varied and diverse connections.......
Take, for example, Hecate, the goddess associated with witches, ghosts, magic and crossroads (why crossroads I wondered, why not just roads?), torches (why torches specifically? why not just "fire"?), dogs (what's dogs got to do with anything to do with magic, witches and ghosts?), doorways, yew, garlic, aconites, raisin cakes (what the ?!!) masks, candles, owls, bats, trivia, sheep - particularly black female lambs apparently, snakes, boars, willows, sapphire, silver, dark moons, and specifically the number three (what a weird mix THEY all are!).
I haven't found out much about Demeter yet, she is the Goddess of grain and fertility, ploughing and harvest, the bringer of seasons - and all of that sounds very nice and gently rural and buccolic - especially when I consider Kali!
There's Isis - a moon goddess of medicine, wisdom, motherhood, fertility, children, reincarnation.
And Astarte - goddess of war AND fertility, love, sexual energy and desire (how on earth are THEY connected?).
And Innana - source of the earths wells, springs and rivers, she is the goddess of sexual love, fertility and warfare (ah, there's starting to be a pattern here!) associated with lions, mating and fertility of humans and animals, and with rain and storms.
Then, there's Kali - who seems to a bit disconcerting to me -she's associated with eternal energy, time and change, war, death and destruction. But when I mentioned to my spiritual healer friend that I found Kali to be very dark, she told me that Kali "is actually a really nice goddess even if she DOES have the ability to be a bit stroppy". Mm...... "stroppy" eh? She seems more than "a bit stroppy" to me!
But my favourite is Diana - the ancient lady of the beasts. Mistress of wild things, especailly anything young and vulnerable, goddess of solitude, the wilderness and the great silences of nature, she is a moon goddess, a self sufficient goddess who lives life on her own terms. She is especially a goddess of women, and all the phases of womanhood, she stands for the part of us that is at home in the wilderness, in our primitive, instinctual nature. Goddess of the hunt, associated with wild animals and woodland, swelling on high mountains and sacred woods, especially oak groves.
Mmm..... I can really relate to the goddess Diana already- I can feel what she is. I can feel her force. I'll start with her, and see what I can see of her face, and then I've got to draw her and capture that essence in paint. Easy, eh?! :) And that's before I start on the others - particularly Kali!!!!
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