Jen Jovan Art Musings and Random Thoughts

The Long Fall Back to the Center

3/22/2021

"The Long Fall Back to the Center" - acrylic on gallery wrapped canvas, 16" x 20" x 1.5". Ready to hang (sides are painted; no need to frame. Hanging hardware attached). Available here and at Artfinder.

Tossed under the tree
The cracked bones

Of the owl's most recent feast
Lean like shipwreck, starting

The long fall back to the center--
The seepage, the flowing,

The equity, sooner or later
In the shimmering leaves

The rat will learn to fly, the owl
Will be devoured.

- from "Bone Poem" by Mary Oliver

The Long Fall Back to the Center

hike treasures

The thing about lost hikes (wandering places where few feet have been) is the preponderance of bones.

And the more my eyes are trained to see in the wilderness (shadows, hidden paths, lichens, scat, briars, poison oak, loose rock) the. more I see the bones. It seems they are there for me to find - messages from spirits long gone, reminders of the preciousness of life, invitations to get close to the center of everything.

On a recent hike, the bones of a juvenile deer lay strewn about near a dry creek bed. Dainty, delicate, decayed. She came home with me, this little one. Cleaned gently with bleach and soft brush. Dried in the sunlight on the kitchen counter. Weird? Maybe. Exquisitely beautiful - yes.

Her stark coloring inspired this painting, in which I set about to capture just the bones of an image.

About the art: I began using an old time photo as a reference (run through the Notanizer, of course) and selected a color palette from painting by Lita Cabellut (which reminded me of the bones).

I began with a 3 minute charcoal sketch and 5 minutes of shaping the composition with titanium white running into the charcoal. This video jumps off from there. Red, green, buff, titanium white and black charcoal. A tiny dollop of yellow ochre. Resisting the urge to overly define. Allowing the viewer's eye to complete portions of the figure. Liberal use of rubber wedge to carve back into the wet paint.

Finishing touches were not captured on video. That's what happens when the artist is in charge of the camera. :)

6 Comments

Dotty Seiter link

3/22/2021 10:53:35 am

Jen! whoa. I opened your blog, and here I sit minutes and minutes and minutes later, not having left yet. The Long Fall compels me to come to a full stop. To pause. To explore. To wonder. To FEEL wonder.

The bones of an image: captured.

And those deer bones. Holy moly!

jen

3/22/2021 02:45:26 pm

Dotty! Thank you, lovely friend! You comment makes me smile. :). And the deer bones...they sit now on my kitchen window ledge, sparkling in sunlight. I am grateful for the gifts of the hikes.

Carolyn Laudati

3/22/2021 12:02:04 pm

I just LOVE watching you paint!!!!
She is incredibly beautiful, and the deer bones just tug at my heart!

3/22/2021 02:47:22 pm

Carolyn! Awww I am so glad you're enjoying the videos. Yay! The deer bones are truly a gift, both weighty and light. The passage of time, the circle of life, the pale colors of a somber palette.

Carol Kitchell link

3/22/2021 12:22:22 pm

Jen, your painting productivity continues to amaze me. I wonder how you're able to do it. I hit the tough spots (when are they not?), and shut down. Animal bones. One of my series as a photographer is dead animals. I feel like it's honoring their lives. And I collect bones. I pick up owl poop and the other day, I brought home a tuft of hair - probably from a dog, but maybe a deer. Bones are holy relics.

3/22/2021 02:50:02 pm

Carol! Dear lady, I love your grounded-in-earth photography. And the things you collect. Holy relics indeed. I feel grateful and awe-filled when they present themselves. I haven't grabbed any owl poo yet, but it is just a matter of time.

As for productivity, it's like breathing. I need to paint. A lot of it isn't very good, but I just keep going...

The Long Fall Back to the Center

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