30 Paintings in 30 Days - Day 23

​"The Call of the Wild" - mixed media on cradled wood, 16" x 20".  Ready to hang.  Inquiries.

Humperdinck: You don't seem excited, my little muffet. Buttercup: Should I be?
Humperdinck: Brides often are, I'm told.
Buttercup: I do not marry tonight. My Westley will save me.
[scene: chapel]
Impressive Clergyman: Mawwage. Mawwage is what bwings us togethew today. Mawwage, that bwessed awwangement, that dweam within a dweam.
           from The Princess Bride

​The stress is too much!  They are at the altar!  Where is Westley!  ACK!

Tension.  It's what makes movies (and books) extra good.  It is also what gives us ulcers and nervous tics and high blood pressure, if we have too much of it.  Too little, on the other hand, and life is simply dull.

Finding that balance....the tricky part.

After a long bout with a nasty virus, I needed a little extra tension to boost my art mojo.  So I dove into a jar of crackle paste.  I've never used it, had no instructions AND the jar had been purchased at a flea market, so the contents were dried out and old.  If you add some water and a LOT of mashing and smashing, it will revitalize into something really pasty and satisfying.  The undercoat of this piece is a heap load of crackle paste, scored to smithereens with many texture tools.  This is what gives the trees their lovely lines and grainy grooves, which are quite 3-dimensional in real life.   It is probably the most wonderful group of painted trees I've ever made.  I will be doing this again and again.

Here in south Florida, it is difficult to get a real nature fix in a hurry.  I am feeling the call of the wild...a desire to hike amongst tall trees and listen to songbirds while crunching through leaves and blazing trails through undergrowth.  In lieu of that, a suburban hike over to the neighborhood park to peek at the burrowing owl nests will do in a pinch.  I hadn't seen them since Hurricane Irma.  But there they were, peeking out of their holes.  I didn't get close enough for a pic (Pongo is not a stealthy owl viewer), so enjoy this video of burrowing owls in nearby Cape Coral: