There are walls between us and them. Idealogical walls, religious walls, political walls, walls of opinion, perception, assumption - so many walls. It makes me weary, these walls. When I read Nepo's words in this passage, my eyes welled up and my heart sighed. Never stop loving everything. Whoa. Love without intent. Love without preference. Again, whoa. Erasing walls. Yes, please and thank you. Here's some unending love from me to you, dear reader. You show up here, in this little haven of art and musings, walls down and heart open. I adore you. Thank you for being here. About the art: beginning with a layer of black gesso and adding a rough pencil sketch over the top. Building the layers of color and paint, mixing background paint with white gesso to keep it chalky and matte. Layers of gold leaf interspersed, pulled forward and then pushed back. Water sprayer and rubber wedge used, but not too much. Finishing with colored pencil lines and scribbles, adding that final layer of texture.
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Liberties were taken with this painting - it's in my own style, with my own interpretation of strength and resilience scraped and layered and scratched into it. It is every one of us who has faced a lion even when terrified - even when we couldn't see our own courage. I look at this piece and feel doubly resolved to live from my own core as I find my way in the world. I hope she inspires you as well, dear reader. She is you and me. About the art: beginning with a canvas covered in black gesso, creating a rough sketch with white charcoal. Slowly adding in layers, following the paint where it meanders away from the inspiration photo to let texture and nuance form where it might not have been before. Liberal use of a sprayer bottle and rubber wedge. Scratching into wet paint with colored pencils to add texture and movement. Resisting the urge to overly define. Stepping away when her gaze told me the lion was in the room.
There was a companion piece to this one - a large canvas which went through a million iterations, receiving on its surface the aches and pains and worries and fears of the week in layer upon layer of color. Which is now covered in black gesso. Mama said there'd be days likes these. I am grateful for its willingness to accept all that angst and store it safely within its frame. I think what's important is that we keep doing. Create, sing, dance, play, move, clean, read - whatever you do, keep doing it. Let the doing of it revitalize you amidst it all. Wherever you are in this week of tumult, I wish you a pile of play dough and a companion or two to make weird creatures with. About the art: beginning with a black gesso'd wood panel and a reference photo of a dinosaur skeleton, then a rough colored pencil sketch over top. Adding washes of warm tones and then beginning to define the bones with increasingly lighter tones. Allowing the dark to show through and create shadows and depth. Resisting the urge to overly define - keeping the washes light and ghostly.
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AuthorLola Jovan 
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