Believe In You

Believe in You

"Believe in You" - mixed media on cradled wood panel, 8 x 16 x 1.5.  Ready to hang.  Available Sept 5-6 at Artistic Souls Gallery.

“Sometimes we all need a unicorn to believe in. Sometimes we need a unicorn to believe in us.”
Claudia Bakker.

​Recently, I've felt like a unicorn.

No, not the fuzzy beauty with the luxurious mane and the rainbow poop.  My version has tangled hair, droopy eyes, a clumsy gait and an occasional belch.  Not a pretty unicorn.  Pretty gangly and inelegant.  The queen of awkward.

We all have these moments of inelegant humanness (or unicornness, in this case), and it's ok.  It's what you do with it - that's who you are (quoting Abner from the local play "OK Abner").  Those moments are when the inner critic wants to elbow her way in and make you doubt everything about yourself, even the brilliant stuff.

Upon reading the above quote, I wondered if I might want to develop an inner unicorn as well - one who believes in me and thinks I am the most magical of rare beings?  Maybe the critic and the unicorn could battle it out while I enjoy a peaceful cup of coffee. :)

About the art:  beginning with a colored-pencil sketch on gesso'd wood, adding layers upon layers and watching her personality emerge.  A little sprinkling of gold leaf on the horn, and a tidying layer of paint.