murphy vs the mastodon

"Murphy vs the Mastodon" - mixed media on wood panel, 16" x 19"..  Available here and at Artfinder.

There are eleventy-billion reasons to be very grateful for the special people in our lives.  But right now, in the studio, there is this gorgeous pile of hand-cut wood panels just waiting to be painted.  Because my special person happens to also be a woodworker. Holy moly. 

And magic happens on these panels.  Paint glides, textures pop.  I can't stop playing.  Which is what happened this week with this piece - a total playdate with wood panel and paint that became this fantastical world where alien yam men look elephants in the eye.  Which brings to mind Brian Rutenberg ... Shout your nutty ideas to the world - we need more stupid.​

​Well then.

Murphy vs. the Mastodon

Let's talk about Murphy.  Facing down a mastodon (well, at least that's what I see in this painting).  What on earth could that mean for us this week?  It rattled around in my thoughts until this dropped into my lap:

“A further sign of health is that we don’t become undone by fear and trembling, but we take it as a message that it’s time to stop struggling and look directly at what’s threatening us.”
― Pema Chodron

Oh.  Yep.  Looking directly at things.  Even those things which make us cringe and want to avert our eyes. I did that recently - stared directly at the elephant in the room (or the mastodon in the painting, so to speak) and voila!  A clear understanding of what needed to happen next to lead that pachyderm out the door.  Life imitating art imitating potatoes and behemoths.  It's going to be a good week. :)