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Piggy-Cat Ride!

4/30/2018

4 Comments

 
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"Piggy-Cat Ride" - acrylic on aquabord, 16" x 20".  Ready to frame.  Available here and at Artfinder.

The studio has gone wild.  I no longer have creative control.  Wait - did I ever?  Probably not. :)

It started with some gorgeous big cats in Japanese art.  And then a book on Japanese art cats from the Morikami.  And a board that needed painting over, and words playing tricks in my head until "piggy-back ride" became "piggy-cat ride" and well now there you have it...shenanigans and malarkey.

But I also learned you can carve into aquabord (the fake writing is carved into the paint) and make quite a nicely textured effect.  So there are some redeeming qualities to this piece of whimsy.  And it makes me smile.

And now I am diving into The Hokusai Sketch-Books (James A. Michener) and I never want to emerge.
My dad was a huge fan of Hokusai, but of his well-known fancy pieces, elegant and supreme.  I don't think he knew about the sketch-books, which are wildly whimsical, animated and quirky, to my surprise and delight.

Hundred upon hundreds of sketches - grasses, trees, architecture, people, animals, mythological creatures and even a gunstock or two.
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The copy I managed to buy is from 1962.  It was originally a graduation gift to someone (based on the inner inscription).  Oddly wonderful that 1962 is the year of my birth, so I figure this magical book was meant to drop into my hands eventually.

The book demands hours of study.  But more than that, it reminds us that sketch-books are an important part of artistry - a place where ideas can be explored and refined, practiced and perfected.  
It also tells a little secret...that even some of the greatest artist of all time might not have been in control of their studios.  Whimsical creatures and quirky characters seem to have a long history of dazzling and demanding attention, all the way back to the kaiba (oriental seahorse) and suisa (water rhinoceros) of Hokusai.

​Don't tell that to the pig and the cat, though.  Shhhhh.
4 Comments
Dotty Seiter link
4/30/2018 08:19:26 am

Shenanigans and malarkey, indeed! This piece pulled me right out of whatever was playing across my mind as I opened my email and right INTO the immediacy of a piggy-cat ride! Compelling composition, Jen: I like what stays on the page, what goes off, how most of the space is filled but some is not. And the fake writing: LOVE IT!

Reply
jen
4/30/2018 08:25:55 am

Hooray!!!! Thank you, Dotty! But let's keep all that away from the dynamic duo...they are already so much trouble. I wouldn't want them to get big head on top of that. ha ha!

Reply
Carol Edan
4/30/2018 03:40:09 pm

I was also attracted to that writing. Really commanding attention. Don't tell piggy and the cat, they think they are central stage, which they are! Thanks for the intro to the sketch books!

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jen
4/30/2018 04:00:46 pm

Thanks, Carol! It was fun inventing my own character for the writing part. And yes, shhhhhhhhh. Those rascals!

Reply



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Here's the blue wild, where
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(by poet Mary W. Cox)
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  • Home
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    • The Downside of Lycanthropy
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