Put a Bird on it, Nathan Mary Quinn!

​"Put a Bird on it, Nathan Mary Quinn!" - acrylic on canson art board, 20" x 15".  Ready to frame.  Available here.

Oh, now I've gone and done it.  Entered the world of distortion, but in a jenly way. 

Do you want to check your internal distortion meter?  Go ahead, draw a face and then purposely distort it.  What are you feeling?  Sheesh!  I am such a tender heart.  After I recently learned about the artist Nathan Mary Quinn, an attempt at distortion was mandatory.  So I decided to paint the artist himself in a wonky manner.  Imagine my surprise when I felt really bad for messing up his face this way!  What makes everything better?  Put a bird on it!  Or two.  Maybe upside down.  And maybe like they are giving Nathan Mary Quinn a big hug to say "I am sorry for distorting your face."  

But other than learning I am maybe too soft for painting in a distorted manner on a regular basis, I learned a thing

or two from Quinn's own story.  And this is where the real treasure lies in this painting.

Quinn was abandoned - literally - by his family at the age of 15.  He came home and they were gone.  Everything.  Just an empty apartment.  Yet he went on with his life, education, employment and art.  And he doesn't bemoan his childhood.  He is grateful for where his own story took him.  That makes me re-examine a few things about my own troubled upbringing and see them as huge gifts.  Whoa.  That was unexpected.  Hmmmmmm.

But here is where it gets really good, all you artists who are struggling to find your "voice" in the art world.  So he is making his art, right?  Gets offered a chance to show a few.  Needs one more for the show and is really out of time. So he just lets loose and does whatever.  And KABLAM!  There is is.  One piece, not like the others.  And someone notices.  The story pretty much writes itself after this.  A Cinderfella story.  

What this means for people who create: get out of your own head, your routine, your predictability and just LET LOOSE!  Do it! Don't think about it.  See what happens.  I double-dog-dare you.

Maybe you need a little motivation to try this, so here is a sweet repeat of one of my favorite inspirations.  Put a bird on it!  And you can, too!

Congratulations to Carolyn L., the winner in Monday's childhood talents commentary drawing!  A little birdie is coming your way.