Swift And A Huntress

Swift And A Huntress

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Swift And A Huntress
oil on canvas
24 x 30 x 1.5 inches
This item is unframed but ready to hang
(click on the image to purchase)

He took up her stiff head out of the leaves and held it or he reached to hold what cannot be held, what already ran among the mountains at once terrible and of a great beauty, like flowers that feed on flesh. What blood and bone are made of but can themselves not make on any altar nor by any wound of war. What we may well believe has power to cut and shape and hollow out the dark form of the world surely if wind can, if rain can. But which cannot be held never be held and is no flower but is swift and a huntress and the wind itself is in terror of it and the world cannot lose it. - CORMAC McCARTHY, THE CROSSING

It is a quandary I bump up against more and more - writers, artists, musicians...creators whose work I admire but parts of  whose lives, once revealed, make me cringe.   McCarthy is one of those people.  His words reach into my very sinew and make me feel, think, know things beyond my own experience.  His personal story, how he came to those words, pulls back the curtain and disturbs that very magic.

What we may well believe has power to cut and shape and hollow out.  Indeed.  My own beliefs have shaped my world, for worse and also sometimes for better.  And I do believe much of creating comes from very dark places in the soul of the creator.  Which means those creators may not stand tall under close scrutiny (though many, many do).

Perhaps the redemption is found in the openness, the honesty, the vulnerability of those who say this was my experience, this was what my journey looked like​ and thus  expose it to the light themselves.

Such openness asks for our understanding, our forgiveness, our belief in the ability to overcome, to evolve, to transform.  But it also demands courage, bravery, determination and a willingness to leap (swift, like a huntress) into the unknown.  I am fortunate to be surrounded by humans of such daunting brave openness (you, dear readers!) and it demands that I follow.

We are all
blood and bone
ugliness and beauty
mistake and triumph
stumbling
sometimes leaping
​seeking home.

A little animation...just for fun!

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About the art:  another piece inspired by a Bluesky human and her description of her inner warrior woman, which sits there in my creative craw and nags at me to paint more of her fierceness.  Beginning with a gessoed canvas I roughed in the figure with thinned oil paint and a long brush.  Just loosely, knowing initially only that I wanted two sides grounded (i.e. hair and clothing leaving the composition's edges) and that the figure  herself should appear to be off the ground.  Next up a very light neutral background, painting in toward the figure to refine the proportions.  Then layers and layers of  paint in a very limited color palette, resisting the urge to add other colors.  Working alternately between small brushes for details and large brushes to soften and partially erase them.  Finally using a rubber wedge to drag the wet paint at the lower end of the figure downward and also to drag the hair movement up and out in loose shadows.  Walking away before any part of her became too precious. 

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It is the final week to enter the August Reader Giveaway!  Leave a comment on one or more blog posts this month to be automatically entered to win a piece of original art - FREE!  The winners will be announced right here in the blog on September 1. Woohoo!