Syncopation of Grief and Gladness

"Syncopation of Grief and Gladness" - oil on paper, 21 x 21.5  Available here, at Artfinder and at Bluethumb.

​Autumn is the season of ambivalence and reconciliation, soft-carpeted training ground for the dissolution that awaits us all, low-lit chamber for hearing more intimately the syncopation of grief and gladness that scores our improbable and finite lives — each yellow burst in the canopy a reminder that everything beautiful is perishable, each falling leaf at once a requiem for our own mortality and a rhapsody for the unbidden gift of having lived at all - THE MARGINALIAN

The reign of the random rabbits continues in the studio, where a fluffle of white lagomorphs choreographs a dance tribute to fall.

Syncopation of Grief and Sadness

Beginning by painting away the background

Even as the world and an abundance of unsettling, angst-invoking events and news crowd my brain and press my spirit into little boxes of anxiety, the process of imagining and creating releases the pressure and allows a deep inhale and exhale.   The rabbit hole of information saturation takes a twist and turns into an expansive cavern of color and movement and paint.  Oh yes.

This piece was inspired by combining the worlds of Edgar Degas and Fritz Scholder, a mash-up that delights me in a similar way to how hearing a mash-up of songs makes my heart jump gleefully.

​After all, jumping is what rabbits do best. :)

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Some of you have inquired about demo videos - where have they gone, you wondered?

Most of the new work is painted in stages over many days, allowing for the extended drying time between layers that oil paint requires. Let's not watch paint dry, I say!

But recently I've made a dive into alla prima (wet into wet) abstract painting, which is often "all in one go" and easier to film.  Here's one just for you.

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​Congratulations to  Susan M!  Wonder Mike selected your name at random as the winner of the October Reader Giveaway.  Hooray!  Send your mailing address to [email protected] and your piece of original art will be on the way.  Thanks to all who participated!

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READER PERK ALERT!

Take 50% off any one item now through November 11 with coupon code READERPERKS50.

 (The big ONCE-A-YEAR SALE begins mid-November, and this coupon lets you grab your favorite piece before anyone else even thinks about it.  Hooray!)