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The Whole Sky to Fly In and No Eye Watching

10/21/2019

6 Comments

 
"The Whole Sky to Fly In and No Eye Watching" - mixed media on cradled wood panel, 24" x 36" x 1.25" .  Ready to hang.  Available here and at Artfinder.

The rains have arrive in Portland.  Rains and a wind that bangs the deep-toned gong in my backyard.  It is tempting to make the act of going outside a thing of necessity instead of the fun frolic of summer.  But a walk in the forest in the rain (thank you to a sweet friend for that), mud-covered boots, leaf-littered dog and the sound of an owl reset the mind to seek these soaking adventures.  Now we are ready for fall in the PNW.

This piece, perhaps the last in a series of weeping women, is the largest in a good while.  She's seen me through some sleepless nights, angsty self-questioning and ultimate surrender.   

"Creative work needs solitude.  It needs concentration without interruptions,  It needs the whole sky to fly in, and no eye watching, until it comes to that certainty which it aspires to, but does not necessarily have at once. "  MARY OLIVER
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The Whole Sky to Fly In and No Eye Watching
I've been cultivating a delicious sort of solitude.  It is heady, so much uninterrupted time.  After a lifetime of raising children (and a grandchild), working for others, managing things and priorities not my own - this long stretch of unfettered days is a luxury of the sort not found on vacation.  This only ends if I wish it to.  Oliver puts it best: "And that I did not give to anyone the responsibility for my life.  It is mine.  I made it.  And can do what I want to with it.  Live it.  Give it back, someday, without bitterness, to the wild and weedy dunes."  
6 Comments
Carl Stoveland
10/21/2019 11:01:33 am

That’s a powerful painting to cap the series. Your paintings of women say so much with their eyes. Enjoy the wet cool smells and sights of fall in the PNW!

Reply
jen
10/21/2019 11:08:02 am

Carl! Thanks a bunch! I am grateful these women decided to emerge. Just in time to embrace this gorgeous fall. :)

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Dotty Seiter link
10/21/2019 11:12:15 am

Such elegance in the weeping, Jen. Powerful, unequivocally powerful, yet not waving its arms wildly nor storming with thunder. Powerful.

As are the words of Mary Oliver you've chosen to share and the poetry of YOUR words.

Reply
jen
10/21/2019 11:13:48 am

ack, Dotty! Your words are a huge gift to me today! Thank you, dear friend. xo

Reply
Carol Edan link
10/23/2019 03:33:35 am

Elegant,inquisitive,contemplating and courageous. Just love the negative spaces!

Reply
jen
10/23/2019 11:21:35 am

Courageous! Inquisitive! Carol, I am delighted by these words. Thank you, dear friend! Big hugs!

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Here's the blue wild, where
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  • Home
  • ART
  • BLOG
  • Exhibits
    • The Downside of Lycanthropy
    • A Song for the Hunted
    • The Wild God
    • NUDGE - SHOVE
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