The Wild God Nods His Head

The Wild God Nods His Head

"The Wild God Nods His Head" - oil on cradled wood panel, 20 x 20 x 1.5.  Ready to hang.  Available here and at Artfinder.

Listen to them:
The fox in your neck and
The snakes in your arms and
The wren and the sparrow and the deer…
The great un-nameable beasts
In your liver and your kidneys and your heart…
​
There is a symphony of howling.
A cacophony of dissent.
The wild god nods his head and
You wake on the floor holding a knife,
A bottle and a handful of black fur.
​ - from Sometimes a Wild God, by Tom Hirons

We're so near the end of Hiron's poem.  Are you listening to the snakes in your arms yet?  Hiron's wild god wants us to inhabit our passions - to nurture and protect our unfettered creativity.  The words are visceral and rightly so.  It resonates deep within my bones.

Just one more piece to this poem, which has kept me company in the studio for a couple of months now.  It has prodded, poked, stabbed and shoved.  I will miss its daily prickliness.  And yet, I am now  holding a knife, a bottle and a handful of black fur.  A beast emerges in the paint.

---

About the art: beginning with an inspiration image the A.I. bot and I collaborated on (the beast in the background of the imaged called me deeply), I toned a smooth cradled panel with a neutral glow.  Slowly working outward from the center and creating texture within the wet paint using paper towels, chopsticks, small rubber wedges and the wrong (right!) ends of paintbrushes. Allowing the "frame" portions to remain rather sketchy, keeping the focus on the (now nodding) wild god.

inspiration image

working from the center outward

building layers

boldly becoming

detail

---

​The reader giveaway winners have been selected!  Wonder Mike and Lilly selected THREE lucky readers!  Wooohooo!

Thank you for reading, for commenting and for sharing your wisdom.  I am so inspired by your commitment to, new pursuit of, rekindling of and delight in your very own wild passions and creativity!

Stay tuned!   A new reader giveaway arrives in April!