"The Bird Whisperer" - mixed media on cradled hardboard. 12" x 12" , ready to hang. Available on Artfinder.
A return to my irresistible girls and their birds as I prepare for the upcoming "Art & Soul" event here in SoFlo. Whenever I paint one of these lovelies, it is like visiting an old friend, catching up on life and dallying awhile in a wonderland. These girls have stories to tell. But mostly, it's those chatty birds who are causing trouble. The birds have been talking to me lately. An osprey in a tree near our lake, looking at me as I admired him through my binoculars. "I see you," he said. "I see YOU," I replied. A pair of ducks who kept me company for 90 minutes while I mulched and trimmed the front yard. They stayed within six feet of me the entire time, moving when I moved. "Alms? Alms for the ducks?" they asked in unison. A pair of moor hens, beaks brightly lit with mating season red, high-tailing it over to the shore of our back yard to grab a morsel as I inspected our fruit trees. "We're eating for five now," the male said. The female just laughed. A lone female duck waits for me outside the garage door, her feet slapping the pavement as she scurries over when the door raises. "Treats! Treats!" she exclaims. "Only in the back yard," I reply with a whisper. "Now shoo! Go out back before you get run over, silly." And one more pair of ducks stalking the corner of 13th St and 95th Ave. When our evening walk takes us by their turf, they come flying in like a squadron of awkward winged boats, landing with a thump at our feet and walking along side of us for awhile. I think these two are shaking down all passersby for food. Apparently, some ducks have formed gangs. Beware! Still reading along in Clear Seeing Place. The chapter on slowness was just two pages long, yet I read it four times. "Art is the intensification of slowness. There is rich poetry in antispeed." Rutenberg praises long lines and delays - "forced interruptions". And then this: "Real awareness doesn't come in long dial tones of looking, but in the moments of clarity when the eye is halted and restarted..." I am using heavy traffic, check out lines and being put on hold as reasons to pause and look around, observing. Interruptions when I am in the studio usually irritate me beyond reason. This week, I am embracing the fractured studio time by noticing what happens when I walk away and come back. Magic, so far. Rebooting my view by stopping and restarting changes the whole perspective. Instead of seeking gracefulness in the process, I am embracing the clumsy, as Rutenberg recommends. Who knows? Maybe a whole new genre of CLUMSY ART will emerge? In the meantime, the ducks are tapping on the back door again...
11 Comments
Patricia L.Brooks
2/22/2017 09:43:30 am
"The Bird Whisperer" is as CHARMING and SOULFUL as all of your IRRESISTIBLE girls💓💓💓‼️‼️‼️
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jen
2/22/2017 11:17:16 am
Pat! You are so wise...I truly admire your ability to laugh at life's interruptions! Now I cannot WAIT to see your "Backyard Guests"!!!!!
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2/22/2017 12:26:35 pm
1. What product does BW use on her hair? Acrylic and oil pastel?
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Jen
2/22/2017 12:56:30 pm
Dotty! You made me smile!!!! Shiny shoes and soft dresses, being 5 years old with the world of imagination at your fingertips! BW uses three layers of different colors of acrylic on her hair (applied with sponges and paper towels) and a Uni Posca paint pen (if you haven't tried them, they are AMAZING!) There might be some raspberry jelly in there, as she is known to get distracted while eating and forget that her hands are all smeary.
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2/22/2017 05:11:46 pm
oooo, I think I want me some Uni Post paint pens. What size assortment of colors do you have, and what size nibs do you recommend?
jen
2/22/2017 05:19:08 pm
I have a 15 piece set of the pens. I have NO idea what the nib size is, as all of the writing on the box is in Japanese!!
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2/22/2017 05:52:54 pm
What, you can't read Japanese?! 2/26/2017 08:32:54 am
My curly hair arrived yesterday in the mail in a box with Japanese writing on it. Yay!
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jen
2/26/2017 02:30:25 pm
whoopie!!!!! Can't wait to see what you create!
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2/27/2017 02:30:27 am
What a lovely lady! Pensive eyes. Love all the textures especially the hair. Yay there are Posca pens here! I have one in white. Will get some more...
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jen
2/27/2017 08:31:12 am
Hooray! Thank you, Carol! Posca Pens are FUN! And this girl is pensive...not sure why, but that's what she wanted to be. They give all kinds of orders, these girls, without a lot of explanation. ha ha!
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