And So, It Begins
In 2016, I decided… well… I didn’t really decide it at first. It was more of an internal urge. Anyway, I urged to pick up my watercolor brush and some paint and make something. I hadn’t really done much painting over the last 20 years. Not much since my college art classes, that is.
It was summer, the kids were home, hubs was on night shift, and with all of that I have yet to figure out how to devote the hours needed to my handmade jewelry business (you can peek at that here Gaia Copia Artisan Jewelry). See, night shift means family time is in the middle of my day! I have a difficult time… no, I just don’t have much time when the schedule is like that. Period. What happens though, is this sort of internal build-up in me that results from not being able to have the hours needed to ‘do my thing’ and yet, I am needing to ‘do my own thing’ somewhere in the day. Otherwise, I get all cranky, driven and feel lost and such. The result of that concoction of inner turmoil found me sitting at my jewelry bench with a paintbrush (drooling) and just playing.
I had always found watercolor to be one of the more difficult (read, frustratingly annoying) mediums to master. Which of course, being a red head and all, made me want to master it all the more.
I dug in and painted one of my favorite creatures. The Barn Owl.
Here’s what I wrote about it (took this excerpt from my own RedBubble page):
The Owl, in resonance with the feminine qualities of the Moon as well as the idea of discovering what mysteries are found in the dark. Any questions you beg to have answered? Habits or patterns that you’ve been wanting to resolve but can’t seem to find the root of them? The symbolism of Owl is a beautiful energetic to slip into in these situations. The Barn Owl, pictured here, reminds us to come into this discovery from ‘the heart’, as mirrored in the heart shaped face of this lovely creature. When thinking of your topic, wonder inside yourself how your head seeks answers… and then check in with how your heart would ask or respond. I believe the heart, which for me is simply a place without constriction or judgment of ‘what is’, has a very different quality than the questions and answers that come solely from the mind. What do you notice in you??
Original art was done by me in Watercolor and finishing details in Colored Pencil on Hot Press 140lb Canson Montval paper.
Inspired by the recent Blood Moon occurring at the time of the painting.
I did a couple of other versions of this in plain colored pencil, and then hated it and covered it with acrylic and then didn’t like that so I covered that with some oil paints… lol. And then didn’t finish it because it was just frustrating and none of my art supplies were working right. So, I started fresh on a new day and this one I’m pretty satisfied with.
