“Moonbird”, acrylic, sand and gesso texture on illustration board, 15 X 20″
A watery fantascape from the imagination that I sort of finished today. Sort of, because it has to sit around a few days until I see what last touches it needs. It always helps to see it on the computer where certain parts scream out “fix me!”.
Sometimes everyday reality gets closer to the mystical than my paintings. Yesterday I was feeling rather stressed out, having just paid bills and oh you know what’s in the news these days – TV, newspapers and friends’ stories. And a strong wind had just blown up. There clinging to the door jam was a brand spanking new Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly, having just metamorphosed from a crysalid form – not even aware yet of it magical wings that would take to the air. All sparkly and velvety (midnight blue and silvery black with bright orange dots). I gently picked it up and it clung to my finger with those delicate insect feet and slowly tried opening and closing those diaphanous wings. I put it in a shoe box until the wind died down later, and it was still my friend. It might still be traveling around with me on my shoulder if I hadn’t coaxed it back into the wild. So how could I stay stressed when there’s this kind of magic in the world? Like this moonbird, both magical companions from the natural world.
Magic and mystery. Totally independent from me, my husband just posted on his blog a discussion of mystery as the source of true art. You have to check it out. Not very surprising I guess, that our minds run on parallel tracks.
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What an extraordinary painting, Susan! I am deeply amazed by all these structures and colours, and their wonderful interaction. The most wonderful seascape I have ever seen!
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wooow !! fantastic painting !! j’adore !
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Oh Miki! Thank you for being one of my greatest enthusiasts. And just this morning I was looking at this painting and it was telling me what was not quite right yet (but not how to fix it!) Much better to have your voice in my head.
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WOWEE Susan, this is just stunning!!!
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Beautiful painting. Your imagination is so colorful and vivid I wonder how you come back to earth long enough to grocery shop.
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Sometimes I’ll admit the groceries or dinner meal suffers a bit when the butterflies are fluttering around in the mind.
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Susan, you’ve posted so much, I have to catch up here…
This one is a total winner! I suppose you could do more to it. But I don’t feel anything lacking when I look at it. My eye keeps running between the moon and the bird, such depth. And all that amazing water in between…
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Mystery and Magic
The wind howled for
metamorphosis but her hope was thin
as a butterfly’s wing and she gripped
the threshold of
the Mystery with desperate
claws, barely tasting
its promise. Simple fear
prevented surrender of
the comfortable cocoon she had
settled for. But
wild magic was in the air and
when the Pipevine Swallowtail presumed
to navigate the immense sky on a few
diaphanous wings, her spirit leapt
upon its tiny shoulders.
She didn’t expect to glimpse
courage in such a small
package, never
mind in midnight
blue and silvery black with
bright orange dots. Oh
wasn’t it just
like the Mother to jest
like that.
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The Mother is guffawing again! All my spacing was lost!
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Spacing or not, Carol, your poem is exquisite! And I would like to post it with the painting and with the proper spacing if possible.
The connection you made between my two magical nature creatures – both clinging bravely and both releasing so bravely into the mystery. . .sigh.. .Thank you.
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